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Aquanaut: The Inside Story of the Thai Cave Rescue: A Life Beneath the Surface
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54
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
91/100Critics
17/100Scholars
Author:
Rick Stanton
Publisher:
Pegasus Books
Date:
January 4, 2022
In July 2018, twelve boys and their soccer coach disappeared into the Tham Luang Cave in Thailand. Trapped miles beneath the surface, not even the Thai Navy SEALs had the skills to bring them to safety. With the floodwater rising rapidly, time was running out. Any hope of survival rested on Rick Stanton, a retired British firefighter with a living room full of homemade cave-diving equipment. As unlikely as it seemed, Rick and his partner, John Volanthen, were regarded as the A-team for exactly this kind of mission.
What The Reviewers Say
If you’re ever trapped in a flooded cave, pray that Mr. Stanton attempts the rescue. Aquanaut: A Life Beneath the Surface is Mr. Stanton’s account of his evolution into one of the best cave divers in the world.
Stanton recounts his past experiences exploring the claustrophobic darkness of caves in tales of ingenuity and plenty of details about his constructing the specialized equipment needed to survive such an unforgiving environment. Interspersed with these accounts is the dramatic saga, which captured the world’s avid attention, of finding the trapped and imperiled boys and how team members shared their problem-solving skills to plan and execute the improbable and heroic rescue. This is a unique and heart-pounding story of courage and survival. Whether readers followed the news coverage of Tham Luang closely or not, they will benefit from reading Stanton’s chronicle, which pairs well with the new documentary film, The Rescue..
The tale of the author’s exploits is undeniably exciting, but the text, co-written by Dealy, is weighed down by pedestrian details that slow the narrative pace. This problem is further exacerbated by the way he braids chapters pertaining to the rescue with those pertaining to highlights from his long career in cave diving. The result is an excessively detailed book most likely to appeal only to those who share Stanton’s subterranean passions.
