Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River

HELL OR HIGH WATER. Peter Heller. 2004. Read by Patrick Lawlor. 9 cds. 10.5 hrs. Tantor Media. 1-4001-0141-7. $34.99. Cardboard; content, author, reader notes. SA

Lovers of true high adventure will appreciate this fast-paced account of how seven of the world's top kayakers, from South Africa, New Zealand, England, and the US, led by Scott Lindgren of California, negotiated 44 miles of Tibet's Upper Tsangpo Gorge in 2002. Heller, also an experienced kayaker, accompanied them as part of a ground support team that included nearly 100 Sherpas, porters, a photographer, and others. Emotional tension builds as they deal with a dangerous terrain, "three times deeper, with the river tilted eight times steeper than the Grand Canyon." The seasons changed from top to bottom, and the tight passages through which the huge river ran created complex currents that left no doubt as to why earlier expeditions had failed. Portages were as dangerous as the rapids.

Lawlor narrates with intensity as the action (and the river) ebbs and flows, voicing expertly as he catches the skilled maneuvers of the kayakers, the grumbling of mutinous porters, the resentment that flared at Heller because he was going to write a profitable book but had not been part of the ten years of planning, and the reverence in which Buddhists held this area. Bursts of profanity. Edna Boardman, Libn., Bismarck, ND

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.