The Wave
I found this book to be interesting and informative. I enjoyed the way the author skipped between the technical aspects of waves to surfing. Not something I expected. This book would appeal to someone who was new to the topic of waves and unfamiliar to the subject matter. Since I knew nothing about either surfing or the mechanics of waves, this was an excellent beginning. The author did a solid job covering a a large number of avenues: shipwrecks, wave symposiums, weather experts, insurance specialists, etc. as well as top surfers. For those people who have more detailed background, however, I think this book would be a bit too summarized. Any one of the topics covered could become an in-depth book by itself. For a person who knew very little such as myself, though, this was an excellent way for me to learn something new!
Rated of 5
by Nancy M. (Warminster, PA)
The Wave
Susan Casey has led a life of outdoor adventure including surfing waves. Along with her and the world's greatest surfers the reader vicariously experiences the terror and exhilaration of riding waves all around the world including a 100 foot wave, the holy grail of waves. Reported by sailors and long seen as impossible, satellite imagery has verified their existence. Waves pose a danger not only to surfers who seek them out. The world’s most eminent wave scientists fear the rising sea level, which rose approximately 6.7 inches in the twentieth century, will create waves which not only threaten the world's coastal shores but some of our greatest cities. There is a sense in this book that not only surfers but all of us should as one scientist says, "Go grab a couple of those total 'now' moments, because that’s all there’s gonna be anyway."
Rated of 5
by Judith G. (Ewa Beach, HI)
Warning!
I expected a treatise and found a very readable (yet alarming) story of waves, tsunamis, climate, change, and concerned people.
I'm a native Southern Californian and have lived on the island of Oahu for 20 years and feel most comfortable at the ocean's edge. I know the places discussed in the book, e.g., Maui, Ensenada, South Africa, and especially the North Shore of Oahu. I saw the Eddie Aikau competition in 2009 and have hundreds of photos of North Shore swells and waves.
I finished this book in a day and recommend it to anyone interested in climate change and its effects on our earth and living conditions.
Rated of 5
by Karen J. (Bremerton, WA)
What a Ride!
Well, I’m back – a bit soggy but unbowed. I’ve traveled on the boat Discovery to Waveland in the North Sea with a group of scientists, who are studying how the ocean’s basic characteristics are shifting; surfed in Hawaii with a tribe of tow surfers who are chasing the elusive 100 foot wave; entered with great trepidation the T-shaped Lituya Bay in Alaska where I met a 1740 foot wall of water and lastly swung down to Capetown, South Africa where I learned about the Agulhas Current, so treacherous that it keeps four boat salvage companies in business full time.
If you are at all interested in rogue, freak, giant waves, the scientists who study them and the adrenaline junkies who crave to conquer them – grab your wetsuit for this is one heck of a ride!
Rated of 5
by Vicki O. (Boston, MA)
How High "The Wave"?
Having read Susan Casey’s enthralling and gripping book, “The Wave,” I will view the ocean through a different lens, one that sees it as both powerful and mysterious. The author takes us on a journey that is as thrilling as the surfing challenges she describes. She travels with the select group of extreme surfers as they track down the seven most formidable waves, all of which have “a distinct character.” Interspersed between the wave chases are fascinating profiles of the scientists seeking to understand what causes the ocean’s unpredictable behavior. “The Wave” will not disappoint.
Rated of 5
by Gunta K. (Glens Falls, NY)
Fascinating Mystery with a New Twist
Sailors world over, for centuries, have talked of rogue waves a hundred feet high. Waves which sink huge cargo ships leaving no one behind to tell about it. "The Wave" is a book not for the faint hearted. Susan Casey is traveling across the world to observe, experience, these monster waves. She talks to famous surfers, Hamilton, a surfing legend, others as well, the daring, the fearless and the just plain crazy. They chase these waves as a sport and a means of living.
The author gives minute details on the preparations of these men prior to riding these taller than a skycraper, nasty, unforgiving waves. They come from Tahiti, Hawaii, Australia to ride, many times encountering sharks deep in the waves. Much is talked about the families, children, lovers of these guys. This is a closed society. One which lives only for the thrill of riding the waves wherever they can be found. Any time.
"The Wave" is also a terrific geography lesson on the waters covering our world. Many well known scientists and oceanographysts are mentioned here. Lloyd's of London has several pages explaining to the reader as to whom and what Lloyd's has insured and a description in detail of their method of assessing resulting claims. Much information is logged in this tome in term of names of ships, cargoes, dates and their time of disappearance or serious damage after surviving one of these monsters. Interesting discussion on tsunamis, their origin and size. The author's description of being in a boat to catch the swell of Ghost Tree a monster wave on the west coast of Calilfornia, is nothing short of sublime.
I like this book as there is not one boring page in it.
Rated of 5
by Julie Z. (Bennington, VT)
Catch The Wave!
Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.--John Burdon Sanderson Haldane
The science of oceanography has advanced greatly since the invention of sonar, and satellite technology. One result has been to confirm the existence of giant ocean waves, over 80 feet tall. Sailors had long described them, but were not believed, as there was no scientific explanation for them, until the advent of quantum mechanics. Now we not only know they exist, but are appearing more often.
Author Susan Casey profiles the scientists and researchers who work in this cutting edge field. She also enters the world of the elite surfers who vie to catch the tallest, gnarliest waves in the world. I found the science more interesting than the surfers, but there's plenty about both, for wherever one's interests lie. If you prefer to have an adventure from the comfort of your armchair, this is the book for you.
Susan Casey has written a book about sharks, and was the creative director for Outside Magazine during the 1990's. She is also the new editor of O, the Oprah magazine.
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of 5
by Colleen L. (Casco, ME)
