Review of Medical Diver
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Kirsi Cultrera
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Review of Medical Diver
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Medical Diver" by Len Starbeck.]
Medical Diver: What is a Medical Diver? is a memoir by Len Starbeck that tells about the author's life and career as a medical diver. I had never heard of such a profession before, and it was utterly fascinating to dive into the author's life via the pages of this memoir. Starbeck served in the U.S. Navy and Marines for a long time; a lot happened to him during his 28 years of service. After retiring, he continued his career as a surgical nurse and worked in different locations worldwide.
Len Starbeck's profession and life experiences are unique. I truly admired his high level of knowledge and commitment to his work. This book portrays a man who is passionate about his profession. I did not have any prior knowledge of what it means to be a diver in the U.S. Navy. It was eye-opening to read about the extreme roughness of their training before they qualified for their profession. However, the most interesting detail in their training was not its physical roughness; it was the realization of how it builds their self-confidence. If I were younger, I would sign up just to get that!
I absolutely loved his descriptions of his assignments in the different parts of the world. My favorite one of all the stories was the underwater construction of the Colorado Thompson Reservoir Dam. It is located 7,000 feet above sea level, and diving at that altitude is risky and requires a lot of preparation. Have you ever heard of decompression sickness? Or mountain sickness? If you put those two together, you'll understand the challenge they were facing. Sometimes, Starbeck and his colleagues also had some funny encounters with nature. On this particular mission, they ended up squirrel-proofing their cabinets and catching these little furry friends in their camp, which was totally hilarious!
This book was not an easy read. Trying to understand special medical and military terminology and abbreviations was exhausting. In addition, keeping up with the events was challenging because this book's timeline was not chronological. For example, the author placed his teenage hitchhiking experiences at the back end of the book, which did not make sense to me. He also shared all his experiences and memories in a seemingly random order. It must have been my least favorite feature of this book; I ended up re-reading some parts of the book in my attempts to form a clear big picture of his life. Several times, I wished he had selected to use a chronological timeline.
I learned a lot about physics and diving in this book. Reading about practicing medicine under special circumstances was intriguing. Len Starbeck explained in great detail what medical divers do, and I was thrilled to get a glimpse into his training and life. On the downside, this book's editing was not perfect. I discovered more than ten errors in it. I removed one star from my rating because of the errors and the timeline issue I described above. All these details considered, I am giving Medical Diver a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.
Good memoirs always give readers something to think about. As I close this book, one thing will stay with me forever. Since I am an expert at questioning myself and my abilities, I was impressed by the author's and his coworkers' self-confidence in every situation. I recommend this book to anyone interested in a career in the Navy or the medical field. I also recommend it to those who like reading memoirs or just want to learn more about diving.
******
Medical Diver
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Medical Diver: What is a Medical Diver? is a memoir by Len Starbeck that tells about the author's life and career as a medical diver. I had never heard of such a profession before, and it was utterly fascinating to dive into the author's life via the pages of this memoir. Starbeck served in the U.S. Navy and Marines for a long time; a lot happened to him during his 28 years of service. After retiring, he continued his career as a surgical nurse and worked in different locations worldwide.
Len Starbeck's profession and life experiences are unique. I truly admired his high level of knowledge and commitment to his work. This book portrays a man who is passionate about his profession. I did not have any prior knowledge of what it means to be a diver in the U.S. Navy. It was eye-opening to read about the extreme roughness of their training before they qualified for their profession. However, the most interesting detail in their training was not its physical roughness; it was the realization of how it builds their self-confidence. If I were younger, I would sign up just to get that!
I absolutely loved his descriptions of his assignments in the different parts of the world. My favorite one of all the stories was the underwater construction of the Colorado Thompson Reservoir Dam. It is located 7,000 feet above sea level, and diving at that altitude is risky and requires a lot of preparation. Have you ever heard of decompression sickness? Or mountain sickness? If you put those two together, you'll understand the challenge they were facing. Sometimes, Starbeck and his colleagues also had some funny encounters with nature. On this particular mission, they ended up squirrel-proofing their cabinets and catching these little furry friends in their camp, which was totally hilarious!
This book was not an easy read. Trying to understand special medical and military terminology and abbreviations was exhausting. In addition, keeping up with the events was challenging because this book's timeline was not chronological. For example, the author placed his teenage hitchhiking experiences at the back end of the book, which did not make sense to me. He also shared all his experiences and memories in a seemingly random order. It must have been my least favorite feature of this book; I ended up re-reading some parts of the book in my attempts to form a clear big picture of his life. Several times, I wished he had selected to use a chronological timeline.
I learned a lot about physics and diving in this book. Reading about practicing medicine under special circumstances was intriguing. Len Starbeck explained in great detail what medical divers do, and I was thrilled to get a glimpse into his training and life. On the downside, this book's editing was not perfect. I discovered more than ten errors in it. I removed one star from my rating because of the errors and the timeline issue I described above. All these details considered, I am giving Medical Diver a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.
Good memoirs always give readers something to think about. As I close this book, one thing will stay with me forever. Since I am an expert at questioning myself and my abilities, I was impressed by the author's and his coworkers' self-confidence in every situation. I recommend this book to anyone interested in a career in the Navy or the medical field. I also recommend it to those who like reading memoirs or just want to learn more about diving.
******
Medical Diver
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Kirsi
Official Reviewer Representative
Official Reviewer Representative
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Kgaugelo Teffo
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Proverb once said give readers something to think about. Since I am an expert at questioning myself and my abilities, I was impressed by the author's and his coworkers' self-confidence in every situation. I recommend this book to anyone interested in a career in the Navy or the medical field. I also recommend it to those who like reading memoirs or just want to learn more about diving.
