The Adventurer's Son

I was interested in this book because I love Krakauer (who blurbed it and I guess helped edit) and part of the reason I love Krakauer is because my brother is an outdoorsman/risk taker/adventurer type, and I am *so* not. So I'm always seeking to understand the whys and the hows of this way of life. Thus, when I read these books there is always the judgy voice in my head saying, are you *f-ing* nuts, why in a world with so many natural, everyday risks, would you, say, as in this particular book, hike alone across the damn Costa Rican rainforest? But I get that for some people, like my brother, it's just like, I HAVE TO OR I WILL DIE. <br /><br />But there were just so many problems here. For a book that purports to be about a father grappling with his guilt, he really didn't grapple much, and the few times he did, he let himself off the hook within the space of one sentence. Again, thinking of my brother, the idea that Dial did not notice the email from his son with his planned outdate would be something that would torment me for the rest of my life. My brother texts his outdates and whom to contact if he does not return to me and my mom and we pretty much suffer until we hear from him again. That date is, like, really on our minds, you know? I get that the senior Dial is an adventurer himself, but wouldn't that make him *more* attentive to this kind of information? HIS SON WAS ALONE IN THE RAINFOREST. <br /><br />I don't know how much of this was a failure of the writing. While the narrative was brisk, there was something lacking, almost total flatness, when Dial was describing feelings, e.g.,"Peggy's bravery in the deep water and jungle amplified her beauty and strengthened my love and admiration for her." Just, no. Human emotion is hard to write. There was a reliance on cliche here that became hard to forgive. He insisted upon this perfect love for his son, when there is no perfect love, even between parent and child, and especially when the child disappears as a grown man. In a book about said child's long unexplained absence and death, I became increasingly desperate for nuance that never came.<br /><br />(Petty aside: it was also weird how Peggy threatened Alaska Democratic Senator (at the time) Mark Begich by telling him she was going to vote Republican when he was unable to get the *New Mexico* National Guard to deploy to Costa Rica to search for a grown man who made his own dangerous choices. I understood her desperation to find her son, but is Lisa Murkowski a ghost?)<br /><br />This book called itself a thorough examination, but nothing felt honestly examined. It was mostly a play-by-play and maybe that's enough for some people. Maybe I'm being too harsh, I don't know. There was a hubris to these men, both father and son, and a lack of imagination both in the wilderness and on the page.

As a parent raising five sons, I often wondered how to find the balance for the adventurous things they wanted to do and the safety that for myself was paramount. It was definitely a struggle. The author of this book, was a keen adventurer himself and when he married and had a son, he combined his love of adventure with the love of his family. They took amazing trips in sometimes risky countries. Did many things together that I would never even attempt. So it is understandable how his son craved the same lifestyle. When he is 27, he goes missing in the Costa Rica jungle, and his parents will spend years trying to find out what happened to their son.<br /><br />In February, 4 of my children were in Costa Rica, now grown and making decisions for themselves. I am so glad I did not read this book before they went. This is a book about a search, a quest and us a heartbreaking one. There are beautiful descriptions of the natural world in all its elements. It is an honest account of a parents fear and grief. A parents doubts about doing the right thing, questioning whether if or how much he, himself was at fault.<br /><br />A good book and a harrowing one. <br /><br />ARC from Edelweiss.

Audiobook....read by Fred Sanders ( an excellent narrator)....easy connecting to his voice, clear and very precise. <br /><br />Much about this book appealed to me.....and ‘not’ just the ‘grab-ya-by-the-throat’, book blurb, either....<br />“I’m planning on doing four days in the jungle... It should be difficult to get lost forever: These were the haunting last words legendary adventurer Roman Dial received from his son, before the 27 year old disappeared into the jungles of Costa Rica”. <br /><br />I already knew the general ending to the mystery as to what happened to Roman’s son.<br /> I felt I understood the mixed/negative criticism, before I started this book. <br />Negative reviews said things like: the father was too self absorbed in himself, ( not my experience), and the book was too long with irrelevant stories. <br />I still wanted to read it. The positive reviews moved me. I was willing to go into this book contemplating the praise and criticism ....wanting to draw my own conclusions. <br /><br />So....<br />I conclude: <br />I LOVED the INTIMACY of the storytelling ( right away).<br />I enjoyed the journey...( becomes heartbreaking)....but it was also another one of those self-reflecting books where we take measure of thyself...(on an array of subjects: our families, marriage, births, education, arts, nature, adventures, our successes and failures, and.....<br />once again [seems to be a theme in my reading lately].....on not only parenting .....but the parent/adult child relationship. <br /><br />I absolutely love what one reviewer said....( by Jamie L. Harmon)....<br />“The message of this tale is that no matter how we try to assume involvement or responsibility in certain devastating events, the truth is ultimately revealed: each person walks his or her unique path from beginning to end. The arc of a life is a toss of a cosmic loom, weaving the fabric of reality. <br />An incredible story: compelling and moving”.<br />Thank you Jamie L Harmon &gt;&gt;&gt; AMEN!!!<br /><br />Other tidbits. I enjoyed the ‘irreverent’? stories....<br />.....like how PhD programs are poorly paid...( who could raise a family on that salary?).....<br />.....LOVED THE FAMILY... I was interested in all of them: Roman, his wife Peggy, and the adventures with their children. I enjoyed learning about each of the family members idiosyncrasies. <br />.... Oh, and the descriptions of the outdoor nature adventures amazing...<br />birds, monkeys, bugs, the jungle, and everything wilderness. <br />.....I was deeply moved by the humanity and a father’s love for his son. <br /><br />It’s fair to make comparisons with this book and Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild”. <br />Both books are unforgettable stories of family, adventures, tragedy, and love <br /><br />Wonderful as an Audiobook!

This is a book that will stay with me, one that I will look back on over the years. It will be placed on my favorite read shelf in my mind. It is one of those books that is very personal to the reader. Many things resonated with me. I've lost an adult child, I've visited some of the places father and son did, I respect nature yet I have not hiked, trekked, studied, adventure traveled, like this family. <br /><br /><br /><u>The Adventurer's Son</u> is a primarily a memoir of two lives and it is well worth the read.

This story had grabbed me when I read about it online. I have traveled to Corcovado National Park and was curious about what happened to this adventurous young man. While reading this book, though, I kept asking myself why didn't I like the author. What was it about his writing that made me dislike him? <br />I realized that he has such an entitled point of view. His name-dropping and bragging about his various adventures was tiring. How self-important he is. I understand how he feels about the loss of his son, but why should our taxpayer dollars be used to rescue someone who voluntarily goes into the wilderness by himself, breaking the laws of foreign country? Because his father knows people in high places? Ugh. <br />The writing was pretty bland, though I enjoyed his descriptions of nature. In the end, I felt for him but also believe that both he and his son could have been more respectful of the rest of the people and creatures on earth.

1/5/2020 Update<br /><br />Thank you goodreads for dumping my 10 paragraph essay, analyzing the numerous insights offered in this book. I only spent nearly two hours writing out the salient points and you didn't save any of it. I spent a great deal of time thinking about this work to share with others and because the owner of this website doesn't fix these timeouts (this is not even the fifth time such a loss has happened to me), whatever flaw that makes this occur, needs to be remedied to continue to ignore it is disrespectful to all parties. Shame on those who are responsible.<br /><br />The author is highly skilled in utilizing a powerful style and incorporating dynamic figure of speech and light in descriptive language. There is a map that is included and it is hard to read (which is an issue for the search as well). The pictures that begin each chapter are in black and white, making them very hard to decipher so the beauty and their value is not fully realized.<br /><br />This book is good, it delves deep into the main personalities of the story, primarily a father and son who bonded by their adventures. The son goes missing and many involved drop the ball when it came to locating him. The first portion of the book recounts the various adventures father lived, father and son lived and the son alone undertook with others or by himself.<br /><br />Guilt encompasses the father and he explains in great detail how he failed. Lots of detail also shared in how he questioned what he could have done better. Any parent would be examining the minute details of how things could have been prevented. For anyone who has lost a child, there will be a great understanding of the emotions and questioning that ensued. <br /><br />It was well written but much to detailed for a person, who is not an outdoors person. I was once very active in outdoor sports and even I found my mind wondering. Those who know this family, (they are famous in extreme sports circles) will probably find this detail quite enthralling. <br /><br />It was a good read, while there is some similarity to "Into the Wild", which is part of the marketing of this story, they are two different stories and not all that similar. The parallel is that some adventures took place in Alaska in both books and both encountered severe consequences at the hand of nature.<br /><br />I received this book free of charge in a Goodreads giveaway, in exchange for an honest opinion. Thank you to Mr. Dial, author, Goodreads and the publisher.

After trudging through 25% of this highly anticipated book, with all the great blurbs by peers such as Jon Krakauer, I had to quit reading it. The backstory Dial was providing was all about Dial and how hard he worked teaching his son Cody the ways of the wild. It is unfortunate that Roman did not begin the book with his search for his lost son. Throughout what can only be imagined as an agonizing operation he could have provided the necessary backstory details to emphasize the preparedness provided by Roman for his son to survive in the most extreme environments. I could not help feeling the book was written to assuage a father's guilt for losing his son. I cannot imagine how hard this was on Roman, but he supposedly wrote a book about it. But all I gathered by reading a quarter of it was how great an outdoorsman and father Roman Dial was. And that is not good enough for me. In fact, the book was a bore.

Roman " Cody" Dial grew up in a family that loved adventure. He often accompanied his father on hiking trips and exploring.<br /><br />When Roman "Cody" was twenty seven he wanted to explore the jungles of Costa Rica. July 2014 he started out. He told his family that he planed to go through the Jungle in four days and be out on the fifth day.<br /><br />There's a saying " when in Rome do as the Romans do."<br />Cody had lots of confidence so he forged ahead not following the rules of the National Forest in Costa Rica . You had to have a guide and stay on the designated trails.<br /><br />After a week had passed his family had not heard from him. They were so worried. Was he kidnapped? Was there foul play? Did some one kill him? Who had seen him?<br /><br />With all unanswered questions, his father went to Costa Rica to look for his son.<br />All their efforts were fruitless. <br />When his remains were found everything was intact...no foul play. It was assumed a tree fell on him or he was bitten by a poisonous snake.<br /><br />A very sad and poignant story.

Biologist, explorer, and adventurer Roman Dial’s memoir of his search for his son, Cody Roman, age 27, who went missing in the jungles of Costa Rica in 2014. Cody Roman had embarked on a solo trek through Central America, checking in with his dad via email. He had planned to go off trail through the Corcovado rain forest without a (required) guide. When Roman had not heard from his son, he traveled to Costa Rica to find Cody.* <br /><br />Roman encountered uncooperative officials and stories that his son accompanied a local guide thought to be involved with drugs. The book covers the search, Cody’s youthful experiences growing up in Alaska, and past family trips to exotic locations. It takes readers into remote Costa Rica and the world of drug smugglers and illegal miners, as well as good-hearted locals who tried to help.<br /><br />Roman and his wife consulted private investigators, investigated tips from psychics, and engaged a “documentary” producer. While the television cameras helped focus attention on the case, they also warped the story into a sensational reality-TV murder mystery. It is a story of frustration and parents doing everything possible to find a missing child. <br /><br />This book is the story of a family’s crisis. It also portrays their appreciation for the natural world. Roman is candid in this account, admitting to doubts, faults, and feelings of guilt. I had not seen any of the media coverage, so the content was new to me. I found it riveting, moving, and tragic.<br /><br />*Cody preferred to be called by his middle name, Roman. I am referring to him as Cody just to distinguish him from his father, also called Roman.<br />

In his new memoir, <b>The Adventurer’s Son</b>, Roman Dial writes about his son’s 2014 disappearance in the untamed rainforest of Costa Rico. Roman is an Alaskan biologist, mountaineer, and overall fan of risky travels and adventures. He shared his love of these endeavors with his son Cody and now he experiences a parent’s most dreaded fear after his son fails to report back after a particularly treacherous solo hike in the remote jungle.<br />While slow-moving, this is a harrowing story of a parent’s worst nightmare. <br /><b>The Adventurer’s Son</b> has me conflicted. When I am of a more charitable mind I sympathize with Roman’s plight. Having your son be missing and to not know where they are can be crushing. On this level Dial’s book is emotional, exhausting and heart-rending. <br />When I am not feeling quit so charitable I have to question just what the heck is the allure of putting yourself in such dangerous circumstances to begin with. Costa Rican rainforests are renowned for their poisonous spiders, centipedes, millipedes, scorpions, snakes, frogs, and fancy iced coffee lattes. If by God’s grace you manage to avoid the toxic death of these you will be faced with crocodiles, jaguars, pumas, giant ants, mimes, and Bon Jovi cover bands. And that is not all. Let’s talk about the criminals that inhabit these lands. These remote areas contain everything from jaywalkers to litterbugs, to the feared drug traffickers who would sooner fill you with hot lead from their AR-15 assault rifles than loan their neighbor a much needed cup of beans so they can finish cooking up the<i> gallo pinto</i> dinner they have planned for Thursday. So on this level (while still sympathizing) this tragedy seems like something that could have easily been avoided. I equate it with the guy who rides his motorcycle without a helmet, or the NFL player who has chosen to play the big game against the Packers without an athletic cup. You would never wish harm to happen to anyone, but let’s be honest, nobody is going to be surprised when those testicles get mashed. <br />Still it is hard to argue with Dial’s love for his son and the pain he experiences during this ordeal. The pictures of Dial and his son from an infant on are heartbreaking. This book is sure to make the reader consider their own life choices and perhaps wonder where but for the grace of God a tragedy like this could have happened to them. <br />