SC-Water and Light

"Moving, intelligent and, in the best sense, literary.... Stephen Harrigan is anchored in reality; he knows that the environment he's describing is in serious jeopardy. At the same time, he has made this book sparkle with his remarkable ability to discuss the metaphysical and spiritual aspects of underwater exploration without ever sounding saccharine or murky."

—New York Times Book Review

"[Harrigan] tells us about the people who live on Grand Turk, or come there on business, and he is given to reflecting on the subtleties of the underwater experience, but his real virtue as a writer is his ability to convey, in precise, lucid, prose, the marvels of the sea bottom."

—New Yorker

"Harrigan ...captures the peacefulness of being rocked by salty currents, the massive beauty of the reefs, the exhilaration of the sport, and the mental scramble to retain fast-fading memories of sights almost unimaginable on land. Fellow divers will relish his camaraderie, while those who prefer staying topside will feel as though they've taken the plunge themselves."

—Booklist

This evocative account of the months Stephen Harrigan spent diving on the coral reefs off Grand Turk Island in the Caribbean was originally published by Houghton Mifflin in 1992.

One warning... one of the reviewers recommended reading this to get your diving fix when you aren't going to be able to get underwater for a while; NOT TRUE. I found the exact opposite, this book only heightened my desire to go diving to near pathological levels!

If you've read this, I'd also recommend reading Neutral Buoyancy by Tim Ecott which is another good book about diving. It has more history and straight information than this book.


Absorbing and enthralling   July 26, 2001
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Stephen Harrigan has captured the most enjoyable account of his Diving adventures. I felt myself re-living the events and relating them to my own modest enoyable times spent in the Caribbean recently. Superbly written and hard to put down. Makes airplane flights disappear. Happily discovered we are in the same City too.


I found a soul mate. . . .   April 23, 2001
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I was in tears by the end of the first chapter-- I thought I was one of a FEW who feels more at home underwater than on the surface. I don't get to dive very often (family, etc.) but whenever I need to "dive", I pull out this book & I'm in Heaven. Harrigan's descriptions of not only what he sees but what feelings these visions invoke move me beyond words, as I think they would anyone who feels the ocean in their blood.


The best book on diving   April 2, 2001
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

When people want to know what it's like to dive, I give them this book. Harrigan has captured the essence of scuba diving. He has nearly expressed the inexpressible.