As books go, this is what you might call esoteric. It's the work of two Finnish technical divers and concerns their exploration of a vast cave system that lies beneath Hungary's capital Budapest. Reading it was an unexpected delight.
Imaginatively written in impeccable English (or, at least, translated thus by Marju Galitsos), the book is well served by Janne Suhonen's spectacular photography, and attention to detail goes down to the illustrations in the useful appendices.
As author and journalist Antti Apunen points out, serious cave-divers tend to concentrate in certain parts of the world, such as Florida, Mexico, southern France, Australia, the Bahamas and England. Finland itself has the disused Ojama mines, covered recently in DIVER, but not much else.
Hungary, by this account, could be a useful addition to the underworld catalogue. The labyrinth of karst tunnels beneath Budapest are constantly under threat from developers, and it has been down to a few passionate, not to say obsessive, Hungarian cave-divers to protect them.
By raising the profile of the Molnar Janos system, this book may contribute marginally to the effort.
The Finns' guide is Zsolt Gyurka who, armed with a pneumatic drill, seems to have discovered most of a system that to date extends some 5km. It's not easy to explore, either, "like Swiss cheese in which you must look for the exit with a magnifying glass", as Apunen puts it.
Gyurka seems to manage to dive the caves almost every day, while at the same time building his own house and providing for his four children. Dedication isn't the word.
The diving is tricky, the tunnels and halls spectacular. "Our hobby has taken us deep into another world," says Apunen. "The voices of reason and desire to be comfortable do not carry that far." Any but the most claustrophobic diver will enjoy this book, because it is put together so well, and with such passion.
Steve Weinman
Tammi Publishers
ISBN: 9789513149536
Hardback, 158pp, 37 euros
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