The Adventurer's Son (Roman Dial)

The Adventurer's Son: A Memoir
Roman Dial
Mariner Books
Nonfiction, Memoir
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: As a boy, Roman Dial became enamored with the wilderness. He pursued a degree in Alaska just to be nearer to the wild places that called to him, the mountains and rivers and deep trackless woods that challenged him, and dedicated his career to studying ecology and wildlife around the world, often in the most remote and inhospitable places. When he married, he introduced his wife Penny to these wonders, and when they had children the couple ensured that young Cody and Jasper, too, were exposed to the wonders and adventures to be found out of doors.
Later, he would wonder if perhaps it was his fault that his son followed in his footsteps.
In the summer of 2014, Cody Roman Dial, then in his twenties, was traveling solo in Central America. Like his father before him, he was an explorer at heart, a wanderer who was always looking toward the next challenge, the next adventure. He'd done several solo trips before, at least as challenging as the one he had planned for Costa Rica, and always kept in touch through e-mail with his family. But in early July, Roman would receive what would turn out to be the last contact he would have with Cody: a map and loose itinerary, and a promise to e-mail again after a planned five-day excursion into some of the wildest rainforests left in the country. But that e-mail never came, and Cody was never seen again.
As Roman heads to Costa Rica to search for his missing son, he confronts language and cultural barriers, indifferent local authorities, and other obstacles, not the least of which is the rainforest itself, brimming with treacherous terrain and deadly snakes and numerous poachers and drug smugglers. Even as he looks, he reflects on his own life and Cody's adventurous childhood - a childhood that may have led him to this beautiful, dangerous land that might have killed him.

REVIEW: Another random selection from the library's audiobook offerings, The Adventurer's Son is the story of one man's love of - and borderline addiction to - the wilderness, and how he wrestles with the legacy of that love when it's picked up by his son. Starting in Roman's own childhood, the book follows him through his discovery of the outdoors, the adventures (and near-disasters) that love led him to, the friends he made, and the career paths it opened up for him. Though his would-be wife was at first not that much of an outdoor junkie herself, and never reaches his level of obsession, he introduces the wilderness to her, and they have their own adventures, adventures they would share with their young family - camping trips in their home state of Alaska, journeys to Borneo and Australia, and more. Introducing his children, particularly his son (who took after his dad in so many ways), to that passion was one of the greatest joys of Roman's life, watching the boy rise to the challenges presented by a hike or unmarked trail or foreign country... and one of the greatest devastations when his adult son goes missing in the very wilderness Roman taught him to respect and explore and embrace so wholeheartedly. The great pride and sense of wonder of the earlier portions of the book, the author's passion fairly leaping off the page, turns quickly to the devastation and frustration of a father pursuing answers about his son's disappearance in a remote area replete with criminals and other dangers, as well as spotty law enforcement that seems to have already made up its mind about Cody's fate before even beginning its investigation... an investigation that would pursue numerous false leads and dead ends for over two years. In pursuit of answers, Roman and Penny even turn to a "documentary" television team, with results that demonstrate how far from reality a lot of so-called "reality" television ends up becoming and how manipulative and exploitative the crews can be, on and off camera. Eventually, closure is reached and answers (some, at least) are forthcoming, but there are clearly some wounds that will never fully heal. Did the father's obsession lead his son to tragedy, or did he simply awaken in the boy a passion of his own, one with certain inherent risks that living fully and deeply always entails? There can be little doubt that Cody Roman Dial lived a full and vivid life, a life made fuller and more vivid by his father's adventurous legacy, no matter how that life ended.
Some of the earlier material can feel a bit meandering, even if it's always decently written. Overall, it's as much about the love of one man for the wilderness (dangers and all) as about the love of a father for his son, and the complicated feelings when those loves seem to collide and end in tragedy.

You Might Also Enjoy:
Gone to the Woods (Gary Paulsen) - My Review
The Lost City of the Monkey God (Douglas Preston) - My Review
The Invention of Nature (Andrea Wulf) - My Review