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Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker ("His head was the size and color of the lifebuoy, with teeth"). It sounds like a colorful setup, but these wild beasts don't burst into song as if co-starring in an anthropomorphized Disney feature. After much gore and infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat's sole passengers, drifting for 227 days through shark-infested waters while fighting hunger, the elements, and an overactive imagination. In rich, hallucinatory passages, Pi recounts the harrowing journey as the days blur together, elegantly cataloging the endless passage of time and his struggles to survive: "It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion."
An award winner in Canada (and winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize), Life of Pi, Yann Martel's second novel, should prove to be a breakout book in the U.S. At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book. --Brad Thomas Parsons
Book Description
The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.
The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional--but is it more true?
Customer Reviews:
Read this book! It's good........2007-10-20
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I was expecting it to be somewhat "deeper" than it was, what with the cover's proclamation of its' "soul-sustaining" powers and the very religous nature of the main character, Pi Patel. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself completely absorbed in a good old-fashioned adventure story. And while the book does contain some "deep thoughts" about God and the power of faith, I feel it's major strength is that it is simply a very gripping, entertaining story. You have to keep reading to find out what happens to Pi Patel and the tiger. What I loved best about the book was how the author created such an incredible story but yet kept it just this side of believable. That said, there are a few places where the story gets stretched just a tad too far (I won't spoil it and say where), and the magic is lost for a moment. I suspect this is some subtle intent on the part of the author to make us Think,about God and the nature of belief and all that, but honestly I don't really care. In the end it comes down to this: the stories with animals are just better. (You'll understand that if you've read or read it.) I picked up this book at a time when I was undergoing quite a bit of stress and it was the perfect cure. Pure escapist joy. I refuse to read anything more into it! :-)
The Life of Pi.......2007-10-19
The Life of Pi
Yann Martel, ISBN 0-15-602732-1. 319 p. Canada: Random House, 2001. $14.00.
Pi Patel is a quiet boy. He grew up being ridiculed and under the eye of a zoo keeping family. He focuses much on his religion, being a Hindu, Muslim, and Christian is hard to keep up with. His academic studies are important to him, but the zoo his family owns is a also a large part of who he is.
Yann Martel opens The Life of Pi, with much background information on the main character, Pi Patel. Much on of the beginning may seem pointless and like a lot of useless information, but as the story progresses, the large abundance of background information comfortably finds its place in the story.
Pi and his family soon find themselves on a boat to Canada: Their old home was not fit for a zoo any longer due to new governmental control. As their voyage is taking place, the boat Pi and his family are on, the "Tsim Tsum" sinks and leaves Pi a castaway in the massive Pacific Ocean. However, he is not alone in his new home. Pi is grouped with a hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, an orangutan, and much to his despair, a 450-pound Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. Soon all of the castaways are disposed of by Richard Parker, except Pi. Pi, driven to do anything to stay alive, braves Richard Parker's territory and uncovers a locker that saves his life. In the locker Pi finds the necessary tools and items he uses to stay alive for the rest of his days on the lifeboat. After much deliberating with himself over how to deal with Richard Parker, he realizes he must tame Richard Parker to stay alive. Using his cunning and wits, Pi tames Richard Parker using only a whistle, the lifeboat, and the Pacific Ocean. Over time, Pi eventually loses hope and goes blind from malnutrition. He finally lays back and accepts his death. However, after some strange events, Pi finds himself on a mysterious island. Here he replenishes himself and the Tiger, and sets off in the lifeboat again. Pi eventually lands in Mexico, and to the end the book, is interviewed by the owners of the shipping company that owned the boat "Tsim Tsum." Like the book, The Outsiders, the end of the book is where the story first starts, back with the author writing the story we had just read.
The Life Of Pi is a great book. The author writes in a very catchy manner, incorporating religion and philosophy into the book that makes the reader think hard about what is happening in the book. Yann Martel hypnotizes the reader and often throughout the book one might mistake the story they are reading for a true tale, but is ultimately brought back to reality with the knowledge they are just reading an amazingly well written, fictional book. Although the book has its deep, pensive depressing parts, humor finds its niche in the book as well. One might find themselves laughing at the lengths Pi goes to keep himself alive. The book seems written for an older audience; however, many teens are mature enough to grasp the story of tattered human being. Overall, The Life of Pi is an amazing book for anyone who wants to enjoy a well-written book.
Great Fiction.......2007-10-17
Fiction is so homogenized these days, its boring. Not so with this book. Its refreshing and reads more like a non-fiction set of events than a novel. Loved it.
yeah, I'd recommend it.......2007-10-10
I kinda would like to rate this book a 4, because there are a few things I didn't like. I didn't like everything getting 'over-explained' in the end. That wasn't necessary. It was like the author didn't think the reader was smart enough to keep track of what was going on. That did a real disservice to the book.
And I didn't like all the start - I mean, too much opinion that seemed like an rookie blog.
But, I did recommend the book, and I wanted my Mom to read it and talk to her about it. So, what does that say? I don't do that too often. So, I gotta give it a five.
Read it and tell me what you think. :)
Fiction, Fable, Fantasy.......2007-10-10
Yann Martel's Life of Pi is at the least, a first rate adventure yarn. Even the simplest reader needs just to suspend a small amount of disbelief to join in the fun. There is enough texture to the writing-detail of place and experience-that the book is almost cinematic. You could imagine this being filmed as a simple 'survival in a lifeboat' story.
What makes this such a wonderful tale is that each little piece-the man-eating island, the orangutan, Pi's wonderful real name, is jolting and provocative. It's hard to hear the stories without connecting them to some other fantasy or alternative reality.
At the end, Pi's rescue and redemption are really nothing more than the technique of fantasy applied to the story itself. I'm sorry for the folks who were disappointed that this wasn't one kind of book and I hope they get a chance to experience the pleasure of it being a very good fable, fiction and fantasy.
----Lynn Hoffman, author of New Short Course in Wine,The and the slightly fabulous bang BANG: A Novel
Book Description
"I am so pleased to have written my first children's book and to have my dear friend Wendell Minor illustrate it. I thought it would be a daunting project, but with six grandchildren and eleven stepgrandchildren, I've been telling stories to children for a long time."
-- Mary Higgins Clark
Thomas loved his summer visits to his grandmother's on Cape Cod. He spent hours wondering about the sailing ships of the past and imagining their stories. He dreamed of being on a sailing ship himself. One afternoon after a night of terrible thunderstorms, Thomas finds, deep in the sand, a weathered, old-fashioned belt buckle. When he picks it up, a boy his own age, Silas Rich, who was a cabin boy on a ship called the Monomoy that sailed almost 250 years ago, appears. Suddenly the world of sailing ships is very near as Silas tells his tale.
Beloved and bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark tells a story of mystery and adventure that will transport readers to a time and place beyond their imaginings in her first book for children. Wendell Minor's inspired paintings make a time long ago very real.
Customer Reviews:
Ghost Ship by Mary Higgins Clark.......2007-07-05
My children enjoyed me reading this story to them. The illustrations are beautiful. I had to explain some of the terms in a little more detail, but the story held their attention. It is nice when you find books that also actually introduce a "real" history of what it was like many years ago.
Another hit for Mary Higgins Clark!.......2007-05-22
Mary Higgins Clark is a wonderful storyteller and it is very evident with this children's book. Being an avid fan, I purchased the book to pass on to my granddaughter when she gets a little older. The illustrations are beautiful too. It will be a pleasure to introduce my granddaughter to Mary Higgins Clark, through her children's books!!
First rate for MHC's First Children's Book.......2007-05-14
I have been a fan of MHC for years. I was delighted with her first children's book especially since it took place where I spent many of my summers over the years. Am passing this book on to younger readers.
Awesome Children's book.......2007-05-12
I have be a fan of this author for years. This book surpassed all my expectations. What superb fiction for young readers! As always she uses her talent to spark the imagination without all the violence and gunplay of the modern world. I look forward to sharing the next with my children, too!
No younger than 4 year olds for this one.......2007-05-12
I read this book to my 4 year old granddaughter, who loves books and is beginning to read now. The book held her interest well, and I loved the illustrations! It was great to be reading her a book that had an actually story, instead of the standard children's books. She loved the story, and in fact, after we read it, she wanted to start playing out her own version of the story...."Grandma! Pretend that you find a belt buckle in the sand, and I appear as the ghost of the boy who was given it to." She really got into being on a ship back in the days of big sailing ships, and had so much fun with it!
I love Mary Higgins Clark's books for myself, and loved being able to read my granddaughter one of her books that was written for children. I hope she'll write more.
Book Description
In this seventh book of the series, Thomas Kydd is master of his own brig-sloop Teazer and he must race the clock to make her battle-ready to defend Malta against Barbary pirates and the French, who are frantically trying to rescue the remnants of their army in the Levant. Suddenly, peace is declared, and the young captain finds himself ashore. To make ends meet, he agrees to transport convicts to Australia. Little does he know that his friend Renzi, weakened by illness and embittered with the service, is also bound for that colony as a settler. There they will be forced to face their deepest fears and prove themselves against all odds.
Customer Reviews:
The Book Command, A truly great book........2007-06-11
Julian Stockwin is a great author. He makes you feel that you are there watching, hearing, and in the thick of things. He lets you see all of shipboard life not just the main characters narrow vision. A truly talented Author. I can't wait for his next book in the Kydd Sea Adventures.
Tom Kydd is Finally in Command.......2007-05-31
Julian Stockwin's "Command" is the seventh book in his Kydd series. These books are set in the Napoleonic-era Royal Navy and follow in the same vein as C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin books.
In "Command," Kydd finds himself unexpectedly in command of a small (16-gun) brig sloop that is just being completed in Malta. Kydd is responsible for fitting her out, giving her sea trials, and molding a new crew from scratch. Kydd feels the elation and weight of command as he, and he alone, is responsible for the successes and failures aboard his command. However, just as Kydd gains confidence in himself and his ship, peace "breaks out" and Kydd is sent ashore without a ship or job. Kydd is then faced with desperate times as he faces the loss of his livelihood and his best friend.
"Command" is another great novel in the "Kydd" series and is a must-read for anyone who enjoys military historical fiction or the Napoleonic era. I eagerly await the next book.
Weak effort.......2007-05-22
This is the limpest effort for a Kydd novel so far. He bravely wanders the Med in Teazer until the Peace and, unemployed, takes command of a transport ship to Australia. His erstwhile friend, the surly Renzi, pops aboard with an attitude that would certainly find him pitched overboard in a more realistic telling. The entire voyage to Australia is passed over without a word. Oh, and can Mr. Kydd ever lose the miserably depicted accent of a low borne? How tedious! Let's hope Mr. Stockwin can pick up the pace with the next installment.
Riveting, exciting, springboard to epic adventures.......2007-05-03
I just finished Command and thoroughly enjoyed it. Julian Stockwin has taken us through so much, yet I feel we're still on the brink of great things. Not only was it a watershed episode in the development of Thomas Kydd, but, hopefully, if Nicholas agrees to the offer made my Kydd, the relationship between the two is cast. It's as if we're hearing, "Now the adventure begins."
An added adventure.......2007-03-30
This novel starts as a standard Royal Navy adventure with Thomas Kydd receiving a promotion to Commander, and taking a brig sloop into action in the eastern Med with some detached duty. It has a good description of fitting out a ship and acquiring a crew, as well as action on land as well as at sea. That part of the story comes to an end with the Peace of Amiens, and Kydd finds himself like a lot of other officers "on the beach" unemployed at half pay.
That is followed by the second part of the novel (this is like two novels in one). Kydd finds he is over-qualifed for various positions that might be available (I remember hearing that phrase after I received a PhD). A commander simply cannot be put into a position where a lieutenant is required (Kydd had put in his time forward, and apparently did not consider using an assumed name to ship out on a merchant ship). Attempts to enter the merchant service as a deck officer are met with questions revealing his complete lack of knowledge in dealing with the merchant trade.
That brings Kydd into a situation where he ends up as master of a convict ship, and some adventures in far off Australia. I won't go into all the details, but you will learn a lot about the original settlement of Australia.
Kydd's friend Renzi decides to try his luck establishing an estate in Australia. He has no experience as a farmer, but he has a book. Some of this part really gets funny. You learn a little more about the settling of Australia.
The novel ends with Kydd preparing to return to England. We all know that the war started up again, so we wait with anticipation to see what is in store for Kydd.
Book Description
This comprehensive lexicon provides definitions of nautical terms, historical entries describing the people and political events that shaped the period, and detailed explanations of the scientific, medical, and biblical references that appear in the novels.
Customer Reviews:
Surfing the Sea of Words.......2007-10-18
An illuminating volume to have on hand as you read the Patrick O'Brian Series. Provides back story and details of those times, along with maps and diagrams. Nauticle terminanolgy decoded. Highly reccomend, could only wish for more diagrams.
A need to have.......2007-10-05
This book is a fundamental reading for those who love O'Brian books and want to make the most of of them.
A couple more pictures would have helped, but it gives you all you need to know to enhance your reading experience
Not that impressed with this book.......2007-10-02
I was fairly disappointed with this book, given some of the rave reviews I've read about it. In a consequtive fashion, several of the phrases I looked up weren't in there, to the point where I gave up using it and am just reading the books.
Perhaps it's for the best though, the book flows better without interuption, if at the expense of full understanding. I wouldn't recommend buying this book. It doesn't answer what you need it for -- terms that aren't used anymore, but aren't in the dictionary either.
This is a great book, however.......2007-09-25
It still needs expansion; in particular with regard to the dialect of the times to make it complete, and there remain nautical terms that need definitions. I suppose that I need to visit the website or see if there is a method of placing requests for additional words or terms.
Still, I feel that it is a must buy if one plans to read the entire series.
Sea of Words.......2007-09-14
This is a must have book when reading the series as it explains many of the unfamiliar terms. Highly recommend you get it and use it when you are unfamiliar with things talked about in the books. Also recommend Harbors and High Seas: 3rd Edition by the same authors. This will show you where the ships went on Jack's voyages.
Book Description
This book finds Thomas Kydd aboard Tenacious, part of a small squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson. Its mission is to scour the Mediterranean and locate Napoleon and his army. Kydd's newly fired ambition leads him to volunteer for shore service in the capture of Minorca. Later, he faces the great ships-of-the-line at the Battle of the Nile as the British take on the French in a no-holds-barred struggle for supremacy in southern waters. But there is one more test to come: the Siege of Acre, where Kydd and a handful of British seamen under the command of Sir Sidney Smith face an army of thirteen thousand!
Customer Reviews:
Another Great Kydd Novel.......2007-05-30
"Tenacious" is the sixth, and best so far, book in Julian Stockwin's "Kydd" series. These books are set in the Napoleonic-era Royal Navy and follow in the same vein as C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin books.
In "Tenacious," Lieutenant Kydd is posted aboard the 64-gun Tenacious. Kydd sees action at the Battle of the Nile (where he meets Horatio Nelson and is inspired in his career by that great leader), the retaking of Minorca, and the Siege of Acre. Kydd, who began his career as a pressed seaman, is now a confident leader and officer in the Royal Navy - and more importantly, an inspired fighter.
Although this genre was obviously inspired by C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian, the Kydd novels remind me more of Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe" series of books. Richard Sharpe started as a private in the British Army and ended up an officer, just as Kydd started as a pressed seaman and eventually walked the quarterdeck as an officer. But more than that, Kydd's adventures, and Stockwin's use of some dramatic license to involve Kydd in almost every major military engagement of the time (whether at land or at sea), are more in the style of the Sharpe books than the older Hornblower or Aubrey-Maturin books.
Stockwin can tell great sea tales about Thomas Kydd, and this book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys military historical fiction or the Napoleonic era.
Action in the Med.......2007-02-13
The year is 1798. HMS Tenacious has been sent from Halifax to join St. Vincent's fleet off Cadiz. They are detached to sail with Admiral Nelson into the Med and find the French fleet. They serve at the Battle of the Nile (Aboukir Bay), then at the retaking of Minorca, the evacuation of Naples, and finally at the defense of Acre against Napoleon's Army (see "Savage Siege" by Adam Hardy).
The novel has good descriptions of blazing action, interspersed with social events on shore which I found a little tedious. One hoped that Kydd would become involved with a woman or two, but that does not seem to happen (unlike Lieutenant Fox of the Adam Hardy series, who at one point found himself with a Turkish harem). I think perhaps the author tried to cover too many actions in the same novel. While descriptions of naval action are well written and interesting, it might have been spiced up with a little more detail. He does not mention, for example, the women aboard English ships at the Nile (see "John Nicol Mariner" for a first hand account) some of whom carried powder to the guns. He does not seem to go into the relationship betweem Nelson and Lady Hamilton, or incidents like Nelson hanging an officer from Naples, said to have been done at the instigation of Lady Hamilton (see James Fennimore Cooper's "Wing-and-wing").
I might add that the poem, "The boy stood on the burning deck...," was about the burning of the French flagship at the Battle of the Nile. It might also be noted that the French still had active ships after the battle, and the English 4th rate Leander was captured by the French ship Genereux 3 days after the battle while in route to Gibraltar carrying news of the battle.
Kydd improves as Stockwyn does........2007-01-14
The earlier Kydd sagas took a bit of fortitude to get through. Clearly, Stockwyn was so invested on seamanship, he did not seem as committed to spinng a page turning yarn. However, as time has gone on, Stockwyn and his hero, Kydd have improved. In this most recent novel, Stockwyn takes us into the presence of Lord Horatio Nelson, through the eyes of Thomas Kydd. It is a fascinating and compelling experience. The story is well told and of course endowed with the qualities of seamanship and historical perspective, which have made Julian Stockwyn a real master of this genre.
One feels the surge of rising along with Kydd, through the clumsy early novels, much like Kydd's clumsy growth before the mast. Now that he has become an officer, there is a greater sophistication to the plots and storylines, which truly make the reader feel the saga as a matter of personal experience.
Bravo Julian Stockwyn for germinating, tending and growing the fascinating, engaging Thomas Kydd!
Another Stockwin home run. .......2007-01-10
Stockwin hits another into the stands with his latest in the saga of Thomas Kydd's Royal Navy career at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Plausible, very readable and addictive. Keep them coming Mr. Stockwin.
Tenacious.......2006-11-12
Outstanding. Stockwin's discription of the Battle of the Nile is first rate. I always wondered why The British captains took a chance by sailing between the anchored French Line of Battle and the shore. Surely the risk of grounding was extremely high. Stockwin explains that the British took note of the way the French were moored, which allowed for their ships to swing at their moorings. Thus giving away the depth of water between ship and shore. Wonderfully discriptive of the recapture of The Island Of Minorca. The mysterious Renzi is revealed to be a much more complex character, and Kydd's standing continues to rise, as does Stockwin. To paraphase Nelson,
"No writer can do very wrong if he places his pen alongside a great yarn"
Book Description
The British crown has placed a price on Jacky's head, and so she returns to the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston to lay low. But laying low isn't in the cards for a spunky lass who finds trouble even when she's not looking for it.
A school outing goes awry as Jacky and her classmates are abducted and forced into the hold of the Bloodhound, a ship bound for the slave markets on the Barbary Coast. All of Jacky's ingenuity, determination, and plain old good luck will be put to the test as she rallies her classmates to fight together to avoid being sold on the auction block in this new installment of the Bloody Jack Adventures.
Customer Reviews:
The Best Jack yet!.......2007-08-29
I have been in love with this series and its heroine since I first picked up the paperback of "Bloody Jack" and saw the incredible string of rave reviews on the back.
"In the Belly of the Bloodhound" takes on the issue of slavery from a totally new slant and still ties in with the series. Better yet, in this book, Meyer brings his villainness, Clarissa Worthington Howe, into full and sharp relief. Clarissa is not your cardboard cut-out villain but a real, flesh-and-blood, stab-you-in-the-back-with-a-smile, uppercrust snob who makes the perfect foil for our Jacky -- and still turns out to be undeniably human and worthy in her own right.
The characters in this book, in particular, are very well drawn.
Bravo!
In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber (Bloody Jack Ad.......2007-08-12
This was a very exciting book that really makes you hungry for the next one. I would definately recommend it!!
Love the series, but the Bloodhound is burlesque.......2007-07-26
My kids and I have thoroughly enjoyed the Adventures of the ingenious Jacky Faber and so I delved into the Bloodhound anticipating the same fast paced action, clever escapades and witty narrative. All three of us were disappointed. The narrative lagged and the detour into memories in London didn't help create suspense. One felt that Mr. Meyer was trying to add filler.
The thing that was most disconcerting for me was the dramatic increase in lewd sexual descriptions:Jacky's daily strip tease acts for the crew, continuous allusions to Sammy Nettles sexual behavior with the captain, then Jacky's encounter with him and finally her "solution" with Clarissa in order to divert suspicion. There was far more sexual content in this book. One began to feel like Jacky herself had become burlesque. In the previous stories, I felt like she liked to flirt but the nature of the exploits on the Bloodhound was lacking in good taste.
I see that book 5 is already out. I hope that Mr. Meyer reverts back to his original formula of witty narrative and fast paced action because Jacky truly is a fabulous little heroine.
Keeps You Wanting More.......2007-06-30
Wow! I just finished this book and I must say that it was great! The full package, really, with humor from about all the characters, a bit of action and although you know what's going to happen(pretty much) from the bookflap summary it keeps you wondering. ALSO, I don't believe this should be read by a 12 year old, more like late 13 year old for some of the content.
This is good stuff and I suggest it greatly! And, thankfully, the new installment of the series comes in September(Though I wish it was sooner).
Another Hit!.......2007-04-17
L.A Meyer has done it again. I love the Bloody Jack series. I teach high school English, and this series, by far, has been my absolute favorite, not the mention a favorite of many students. I cannot wait until Mississippi Jack is released.
Book Description
In the fifth adventure of Thomas Kydd's, he was promoted to acting lieutenant after the bloody Battle of Camperdown in October 1797. Now, he must face an examination to confirm his rank-or face a shameful return before the mast. The questions are hard, the commissioners hardened sailors, and Kydd is anxious.
Customer Reviews:
Must Have Missed Something..........2006-10-11
I ordered this title after finishing Mutiny, the previous book of the series. I consider that title one the better Stockwin novels in the way it integrated the hero, Thomas Kydd, into the momentous events of the Royal Navy's history. Unfortunately, I find that quality missing in Quarterdeck. The novel begins well enough but Thomas Kydd's concerns about being a 'gentleman' seems to me a thin thread on which to hang a narrative. I don't believe the theme was treated with enough depth to sustain the novel. I've been reading through Vanity Fair at the same time which deals much better with the vagaries of the English class system.
Later episodes of the story don't help the book either. The commando style derring-do of the French privateer's sabotage borders on the incredulous. Stockwin does his research, so I might be wrong there. The episode aboard the USS Constellation following the privateer incident is just as bothersome. Thomas Truxtun was known to be obsessed with his stature and idea of him treating with a British junior lieutenant is a bit far-fetched. Benjamin Stoddert, the US Secretary of the Navy, did exchange some signalling information with the British Admiral Vandeput in July, 1798 and a novelist is free to imagine the circumstances of the exchange, but I had hoped for a little more creative imagination.
I was happy when this series started; it's about time that someone wrote about the common sailors in the Age of Sail instead of the silk-stocking officer corps. After all, they were the ones who did most of the fighting and most of the dying, but this series seems to suffer from hasty composition and plotting. Still, it was engaging enough;I did manage to finish the novel instead of hurling it across the room. I can't say that about some others I've tried to read. After Mutiny, I had greater expectations and was disappointed. I don't know if I want to read further.
The Kydd Novels Keep Getting Better.......2006-05-25
"Quarterdeck" is the fifth book in Julian Stockwin's "Kydd" series. These books are set in the Napoleonic-era Royal Navy and follow in the same vein as C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin books.
In the first book, Kydd was initially a pressed seaman, but Kydd has now earned a king's commission and can walk the quarterdeck as a lieutenant. In "Quarterdeck" he serves on a ship-of-the-line sent to the North American station. Although he is filled with the self-doubt of as he tries to live in the world of officers and gentlemen, Kydd enjoys some interesting and original adventures and has a very successful start to his career as an officer in the King's Navy.
Although it has taken a few books, I'm finally truly enjoying Julian Stockwin's books. "Mutiny" was a very good book, and "Quarterdeck" is by far the best of the five "Kydd" novels. Kydd is growing as a character and Stockwin's writing style is developing. Anyone who has enjoyed Horatio Hornblower or Patrick O'Brian will enjoy these books.
Good book in series.......2006-04-22
The fifth book in the Kydd series (see my reviews of _Kydd_, _Artemis_, Seaflower_, and Mutiny_)sees our protagonist promoted to lieutenant and shipped off to North America. It's obvious that Kydd does not fit in with the other officers in the Royal Navy with whom he must serve. He simply comes from a different social class. This is the central theme of the book. The episodes are not as exciting as in the previous books, but this book is pivotal to the growth of Kydd as an officer in the Royal Navy. He is loaned to an American ship as an observer/advisor, where he experiences first hand how people can rise in society based on their merits. When he is offered a position in the American navy, Kydd seriously considers it. This seems like a dream come true. What will he do? Does he stay loyal to king and country, or does he do what millions have done-go with the future and opportunity? This book is interesting in that the conflict he feels is what every potential emigrant must face. One can only imagine one's own ancestors wrestling with the same conflict.
A very highly recommended novel for general readers partial to action/adventure on the high seas.......2006-03-10
Quarterdeck, an intriguing novel by Julian Stockwin, is the fifth book in the "Kydd Sea Adventure" series. Readers will continue to follow Thomas Kydd through his newest adventure as he steps foot onto the 64-gun battleship, the Tenacious. Characterized by hazardous battles and enigmatic heroism, Quarterdeck is a very highly recommended novel for general readers partial to action/adventure on the high seas, as well as a "must" for those already following the Kydd Sea Adventure Series.
A different form of Royal Navy adventure.......2006-02-16
Thomas Kydd has survived the Battle of Camperdown, arriving back home as an acting lieutenant. In wartime, men could advance by their abilities. The novel opens with Kydd being examined for a commission. He does have a champion on the examining board. Having obtained his step up to lieutenant, he is taken in hand by his friend Renzi for training to be a gentlemen. In that regard, his sister Cecilia, now a companion of Lady Stanhope, takes a hand. But when Thomas reports back aboard ship, he finds that the captain is an upperclass prig who does not want tarpaulin lieutenants on "his ship." (That upperclass attitude is reflected in the novels of Frederick Marryat, written in the early 19th century, and did exist in the Royal Navy). The captain attempts to have him removed without success (one can wonder what is left unsaid; was the captain told, perhaps, that Thomas was a friend of Lord Stanhope and known to Admiral Onslow?). In any case, Thomas stays on board, for better or for worse.
Action proceeds, and Thomas finds he can no longer be "one of the guys" before the mast and, at the same time, he does not fit in well with the "gentlemen" officers, having no small talk about foxhunting, society, etc. Thomas makes a few gaffes, getting some unwanted attention from the Admiral, but also distinguishes himself in some detached duties.
He finds himself seconded as a naval observer to the fledgling United States Navy, and making some acquaintances that may show up in the future. Returning to the squadron in Halifax, he obtains some detached duty doing a hydrographic survey, and makes a chance acquaintance with a mysterious, very beautiful young woman whom he invites as his companion to a state function in Halifax which he must attend. That leads to some unexpected results and a sudden rise in social status.
We will have to wait for the sequels to see what further adventures the author has in mind for Thomas.
The novel is generally well researched. My main complaint is that the author seems to have Thomas zipping about at a time when transportation was notoriously slow. Perhaps a few too many adventures in too short a time. The late Patrick O'Brien seemed to have that problem in his novels, but perhaps we can give the author a little literary license. Richard Woodman is generally the best in defining the passage of time in his Drinkwater novels. The present novel might have been aided by the inclusion of a couple or three maps of the areas of action.
Book Description
One of history's most notorious naval insurrections is re-created, as Kydd crosses the Mediterranean to a rendezvous with danger and returns to England—only to find himself caught up in the Nore Mutiny. Kydd is a loyal servant of the King, and he is expected to side with Naval authority against his friends, but how can he? Faced with an impossible decision of duty and conscience, he must find a way to save himself and his fellow sailors.
Customer Reviews:
Mutiny is a tough subject.......2007-08-27
The worst thing you can do is to read the Aubry/Maturin series of Patrick O'Brian and then go to the Julian Stockwin series on Kydd. If you haven't read O'Brian yet, save it until you've gone through Kydd. Unfortunately the O'Brian death has brought his series to the end after twenty generally five star volumes while Stockwin in working on his eighth. O'Brian's literary skills make Stockwin seem almost amateurish. Both do well with the language and customs of the period plus give a good insight into life during that period. But O'Brian's characters are richer, more complex and more interesting. Both recount several historical events dealing with the Napoleonic Wars and add flavor to the study of that period. But, generally, read Kydd first and then dive into volume one of O'Brian's. Should you skip Kydd completely? Stockwin has taken the different tack of starting Kydd as a civilian pressed into naval service and working up from the bottom of the naval hierarchy. We see O'Brian's Aubrey as just attaining the rank of Master and Commander in his first volume. So the starting lines are markedly different. I also think that Stockwin will be better received by the younger reader (teen and upward) as the plots, dialog are much less subtle and easier reading. O'Brian likes to throw curve balls in American vernacular or spinners if were to follow his frequent references to cricket.
Great book.......2007-07-18
Had never read any books by this author before and I was pleasantly surprised. A great read. Thanks for sending it so quickly!
Great Issues Raised by Historical Drama.......2007-04-04
The Kydd series is terrific, and I hope it goes on forever, but Mutiny struck me as particularly worthwhile. The Nore mutiny of 1797 is a completely unfamiliar subject, to American readers at least, and I've never before seen it treated in nautical fiction. It's a brave historical subject that quite possibly pushes conflicting emotional buttons to this day. It raises a host of moral issues that bedevil us all still: duty, loyalty, patriotism, and the means of dealing with outrageous and unbearable oppression. And it manages to be grippingly entertaining in the process!
Perhaps the fact that I almost concurrently read the memoirs of US Revolutionary soldier Joseph Plumb Martin (published as Private Yankee Doodle) heightened my fascination. If any of my compatriots think we jettisoned the British aristocratic mind-set that produced the Nore mutiny ... that'll disabuse them! The arrogance of power didn't hide behind a façade of P.C. democracy in the 18th Century. Perhaps looking at it in its ghastly nakedness can help us to contain it in our own time.
The Kydd series is getting better with each book.......2006-05-25
"Mutiny" is the fourth book in Julian Stockwin's "Kydd" series. These books are set in the Napoleonic-era Royal Navy and follow in the same vein as C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin books.
In the first book, Kydd was initially a pressed seaman, but by "Mutiny" he has worked himself up to a master's mate. After a couple of adventures in the Mediterranean, Kydd ends up embroiled in the Nore mutiny. Stockwin's well-researched account of the mutiny is very well-done.
Although it has taken a few books, I'm finally truly enjoying Julian Stockwin's books. "Mutiny" is the best, most entertaining of the series so far. Kydd is growing as a character and Stockwin's writing style is developing. Anyone who has enjoyed Horatio Hornblower or Patrick O'Brian will enjoy these books.
Exciting book!.......2006-04-15
Book four in the Kydd series is fantastic! (see my reviews of _Kydd_ , _Artemis_ and _Seaflower_) Kydd helps an Italian nobleman escape Italy before the arrival of the French. Later, Kydd becomes embroiled in the fleet mutiny at the Nore where he must decide whether his loyalty to the navy or his mates is stronger (no spoilers here!). His decision is not as obvious as it might seem. How he gets extricated from the mutiny reads like a thriller! Lots of good intrigue. The book ends with Kydd taking charge of a gundeck at the battle of Camperdown. The description of the battle is fantastic. Stockwin puts the reader right in the thick of the action. The imagery is amazing:
p. 316 Renzi saw a midshipman, then the signal lieutenant drop in their tracks, and over at a disabled nine-pounder a corpse exuded blood that made tracks on the deck as the ship rolled and heaved.
Also, Stockwin's writing style is a real joy to read:
p. 318 Her guns opened again with a thunderous broadside, which was answered with equal venom by their opponent-but having practiced over long weeks at sea the English guns spoke faster and truer.
Not only has this series grown on me, but I have come to appreciate Mr. Stockwin's writing. His knowledge of ships and sea, languages, dialects, history and other things is impressive. A tremendous amount of research has gone into these books. The series was slow for me at first, but it has become interesting and exciting. Taken as a whole, it's a great story. At first, Mr. Stockwin set the table; now I'm feasting. I look forward to the next book.
Average customer rating:
- Pearson hits it out of the park--again.
- A "C"-worthy second-hand adventure tale
- So-So
- Delightfully Engrossing
- five stars may be a stretch- but I really liked it
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Seaworthy: Adrift with William Willis in the Golden Age of Rafting
T. R. Pearson
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0307335941
Release Date: 2006-06-27 |
Book Description
Welcome to the daring, thrilling, and downright strange adventures of William Willis, one of the world’s original extreme sportsmen. Driven by an unfettered appetite for personal challenge and a yen for the path of most resistance, Willis mounted a single-handed and wholly unlikely rescue in the jungles of French Guiana and then twice crossed the broad Pacific on rafts of his own design, with only housecats and a parrot for companionship. His first voyage, atop a ten-ton balsa monstrosity, was undertaken in 1954 when Willis was sixty. His second raft, having crossed eleven thousand miles from Peru, found the north shore of Australia shortly after Willis’s seventieth birthday. A marvel of vigor and fitness, William Willis was a connoisseur of ordeal, all but orchestrating short rations, ship-wreck conditions, and crushing solitude on his trans-Pacific voyages.
He’d been inspired by Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl’s bid to prove that a primitive raft could negotiate the open ocean. Willis’s trips confirmed that a primitive man could as well. Willis survived on rye flour and seawater, sang to keep his spirits up, communicated with his wife via telepathy, suffered from bouts of temporary blindness, and eased the intermittent pain of a double hernia by looping a halyard around his ankles and dangling upside-down from his mast.
Rich with vivid detail and wry humor, Seaworthy is the story of a sailor you’ve probably never heard of but need to know. In an age when countless rafts were adrift on the waters of the world, their crews out to shore up one theory of ethno-migration or tear down another, Willis’s challenges remained refreshingly personal. His methods were eccentric, his accomplishments little short of remarkable. Don’t miss the chance to meet this singular monk of the sea.
Customer Reviews:
Pearson hits it out of the park--again........2007-06-05
Anyone familiar with the works of T.R. Pearson will recognize Pearson's distinctive voice in what is, in many respects, not much of a departure from his usual idiom. The only element missing here is dialogue; the storytelling is as compelling, eccentric, and tender as any in his fiction. Clearly Pearson understands that Willis was, shall we say, a man of many demons and compulsions, but never do we get the sense that Pearson really judges the man poorly. Interwoven into Willis's tale is a cast of marginal characters who provide shape and form to a state of mind most of us can only imagine--in our nightmares. No one succeeds at peeling away and gently exposing the foibles of humanity with the same thoughtful precision as T.R. Pearson. One can just never get enough.
A "C"-worthy second-hand adventure tale.......2007-04-04
The presumed subject of this book is William Willis, a quixotic figure who became obsessed with crossing oceans alone in barely seaworthy craft and eventually died during his third attempt at the Atlantic. All the more remarkably, he began this quest when he was sixty-four years old. Based on the title, I expected this to book to focus exclusively on his exploits and provide an in-depth perspective based on original research. Both assumptions proved unfounded.
As if crossing the Pacific Ocean alone, twice, is not interesting enough, a large part of the book consists of retelling other transoceanic raft adventures. These include the famous Kon-Tiki voyage and Alain Bombard's crossing of the Atlantic. As for Willis, Pearson does little more than retell the eccentric voyager's own published accounts, now out of print. Instead of character insights from surviving relatives or witnesses, the only annotations are catty remarks about the adventurer's possible state of mind and lack of preparation, made in retrospect after each of many mishaps. One would think that the subject of being adrift alone in the world's great oceans would lend itself to some reflective prose, or at least some expansive details of life in and on the sea. Instead, the narrative often reads like a nautical log. There are frequent and detailed descriptions of rigging and sail arrangements that I found inaccessible as a non-sailor, and which could have easily been explained or omitted.
The reader is left with the worst of two worlds: neither the authentic voice of the adventurer nor a compelling narrator. Nevertheless, the sheer adventure of the undertakings described here are enough to make the stories interesting reading, even in the retelling.
So-So.......2007-04-03
This book is alright. It is very interesting in some parts, but is also slow and boring in other parts. What bugged me most about the book is that the main character never had any purpose or reason for making his rafting trips. No scientific purpose. No educational purpose. He just wanted to suffer and be alone. I guess he got his wish. I would't really call him a hero as some people do. Just an eccentric man who like to build crappy rafts and sail accross the ocean. I also don't appreciate the authors bashing of a Mormon rafter, who although I'm sure was very eccentric, not really any more so than the main character.
Delightfully Engrossing.......2007-02-15
This is a marvelous read. Adventure, humor & intriguing eccentricity. Don't miss this one.
five stars may be a stretch- but I really liked it.......2007-02-13
I've read another Pearson book or two, and actually didn't even realize this was by him until I'd bought it. I like him a lot and this book was no exception. It is the story of several open ocean, open boat rafting voyages in the 50s and 60s, predominantly, including a little background on Kon-Tiki. Mostly the book centers on William Willis, about as eccentric a fellow as one ever runs across. He'd probably be a base jumper or some kind of adrenalin junkie were he alive today- he was ahead of his time in many ways. Extremely fit and health conscious, and most amazingly to me able to survive for weeks at a time drinking sea water and eating handfuls of grain. He didn't start rafting until he was 60, and made it to Australia from Peru when he was 63. He was also a bit of a contradiction, able to plan and be extremely disciplined, then suddenly making the most monumental decisions on a wing and a prayer, if that.
The stories might seem to tell themselves, but some tell them better than others, and Pearson tells them better than most. He has a nice turn of phrase and is able to inject humor in his observations without disparaging his subjects- unless in the case of one Mormon guy with an issue or two he really intends to. Even in that case he probably cuts the guy more slack than not.
Adventurous, humorous, informative. A quick read and very enjoyable. Highly recommend.
Book Description
This is an extraordinary tale of life aboard what may be one of the last American merchant ships. As the story begins, Andy Chase, who holds a license as a second mate is looking for a ship. In less than ten years, the United States Merchant Marine has shrunk from more than two thousand ships to fewer than four hundred, and Chase faces the scarcity of jobs from which all American merchant mariners have been suffering.
With John McPhee along, Chase finds a job as a second mate aboard the S.S. Stella Lykes, captained by the extraordinary Paul McHenry Washburn. The journey takes them on a forty-two day run down the Pacific coast of South America, with stops to unload and pick up freight at such ports as Cartagena, Valparaiso, Balboa, Lima, and Guayaquil—an area notorious for pirates. As the crew make their ocean voyage, they tell sea stories of other runs and other ships, tales of disaster, stupidity, greed, generosity, and courage. Through the journey itself and the tales told emerge the history and character of a fascinating calling.
Customer Reviews:
Very interesting read.......2003-01-24
If you've ever wondered how the U.S. Merchant Marine works or just want to read a modern seafaring non fiction book, this is the book for you. Great read, very interesting
I guess you just had to be there..........2002-12-08
An excellant book that is at times laugh out loud funny. One of the main characters, Andy, graduated a couple years behind me and I was aquainted with him so it made the book even more real. The people described are defintely the real deal. It's a book that I reread nearly every year.
A bittersweet experience...........2002-06-13
I think I was born wanting to go to sea. I had never even seen an ocean as a kid, but I instinctually seemed to have a knowlege and a love of ships and the sea. As I grew older it puzzled me that the Merchant Marine wasn't considered a viable career choice. It also puzzled me that I never met anyone who had worked in the merchant service later than the early 50's. There was also the fact that the world's biggest industrial powerhouse seemed to have so few American flagged vessels..... Well, this book explains things. You can't get a berth on an American flagged ship for the same reason it is becoming impossible to find a factory job inland- the corporations decided that it was cheaper to hire cheap foreign labor and flag their ships in third world countries to get around taxes and decent working conditions.
That is why reading this book is a bittersweet experience. On the one hand it is great reading about famous captains or modern day pirates, but on the other, you realise that you'll never know any part of such a life. Pretty hard to get a sea card when licensed officers are being "shoved down the hawse-pipe" to serve as deckhands....
When I finished this book I dug out my old Bowditch and sextent and thought about what could have been. Maybe I couldn't have cut it, but damn it, I deserved a chance to find out.
Disorganized, lacking in story, direction.......2001-04-09
This is a very poorly written book. There is no coherence to it, no direction, no real point.
True to life? Yep........2001-01-17
One of the characters in this book, Capt. Paul Washburn, captained the Genevieve Lykes several years before taking the Stella. My father also skippered the Genevieve, and knows most of the officers portrayed in this book. The stories he tells of characters like Dirty Shirt George Price, and of incidents at sea and in port--for instance, standing off pirates (in Vietnam) with fire hoses--mesh perfectly with McPhee's account. Anyone who is interested in the actual American Merchant Marine, rather than a romantic preconception, should read this book, and carefully. But paying careful attention to John McPhee is no more difficult than paying careful attention to a bottle of Dom Perignon.
Books:
- Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power
- Little Big Horn 1876: Custer's Last Stand (Campaign)
- Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman (Library of America)
- Mr. Lincoln's Way
- MY FATHER'S SECRET WAR: A MEMOIR
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
- Nations At Dawn (Formerly Titled: Nations In Darkness)
- Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power
- Personal History
- Rabbit Ears Treasury of Tall Tales: Volume One: Davy Crockett, Rip Van Winkle, Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan (Rabbit Ears)
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