BookBlog

A record of my thoughts on the books I've read.

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Dragged Aboard: A Cruising Guide for the Reluctant Mate by Don Casey

An alternative title for this book could be Life aboard a cruising boat. It gives the second person on board a feel for what life is like on a cruising boat; typically someone whose passion of life is not sailing, but who would prefer not to be separated from the sailor for long periods. After briefly dismissing the perceived dangers of cruising, the book continues to a discussion of all the aspects of sailing outside of sailing and building boats. Food, cooking, cleaning, health, contact with home.

Cruising in the context of this book seems to be warm-water cruising: coral reefs and mould feature, icebergs and condensation not.

I recommend it to the intended audience.

Saturday, October 11, 2003

Francis Drake by John Cummins

Francis Drake is the famous English sailor privateer, the first Briton to circumnavigate the world. This biography of him shows how his high skills of seamanship allowed him to sail to the West Indies and to terrorize the Spanish settlers there, stealing their treasure and burning their towns. His circumnavigation was not only a first, but also highly profitable: for each pound invested, the backers of the project received forty-two! All of this of course plays off on the background of the conflict between Philip's Catholic Spain and Elizbeth's Protestant England.

Two chapters towards the end of the book looks at what the Spanish and the English wrote about Drake.

I find Drake's story almost impossible to interpret in today's understanding of humanity and international affairs. We do seem to make some progress in justice and responsibility.

We have had endless poems on the military theme; poets have sprouted where no seed had been sown. I swear that there have been more poems than on the battle of Roncevaux, which was a good deal bloodier than this bloodless affair. (A quotation from an unknown author, on the literary results of the events when Las Palmas was spared a landing by Drake's men.)

Saturday, October 04, 2003

The Lady Who Liked Clean Restrooms by James Patrick Donleavy

A silly little novella on a New York divorcee who manages to loose all her settlement money, and who gets it all back because she likes clean restrooms. Not much more to be said about it, or for it. Read it if you want to get a feel for American upper-class behaviour.