What do you think?
Rate this book
Ocean
Five shipwrecked passengers fight panic, thirst, and the sea itself
One minute, sailor Joseph Curtain is in his bunk. The next, he is submerged in the ocean. A German torpedo has struck the Aurora, and she is sinking fast. Curtain makes his way to a lifeboat and guides the survivors aboard. There are only six of them, and when the submarine's machine gun rakes the side of their boat, the number dwindles to five. Alongside Curtain are three men of various character and an elderly chaplain who is too sick to speak. Hope is slim, but Curtain will do what he must to survive.
He organizes the party into watches, rationing their food and enforcing strict discipline. But as their time in the boat stretches on, Curtain realizes that this tiny craft and its flagging crew are hardly a match for the power of the ocean.
One minute, sailor Joseph Curtain is in his bunk. The next, he is submerged in the ocean. A German torpedo has struck the Aurora, and she is sinking fast. Curtain makes his way to a lifeboat and guides the survivors aboard. There are only six of them, and when the submarine's machine gun rakes the side of their boat, the number dwindles to five. Alongside Curtain are three men of various character and an elderly chaplain who is too sick to speak. Hope is slim, but Curtain will do what he must to survive.
He organizes the party into watches, rationing their food and enforcing strict discipline. But as their time in the boat stretches on, Curtain realizes that this tiny craft and its flagging crew are hardly a match for the power of the ocean.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
9 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
James Hanley
77 books13 followersBorn in Kirkdale, Liverpool, in 1897 (not Dublin, nor 1901 as he generally implied) to a working-class family, Hanley probably left school in 1911 and worked as a clerk, before going to sea in 1915 at the age of 17 (not 13 as he again implied). Thus life at sea was a formative influence and much of his early writing is about seamen.
Then, in April 1917, Hanley jumped ship in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, and shortly thereafter joined the Canadian Army in Fredericton, NB. Hanley fought in France in the summer of 1918, but was invalided out shortly thereafter. He then went to Toronto, Canada, for two months, in the winter of 1919, to be demobbed, before returning to Liverpool on 28 March 1919. He may have taken one final voyage before working as a railway porter in Bootle. In addition to working as a railway porter, he devoted himself "to a prodiguous range of autodidactic, high cultural activities – learning the piano ...attending ... concerts ... reading voraciously and, above all, writing." It is also probable that he later worked at a number of other jobs, while writing fiction in his spare time. However, it was not until 1929 that his novel Drift was accepted, and this was published in March, 1930.
Then, in April 1917, Hanley jumped ship in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, and shortly thereafter joined the Canadian Army in Fredericton, NB. Hanley fought in France in the summer of 1918, but was invalided out shortly thereafter. He then went to Toronto, Canada, for two months, in the winter of 1919, to be demobbed, before returning to Liverpool on 28 March 1919. He may have taken one final voyage before working as a railway porter in Bootle. In addition to working as a railway porter, he devoted himself "to a prodiguous range of autodidactic, high cultural activities – learning the piano ...attending ... concerts ... reading voraciously and, above all, writing." It is also probable that he later worked at a number of other jobs, while writing fiction in his spare time. However, it was not until 1929 that his novel Drift was accepted, and this was published in March, 1930.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 30, 2019
I wish 19 years ago I had kept something that I know I had. It was a review from a literary periodical that listed 3 books as, I recall, Irish classics that were under-appreciated. And they were older works so I got all three of them from used book stores. Two I am sure of, this book The Ocean (James Hanley, 1941) and The Barracks (John McGahern). I believe the third one was Langrishe, Go Down by Aidan Higgins (1966). I think after reading those three books I grew to appreciate Irish fiction and it has stayed with me since. I wish I remembered the review article! James Hanley appears to be an under-appreciated writer today.
January 3, 2021
What a curious little book this was - quite different from anything I'd expected. Lots of internal monologue and powerful combination of the dangers from the physical and mental worlds.
I'd have said 3.5 stars, but opted for rounding up because I just found it quite difficult at times and gave it the benefit of the doubt: might have been four if I'd been better able to follow.
A passenger ship is torpedoed and sunk somewhere in the Atlantic during WWI. A sailor and four passengers make it into a lifeboat and have to hope to be picked up by another ship sometime soon. The story is about this time on the boat, the interactions between the men as well as what's going on in their minds, with the main focus on the sailor, who has to keep everything together with his skill and experience of the ocean. The tensions and doubts, which pose just as big a danger as the ocean, are powerfully portrayed.
I'd have said 3.5 stars, but opted for rounding up because I just found it quite difficult at times and gave it the benefit of the doubt: might have been four if I'd been better able to follow.
A passenger ship is torpedoed and sunk somewhere in the Atlantic during WWI. A sailor and four passengers make it into a lifeboat and have to hope to be picked up by another ship sometime soon. The story is about this time on the boat, the interactions between the men as well as what's going on in their minds, with the main focus on the sailor, who has to keep everything together with his skill and experience of the ocean. The tensions and doubts, which pose just as big a danger as the ocean, are powerfully portrayed.
September 5, 2011
Took a little while for me to get into the flow of it, but ultimately I really appreciated how Hanley took a sortof cliched situation (five men lost at sea on a lifeboat) and made it seem completely real. No sensationalism, no "character archetypes", just five random men who are sick and thirsty. By the end I was completely sucked in, and the ending, such as it was, came as a relief.
April 6, 2023
Hanley wrote a modernist classic. His own unique blend of direct/simple prose and interior dialogue. Those who enjoy the existentialists will appreciate this novel as well. The Ocean is suspenseful, gripping and well-written; extremely under-appreciated within the literary canon. Highly recommended.
Read
September 15, 2017start with ship going down and end with hand reaching from land.
few men in boat and one takes charge.
Ocean in vast and irrefutable, so looking at it or thinking about it are also vast and
irrefutable
few men in boat and one takes charge.
Ocean in vast and irrefutable, so looking at it or thinking about it are also vast and
irrefutable
June 30, 2013
It was like a black and white movie in my head; slow and flowing at the same time..
April 4, 2023
I could not get into this story. I didn’t relate to the writing, the story, or the characters.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews