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The Captain
The book centers around the specialized Ocean tugboat trade. In 1940 Harinxma, then a young tugboat officer, escapes to Britain. The Kwel company has managed to get away much of its fleet and personnel, one jump ahead of the advancing Germans, and sets up to continue operations from London. Harinxma gets his first command, at an earlier age and under much more difficult conditions than he would otherwise have had, specifically acting as a "rescue boat" for the often suicidal Allied convoys to Murmansk.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1966
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About the author
Jan de Hartog
91 books40 followersJan de Hartog (1914 – 2002) was a Dutch playwright, novelist and occasional social critic who moved to the United States in the early 1960s and became a Quaker. From then on he wrote in English.
At the beginning of his career he wrote five detective novels about the adventures of Commissioner Wiebe Poesiat and inspector Gregor Boyarski at the metropolitan harbor police under the pseudonym F.R. Eckmar
Johannes (Jan) de Hartog was een Nederlandse schrijver van romans, toneelstukken en filmscenario's, vooral gekend om zijn romans over de scheepvaart.
In het begin van zijn carrière schreef hij, onder het pseudoniem F.R. Eckmar, ook een vijftal detectieveromans over de avonturen van commissaris Wiebe Poesiat en inspecteur Gregor Boyarski bij de hoofdstedelijke havenpolitie.
At the beginning of his career he wrote five detective novels about the adventures of Commissioner Wiebe Poesiat and inspector Gregor Boyarski at the metropolitan harbor police under the pseudonym F.R. Eckmar
Johannes (Jan) de Hartog was een Nederlandse schrijver van romans, toneelstukken en filmscenario's, vooral gekend om zijn romans over de scheepvaart.
In het begin van zijn carrière schreef hij, onder het pseudoniem F.R. Eckmar, ook een vijftal detectieveromans over de avonturen van commissaris Wiebe Poesiat en inspecteur Gregor Boyarski bij de hoofdstedelijke havenpolitie.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
June 20, 2019
Worse Things Happen at Sea
A ripping yarn, a wizard adventure. Only Patrick O'Brian holds a candle to Jan de Hartog in authentic tales of the sea. It's the combination of human relations and the relations with the ship itself that does it for me.
Men under stress act in interesting ways. And all men on a ship, not just in time of war, are stressed. They live (or did when Captain was written) more or less in conditions of deprivation - of sleep, of palatable food, of basic comforts like showers and silence, and perhaps most importantly, female influence. Working ships like ocean-going tugs, icebreakers, and most military vessels were traditionally designed and built with accommodation for the crew as a last consideration. Crammed between fuel tanks or below-decks equipment into spaces lacking ventilation, hygiene, and ... well space, it is no exaggeration to say that they were treated worse than animals in a zoo.
And the conditions only get worse at sea: bobbing like a cork, shuddering and sliding with every wave, pounding over and through ice, wet through with no chance of completely drying out, continuously cold with nothing but cold food and cold, undrinkable coffee. The smell of diesel fumes is one that no one really gets accustomed to. If it really gets rough, everyone is sick, even the old salts. In wartime convoys, people die.
And yet men perform their duties. They get up for watch at 3:30 in the morning, stand in the rain or snow and dark for four hours, do their daylight chores and drills, chip paint and paint rust, go back on afternoon watch, then do it again and again. For months on end. None of it very edifying, except at the pen of a master like de Hartog who recognises the stamina, the grit necessary to persevere. And somehow it is the ship, which they simultaneously distrust and love, that allows them to transcend the objective misery of their existence. The ship is a god-like object of faith that mediates their relationships. Its operating, its maintenance, its survival is shared as an existential fact; something that needs no discussion, no explanation or theory. It just is.
De Hartog insistently makes the point that the idea of the ship is very different for military and civilian crews, especially on Dutch ocean-going tugs. This difference goes beyond spit-and-polish versus slovenly make-do-and-mend. De Hartog's portrayal of the culture of high seas towing and salvage is clearly based on the old Dutch 'sleepdienst' company L. Smit & Co. Smit became known as the 'vulture of the seas,' as well as the more romantic Hollands Glorie, because it made its money by being the first on scene anywhere in the world to claim salvage rights for vessels in distress. Smit's fleet of huge tugs were strategically placed to offer assistance ... as soon as everyone was off the stricken vessel in order to establish salvage, but not a moment before.
Life on Smit tugs wasn't governed by military discipline but by mutual confidence in competence and respect for the ship. But the relationships are more than that of camaraderies among heavy equipment operators. De Hartog plays on the tension between the naval commander of the convoy and the tug captain to great effect. Both their motivations and their methods of command are fundamentally incompatible. Warships are machines run on fear of the consequences of disobedience. Tugs are organic entities powered by a sort of hive-mind which is as delicate as lace. The former operates by rote procedure, the latter by experiential skills. The convoy commander wants to get as many ships as possible to Murmansk. The tug captain wants to get a single ship through the war, his.
No glorification of war. No romanticising of life at sea. No sympathy for loneliness and discomfort. Just a stirring tale of quiet persistence.
A ripping yarn, a wizard adventure. Only Patrick O'Brian holds a candle to Jan de Hartog in authentic tales of the sea. It's the combination of human relations and the relations with the ship itself that does it for me.
Men under stress act in interesting ways. And all men on a ship, not just in time of war, are stressed. They live (or did when Captain was written) more or less in conditions of deprivation - of sleep, of palatable food, of basic comforts like showers and silence, and perhaps most importantly, female influence. Working ships like ocean-going tugs, icebreakers, and most military vessels were traditionally designed and built with accommodation for the crew as a last consideration. Crammed between fuel tanks or below-decks equipment into spaces lacking ventilation, hygiene, and ... well space, it is no exaggeration to say that they were treated worse than animals in a zoo.
And the conditions only get worse at sea: bobbing like a cork, shuddering and sliding with every wave, pounding over and through ice, wet through with no chance of completely drying out, continuously cold with nothing but cold food and cold, undrinkable coffee. The smell of diesel fumes is one that no one really gets accustomed to. If it really gets rough, everyone is sick, even the old salts. In wartime convoys, people die.
And yet men perform their duties. They get up for watch at 3:30 in the morning, stand in the rain or snow and dark for four hours, do their daylight chores and drills, chip paint and paint rust, go back on afternoon watch, then do it again and again. For months on end. None of it very edifying, except at the pen of a master like de Hartog who recognises the stamina, the grit necessary to persevere. And somehow it is the ship, which they simultaneously distrust and love, that allows them to transcend the objective misery of their existence. The ship is a god-like object of faith that mediates their relationships. Its operating, its maintenance, its survival is shared as an existential fact; something that needs no discussion, no explanation or theory. It just is.
De Hartog insistently makes the point that the idea of the ship is very different for military and civilian crews, especially on Dutch ocean-going tugs. This difference goes beyond spit-and-polish versus slovenly make-do-and-mend. De Hartog's portrayal of the culture of high seas towing and salvage is clearly based on the old Dutch 'sleepdienst' company L. Smit & Co. Smit became known as the 'vulture of the seas,' as well as the more romantic Hollands Glorie, because it made its money by being the first on scene anywhere in the world to claim salvage rights for vessels in distress. Smit's fleet of huge tugs were strategically placed to offer assistance ... as soon as everyone was off the stricken vessel in order to establish salvage, but not a moment before.
Life on Smit tugs wasn't governed by military discipline but by mutual confidence in competence and respect for the ship. But the relationships are more than that of camaraderies among heavy equipment operators. De Hartog plays on the tension between the naval commander of the convoy and the tug captain to great effect. Both their motivations and their methods of command are fundamentally incompatible. Warships are machines run on fear of the consequences of disobedience. Tugs are organic entities powered by a sort of hive-mind which is as delicate as lace. The former operates by rote procedure, the latter by experiential skills. The convoy commander wants to get as many ships as possible to Murmansk. The tug captain wants to get a single ship through the war, his.
No glorification of war. No romanticising of life at sea. No sympathy for loneliness and discomfort. Just a stirring tale of quiet persistence.
November 30, 2013
Years ago when my mother moved out of her last house, she cleverly unloaded a considerable collection of books on me. They caused a little family friction at times since one contingent would like to dispose of all we are unlikely to read and another thinks we should keep all we might sometime read. Guess which side I’m on.
There are some that truly generate no interest. But then there are surprises, books which don’t hold much promise but turn out great. The latest one we discovered is The Captain. It’s an incredible chronicle of a converted tugboat used to rescue sailors from sunken convoy ships in the North Atlantic in World War II.
More important, it is the story of a man’s growth from innocence to fear to terror to cowardice to finally conscience and understanding of the inhumanity of the wanton, mass destruction of human life in modern warfare. The Captain presents a convincing argument for conscientious objection to war.
I find it hard to take a position that pacifism is the only answer under all circumstances. Would I willingly submit to Nazi rule or live under Idi Amin, Hussein or any of the other tyrannical dictators who thought nothing of killing innocent people? No. But for me, the need must be a direct threat on what we hold dear, not some politician’s concept of a vague threat to our politics or economy. Those struggles call for constructive, not destructive, action. De Hartog might ask, are we any better than those butchers when we send our citizens out to be killed?
This is a book well worth reading.
There are some that truly generate no interest. But then there are surprises, books which don’t hold much promise but turn out great. The latest one we discovered is The Captain. It’s an incredible chronicle of a converted tugboat used to rescue sailors from sunken convoy ships in the North Atlantic in World War II.
More important, it is the story of a man’s growth from innocence to fear to terror to cowardice to finally conscience and understanding of the inhumanity of the wanton, mass destruction of human life in modern warfare. The Captain presents a convincing argument for conscientious objection to war.
I find it hard to take a position that pacifism is the only answer under all circumstances. Would I willingly submit to Nazi rule or live under Idi Amin, Hussein or any of the other tyrannical dictators who thought nothing of killing innocent people? No. But for me, the need must be a direct threat on what we hold dear, not some politician’s concept of a vague threat to our politics or economy. Those struggles call for constructive, not destructive, action. De Hartog might ask, are we any better than those butchers when we send our citizens out to be killed?
This is a book well worth reading.
July 20, 2014
I have always thought of this book as one of my most favorite book! After rereading it for the first time since the 60's I got a fresh perspective on why this particular book struck such a strong cord with me. The story of the young Dutch tug boat Captain on an extremely hazardous trip, acting as a rescue ship for a convoy en-route to Murmamsk. while under almost constant attack form German air and U-Boats. His description of the war action is vivid and compelling and coupled with the struggles that he faces as Captain in gaining the confidence in and authority over his small crew and then coping with the progressive and debilitating fear that he had to deal with makes this book a masterpiece!
Jan de Hartog dramatically illustrates the horrors of war and the impact on those seeing humanity at its worst!
Jan de Hartog dramatically illustrates the horrors of war and the impact on those seeing humanity at its worst!
November 21, 2010
This is the third or fourth time I read this in as many decades. It's still excellent.
February 12, 2009
One of my all time favorite books.
February 22, 2017
So many years ago can't review...but love everything by this author
August 10, 2016
The story of a very young Dutch sea captain who finds himself at the helm of the world's largest ocean-going tug, escorting a convoy of ships through the hell of war. After attack from U-boots and bombers, ships are sunk, and men are killed. Written in the first person, the captain provides a vivid and personal account why the Allies' fight was a just one. He provides detailed accounts of life on a tug-boat, and recounts the horror of the wanton slaughter and destruction of war. These details don't overwhelm, they provide a framework for a thoughtful and gripping presentation of the mental agony that accompanies war. Each of his men struggles with fear in a different way, and he addresses each of them as best he can. Eventually, he realizes that the symptoms of fear and the symptoms of a rejection of brutality might be hard to distinguish. There are a couple of wartime love stories, some political/military intrigue, it's a great read.
de Hartog is a Dutch born writer who was one of my (Dutch immigrant) mother's favorite authors. Here is what she wrote about him, after a visit to Middletown's great library:
de Hartog is a Dutch born writer who was one of my (Dutch immigrant) mother's favorite authors. Here is what she wrote about him, after a visit to Middletown's great library:
From there I spent a quality hour-and-a-half in the fabulous public library. There, I was happy to find a novel by one of my favorite authors, Dutch-born Jan de Hartog, a great writer who, persecuted by the Nazi's during World War II, fled to England (and eventually the U.S.A.), and switched from writing powerful Dutch to writing equally powerful English....
May 27, 2019
Thought I had already added a review!
I originally read this book back when I was a SUNY Maritime cadet on my first (Mug) training cruise on the TS Empire State IV. It would have been June of 1968. My memories of the book had faded beyond that it dealt with a Dutch mariner and ocean going tugs, along with a detail about what caused a maneuvering incident.
The book is out of print, so to re-read it I ran it down in the Suffolk County Library system and borrowed it through my local branch. It only took a few days to re-read it... and realize why I enjoyed it. The author had sea going experience. In addition, by the time he wrote this book he had become a Quaker and became very anti-war. When I first read the book the US involvement in Viet Nam was at it's height, as were anti-war protest. As a cadet at Maritime I was somewhat isolated from those protest. If it were not for a gratuitous circumstance (a job offer fell in my lap) I would have gone active duty in the US Navy on graduation, and although I would not have delibrately avoided service in Viet Nam I also would not have volunteered for it....
And now I find that, like the lead character in The Captain, I too have become an opponent of war and violence.
Anyway, if you can find a copy this book is well worth reading!
I originally read this book back when I was a SUNY Maritime cadet on my first (Mug) training cruise on the TS Empire State IV. It would have been June of 1968. My memories of the book had faded beyond that it dealt with a Dutch mariner and ocean going tugs, along with a detail about what caused a maneuvering incident.
The book is out of print, so to re-read it I ran it down in the Suffolk County Library system and borrowed it through my local branch. It only took a few days to re-read it... and realize why I enjoyed it. The author had sea going experience. In addition, by the time he wrote this book he had become a Quaker and became very anti-war. When I first read the book the US involvement in Viet Nam was at it's height, as were anti-war protest. As a cadet at Maritime I was somewhat isolated from those protest. If it were not for a gratuitous circumstance (a job offer fell in my lap) I would have gone active duty in the US Navy on graduation, and although I would not have delibrately avoided service in Viet Nam I also would not have volunteered for it....
And now I find that, like the lead character in The Captain, I too have become an opponent of war and violence.
Anyway, if you can find a copy this book is well worth reading!
February 17, 2016
The tugboat is a Holland rescue ship on a British convoy up and around the Arctic Circle that goes to Russia on one side and Canada on the other. The first person narrator is the Dutch captain. This is a totally absorbing story with a strong anti-war message. The only winners are the lucky ones who don't get killed.
What makes it different and fascinating is its stress on the interpersonal strains between members of the same team, be they subordinates, foreign allies, military shrinks, or the ship designers. It deals with the psychological trauma and soul shattering effects of getting hit by the U-Boats and planes at the same time. Lots of inside stuff, tricks of the trade, keep it interesting throughout.
Recommended highly for a leadership academy.
What makes it different and fascinating is its stress on the interpersonal strains between members of the same team, be they subordinates, foreign allies, military shrinks, or the ship designers. It deals with the psychological trauma and soul shattering effects of getting hit by the U-Boats and planes at the same time. Lots of inside stuff, tricks of the trade, keep it interesting throughout.
Recommended highly for a leadership academy.
August 19, 2009
Since my father, named Jan but changed to John as he grew older, was a Dutchman like DeHartog, perhaps I felt a special kinship to this author. I wrote a fan letter to him when he was very old and he kindly inscribed (in trembling hand) a bookplate which I had enclosed to be pasted in my copy of this book.
All his sea books are dramatic and many follow the same character as he rises in the ranks of the merchant marine and Dutch Navy (in wartime).
A sweet, tough sailor.
All his sea books are dramatic and many follow the same character as he rises in the ranks of the merchant marine and Dutch Navy (in wartime).
A sweet, tough sailor.
March 6, 2023
Today, December 20, 2022 I am sitting here doing my floor exercises listening to Steve Goodman and other artists on my Pandora account, and he singing “The Dutchman.”
This song is so evocative and it caused me to remember that I had read a book back in my high school days/daze called “The Captain” by Jan de Hartog.
I remember it as a fantastic war story of the Dutch resistance in WWII via the captain of a Dutch tugboat. I think I’m inspired to re-read it!
This song is so evocative and it caused me to remember that I had read a book back in my high school days/daze called “The Captain” by Jan de Hartog.
I remember it as a fantastic war story of the Dutch resistance in WWII via the captain of a Dutch tugboat. I think I’m inspired to re-read it!
April 3, 2012
Long before this peace loving Quaker author wrote the likes of The Peaceable Kingdom, he had a succession of WWII novels based on his sea-going experiences with The Captain being the most polished. It explores the interactions of men and women under stress–to include the notions of trust and loyalty.
May 11, 2011
Griping adventure on the high seas during WWII. The maturation of a young man into the captain of a Dutch deep sea tug pressed into service on the Murmansk run by the British. Action, adventure, and coming of age during a time of brutal events.
November 19, 2013
Really, really good. Well worth the read if only for the descriptions-- which were not overheavy, but very real and nice-- and if not that, then for the emotions. What a story. I loved it. The only caution I would give is for language and content. There is a lot of gore, as well.
February 17, 2014
Jan de Hartog walked the walk and talked the talk. His fictionalized story of a young captain taking over as master of a salvage/escort tug on the Murmansk run during WWII is the perfect blend of drama, angst, horror, tragedy and seafaring lore. I highly recommend this book and its sequels.
August 16, 2015
An anti-war work told by the fictitious Dutch captain of an ocean-going tug on the Murmansk run during World War II. It drags in some places but the "sea story" is good in portraying the gauntlet of German subs and aircraft that convoys had to run in order to deliver the goods.
September 3, 2011
It started off as a simple nautical tale of a man who is swept up into the 2nd World War, and then surprisingly turns into an examination of the morality of war.
June 8, 2013
boek is feitelijk een bewerking van het boek "Mary".
October 18, 2020
As an adolescent, I read author, Jan de Hartog's book, THE CAPTAIN, as a straight narrative of a captain of a Dutch tugboat which had been commandeered as a rescue ship serving a convoy in the Arctic Ocean on their way to Murmansk, Russia. This took place during WWII and the story itself is an exciting and harrowing one of adventure and risk. As such it made for great reading and I remember reading it several times, piecing together the unknown nautical and military terms as best I could and tried to make sense of what was happening. Some of it remained mystifying, yet I only recall getting great satisfaction from it and a feeling of gratitude that I would probably never be called upon to face such dangers.
I recently lost all my beloved books in a wildfire and this book was one of them, in the form of a Reader's Digest Condensed version. I have been slowly and circumspectly, rebuilding my lost library, with the proviso this time around, that I will only give house room to books I really cherish. It may seem funny to some that I would want to replace a copy of an abridged book, but I not only loved this story, but the others in that particular volume as well!
In re-reading THE CAPTAIN, after a hiatus of at least 40 years, I was startled to find that it an almost completely different book than I remembered! Before I get into what it is, let me state quickly what it is not. Per the cover blurb, it is: "A powerful story of the Murmansk convoys and of a man's inner battle over a woman's love." Now, maybe in the unabridged version, it is just that. However, I can only speak for what comes across in this condensed form and it is emphatically, NOT that. Oh, there's a woman who features in the life of a young Canadian officer and later, she figures very briefly in the Captain's life. However, she remains peripheral to the plot.
In fact, the whole plot, which deals with the horrors of war and the attendant human costs, both in soul and body, is merely a surface vehicle providing a platform for the message. It is this message that eluded the younger me. This is an anti-war book, but one which I think most people, veterans alike, would agree with. Not having ever seen action or suffered from any physical attack, I will nonetheless go out on a limb and say that almost any condition is preferable to war. The reason given in this book is because of the way war dehumanizes people, regardless of their beliefs, politics or goals. I can't imagine any argument with that. There are those who feel that war is sometimes inevitable or even necessary under certain circumstances and I can't argue with that either. If I am reading this book correctly, that is the very dilemma that the author is addressing. At the end, his main character can't deliver a definitive answer either.
If anyone has read this far, I apologize for being so verbose. I started out just wanting to note the difference in what I understood as a youth compared with the essence I got as an older adult. What this really proves to me is, that likes so many great books, it works well on many levels. If you are a youngster, you will enjoy the adventure. If you are war-weary, you will appreciate the solace that others have reacted the same way. If you have observed life at its best and worst forms, you will ride a roller-coaster of feelings as the Captain here swings through several arcs of emotions.
Thank you author, Jan de Hartog, for writing a book for the ages and thank you, Reader's Digest Condensed Books for finding the best works each season and putting them into a format that made it possible for a 15 year-old to enjoy reading the same, yet not the same, storyfor over 50 years!
I recently lost all my beloved books in a wildfire and this book was one of them, in the form of a Reader's Digest Condensed version. I have been slowly and circumspectly, rebuilding my lost library, with the proviso this time around, that I will only give house room to books I really cherish. It may seem funny to some that I would want to replace a copy of an abridged book, but I not only loved this story, but the others in that particular volume as well!
In re-reading THE CAPTAIN, after a hiatus of at least 40 years, I was startled to find that it an almost completely different book than I remembered! Before I get into what it is, let me state quickly what it is not. Per the cover blurb, it is: "A powerful story of the Murmansk convoys and of a man's inner battle over a woman's love." Now, maybe in the unabridged version, it is just that. However, I can only speak for what comes across in this condensed form and it is emphatically, NOT that. Oh, there's a woman who features in the life of a young Canadian officer and later, she figures very briefly in the Captain's life. However, she remains peripheral to the plot.
In fact, the whole plot, which deals with the horrors of war and the attendant human costs, both in soul and body, is merely a surface vehicle providing a platform for the message. It is this message that eluded the younger me. This is an anti-war book, but one which I think most people, veterans alike, would agree with. Not having ever seen action or suffered from any physical attack, I will nonetheless go out on a limb and say that almost any condition is preferable to war. The reason given in this book is because of the way war dehumanizes people, regardless of their beliefs, politics or goals. I can't imagine any argument with that. There are those who feel that war is sometimes inevitable or even necessary under certain circumstances and I can't argue with that either. If I am reading this book correctly, that is the very dilemma that the author is addressing. At the end, his main character can't deliver a definitive answer either.
If anyone has read this far, I apologize for being so verbose. I started out just wanting to note the difference in what I understood as a youth compared with the essence I got as an older adult. What this really proves to me is, that likes so many great books, it works well on many levels. If you are a youngster, you will enjoy the adventure. If you are war-weary, you will appreciate the solace that others have reacted the same way. If you have observed life at its best and worst forms, you will ride a roller-coaster of feelings as the Captain here swings through several arcs of emotions.
Thank you author, Jan de Hartog, for writing a book for the ages and thank you, Reader's Digest Condensed Books for finding the best works each season and putting them into a format that made it possible for a 15 year-old to enjoy reading the same, yet not the same, storyfor over 50 years!
July 7, 2024
This. The pinnacle of my reading over 19 years. My favorite book to ever exist and with one of the most beautiful stories I have ever heard. Where to begin with perfection, I know not, but I do know that every reader has that once-in-a-lifetime book that makes them stop and realize that story is theirs and it speaks to them like no other. This is mine. As a part of a small family that travels often to small historic towns where the most exciting place to be is an antique shop, I found myself just so. Leaning down and reaching into an old smelly wooden box and plucking the blue book out. It smelled like it came right out of a time capsule... and I loved it. After fiendishly reading at the expense of my grades slipping briefly, I emerged with the greatest sense of accomplishment and awe I had ever experienced. This story is seemingly nothing special, and truly the plot is not altogether too dynamic. But the writing is where the magic lies. Only a few chapters in you will feel as though these characters are your neighbors or your own family, you will dwell on their predicaments and personalities even after setting the book down. There is something fantastic about old writing, and this book showcases it best. Read it or don't, I wanted this community to know that your book is out there so keep on reading.
November 12, 2020
this is another covid book, which sits on my shelf and I picked back up because I'm too lazy to hit the library in the limited time that it's open. This novel was an important one for me in my youth, because it informed my decision to seek conscientious objector status during the Vietnam war. The author's experiences in WWII helped him to become a Quaker and that experience helped him write this war novel -- which is as far from Hornblower as you can get. Here's the crucial quote: "... military training is to sign a pact with violence, and to hand the ultimate moral decision -- to kill or not to kill --over to a faceless committee of men who, by their very training and indoctrination, consider genocide a legitimate means of settling human disputes."
December 6, 2019
Jan de Hartog has written many accounts of WWII and this is among his best. The Captain is in charge of a Sea Going tugboat during convoy duty in the North Atlantic. The book is similar to link: Pitchblende 1 in that it depicts life on "The Murmansk Run" taking supplies to support Russia against the Germans. It is immersive reading the will please even the most skeptical. I highly recommend this book.
May 30, 2020
Interesting. It only took me forty years to actually finish this book. I noted that I had a bookmark in it from 1978 or so stuck into chapter two...which is I guess as far as I got then. Not sure what I would have made of this WWII novel about a Dutch tugboat Captain who goes on two missions in arctic waters escorting ships under fire to Russia. It is about that but more about his personal journey of enlightenment into pacifism. Not sure I would have understood that part of the journey but an interesting viewpoint in 1966 when he wrote it.
July 19, 2025
Een boek over mannen op zee in oorlogstijd. Veel van geleerd over de realiteit van de zee-oorlog in de eerste oorlogsjaren. Een persoonlijk verhaal dat door het gebruik van de ik-vorm, realistische beschrijvingen en emotionele ontwikkeling van de hoofdpersoon echt overtuigend op me overkwam. Geen jongensboek, waarvoor ik het door de kaft wel even hield; thematiek vond ik veel diepgaander dan een standaard heldhaftig zeeslagrelaas. Wat me verraste aan het einde, is dat het ook een anti-oorlogsboek is, met een pacifistische inslag.
November 30, 2020
Twice a year I pull my well-worn hardcover off of the shelf to sit down with one of my favorite works of all time. This is one of those rare titles that I can recommend without care of my own explanation to its merits. Some will hate it, but some will adore it and draw something new from its pages upon each read.
January 30, 2017
Tale of Dutch captain of a sea-going tugboat on convoy duty during WW II, including the dangerous Murmansk run. Interesting but runs out of gas -- too much trivia about psychology. And long, too: 434 pages.
July 16, 2020
Uit de boedel van Josephine, gelezen omdat het geschreven is door de man die ook Hollands Glorie schreef en dat was een boek dat ik altijd met mijn vader zal associeren. Duidelijk gedateerd maar in zijn soort een geweldig boek over de sleepvaart in de tweede wereldoorlog.
July 11, 2018
A really well written story that caught my imagination through its plot and detail. Totally enjoyable.
October 16, 2020
Fantastic addition to the war in the Atlantic. A flawed and at times unlikable protagonist - therfore, perfect.
June 14, 2021
Good book. I’m glad that Emilie bought this at an antique shop and that she talked me into reading it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews