What do you think?
Rate this book
Second Son
199 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
7 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 17, 2021
What an enjoyable read and what a fascinating piece of social history. You have to remember reading this that it was published in 1972, 49 years ago now. You have to remind yourself of this every other page because in so many ways by today's standards this book is quite politically incorrect. It's just a very matter of fact memmoir, full of personal annecdotes and of its time. You can tell many have been exaggerated, but who cares? Who doesn't exaggerate for effect sometimes. You can also tell that this was written before the ages of the internet as the modern reader can fact check some of the stories and there are a few little mistakes, but this only adds to the period charm. For example, Herbert recalls that his WW2 merchant marine transport vessel was torpedoed in December 1943, when in fact it was December 1942.
It's probably best to let an extract speak for itself, so here goes;
On the sinking of his ship in WW2;
"I had often wondered how I would behave if torpedoed; would I be frightened and behave like a coward? Would I panic and useless? I had never been able to decide, but what had not struck me was that I might be surprised, and that is what my reaction was. Like a child who wakes up and has lost his way in bed, I lost my way in the wireless cabin. I could not find the emergency lighting-switch and stumbled about helplessly trying to collect my wits. It seemed a lifetime before I found it.
Cabin doors started opening, people were -beginning to move about. There was the sound of running feet; the native sailors emerged from the peak calling each other in their musical voices; the Goanese stewards, huddled together in groups, were jabbering like frightened monkeys. The ship was coming alive again like a wounded animal.
I recovered and went along to my boss, Bill Banbery's cabin. He was quietly sitting on his bunk, pulling on his trousers. 'Well, we've been pipped at last ! ' he said. 'Oh dear, I've got so many things I'm fond of here.' He looked wistfully at a hideous ebony elephant. 'Goodbye, Rosie,' he said."
It's probably best to let an extract speak for itself, so here goes;
On the sinking of his ship in WW2;
"I had often wondered how I would behave if torpedoed; would I be frightened and behave like a coward? Would I panic and useless? I had never been able to decide, but what had not struck me was that I might be surprised, and that is what my reaction was. Like a child who wakes up and has lost his way in bed, I lost my way in the wireless cabin. I could not find the emergency lighting-switch and stumbled about helplessly trying to collect my wits. It seemed a lifetime before I found it.
Cabin doors started opening, people were -beginning to move about. There was the sound of running feet; the native sailors emerged from the peak calling each other in their musical voices; the Goanese stewards, huddled together in groups, were jabbering like frightened monkeys. The ship was coming alive again like a wounded animal.
I recovered and went along to my boss, Bill Banbery's cabin. He was quietly sitting on his bunk, pulling on his trousers. 'Well, we've been pipped at last ! ' he said. 'Oh dear, I've got so many things I'm fond of here.' He looked wistfully at a hideous ebony elephant. 'Goodbye, Rosie,' he said."
Displaying 1 of 1 review