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The Navigator
West, Morris, Navigator, The
425 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
20 people are currently reading
286 people want to read
About the author
Morris L. West
133 books174 followersMorris Langlo West was born in St Kilda, Melbourne in 1916. At the age of fourteen, he entered the Christian Brothers seminary ‘as a kind of refuge’ from a difficult childhood. He attended the University of Melbourne and worked as a teacher. In 1941 he left the Christian Brothers without taking final vows. In World War II he worked as a code-breaker, and for a time he was private secretary to former prime minister Billy Hughes.
After the war, West became a successful writer and producer of radio serials. In 1955 he left Australia to build an international career as a writer. With his family, he lived in Austria, Italy, England and the USA, including a stint as the Vatican correspondent for the British newspaper, the Daily Mail. He returned to Australia in 1982.
Morris West wrote 30 books and many plays, and several of his novels were adapted for film. His books were published in 28 languages and sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. Each new book he wrote after he became an established writer sold more than one million copies.
West received many awards and accolades over his long writing career, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the W.H. Heinemann Award of the Royal Society of Literature for The Devil's Advocate. In 1978 he was elected a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1985, and was made an Officer of the Order (AO) in 1997.
Morris West died at his desk in 1999.
After the war, West became a successful writer and producer of radio serials. In 1955 he left Australia to build an international career as a writer. With his family, he lived in Austria, Italy, England and the USA, including a stint as the Vatican correspondent for the British newspaper, the Daily Mail. He returned to Australia in 1982.
Morris West wrote 30 books and many plays, and several of his novels were adapted for film. His books were published in 28 languages and sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. Each new book he wrote after he became an established writer sold more than one million copies.
West received many awards and accolades over his long writing career, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the W.H. Heinemann Award of the Royal Society of Literature for The Devil's Advocate. In 1978 he was elected a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1985, and was made an Officer of the Order (AO) in 1997.
Morris West died at his desk in 1999.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
September 2, 2025
Aug 28 ~~ Review asap. Have to catch up with a few.
Sep 2 ~~ Anytime there is a need to elect a new Pope I think of The Shoes Of The Fisherman. I wanted to re-read it during the (fairly) recent conclave, but couldn't find it in my bookcases.
I did find this book, by the same author. So I decided another author project was justified and I ordered the four books of the Vatican series, plus another stand alone, but I wanted to read this one first.
Finished it during the week my computer fried, which is my alibi for the delay in this review. Not that it matters when a review gets written, but I am notorious for including odd details about the books I read. The Navigator will forever be associated in my memory with the death of DeliaLaptop.
Meanwhile, I knew I had read this book many years ago, but I was surprised to find that it was not about Prince Henry of Portugal, known as The Navigator. I had read about him many years ago also, and until I opened this book I was expecting a completely different main character. I will have to make another bookcase search to see if I can find Prince Henry.
Anyway, here our Navigator is Gunnar Thorkild. He teaches at the university in Hawaii, is part Polynesian and part European, knows the traditional ways to sail the ocean, has a grandfather who is about to die and needs his help to get to the legendary island where all Navigators go when it is their time.
Gunnar also has things to prove: his own theories about that legendary island, for one thing. And that he deserves to have tenure at the University. We meet him just as he has been turned down for that juicy deal but has been offered a six month study project to find a ship, get a crew, and go out and prove his theories.
Can he do all of that? Time and the tide will tell.
It was a great story but I was surprised at certain behaviors that I did not expect in the situation the characters found themselves in. Don't get annoyed, I can't say much else or give other details because I do hate to reveal major plot points when they are so much more fun for any reader to discover on their own.
Sep 2 ~~ Anytime there is a need to elect a new Pope I think of The Shoes Of The Fisherman. I wanted to re-read it during the (fairly) recent conclave, but couldn't find it in my bookcases.
I did find this book, by the same author. So I decided another author project was justified and I ordered the four books of the Vatican series, plus another stand alone, but I wanted to read this one first.
Finished it during the week my computer fried, which is my alibi for the delay in this review. Not that it matters when a review gets written, but I am notorious for including odd details about the books I read. The Navigator will forever be associated in my memory with the death of DeliaLaptop.
Meanwhile, I knew I had read this book many years ago, but I was surprised to find that it was not about Prince Henry of Portugal, known as The Navigator. I had read about him many years ago also, and until I opened this book I was expecting a completely different main character. I will have to make another bookcase search to see if I can find Prince Henry.
Anyway, here our Navigator is Gunnar Thorkild. He teaches at the university in Hawaii, is part Polynesian and part European, knows the traditional ways to sail the ocean, has a grandfather who is about to die and needs his help to get to the legendary island where all Navigators go when it is their time.
Gunnar also has things to prove: his own theories about that legendary island, for one thing. And that he deserves to have tenure at the University. We meet him just as he has been turned down for that juicy deal but has been offered a six month study project to find a ship, get a crew, and go out and prove his theories.
Can he do all of that? Time and the tide will tell.
It was a great story but I was surprised at certain behaviors that I did not expect in the situation the characters found themselves in. Don't get annoyed, I can't say much else or give other details because I do hate to reveal major plot points when they are so much more fun for any reader to discover on their own.
June 4, 2020
Considero que es el peor y mejor libro que leí hasta la fecha. Siempre me empecino en no abandonar los libros sin terminar y así me encuentro con joyas como esta. La primera mitad me pareció muy aburrida ya que es una presentación de todos los personajes y las circunstancias de por qué deben realizar el viaje. Una vez que zarpan, el libro es absolutamente exquisito. No pude dejar de leerlo. Te mantiene en una tensión constante. Con mucha seguridad puedo finalizar diciendo que se los recomiendo a aquellos que son pacientes con las historias y me encantaría leer las opiniones de otros que lo hayan leído.
June 28, 2008
I've just re-read this book for the first time in perhaps twenty years. I've had a copy on my physical bookshelf all this time, carried it to college and through numerous moves, even though it took me this long to come back and read it again.
It's an intense and challenging story of a hodgepodge of modern people shipwrecked on an uncharted island, led by a half-Polyneian/half-caucasian man who is the descendent of a line of navigators, inheritor of the mana of his ancestors.
Morris West is a fine writer who seems to tell two kinds of stories. He is best known, I think, for novels about the Catholic hierarchy, but "The Navigator" is one of what I call his pagan novels: stories of people rooted in and driven by older, more primitive codes. He acknowledges the spiritual power that lies outside modern religion, and respects it.
The book is as powerful as I remembered it, but I was not prepared for its old fashioned sexism. Traditional gender roles are taken for granted, never questioned, even when every other convention is held up for scrutiny.
This is an excellent book, one I will continue to keep on my shelves.
It's an intense and challenging story of a hodgepodge of modern people shipwrecked on an uncharted island, led by a half-Polyneian/half-caucasian man who is the descendent of a line of navigators, inheritor of the mana of his ancestors.
Morris West is a fine writer who seems to tell two kinds of stories. He is best known, I think, for novels about the Catholic hierarchy, but "The Navigator" is one of what I call his pagan novels: stories of people rooted in and driven by older, more primitive codes. He acknowledges the spiritual power that lies outside modern religion, and respects it.
The book is as powerful as I remembered it, but I was not prepared for its old fashioned sexism. Traditional gender roles are taken for granted, never questioned, even when every other convention is held up for scrutiny.
This is an excellent book, one I will continue to keep on my shelves.
March 4, 2013
Great concept of a man in search of a secret island and a group of people ending up marooned on it. I had to "speedread" a lot as the pace was too slow for me.
This book is not about adventure and adversity in alien surroundings. It is about the psychology of individuals in a closed society.
A few things bothered me:
The writing style is unusual - long passages of dialogue without any indication of who is speaking, or any action or desription. Only words coming out of people's mouths. These passages alternate with chunks of narrative prose where we are told what is happening and what people are thinking. I prefer a mix of dialogue and prose.
There are quite a few characters, and some of them I never got to know well enough to care about them.
The hero, who is described as a bit of a stud, bedding lots of women but never getting emotionally involved, finally finds a woman with whom he wants to spend the rest of his life. This is covered in a couple of short, trivial bits of dialogue between them, and then he tells her that he loves her. In my view, such a fundamental change in a person's outlook on life would have needed a greater focus.
When they get shipwrecked on the island, there is no talk about wanting to leave. Everyone behaves as if they want to settle on the island - almost as if it had been their purpose all along. It is only when people start getting ill that they make plans to build a boat and get away.
Their main preoccupation as they settle on the island is about sexual paring. Who should be with whom, and what problems will ensue if the number of men and women is not equal. And there is an assumption that everyone is eager to have sex. I would have thought that, particularly in the early days, if people expected to return home, they might not have rushed into relationships, or that some relationships could have been about frienship and comfort instead of mating.
Nothing is said about people thinking of the world they left behind. No one misses friends and family, no one hankers after modern conforts or foods or books and films. It seems as if everyone promptly forgets there is a world outside their island.
The failure to cover some things, and too much attention on other things, together with the lack of pace, kept me from really enjoying this book.
This book is not about adventure and adversity in alien surroundings. It is about the psychology of individuals in a closed society.
A few things bothered me:
The writing style is unusual - long passages of dialogue without any indication of who is speaking, or any action or desription. Only words coming out of people's mouths. These passages alternate with chunks of narrative prose where we are told what is happening and what people are thinking. I prefer a mix of dialogue and prose.
There are quite a few characters, and some of them I never got to know well enough to care about them.
The hero, who is described as a bit of a stud, bedding lots of women but never getting emotionally involved, finally finds a woman with whom he wants to spend the rest of his life. This is covered in a couple of short, trivial bits of dialogue between them, and then he tells her that he loves her. In my view, such a fundamental change in a person's outlook on life would have needed a greater focus.
When they get shipwrecked on the island, there is no talk about wanting to leave. Everyone behaves as if they want to settle on the island - almost as if it had been their purpose all along. It is only when people start getting ill that they make plans to build a boat and get away.
Their main preoccupation as they settle on the island is about sexual paring. Who should be with whom, and what problems will ensue if the number of men and women is not equal. And there is an assumption that everyone is eager to have sex. I would have thought that, particularly in the early days, if people expected to return home, they might not have rushed into relationships, or that some relationships could have been about frienship and comfort instead of mating.
Nothing is said about people thinking of the world they left behind. No one misses friends and family, no one hankers after modern conforts or foods or books and films. It seems as if everyone promptly forgets there is a world outside their island.
The failure to cover some things, and too much attention on other things, together with the lack of pace, kept me from really enjoying this book.
August 25, 2017
I read this book 40 years ago and still remember the breathless ending. Fantastic.
February 2, 2015
This behaves like and has the structure of a traditional novel, but due to the setting and the course of events that lead the characters into certain situations where a certain knowledge and mode of thinking becomes critical to the plot, a very unique quality becomes apparent and the book takes on a mysterious feel.
I like the author as a writer, and he seemed dedicated to crafting a story around the idea of a tribal, Polynesian way of men's and women's relationships with each other and their communities and societies. It doesn't actually dwell on uninteresting minutiae either, as he has enough diverse (you could argue stock) characters to stir the pot of action enough to keep things moving and lively. The main character Gunnar, though, is certainly an interesting study and always makes for a compelling perspective through which to view the events of the book. I found myself satisfied whenever he'd have the opportunity to think and comment on his situation but also how he acted upon it too, which ended up being often.
Certainly an interesting read and even one evocative enough that I can foresee myself letting the images I created in my head lingering for a long time.
I like the author as a writer, and he seemed dedicated to crafting a story around the idea of a tribal, Polynesian way of men's and women's relationships with each other and their communities and societies. It doesn't actually dwell on uninteresting minutiae either, as he has enough diverse (you could argue stock) characters to stir the pot of action enough to keep things moving and lively. The main character Gunnar, though, is certainly an interesting study and always makes for a compelling perspective through which to view the events of the book. I found myself satisfied whenever he'd have the opportunity to think and comment on his situation but also how he acted upon it too, which ended up being often.
Certainly an interesting read and even one evocative enough that I can foresee myself letting the images I created in my head lingering for a long time.
June 13, 2016
Una historia fácil de leer, no importa si es una isla Polinesia o una ciudad moderna, las relaciones humanas son complicadas.
July 15, 2022
Excellent storytelling as always, and an interesting study on how a castaway society might organise itself, the challenges, human behaviours and dilemmas. I liked Wests depiction of and respect for the ancient polynesian traditions and spirituality, but the emphasis of human pairings and sexual relations was striking. This book was of it's time, its gender sterotypes in terms of roles and responsibilities were annoying to a modern reader. Nonetheless I loved the book.
January 23, 2025
This is an older book but well worth the read. Morris West brings a spiritual depth to his characters that warms your heart and lifts the reader to place of hope.
Read
September 29, 2021In spite of (or maybe because of) West’s didactic style I usually really enjoy his books. This one though … he was totally obsessed with sex. Not the act exactly, just whether everyone was getting what s/he needed. It was as if that was the number one problem. It started before they left on the voyage and continued right through to the end. It was as if he couldn’t conceive of humans other than sex-crazed, and if they didn’t get regular-like, they would totally destroy the community. Seriously?!? Making sure everyone has a sex partner is the most acute problem when stranded on a desert isle?
Also, although West describes women in respectful terms, traditional gender roles are laid out without discussion. Women cook, men navigate.
I’m disappointed, West!
1½ stars, rounded up to 2 because there were bits I did like, small bits....
Quotes that caught my eye
I’m a tribal man, not a group man. In a tribe you don’t make commitments, you are committed, from birth to death, to sharing and loving and suffering and relationships that go back to the old gods. You fish together and you share the catch. Families exchange their children with no loss to the child and no shock to the order of things. (25)
There was no way you could win, no way they could let you win. They were like moles under a croquet lawn: as soon as you had flattened one mound they threw up another. It was the nature of the beast. They weren’t malicious. They demanded attention for their singular merits and tears for their job-like miseries. Give them paradise today and they would still dream themselves into hell, out of sheer boredom. (234)
Also, although West describes women in respectful terms, traditional gender roles are laid out without discussion. Women cook, men navigate.
I’m disappointed, West!
1½ stars, rounded up to 2 because there were bits I did like, small bits....
Quotes that caught my eye
I’m a tribal man, not a group man. In a tribe you don’t make commitments, you are committed, from birth to death, to sharing and loving and suffering and relationships that go back to the old gods. You fish together and you share the catch. Families exchange their children with no loss to the child and no shock to the order of things. (25)
There was no way you could win, no way they could let you win. They were like moles under a croquet lawn: as soon as you had flattened one mound they threw up another. It was the nature of the beast. They weren’t malicious. They demanded attention for their singular merits and tears for their job-like miseries. Give them paradise today and they would still dream themselves into hell, out of sheer boredom. (234)
June 27, 2019
1 star after determining two plot holes in the mid to late part of the novel. See attached: https://ozhamada-observes.blogspot.co...
The book is too short for the number of characters in it. To that end, there is ample character development for some, but not all, characters. The reader never really gets to see the characters in terms of their own strengths or their quality of contribution to the community.
While the story started out in a promising manner it became too predictable and too unrealistic. There was an awkward tension in respect the characters; they never let go of the trappings that they'd left behind.
The main character was strong; yet the interactions between that character and the others was often very weak. For instance, his island wife depicted emotions by the bucketload and yet his own emotional display towards her was completely absent.
The book is too short for the number of characters in it. To that end, there is ample character development for some, but not all, characters. The reader never really gets to see the characters in terms of their own strengths or their quality of contribution to the community.
While the story started out in a promising manner it became too predictable and too unrealistic. There was an awkward tension in respect the characters; they never let go of the trappings that they'd left behind.
The main character was strong; yet the interactions between that character and the others was often very weak. For instance, his island wife depicted emotions by the bucketload and yet his own emotional display towards her was completely absent.
March 18, 2020
It could have been an exciting adventure novel but to me it dragged on, and appeared to be more concerned with the psychology of the characters than anything.
The storyline was a shade weak..a very convenient weather event causes the travellers boat to capsize, they are subsequently marooned, but do they all survive and live happily ever after?
The book was written in the mid 1970's and presumably the events took place around that time. No apparent major air/sea search & rescue by the US Navy, considering they had a vested interest in the outcome of the voyage.
I wouldn't have liked to have been marooned with the leading character, a university lecturer (enough said) named Gunner Thorkild...far too domineering and interfering for my liking. In fact, none of the characters' personalities grabbed me.
Sadly I couldn't help but feel that the author liked the sound of his own voice when he penned this novel.
The storyline was a shade weak..a very convenient weather event causes the travellers boat to capsize, they are subsequently marooned, but do they all survive and live happily ever after?
The book was written in the mid 1970's and presumably the events took place around that time. No apparent major air/sea search & rescue by the US Navy, considering they had a vested interest in the outcome of the voyage.
I wouldn't have liked to have been marooned with the leading character, a university lecturer (enough said) named Gunner Thorkild...far too domineering and interfering for my liking. In fact, none of the characters' personalities grabbed me.
Sadly I couldn't help but feel that the author liked the sound of his own voice when he penned this novel.
July 2, 2018
3 1/2-4 star read. Gunnar Thorkild is half Polynesian and half European and a scholar. When his theory of a mysterious island known to the Polynesians is discredited, he gathers a group of people together to make a journey to find the island. They do and build a community there and he becomes the big Chief, but when adversity strikes, they have difficulty coping and getting along and making decisions. An interesting if old fashioned read.
August 2, 2024
de todos los finales que me podía imaginar durante la lectura el verdadero final valió la lectura, en ningún momento sentí el impulso de poner el libro abajo y no seguir leyendo. puedo decir que es una historia con ideales misóginos que en ningún momento son cuestionados, sin embargo, la tensión no se vio afectada por ese hecho
July 9, 2022
Interesting story about the development of a "tribe" lost on an island in the Pacific. Thought the premise underlying the trip - a Professor's tenure - was a bit thin. I liked the development and challenges depicted for the different personalities. The ending was somewhat disappointing.
July 24, 2018
It has good storyline but it would be better if it had bigger length.
December 3, 2018
A much enjoyable and the quick and fast moving plot that the book is developed from. I love the theme of the book and the way it is presented to the reader. Surely recommending. Thank you.
March 14, 2023
Interesting characters and mystery. I wonder what happened to them
November 6, 2023
Has abierto la boca y has cerrado la mente, alguna vez, intenta que sea al revés. El viaje de 1000 km empieza con un paso.
January 18, 2024
Engancha desde el principio.
Aprendes y te hace reflexionar sobre cosas que al principio no esperarías.
Construcciones sociales, el origen de ciertas costumbres y tradiciones, etc
Aprendes y te hace reflexionar sobre cosas que al principio no esperarías.
Construcciones sociales, el origen de ciertas costumbres y tradiciones, etc
August 17, 2010
Así como hay que estar inspirado para escribir un libro, creo firmemente que también hay que estarlo para leerlo. Y creo que yo no lo estaba para el momento en que leí este libro.
Creo que Morris West trato de crear un retrato de la vida en la cual pudieramos ver reflejados muchos de los conflictos internos que tenemos la mayoría de los humanos mientras vivimos, mientras nos relacionamos con los demas, mientras buscamos un sentido al camino que estamos siguiendo. Hay que estar muy atento a lo que entre lineas trata de decirnos, nada es tan simple o lineal como pudiera parecer.
Creo que Morris West trato de crear un retrato de la vida en la cual pudieramos ver reflejados muchos de los conflictos internos que tenemos la mayoría de los humanos mientras vivimos, mientras nos relacionamos con los demas, mientras buscamos un sentido al camino que estamos siguiendo. Hay que estar muy atento a lo que entre lineas trata de decirnos, nada es tan simple o lineal como pudiera parecer.
April 28, 2013
There is a lost art in the Pacific Basin. The Polynesians taught and preserved their secrets of Navigating the open ocean for many years, but sadly today, this knowledge is becoming lost. West's adventure story is an elementary fiction that uses the Polynesian Navigators of old as a central theme. The story also presents a brief sociological account of what happens to a small group of people when they become marooned on an island where resources are plentiful.
Although the story is really basic, I still enjoyed it.
Although the story is really basic, I still enjoyed it.
April 15, 2016
I've come to expect so much from Morris West, and he let me down badly with this one. In fact, it was so bad I had to give up and put it down. Truly awful, one-dimensional, stereotyped characters, turgid dialogue, a hackneyed plot. There wouldn't be a strong enough rope on Earth to suspend my disbelief at how the yacht ends up wrecked on that island. I had difficulty believing Morris West actually wrote this tripe, but I suppose it's the rare author who doesn't have at least one turkey. Yes, I'm looking at you, Graham Greene...
June 19, 2017
Gli ingredienti c'erano tutti: un naufragio, un'isola misteriosa e una nuova comunità New Age che poteva ignorare le regole della civiltà per creare un nuovo ordine tribale. Prima di iniziare a leggere mi aspettavo qualcosa sul genere "Lost", ovvero misteri dell'isola, invece mi sembrava di leggere la versione cartacea dell'"Isola dei famosi", senza però i famosi. Anche il finale è inconcludente. Un vero peccato.
January 29, 2023
Llegué a este libro un poco de casualidad, fue la recomendación de un vendedor ambulante para la poca cantidad de dinero que yo disponía, era un libro bastante viejo y que la aventura parecía no estar en las palabras sino en el libro en sí.
Me costó sumergirme en la historia, pero una vez que estuve adentro me atrapó por completo, más allá de ser un relato cargado de aventura, me dejó un mensaje nuevo sobre la espiritualidad, las costumbres y las tradiciones.
Me costó sumergirme en la historia, pero una vez que estuve adentro me atrapó por completo, más allá de ser un relato cargado de aventura, me dejó un mensaje nuevo sobre la espiritualidad, las costumbres y las tradiciones.
April 7, 2011
An odd, but fairly interesting book, of a group of individuals who hunt a legendary South Pacific Island. In no way should this book be compared to "Lord Of The Flies" and this is not an action-adventure tale. The book is more concerned with the interworkings of various groups of peoples in adverse situations.
August 20, 2012
Interesting story conjuring the ancient journeys of Polynesian mariners as they explored deep unknowns hundreds of miles offshore from their native lands. The Hawaiian cultural connections in pidgin seemed a little hokey, and the jealousy of crazy husbands and paired off couples could have used a dose of subtlety, IMHO. Fascinating tale, nevertheless.
December 9, 2016
A bad read. The premise was good. The rest was poorly written. The scenes of social decision were stilted. Characters were referred to by given and family name repeatedly. It dragged down the narrative. The grand father was the only saving grace. This was my first West and will be the last.
August 17, 2010
Me encantó, el hombre es todo un tratadista, y si puedes leer más allá de la mera historia y animarte a descubrir el transfondo te das cuenta que es un viaje a lo mas profundo de la naturaleza humana.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews