What do you think?
Rate this book
A Seaman's Selection of Great Sea Stories
14 Stories:
(Captain J.Conrad)
The Reluctant Hero (W.McFee)
"Seventy-Two Days Without A Port" (Captain J.Slocum)
Easting Down (Captain f.C.Hendry)
The Captain Of The Ullswater (M.Roberts)
Ordeal (A.Macdonald)
The Boat Journey (Sir E.Shackleton)
The Captains From Ilhavo (Captain A.Villiers)
A Frigid Reception (Sir J.Bisset)
Christmas Day On The High Seas (F.Riesenberg)
Skipper Next To God (Captain J. De Hartog)
The Advantages Of Seafaring (K.Hardman)
First Deck Landing (H.Popham)
The Character Of The Foe (Captain J.Conrad)
Alan Villiers: Captain of the Mayflower II.
(Captain J.Conrad)
The Reluctant Hero (W.McFee)
"Seventy-Two Days Without A Port" (Captain J.Slocum)
Easting Down (Captain f.C.Hendry)
The Captain Of The Ullswater (M.Roberts)
Ordeal (A.Macdonald)
The Boat Journey (Sir E.Shackleton)
The Captains From Ilhavo (Captain A.Villiers)
A Frigid Reception (Sir J.Bisset)
Christmas Day On The High Seas (F.Riesenberg)
Skipper Next To God (Captain J. De Hartog)
The Advantages Of Seafaring (K.Hardman)
First Deck Landing (H.Popham)
The Character Of The Foe (Captain J.Conrad)
Alan Villiers: Captain of the Mayflower II.
255 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1959
1 person is currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Alan Villiers
182 books16 followersMr. Alan Villiers was an Australian who had won considerable fame for himself as a result of his voyages in sailing-ships. Mr. Villiers preferred the excitement and the danger of small sailing-ships to the comfort and the safety of the modern ship.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 24, 2014
This anthology varies greatly in content quality. While Alan Villiers claims he's picked the best sea stories he knows, I wonder if a few of these are just fillers to pad out the book.
Joseph Conrad's Youth and The Character of the Foe - which bookend the anthology - are both interesting reads, and well written. One can easily understand Villiers' breathless enthusiasm in his introductions - Conrad could write, and these stories show it.
McFee's The Reluctant Hero is more of a newspaper narrative, but a pretty stirring one. Joshua Slocum's Seventy-two Days Without A Port is far less interesting, and feels self-indulgent.
Easting Down by F. C. Henry is another good one, as is Morley Roberts' The Captain of the Ullswater, and Angus MacDonald's Ordealis gripping, told in that stripped down, matter-of-fact way that seems to be common in survivors of World War Two.
Shackleton's account of his sea-crossing to South Georgia manages to be a gripping tale despite its rather flat prose, and keeps me interested the whole way through.
Alan Villiers' own contribution to the anthology - The Captains of Ilhavo - is the exact opposite; repetitive, confusing and largely pointless.
Bisset and Riesenberg's stories aren't bad - they just feel very disjointed and out of context. Hartog's Skipper Next to God and Hardman's The Advantages of Seafaring dovetail quite nicely, both in theme and style, and Popham's account of landing a plane on an aircraft carrier reads well enough, but is hardly memorable.
On the whole, this is a fairly middle-of-the-road anthology, even for someone like me, who has a soft spot for sea-themed stories.
Joseph Conrad's Youth and The Character of the Foe - which bookend the anthology - are both interesting reads, and well written. One can easily understand Villiers' breathless enthusiasm in his introductions - Conrad could write, and these stories show it.
McFee's The Reluctant Hero is more of a newspaper narrative, but a pretty stirring one. Joshua Slocum's Seventy-two Days Without A Port is far less interesting, and feels self-indulgent.
Easting Down by F. C. Henry is another good one, as is Morley Roberts' The Captain of the Ullswater, and Angus MacDonald's Ordealis gripping, told in that stripped down, matter-of-fact way that seems to be common in survivors of World War Two.
Shackleton's account of his sea-crossing to South Georgia manages to be a gripping tale despite its rather flat prose, and keeps me interested the whole way through.
Alan Villiers' own contribution to the anthology - The Captains of Ilhavo - is the exact opposite; repetitive, confusing and largely pointless.
Bisset and Riesenberg's stories aren't bad - they just feel very disjointed and out of context. Hartog's Skipper Next to God and Hardman's The Advantages of Seafaring dovetail quite nicely, both in theme and style, and Popham's account of landing a plane on an aircraft carrier reads well enough, but is hardly memorable.
On the whole, this is a fairly middle-of-the-road anthology, even for someone like me, who has a soft spot for sea-themed stories.
Displaying 1 of 1 review