The Boat

by Walter Gibson

In 1942 a ship carrying 500 escapees from Japanese-occupied Singapore set sail for Ceylon. Halfway to safety she was torpedoed and sank. Only one lifeboat was launched―a lifeboat built to carry twenty-eight but to which 135 souls now looked to for salvation. For twenty-six days, cannibalism, murder, heroism, and self-sacrifice drifted with her. There were only four survivors.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Story, Indonesian Literature

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

Reviews

[JD · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read and a very interesting story about Walter Gibson's survival at sea after the ship evacuating him were sunk. It covers his 26 days on the life-boat where he is one of 4 survivors out of 135 which started out on the life-boat, and the few weeks after coming ashore before being captured by the Japanese and briefly his time as a POW. The time on the boat is truly remarkable and details events of the best and worst in humanity while trying to survive. I also enjoyed the end part in the Kindle edition where he covers his escape after the Battle of Slim River and leading up to his evacuation from Padang. He was a true survivor!!

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a true account of the author's experience in a lifeboat after being torpedoed in the Pacific. It's just a narrative, not a story so it reads like the author is having a conversation with you. Interesting and a quick read.

[Anthony O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suffering, striving and survival

Pretty good book. A brutal personal account of 130 desperate people in a lifeboat at sea in a war. Only 4 survived.
Very informative and a useful reminder of what happens in a far broader range of scenarios. One or two heroes, a few brave and decent souls and then the rest. Violent, treacherous and murderous.
There were some things not to like though.
First the casual racism. The Brits in the 40s! Truly appalling. Secondly the lifeboat was less than half the story. Thirdly the cannibalism got a total of a few lines max. The book stands well on its own merits it doesn’t need a dishonest, sensationalistic title.

[Kai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Singkatnya, Gibson menceritakan tentang bagaimana ia dan awak lain bertahan hidup dan mengapung selama ±26 hari di atas Sekoci akibat kapal yang ditumpangi untuk pergi ke Ceylon diserang torpedo pasukan Jepang.

Mengingat Gibson menulis buku ini dengan berdasarkan kisah nyata, awalnya saya cukup antusias dan mengharapkan cerita yang 'menarik', namun ternyata bagian kanibalisme yang dimaksud tidak semenegangkan apa yang saya pikirkan.

Membaca buku ini menyentuh jiwa kemanusiaan dan emosional saya, dan paling penting adalah bagaimana penulis menceritakan tekadnya untuk tetap bertahan hidup dan tidak mati sia-sia selama terapung di laut lepas.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

65 - 2019

[Mandeera · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

For starters.... another slightly misleading title. Half of the book is about the events on the boat. And it doesn't go into great detail. Cannibalism is mentioned once. The second half of the book covers the authors adventures after reaching shore. The book is only 158 pages long, so there wasn't much space to give everything he discusses to much detail. Had the 158 pages been used to cover just the boat,(which the title would have you believe) it may have been a little more detailed. Though it is not really a bad book, it moves along very quickly and is a very general account of the events during and after the experience on THE BOAT. I was a little disappointed, but if you have read my reviews you already know I dislike misleading titles. Not a bad book, but not great either. Could have been much better.

[Johann Manstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a fast read and takes about an hour. I give it a four because it is a work that asked this man to relive a galling experience that out of 135 people he is the only one to recount the tale. Of the four suvivors out of the original 135 in the water after the sinking, one was executed, two vanished into history and only he was left.

As a literary work, it is not comparable to modern tales of survival as it lacks the depth of detail one now expects from autobiographical accounts. The reader also has to accept the writing with a certain realization that it was done so in the 50's from the cultural, national, and ethnic norms of pre-second world war generations.

Still, If you consider tgat 135 people have been lost to history during war, this is at least a testament to what happened and a way to keep some of their memories alive albiet in a slanted way.

[Sukma Mase · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saya mengharapkan cerita yang lebih 'seru' saat membeli buku ini. Tapi..well..

Sebuah sekoci berisi 135 orang, sisa penumpang dari kapal uap Belanda, Rooseboom, yang diserang oleh torpedo berhasil diluncurkan ke laut lepas. 135 orang tersebut harus kembali berjuang hidup bukan hanya dari ganasnya Samudra Hindia tetapi juga dari keinginan kuat dari sesama penumpang sekoci yang juga ingin hidup.
26 hari kemudian, hanya empat orang yang selamat. 2 pelaut Jawa, seorang gadis China dan Walter Gibson.

[Aprijanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setengahnya pertama menceritakan tentang bertahan hidup penulis dan awak lainnya di atas sekoci, mengapung-apung selama sebulan di samudra luas demi kebebasan dari kejaran tentara Jepang.

Setengah sisanya menceritangan tentang penangkapan tentara eropa, termasuk penulis, dan pelarian-pelarian mereka dari tentara jepang di kepulauan mentawai, Padang, sampai ke Singapura.

Epic,hanya penutupnya yang anti klimaks.

[miss hfan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kufikir ceritanya bakal menyeramkan mengingat ini true story.

Buku yg benar2 "bercerita", mulai dr bertahan hidup dtengah lautan sampai pelarian dari tentara Jepang..

[Al Szi · Rating 1 out of 5]

hadooooo...
kanibalisme di atas boat apanyaaaa?
cuma sekali doang orang dimakan, itu juga karna enggak ada bahan makanan lagi dan orangnya juga udah sekarat..
gak rameeeeee....