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To the Ends of the Earth #1-3
To the Ends of the Earth: A Sea Trilogy Comprising "Rites of Passage", "Close Quarters" and "Fire Down Below"
This is a one-volume edition of the sequence of three novels set in the early 19th century, about a sea voyage from England to Australia. "Rites of Passage" won the Booker Prize.
753 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
39 people are currently reading
1033 people want to read
About the author
William Golding
180 books4,508 followersSir William Gerald Golding was an Engish novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel Lord of the Flies (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 1980, he was awarded the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage, the first novel in what became his sea trilogy, To the Ends of the Earth. He was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Literature.
As a result of his contributions to literature, Golding was knighted in 1988. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2008, The Times ranked Golding third on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
As a result of his contributions to literature, Golding was knighted in 1988. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2008, The Times ranked Golding third on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
April 26, 2022
A superb trilogy, absolutely evocative of the sea and allowing the reader to share the discomforts, dangers and exhilirations of a voyage that takes one year through storms and disasters from Britain to Australia on a rotten old warship. The narrator, Edward Talbot, is likeable and rather pompous at the same time; a product of his era, prejudiced but also willing to gradually open his mind to new ideas, although whether he ultimately learns anything that permanently changes his character is highly questionable. His world shrinks to the size of his tiny cabin, the lobby outside it, the saloon and the decks of the vessel. He is an observer who becomes a partcipant. His fellow passengers include a political radical, a naive parson, a degenerate old man and a lustful young lady among many others.
Golding himself said that he didn't like the word "allegorical" and preferred the word "mythical". Certainly there is a mythical feel about these three novels taken as one monumental work. The ship is damaged because of a neglectful officer; there are rough seas that last for hundreds of pages; the ship is borne towards the south where it encounters ice. One of the officers is an unconventional fellow who is an inventor and innovator. His radical ideas may save or doom the ship; or they may even save the crew and passengers in the short term but result in disaster later on.
It is rare that I read a book of this length (753 pages) and rarer still that I race through such a tome, but I found myself completely immersed in the story and finished it far sooner than I had expected. A truly wonderful reading experience!
Golding himself said that he didn't like the word "allegorical" and preferred the word "mythical". Certainly there is a mythical feel about these three novels taken as one monumental work. The ship is damaged because of a neglectful officer; there are rough seas that last for hundreds of pages; the ship is borne towards the south where it encounters ice. One of the officers is an unconventional fellow who is an inventor and innovator. His radical ideas may save or doom the ship; or they may even save the crew and passengers in the short term but result in disaster later on.
It is rare that I read a book of this length (753 pages) and rarer still that I race through such a tome, but I found myself completely immersed in the story and finished it far sooner than I had expected. A truly wonderful reading experience!
January 19, 2013
I found this book among my Dad's things. He always loved books by Pope and Reeman but they had never really interested me. For some reason this one caught my eye and I decided to give it a read. I was really thankful I came from a family with some naval and sea going background because a lot of nautical and sailing references are used. Once you get past that you find a mostly intriguing but sometimes boring tale of a young man's trip to Australia on a British warship. This really showed how long and awful those journey's were when all you had to rely on was a wind that sometimes stilled utterly.
As I read this all in one volume I'm reviewing it as one but it really is three different books and each had it's merits with the first one “Rites of Passage” being the best. I found it had the best character development and the more interesting details of daily shipboard life. “Close Quarters” was almost as good as you began to see more of the turmoil between the crew and passengers by having to constantly be together but it started to drag a bit in spots. It was almost like the best characters are being wasted in “Fire Down Below” as it consisted mostly tedious detail interspersed a few moments of action.
It's still a really good read if you have an interest in both sailing ships and that period in history. I've been told that the Masterpiece series is well worth a watch as well. If they were rated as separate books I'd give “Rites of Passage” 4 stars, “Close Quarters” 3 stars and “Fire Down Below” 2.5 stars. The set gets 3 stars as an average.
As I read this all in one volume I'm reviewing it as one but it really is three different books and each had it's merits with the first one “Rites of Passage” being the best. I found it had the best character development and the more interesting details of daily shipboard life. “Close Quarters” was almost as good as you began to see more of the turmoil between the crew and passengers by having to constantly be together but it started to drag a bit in spots. It was almost like the best characters are being wasted in “Fire Down Below” as it consisted mostly tedious detail interspersed a few moments of action.
It's still a really good read if you have an interest in both sailing ships and that period in history. I've been told that the Masterpiece series is well worth a watch as well. If they were rated as separate books I'd give “Rites of Passage” 4 stars, “Close Quarters” 3 stars and “Fire Down Below” 2.5 stars. The set gets 3 stars as an average.
September 7, 2015
Started watching the BBC mini series of this book, starring Benedict Cumberbatch (who also plays Sherlock in recent Masterpiece)... discovered it was based on this Golding novel. I'm a big fan of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, and I look forward to another seafaring tale.
May 21, 2021
This trilogy gave a really nice thorough description of what it was like to travel on an old sailboat from England to Australia at the beginning of 19th century.
The first book was amazing and a proper page turner. The second wasn't as amazing but still very entertaining. The last book was sadly quite a struggle to finish. I recommend just reading the first book "Rites of Passage" and only if you haven't had your sea voyage fill yet after that read book 2 as well.
The first book was amazing and a proper page turner. The second wasn't as amazing but still very entertaining. The last book was sadly quite a struggle to finish. I recommend just reading the first book "Rites of Passage" and only if you haven't had your sea voyage fill yet after that read book 2 as well.
March 25, 2013
This review is in three parts because the collection is not a coherent single story. The three books of the volume share a voyage, a ship, and a common narrator (Talbot) scribbling in a journal. What they don't share is a plot, a narrative voice, or a jot of surprise or narrative tension.
So hereafter there be spoilers...
Book one revolves around the Talbot's too-slow discovery that a parson he disdains is gay. This leads to pages of blah blah blah and what Golding assumes is enlightened self-examination by Talbot, who feels guilty that he wasn't nicer to the man when he was alive. The parson's self-willed suicide is an extremely tedious interruption to the already dragging descriptions of shipboard life that make up the rest of the volume. I imagine that a reader in 1980 picking up this novel could be expected to be blind to the ham-fisted hints throughout the book of why the parson was so ashamed that he willed himself to death, and to be shocked at the revelation that comes in the very closing pages of a drunken blowjob in the foredeck. To me, who lives in a jaded age, this revelation was not only an anticlimax (snicker) but a badly written bathetic close to a book essentially without any other narrative center. This reads as if Golding decided to write a novel designed to shock with scandalous detail but lacked the imagination or experience to be convincing. This was my least favorite book of the series by far.
The next two books, which people seem less impressed with, are better written and have far more solid story arcs. This doesn't, however, explain why the series is so well-loved. One annoying detail is that Golding links the books of the series together by having Talbot reflect upon how his talents as an author cannot compare to those of the dead parson on a regular schedule of every 75 pages. I defy anyone to discover a substantial difference in language, style, or voice between Talbot's telling and the parson's. Anyway, on to the other two volumes.
Close Quarters alternates a by-the-numbers love story with silly byplay involving the end of the Napoleonic Wars, a chums subplot straight from a Victorian boys novel that is far more homoerotic than anything the parson did in book one, and the return from the dead of a character that should never have been in the books to begin with. Yes, Golding was so infused with cliche that he had to find a virtuous maiden for our hero in the mid-Atlantic. Also, we are more than two-thirds of the way through the series and the ship has barely made a quarter of the voyage.
Fire Down Below is completely predictable in the style of a Hollywood film where the screenwriter realizes he has 15 minutes to wrap up the movie and he needs a happy ending, but not TOO happy because this is a realistic depiction of life. The title gives away everything you need to know about the climax of the book so literally that as I came to the last few pages I was actually propelled by a horrified fascination to see if Golding was really that transparent an author. He was. Golding drops our hero in Australia for about 10 pages before rescuing him by delivering his lady-love (who is supposed to be in Calcutta), and a brilliant future in a single page. There is more deus ex machina in this novel than the Old Testament.
On the whole, this is a barely readable series that is too long, predictable, and wholly unworthy of the veneration it receives. I have no idea why Golding decided to locate this story when and where he did since the plot elements are completely transferable. Ignore anyone's recommendation of these books on the basis that they compare to other classic sea novels, because for all Golding knew of sailing ships this series could have happened on a long bus ride through the desert. The Tarpaulin language that people get excited about is rare and occasionally misused, and really only noticeable because Golding points it out every time it puts in an appearance.
Read if you have nothing better to occupy your time.
So hereafter there be spoilers...
Book one revolves around the Talbot's too-slow discovery that a parson he disdains is gay. This leads to pages of blah blah blah and what Golding assumes is enlightened self-examination by Talbot, who feels guilty that he wasn't nicer to the man when he was alive. The parson's self-willed suicide is an extremely tedious interruption to the already dragging descriptions of shipboard life that make up the rest of the volume. I imagine that a reader in 1980 picking up this novel could be expected to be blind to the ham-fisted hints throughout the book of why the parson was so ashamed that he willed himself to death, and to be shocked at the revelation that comes in the very closing pages of a drunken blowjob in the foredeck. To me, who lives in a jaded age, this revelation was not only an anticlimax (snicker) but a badly written bathetic close to a book essentially without any other narrative center. This reads as if Golding decided to write a novel designed to shock with scandalous detail but lacked the imagination or experience to be convincing. This was my least favorite book of the series by far.
The next two books, which people seem less impressed with, are better written and have far more solid story arcs. This doesn't, however, explain why the series is so well-loved. One annoying detail is that Golding links the books of the series together by having Talbot reflect upon how his talents as an author cannot compare to those of the dead parson on a regular schedule of every 75 pages. I defy anyone to discover a substantial difference in language, style, or voice between Talbot's telling and the parson's. Anyway, on to the other two volumes.
Close Quarters alternates a by-the-numbers love story with silly byplay involving the end of the Napoleonic Wars, a chums subplot straight from a Victorian boys novel that is far more homoerotic than anything the parson did in book one, and the return from the dead of a character that should never have been in the books to begin with. Yes, Golding was so infused with cliche that he had to find a virtuous maiden for our hero in the mid-Atlantic. Also, we are more than two-thirds of the way through the series and the ship has barely made a quarter of the voyage.
Fire Down Below is completely predictable in the style of a Hollywood film where the screenwriter realizes he has 15 minutes to wrap up the movie and he needs a happy ending, but not TOO happy because this is a realistic depiction of life. The title gives away everything you need to know about the climax of the book so literally that as I came to the last few pages I was actually propelled by a horrified fascination to see if Golding was really that transparent an author. He was. Golding drops our hero in Australia for about 10 pages before rescuing him by delivering his lady-love (who is supposed to be in Calcutta), and a brilliant future in a single page. There is more deus ex machina in this novel than the Old Testament.
On the whole, this is a barely readable series that is too long, predictable, and wholly unworthy of the veneration it receives. I have no idea why Golding decided to locate this story when and where he did since the plot elements are completely transferable. Ignore anyone's recommendation of these books on the basis that they compare to other classic sea novels, because for all Golding knew of sailing ships this series could have happened on a long bus ride through the desert. The Tarpaulin language that people get excited about is rare and occasionally misused, and really only noticeable because Golding points it out every time it puts in an appearance.
Read if you have nothing better to occupy your time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2020
I was captivated! Long and heavy (both literally and figuratively) and so well-written.
April 2, 2023
This seafaring trilogy has not held up terribly well. Golding is to be commended on the journal format of Edmund Talbot. He does take some fun stylistic liberties here where Talbot loses track of the days and we have only his subjective view of the many passengers. Unfortunately, the promising characters on board the ship are fairly superficial. And Golding's blessing and curse as a writer is his tendency to simplify description for the reader. These three books cannot hold a candle to the Aubrey-Maturin books or MOBY-DICK. Also, I think the literary "achievement" of CLOSE QUARTERS is vastly overestimated. The so-called tone shift isn't terribly different from the first book. I did like Summers and Benet, but I was frustrated by the weirdly limited novelistic approach. RITES OF PASSAGE really did not deserve to win the 1980 Booker Prize. It really should have gone to Anthony Burgess's EARTHLY POWERS, which has a lot more to say about human behavior and is a far better stylistic performance than these three books.
April 20, 2020
This sea trilogy contains 3 novels: Rites of Passage, Close Quarters, and Fire Down Below. I really enjoy Golding's writing....it captures my attention, flows beautifully, and always increases my vocabulary. I haven't read many nautical books, so it was very educational in that area. Rating 3.5
August 6, 2009
I'll try to avoid seafaring analogies and especially puns. I promise there'll be no "characters walking a plank of sociopolitical behaviour" or such pirate verbiage. But these three novels do descend the gangplank without sea legs (Okay, sorry) like so many films and their sequels. Rites of Passage gets 3 stars, Close Quarters 2, Fire Down Below 2.
The first is a believably-narrated account of Talbot's influence or lack thereof on the different social classes with him in the ship. As usual for Golding, we witness Talbot's immaturity and luck more than his bravura. Another trick I love in Golding is our perception of the parson Colley, which changes as the narrator matures. Colley becomes a messianic symbol eventually and Talbot theatrically just-misses his chance to spare him.
The second novel is clearly a forced continuation of the plot, which was left conveniently afloat. Talbot gets a lover and becomes a poet, which is practically a dream sequence due to a head wound and opium (true Golding shining through).
In the third novel, the ship itself seems to become a central character, at least for most of the plot, representing Talbot's youth (among other things) in disrepair. The worst and most unlikely scenes appear, like icebergs (not a metaphor) and lovers and promotions, oh my. It becomes absurd.
Overall it was good storytelling about sea things happening on a sea vessel in the sea. There was little of Golding's socio-savagery, sadly for me. If you want to read sea stories like that, read Pincher Martin.
The first is a believably-narrated account of Talbot's influence or lack thereof on the different social classes with him in the ship. As usual for Golding, we witness Talbot's immaturity and luck more than his bravura. Another trick I love in Golding is our perception of the parson Colley, which changes as the narrator matures. Colley becomes a messianic symbol eventually and Talbot theatrically just-misses his chance to spare him.
The second novel is clearly a forced continuation of the plot, which was left conveniently afloat. Talbot gets a lover and becomes a poet, which is practically a dream sequence due to a head wound and opium (true Golding shining through).
In the third novel, the ship itself seems to become a central character, at least for most of the plot, representing Talbot's youth (among other things) in disrepair. The worst and most unlikely scenes appear, like icebergs (not a metaphor) and lovers and promotions, oh my. It becomes absurd.
Overall it was good storytelling about sea things happening on a sea vessel in the sea. There was little of Golding's socio-savagery, sadly for me. If you want to read sea stories like that, read Pincher Martin.
June 25, 2014
Okay--I've only actually read Rites of Passage, which is the first book of this trilogy, and which won the Booker Prize in 1980. Its pastiche of a late-eighteenth century colonial administrator's voice is excellent, and conveys character very skillfully, but the structure of the book has its problems. It's hard to tell what the point of the narrative is: Colley's downfall, yes, but the book carries on for a while after his fate is sealed. Why it does this is unclear. Moreover, the root of Colley's malaise is so stepped-around that the reader comes to the essential realization very late in the book--after which, a rather unsubtle exposition is shoehorned into the last page. It's an enjoyable book, but given its shaky management of emotional investment and narrative arc, its Booker Prize win surprises me.
April 1, 2012
4.5 stars!
Fabulous!
Very, very good. (Have added it to my favorites). I refrained from giving it 5 because there were the odd pieces that seemed unnecessary. Also I enjoyed reading the "Tarpaulin" language but at times it was difficult to follow bits and pieces and to know exactly what was being said. It adds to the feel of the story but made for not easy reading at times.
Forget the protagonist! . . . I found myself loving First Lieutenant Charles Summers! - what a fabulous man. He really shone in the second and third books and there was really a "bromance" going on between him and Edmund. I really felt for him at times. If only William Golding had written a novel with Charles Summers as the lead :) Siiiighh :)
Fabulous!
Very, very good. (Have added it to my favorites). I refrained from giving it 5 because there were the odd pieces that seemed unnecessary. Also I enjoyed reading the "Tarpaulin" language but at times it was difficult to follow bits and pieces and to know exactly what was being said. It adds to the feel of the story but made for not easy reading at times.
Forget the protagonist! . . . I found myself loving First Lieutenant Charles Summers! - what a fabulous man. He really shone in the second and third books and there was really a "bromance" going on between him and Edmund. I really felt for him at times. If only William Golding had written a novel with Charles Summers as the lead :) Siiiighh :)
June 19, 2023
Unputdownable. The author really catches the mood of a long, long sea journey and they way the relationships of people in close proximity change over time. Along with the dramas big and small and the excitement, danger and sometimes sheer monotony of life at sea. I really felt the constant moving and banging of the ship and the humourous moments such as 'thar she blows!'. At the end of Talbot's journey I really felt his anti-climax and loss of his companions and his life-changing trip which was summed up by Mrs P as 'just a series of events'.
I really recommend watching the 3-part TV series in conjunction with re-reading this book. It follows the book almost to the letter and the acting quality and production is impeccable.
I really recommend watching the 3-part TV series in conjunction with re-reading this book. It follows the book almost to the letter and the acting quality and production is impeccable.
January 15, 2013
Edmund Talbolt's narration gives an intense feeling of his journey and his attitude towards the passengers and the crew. His journey throughout the books show how he mature.
It was an excellent narration through the character's eyes though there were times I got lost through the story which I must go back to understand. Nevertheless I enjoyed it much.
It was an excellent narration through the character's eyes though there were times I got lost through the story which I must go back to understand. Nevertheless I enjoyed it much.
July 22, 2008
A lovely tale of seafaring in the 19th century from the literary great, William Golding. Great vocabulary builder - there were a number of words that I had never come across! His use of traditional nautical slang (tarpaulin) made for very interesting reading.
August 29, 2012
I just love nautical adventures and, when coupled with beautiful writing and profound commentary, they are a real treasure. William Golding is superb.
July 31, 2013
mm.. ok, but have but for adventure on the seas I have been spoilt by reading O' Brian!
October 22, 2022
I’m bowled over, enchanted - second reading since 1992. This is great story-telling, based on a lot of historical and nautical research. The protagonist-narrator Edward Talbot is a young aristocrat with not a few notions about himself who embarks on a sea journey from England to Australia, in order to absolve some years of administrative work there. His ambitions will then, he hopes, take him to Parliament, and eventually to cabinet. Despite his snobbery – which he gradually becomes conscious of – he is very likeable. The first book reminded me of Lord of the Flies, in that it describes the way another passenger on the ship, the Rev Robert Colley, is made an easy prey of some of the officers and eventually by crew members by the Captain’s dislike of clergy which seems to give licence to widespread abuse. He becomes more and more ostracised. Talbot does not quite grasp the extent of it, and it is only after Colley’s death that he learns of it, by means of Colley’s long letter to his sister. The juxtaposition of an external view of a person, and an internal one, is very clever. Colley’s death is of shame – after undergoing an equatorial ‘rite of passage’ by the crew which is mercifully stopped half-way, he manages to rouse his spirits to go and preach to the crew and emigrants. Some members of the crew make him drunk, and he seemingly performs a sexual act on a sailor (whom he’d praised in his journal as if a young god). His deep shame confines him to bed, and after weeks of refusing movement, food and drink, he dies. Talbot is much shaken once he reads the letter-journal, and blames himself partly, as also Cap Anderson. While he appears to get over his guilt, Colley’s journal and his inability to read the man better while alive, work strongly on him for the rest of the trilogy. All this is told in the form of a long letter and journal kept for his godfather and patron, Lord X.
The second book contains a marvel of a scene: the ship had been in the doldrums for a while, and when another sail is spotted, and widely believed to be French (this is 1814), Talbot along with other passengers offers himself to help fight if necessary. Two large bodies (in a thick mist) on a calm ocean will always be drawn together, so the law of physics, and the moment comes when the other ship is finally visible, heaving to. Talbot is half-injured but stands rigid, cutlass in hand, full of panic and bravery – but the ship, the Alcyon, is British! The relief is palpable. The other ship’s captain brings the news that Napoléon is on Elba and the war is over. On board the Alcyon is a young woman, Marion Chumley, the poor protégé of the Captain’s wife, whom Talbot falls in love with on first sight. The reader feels sympathy, but also impatience, and is relieved when a wind gathers and the two ships are separated. Talbot spends days if not weeks in a stupor, from injuries he had sustained earlier, and the dramatic events. When he becomes sensible again, he gets drawn into a motion by fellow passengers to attempt persuading the Captain to make landfall in South America. Through his by now good friend Summers, the 1st Lieutenant, Talbot learns of the very precarious position of the ship, and that they will be lucky if they will arrive in Australia alive. All this disproves Talbot’s fear, at the beginning of this book, that his new journal (not written for his godfather the lord) will be lacking in events.
The third book, unexpectedly, brings Edmund and Marion together again near the end, with a happy ever after when he finds out his godfather “left” him a rotten borough, ie he can return to England. We get glimpses into his settled middle age when he is familiar with the PM. However centre stage of this volume are the privations of the journey, Edmund’s deepening friendship with Charles Summers and Charles’s antagonism with the Captain and the new 2nd Lieut, Benét, and Edmund’s unexpected friendship with Prettiman and his new wife which give him some social insights he hopes to apply to his political career (ie represent a rotten borough only to dismantle that system). The most striking nautical marvels are the following: a) Benét’s reckless (and murderous as it turns out) insistence that the main mast can be secured by means of burning charcoal and fastening a metal girdle around the base of the mast. Later, when safely in Sydney Cove, the ship burns up. I would love to know where Golding got this idea from. Was it ever practiced? b) Edmund’s being made a midshipman by Charles, and their star-lit midnight watches on deck. c) the deliciously frightening race of the ship towards a large bank of ice, its drastic change of course which, together with a current, push it alongside the ice. As if in some sort of biblical retribution, chunks of ice fall and kill the purser who had already made his way to his private lifeboat. These scenes, above and below deck, are as compelling as the nautical encounter with the Alcyone in volume 2
The second book contains a marvel of a scene: the ship had been in the doldrums for a while, and when another sail is spotted, and widely believed to be French (this is 1814), Talbot along with other passengers offers himself to help fight if necessary. Two large bodies (in a thick mist) on a calm ocean will always be drawn together, so the law of physics, and the moment comes when the other ship is finally visible, heaving to. Talbot is half-injured but stands rigid, cutlass in hand, full of panic and bravery – but the ship, the Alcyon, is British! The relief is palpable. The other ship’s captain brings the news that Napoléon is on Elba and the war is over. On board the Alcyon is a young woman, Marion Chumley, the poor protégé of the Captain’s wife, whom Talbot falls in love with on first sight. The reader feels sympathy, but also impatience, and is relieved when a wind gathers and the two ships are separated. Talbot spends days if not weeks in a stupor, from injuries he had sustained earlier, and the dramatic events. When he becomes sensible again, he gets drawn into a motion by fellow passengers to attempt persuading the Captain to make landfall in South America. Through his by now good friend Summers, the 1st Lieutenant, Talbot learns of the very precarious position of the ship, and that they will be lucky if they will arrive in Australia alive. All this disproves Talbot’s fear, at the beginning of this book, that his new journal (not written for his godfather the lord) will be lacking in events.
The third book, unexpectedly, brings Edmund and Marion together again near the end, with a happy ever after when he finds out his godfather “left” him a rotten borough, ie he can return to England. We get glimpses into his settled middle age when he is familiar with the PM. However centre stage of this volume are the privations of the journey, Edmund’s deepening friendship with Charles Summers and Charles’s antagonism with the Captain and the new 2nd Lieut, Benét, and Edmund’s unexpected friendship with Prettiman and his new wife which give him some social insights he hopes to apply to his political career (ie represent a rotten borough only to dismantle that system). The most striking nautical marvels are the following: a) Benét’s reckless (and murderous as it turns out) insistence that the main mast can be secured by means of burning charcoal and fastening a metal girdle around the base of the mast. Later, when safely in Sydney Cove, the ship burns up. I would love to know where Golding got this idea from. Was it ever practiced? b) Edmund’s being made a midshipman by Charles, and their star-lit midnight watches on deck. c) the deliciously frightening race of the ship towards a large bank of ice, its drastic change of course which, together with a current, push it alongside the ice. As if in some sort of biblical retribution, chunks of ice fall and kill the purser who had already made his way to his private lifeboat. These scenes, above and below deck, are as compelling as the nautical encounter with the Alcyone in volume 2
June 18, 2017
This book has been quite the rollercoaster ride. When I started, I wasn't sure I'd make it through to the end, having to stop every so often to look up a word I didn't know or try to translate the Greek, Latin, & French spoken throughout. It was also difficult to see things in my head in a clear picture knowing NOTHING about boats/ships, but I persevered and finished the book today. The end wrapped up in such a pretty package that I almost forgot the moments of total aggravation I experienced throughout. Almost. I suppose I just expected something more? I don't know. Maybe it's better to break down my feelings into the separate books within. So Rites of Passage left me feeling mostly sad. I was not much impressed with the main character/narrator and annoyed by most of the other characters. Colley tugged at my heart strings all the way through the end and I hoped that Anderson would somehow disappear. By the second book, Close Quarters, I was starting to wonder if there was an actual story at all. I really felt like I was reading someone's journal (and that very well may have been the point) but it was lacking. I can't, even now, put my finger on what it was. I just couldn't connect, I was getting really bored. I got to Fire Down Below and almost gave up, but I knew I had to finish it so I pushed on through. About 3/4 of the way through this last part of the trilogy, I actually started to feel for some of the characters, actually caring about what happened to them, just to lose my favorite one and not even know what happened to the others. The story semi-redeemed itself for me in the end so I wasn't too terribly disappointed, I just.. well, like I said, I guess I expected something more.
April 3, 2021
How were sea voyages in 1812? "To the Ends of the Earth: A Sea Trilogy" was originally written as 3 books (the first in 1980) and later combined into a trilogy (1991). This is the story of a yearlong voyage from England to Australia in an old, past its prime, Man of War ship made to carry passengers as ships were scarce during war time. The story is in the form of a journal from the main character Edmund Fitzhenry Talbot a young aristocrat journeying from England to Australia to for a job with the governor of South Wales arranged by his influential Godfather. This is a tale of triumphs and tragedies of a mix of England society, the well off, “emmigrants” and crew and the intermingling of lives over the course of a year. It is written in the prose of the time with some ship talk (tarpaulin) mixed in. It is a fascinating glance at life in those times made more so by life on the ship, neither comfortable nor easy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the characters all coming to life, the stern captain, not at all happy to be reduced to transporting passengers, the myriad crew and the mix of England’s society expertly depicted. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good long read of historical fiction.
April 29, 2024
It is, of course, impossible to surpass Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey Maturin books for high sea's excellence. In fact I've always doubted they could even be equalled... until I read the To the Ends of the Earth trilogy (comprising Rites of Passage, Close Quarters, and Fire Down Below).
For sure these books lack O'Brian's immediacy, the seeming certainty that he was actually present aboard the vessels he describes, knew the men crewing them - that he wrote from first hand knowledge of life aboard ship in Napoleonic times! Golding's descriptions, while informed and effective, are just a just a tad vaguer that O'Brians... but they are also subtler. His focus is on the passengers -the rich landlubbers and poor emigrants voyaging to Australia- and their interactions with the war-used crew, each-other, and -of course- the ocean. Also, Golding is more willing to scrape the bilges of ship life, to more -as O'Brian usually preferred- than hint at Humanity's darker side (as you might expect from the author of Lord of the Flies).
Language, characterisation, plotting, are all quite superb, and I tore through all three novels in a week. Highly recommended.
For sure these books lack O'Brian's immediacy, the seeming certainty that he was actually present aboard the vessels he describes, knew the men crewing them - that he wrote from first hand knowledge of life aboard ship in Napoleonic times! Golding's descriptions, while informed and effective, are just a just a tad vaguer that O'Brians... but they are also subtler. His focus is on the passengers -the rich landlubbers and poor emigrants voyaging to Australia- and their interactions with the war-used crew, each-other, and -of course- the ocean. Also, Golding is more willing to scrape the bilges of ship life, to more -as O'Brian usually preferred- than hint at Humanity's darker side (as you might expect from the author of Lord of the Flies).
Language, characterisation, plotting, are all quite superb, and I tore through all three novels in a week. Highly recommended.
June 18, 2017
This is a great trilogy. I gave it 4 stars to suggest it's great, but it isn't a masterpiece. It's not as strong or single-minded as Golding's "Pincher Martin" or of course "Lord of the Flies." It's a good sea story, but Patrick O'Brien fans will miss the smell of slowmatch drifting through a seething gundeck. It's a nice tale of coming of age, and unexpectedly so, but this may be commingled confusingly for Americans with a tale of the collisions of English class, intellect, and human decency. Each book has an odd and unexpected (and no doubt highly symbolic) death -- but none of them feels all that compelling or integral to the plot.
That said, read it for the descriptions of the storms and seasickness and beauties and agonies of sea travel in the age of sail. Read it for the complex and surprising evolution of many of the major characters. Read it for the hopeful and unexpected arc of the three books. Most of all, read it for the intensely clever and graceful writing of dialogues and reflections -- truly eye-opening work that reminds us why Golding was one of the modern greats.
That said, read it for the descriptions of the storms and seasickness and beauties and agonies of sea travel in the age of sail. Read it for the complex and surprising evolution of many of the major characters. Read it for the hopeful and unexpected arc of the three books. Most of all, read it for the intensely clever and graceful writing of dialogues and reflections -- truly eye-opening work that reminds us why Golding was one of the modern greats.
December 31, 2024
A year-long voyage from England to the antipodes (Australia colony) aboard an old, barely sea-worthy English warship in the early 19th century could almost be compared to traveling from Earth to Mars today. This is not a trilogy in the vein of Horatio Hornblower, but a journey when traveling around the world was an accomplishment in itself. William Golding describes the voyage in this trilogy, the characters, the sailing of the ship and the sea itself through the diary of Edmond Talbot, a twenty-something year old passenger, who writes to his godfather and later just to himself and obviously to posterity. The first novel focuses on the social mistreatment of a clergyman on board the ship. The other two focus on the romance between Edmond and a young woman he meets when they encounter another sailing ship in the middle of the ocean. I think the novels could have been shorter, but overall, I enjoyed the humor, the relationships between the characters and Golding’s thinly disguised commentary on society at the time, and, by comparison, today.
December 2, 2022
I can't believe I am saying this about a story that takes place on a ship but, and here it is, I did not find it particularly riveting. Perhaps the author was trying to convey the tedium broken by moments of sheer terror that happened on sailing ships long ago. In that respect the goal was achieved. However, for me, this tale was insufferably long and the main character seemed so naive at times, especially in regard to falling head over heels in love in the course of a few hours. The best parts were the dangerous situations that the ship ran across as it traveled from England to Australia and how the crew and passengers reacted to them.
Set in journal form from the viewpoint of Edmund Talbot the wording was a bit stilted and too lengthy. Perhaps that is how people expressed themselves back then but at times I wanted to scream at Edmund, "Get to the point already!"
Set in journal form from the viewpoint of Edmund Talbot the wording was a bit stilted and too lengthy. Perhaps that is how people expressed themselves back then but at times I wanted to scream at Edmund, "Get to the point already!"
August 30, 2025
Great book about marine adventures and vicissitudes. Golding's narrative literally put you right in the middle of a ship suffering the powerful and scary storms where horrible situations develop where the survival skills are tested constantly and a masterful ending.
October 19, 2017
One of the few books I’ve read in my life that I really didn’t want to end.
September 11, 2018
Quite a lengthy read but the novel is packed full of action and drama. You can really feel how cramped the passengers feel on the almost a year voyage to Australia.
July 21, 2019
Having read the 3 part series before, I can only apologize for rereading it now that it has been issued as a collection. Golding has included some corrections, most very minor but two rather large errors, in the Forward pages. Even tho it is truly historical fiction, it follows Cooks' real circumnavigation quite accurately. Good enough to read two times!
Have completed the first segment, Rites of Passage, I find the writing something of a challenge since my skills in choosing a good way of expressing my thoughts rather a challenge. But the pleasure of reading such a skilled writer's work overwhelms the difficulties. The journal being written by
Edmond Talbot, is being recorded at the request of his Uncle who is an English Lord. So his views are rather limited in his efforts to write what he believes his Uncle expects to hear. Nevertheless the experiences of a young well-educated young man in a position of which he knows little gives the story an interesting turn, even without extensive exciting events. Now I move on to the second book, Close Quarters, written not for his uncle but for himself. We learn more of his personal ideas and attitudes and more excitement is coming.
Have completed the first segment, Rites of Passage, I find the writing something of a challenge since my skills in choosing a good way of expressing my thoughts rather a challenge. But the pleasure of reading such a skilled writer's work overwhelms the difficulties. The journal being written by
Edmond Talbot, is being recorded at the request of his Uncle who is an English Lord. So his views are rather limited in his efforts to write what he believes his Uncle expects to hear. Nevertheless the experiences of a young well-educated young man in a position of which he knows little gives the story an interesting turn, even without extensive exciting events. Now I move on to the second book, Close Quarters, written not for his uncle but for himself. We learn more of his personal ideas and attitudes and more excitement is coming.
August 4, 2019
Das erste Buch, dass ich im neuen Jahr zufrieden schließen kann, und dann gleich ein glatter 5-Sterner! Ganz großes Kopfkino war das, sollte man nur mit Ölzeug und 'ner Buddel Rum bewaffnet lesen :D
June 28, 2020
Hard to follow and uninteresting, William Goldings contribution to literature is profound but his skills are not well shown in this novel.
March 3, 2024
Highly recommend this coming of age sea faring trilogy from the journals of Edmund Talbot.
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