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The Dark Canoe
THERE IS A THIN LINE BETWEEN GENIUS AND MADNESS.
When young Nathan sails with his older brothers in search of a lost treasure ship, he is expected to do exactly as they tell him. But when one of his brothers mysteriously dies and the other declares he is Captain Ahab straight out of Moby Dick, Nathan worries about what orders he might have to carry out.
Then a mysterious object appears in the bay that seems to have floated out of the very pages of Moby Dick. Something very strange is happening at sea, but how. . . and why?
"Figures and events from Moby Dick are given eerie, shadowy counterparts ... So quietly, so persuasively is this accomplished that when Ishmael's ocean-going coffin drifts out of Melville's seas in O'Dell's, it carries no shock for either Nathan or the reader."
- Washington Post Book World
When young Nathan sails with his older brothers in search of a lost treasure ship, he is expected to do exactly as they tell him. But when one of his brothers mysteriously dies and the other declares he is Captain Ahab straight out of Moby Dick, Nathan worries about what orders he might have to carry out.
Then a mysterious object appears in the bay that seems to have floated out of the very pages of Moby Dick. Something very strange is happening at sea, but how. . . and why?
"Figures and events from Moby Dick are given eerie, shadowy counterparts ... So quietly, so persuasively is this accomplished that when Ishmael's ocean-going coffin drifts out of Melville's seas in O'Dell's, it carries no shock for either Nathan or the reader."
- Washington Post Book World
144 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1968
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 6, 2019
Beloved as Scott O'Dell was in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, his popularity didn't translate for long after his death in 1989, and I'm not sure why. He created some of the smoothest, most readable prose I've read. Perhaps the downturn is because his fiction has a distant feel; it isn't high-energy or emotional, but cerebral and reserved. Even The Black Pearl and Sing Down the Moon, which earned him Newbery Honors in 1968 and 1971, are low-energy. The Dark Canoe is the story of sixteen-year-old Nathan Clegg aboard the Alert, a ship searching the vicinity of Magdalena Bay for the Amy Foster, a ship that sank in a horrific storm. Nathan's brother Caleb was captain of the Amy Foster, but was stripped of the title when his other brother, Jeremy, testified to Caleb's incompetence during the disastrous storm. Nathan, Caleb, and a full crew now sail aboard the Alert in hopes of locating the wrecked Amy Foster and salvaging its cargo of sperm oil and ambergris, worth enough gold to make everyone on the Alert fabulously rich. But the men are getting antsy as the search drags on with no sign of the Amy Foster. A mutiny against Caleb is mere days away.
The expedition took on a dark tone in the early going when Jeremy Clegg was found murdered. Who strangled this man who, at the time, was captain of the Alert? Surely not his brother Caleb, though he had reasons to. Jeremy caused an accident years ago that messed up Caleb's face and leg, and may not have told the truth about the Amy Foster's fate. Could he rather than Caleb have been responsible for the ship's loss? Caleb feels the mounting pressure to locate the Amy Foster soon or set sail for home, and his desperation is rewarded when the sunken ship is spotted beneath the briny blue. The crew cheers Caleb, eager for their share of the sperm oil and ambergris, and Caleb is content to let them divide his own portion among themselves. What he's hunting for on the Amy Foster is a different sort of treasure.
For Nathan's sixteenth birthday Caleb gifts him his copy of the novel Moby-Dick: or, The Whale by Herman Melville, and Nathan begins to draw comparisons between his brother and Captain Ahab. Caleb confides in Nathan that though he was delirious from fever when the Amy Foster went down, he recalls hastily scrawling a message to Jeremy to move the ship out of the storm's path immediately, directions Jeremy did not follow. If Caleb's memory is correct, he wasn't responsible for the Amy Foster's demise and deserves to be reinstated as a captain. Only by finding his logbook in the sunken ship can he clear his name and restore his sanity, which is on shaky ground. As Caleb chases destiny, Nathan and old Judd, carpenter of the Alert, are sidetracked by a heavy wood item that washes up against the ship. It looks in equal measure like a treasure chest, coffin, or canoe, and Nathan and Judd secretly stash it on an island and labor to open it over a period of days. Does the dark wood box contain riches? Is it empty? Or might it hold the key to Nathan and Caleb both getting what they've searched for since day one of the voyage?
In typical Scott O'Dell fashion, The Dark Canoe is a quiet novel. The language is less than vivid, philosophical revelations are at a minimum, and I never felt personally invested. It's a decent story nonetheless, perfectly comfortable for readers who are oversensitive to emotional turmoil. Scott O'Dell isn't one of the best authors I've read, but in his own way he wrote books I appreciate. I'm glad the world has his work.
The expedition took on a dark tone in the early going when Jeremy Clegg was found murdered. Who strangled this man who, at the time, was captain of the Alert? Surely not his brother Caleb, though he had reasons to. Jeremy caused an accident years ago that messed up Caleb's face and leg, and may not have told the truth about the Amy Foster's fate. Could he rather than Caleb have been responsible for the ship's loss? Caleb feels the mounting pressure to locate the Amy Foster soon or set sail for home, and his desperation is rewarded when the sunken ship is spotted beneath the briny blue. The crew cheers Caleb, eager for their share of the sperm oil and ambergris, and Caleb is content to let them divide his own portion among themselves. What he's hunting for on the Amy Foster is a different sort of treasure.
For Nathan's sixteenth birthday Caleb gifts him his copy of the novel Moby-Dick: or, The Whale by Herman Melville, and Nathan begins to draw comparisons between his brother and Captain Ahab. Caleb confides in Nathan that though he was delirious from fever when the Amy Foster went down, he recalls hastily scrawling a message to Jeremy to move the ship out of the storm's path immediately, directions Jeremy did not follow. If Caleb's memory is correct, he wasn't responsible for the Amy Foster's demise and deserves to be reinstated as a captain. Only by finding his logbook in the sunken ship can he clear his name and restore his sanity, which is on shaky ground. As Caleb chases destiny, Nathan and old Judd, carpenter of the Alert, are sidetracked by a heavy wood item that washes up against the ship. It looks in equal measure like a treasure chest, coffin, or canoe, and Nathan and Judd secretly stash it on an island and labor to open it over a period of days. Does the dark wood box contain riches? Is it empty? Or might it hold the key to Nathan and Caleb both getting what they've searched for since day one of the voyage?
In typical Scott O'Dell fashion, The Dark Canoe is a quiet novel. The language is less than vivid, philosophical revelations are at a minimum, and I never felt personally invested. It's a decent story nonetheless, perfectly comfortable for readers who are oversensitive to emotional turmoil. Scott O'Dell isn't one of the best authors I've read, but in his own way he wrote books I appreciate. I'm glad the world has his work.
June 25, 2021
titular sentence:
p57: "Aye, the Canoe," he cried triumphantly, "the Dark Canoe...."
Is this supposed to be an inferior Moby-Dick? I wish I've read that one, too.
p57: "Aye, the Canoe," he cried triumphantly, "the Dark Canoe...."
Is this supposed to be an inferior Moby-Dick? I wish I've read that one, too.
July 6, 2022
The Dark Canoe's main character is Nathan, the youngest of three brothers. The oldest brother, Jeremy, is missing--possibly dead, and the middle brother, Caleb, is set on continuing the search for a sunken ship. The sunken hold of the Amy Foster may still hold an expensive compound called ambergris. Nathan has always felt more comfortable with his oldest brother. There is something strange about Caleb. So, what REALLY happened to Jeremy? And was the truth really known in the trial that stripped Caleb of his captain's license?
SPOILERS FOLLOW:
Caleb is searching for something other than the ambergris in the hold of the Amy Foster--this Nathan realizes eventually. There's also the discovery of a strange chest that Nathan hopes will be full of treasure.
The book Moby Dick is part of the theme of The Dark Canoe. Whether he realizes it or not, Caleb is similar to Ahab--to the point that at the end of the book, he wants to search for the whale.
The story shows how a person can allow the misfortunes of life and how one is treated and believes one is treated, twist one's thinking. Caleb has found what he searched so hard for, and yet he's tempted to keep on searching for something else.
Will Nathan be able to convince him to return to Nantucket, or will Caleb set course for a fruitless search?
Nathan's older brothers were both looking for something. Jeremy for a tangible thing to satisfy his greed. Caleb is searching for something less tangible. Vindication at first. But then something else? The reader can decide.
SPOILERS FOLLOW:
Caleb is searching for something other than the ambergris in the hold of the Amy Foster--this Nathan realizes eventually. There's also the discovery of a strange chest that Nathan hopes will be full of treasure.
The book Moby Dick is part of the theme of The Dark Canoe. Whether he realizes it or not, Caleb is similar to Ahab--to the point that at the end of the book, he wants to search for the whale.
The story shows how a person can allow the misfortunes of life and how one is treated and believes one is treated, twist one's thinking. Caleb has found what he searched so hard for, and yet he's tempted to keep on searching for something else.
Will Nathan be able to convince him to return to Nantucket, or will Caleb set course for a fruitless search?
Nathan's older brothers were both looking for something. Jeremy for a tangible thing to satisfy his greed. Caleb is searching for something less tangible. Vindication at first. But then something else? The reader can decide.
November 29, 2024
Boring, racist, spoils Moby Dick for those who haven't read it. I know this book was intended for elementary school literature classes, and I just read it because it was available at the time and I wanted a book to read. That doesn't excuse how bad and low-effort it is.
December 31, 2014
gr 4-6 ?? 165 pgs
1800s, sea voyage. 16 year old Nathan is on a mission with his brother to rescue the barrels of whale oil and other goods from the shipwreck of his brother's former ship. Nathan's brother is determined to prove that the shipwreck was not his fault. When a mysterious chest is found floating in the water, a "dark canoe" like in Moby Dick, Nathan is determined to keep it a secret so that he can have the treasure that he's sure must be in it.
This story had two many different storylines, which made for a slow read. The ending was not all that satisfying. I like O'Dell's other books, so I was surprised that this book was such a slow read for me.
1800s, sea voyage. 16 year old Nathan is on a mission with his brother to rescue the barrels of whale oil and other goods from the shipwreck of his brother's former ship. Nathan's brother is determined to prove that the shipwreck was not his fault. When a mysterious chest is found floating in the water, a "dark canoe" like in Moby Dick, Nathan is determined to keep it a secret so that he can have the treasure that he's sure must be in it.
This story had two many different storylines, which made for a slow read. The ending was not all that satisfying. I like O'Dell's other books, so I was surprised that this book was such a slow read for me.
October 10, 2012
This book is similar to the book of Pirates of Caribbean, it is a bit realistic however this book makes me feel like it is not only a action adventure but also a mystery because the people of the crew especially Nathan. So the story twists and turns but I think that the real murderer is either Caleb or Captain Troll. It is very enjoying and I guarantee that anybody reading this book who says it is slow I promise that when you are near the end you will start and never stop until you finish but people with a great gift can put that book down at start doing something else.
September 25, 2014
Listened to book on cd. Not o'dells best work. Is a more modern day, simplified retelling of moby dick.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews