Play Book Tag discussion

3.5 stars

In 1991, a storm hit the Atlantic Ocean off the Eastern coast of the US and Canada. There were fishing boats out there: one of them, the “Andrea Gail”, disappeared and others had people aboard who needed to be rescued. In addition, the book includes information about fishing and the fishing industry, and the history of both. It also includes some information about weather and storms.

It was good, but there was a lot of detail that I just ended up skimming over. The author talked to families and loved ones of the missing fishermen, and to some of the rescuers and survivors, as well as others who had a link to the people caught in the storm. There were a lot of people to keep track of, and I was unsuccessful at much of that, often forgetting who was who unless there was a reminder. There is no way to know what happened aboard the Andrea Gail, so that is kept to speculation about what most fishermen were likely to do in similar circumstances. Some of the fishing techniques upset me (trawling), and I’m sure things have gotten worse since 1991 (and 1997 when the book was published), but that also wasn’t news, sadly. Probably the most interesting parts of the book, for me, were the descriptions of the various rescues.

I loved this book when I read. So interesting and very exciting.

I really enjoyed this. I rated 4 stars.

This is one where I liked the movie much more than the book.

The book and movie for this one were so different! The movie was definitely more entertaining from a narrative point of view, but the books was so full of fascinating technical details about the storm!

I loved them both.

It's been too long since I saw the movie to compare! I did see it when it first came out. I'm going to guess it was made more exciting, as I remember it following the Andrea Gail, so it would have been more fictionalized.

I did not know this was a book. I enjoyed the movie. Good review.

I looked the movie up when I was writing my review, to see when it came out. It was in 2000. George Clooney starred (I didn't need to look it up to remember that!).

Nicole R wrote: "The book and movie for this one were so different! The movie was definitely more entertaining from a narrative point of view, but the books was so full of fascinating technical details about the st..."

I had read Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson before reading Junger's book. It also presented considerable meteorological information, but the narrative style was much more compelling. I think that's probably why I did not like Junger's work so much - expecting a more compelling narrative.

Book Concierge wrote: "I had read Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson before reading Junger's book. It also presented considerable meteorological information, but the narrative style was much more compelling...."

Agreed!

Book Concierge wrote: "Nicole R wrote: "The book and movie for this one were so different! The movie was definitely more entertaining from a narrative point of view, but the books was so full of fascinating technical det..."

Oh I loved Issacs Storm!