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marcnpaige's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
An adventurous biography and must read for anyone interested in the history of California before the gold rush or the life of a seaman in the early 19th century. Also great for those interested in the skills of sailing a tall ship.
zoopstoop's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
whiskeytown's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good. There are a few author's notes here and there to explain some traditions or particularly inscrutable naval terminology, but in general a reader would benefit from doing a quick read through some Wikipedia articles about the parts of a ship and their names.
I found the accounts of the time at sea to be really interesting. The middle third of the book which is describing the crew's gathering of hides for shipment back to Boston was less interesting from a seafaring perspective, but still had some interesting historical perspective on the coast of California and the SF Bay Area region.
I found the accounts of the time at sea to be really interesting. The middle third of the book which is describing the crew's gathering of hides for shipment back to Boston was less interesting from a seafaring perspective, but still had some interesting historical perspective on the coast of California and the SF Bay Area region.
nathanwells's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.0
A detailed, fascinating first-hand account of a common sailor's life at sea onboard a merchant vessel in the 1830s. This is a challenging book to get through, due simply to dedicated use of nautical terms. Dana is committed to detailing every moment of his duties, which is both admirable and tedious as you are confronted with whole chapters dedicated to how various sails are rigged. Thankfully, the book provides an extensive glossary. The only other mark against this book is there is very little narrative throughline, but that can be forgiven as it is presented as straight forward account of two real years of Dana's life, and real life often doesn't have a satisfying narrative either.
Dana has some lovely insights on the nature of sailing, the call to adventure, and self reliance. And while I found it tedious in parts, I admired his commitment to writing down every single detail he observed. Doubtless that attention to detail was a big reason this book was so important as a piece of historical record for many years after its publication.
A must-read for anyone interested in the age of sail and the early history of California, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.
Dana has some lovely insights on the nature of sailing, the call to adventure, and self reliance. And while I found it tedious in parts, I admired his commitment to writing down every single detail he observed. Doubtless that attention to detail was a big reason this book was so important as a piece of historical record for many years after its publication.
A must-read for anyone interested in the age of sail and the early history of California, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.
lizzybethrae's review against another edition
2.0
- Book #1 in the Harvard Classics Series My Grandpa Gave Me Right Before He Died, Meaning I Have to Keep Them Forever
- Book that totally threw me off my February reading goal
- Book of several I will make myself read because I want to read all the books on my shelves before getting more (see first bullet point)
Review: Do you like boats? Do you, perhaps, own a boat? Consider keeping this book on a console table in your beach themed bathroom, unopened and unread, to illustrate how hard you love the fact that you own a boat ⛵
- Book that totally threw me off my February reading goal
- Book of several I will make myself read because I want to read all the books on my shelves before getting more (see first bullet point)
Review: Do you like boats? Do you, perhaps, own a boat? Consider keeping this book on a console table in your beach themed bathroom, unopened and unread, to illustrate how hard you love the fact that you own a boat ⛵
jmoran4's review against another edition
3.5
I was dreading this because I worried it would be as dry and prosaic as Slocum's sailing memoir. Thankfully, Dana's approach is reflective, philosophical, and inquisitive. I was completely taken with the first 70 pages, but found the long middle part on the California coast drier. Still, his descriptions of familiar CA places filled me for a nostalgic longing for my old home. I shall never return to live there, but I often miss the golden state.
larsenc23's review against another edition
5.0
Phenomenal account of a 19th Century "Jack" aboard a merchantry vessel. If you're reading this for sheer entertainment then you'd best read something else. Parts of this are very dry, as Richard Henry Dana Jr tries to convey that the sailor's life is indeed quite dry at times. He thoroughly covers almost every non-mundane detail but you also must suffer through most of the mundane. Priceless resource for anyone wanting to write about sailing in the 1800s or earlier. Many interesting components such as the flogging, descriptions of icebergs and how "exciting" that could be after miles and miles of nothingness, the peril of worker's rights (refused medicine, alcohol use parity amongst captain and crew, poor diet diversity, etc.), and the colonial descriptions of California before it was settled into the 40,000,000 persons mess that it is today.
susanhowson's review against another edition
4.0
An essential tome for anyone interested in learning about nineteenth century sailor life. But a tome nonetheless!
I found Richard Henry Dana's tone (smart kid trying something new and totally aware of his own ridiculousness sometimes) charming, and his reflections poignant. I also learned about a billion things about ships, California, sailors, Mexico, and trade winds. This dude wrote down every single detail. Get a good nomenclature diagram of a brig, and you could probably learn to sail a merchant ship with nothing but this book as a reference. Ahoy, etc!
I found Richard Henry Dana's tone (smart kid trying something new and totally aware of his own ridiculousness sometimes) charming, and his reflections poignant. I also learned about a billion things about ships, California, sailors, Mexico, and trade winds. This dude wrote down every single detail. Get a good nomenclature diagram of a brig, and you could probably learn to sail a merchant ship with nothing but this book as a reference. Ahoy, etc!
regina_kammer's review against another edition
5.0
A must read for anyone interested in California history, maritime history, commercial history, costume history, 19th century history, linguistic history.
I listened to the audiobook during daily walks, which was preferable to reading the text (which I had started apparently several years ago!). Note that the audiofile of this particular Tantor edition is not broken up into chapters, so is difficult to navigate (luckily I had a paperback copy with which to compare when the audiobook crashed in my Hoopla app so I could figure out where I was).
I listened to the audiobook during daily walks, which was preferable to reading the text (which I had started apparently several years ago!). Note that the audiofile of this particular Tantor edition is not broken up into chapters, so is difficult to navigate (luckily I had a paperback copy with which to compare when the audiobook crashed in my Hoopla app so I could figure out where I was).