book data
125 ratings, 4.16 average rating, 12 reviews
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published
September 1st 1991
(first published 1990)
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
binding
Paperback, 248 pages
isbn
0374523193
(isbn13: 9780374523190)
description
This is an extraordinary tale of life aboard what may be one of the last American merchant ships. As the story begins, Andy Chase, who holds a license...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 161)
Read in January, 2007
If you have ever had a dream of living on the open ocean, this book is a good place to start. It is a first person account of life in the Merchant Marines - one of those institutions I have heard of, but have no idea what it really is. At times, the author seems to be writing almost as a stream of consciousness, skipping from topic to topic and mixing time periods. Most of the time, this style seems to work, but at several points seemed to leave me lost as to who and what the author was talking...more
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Read in September, 2008
recommended to Kelly by:
Steve Friedmanrecommends it for: nonfiction aficionados
I first read an essay, The Search for Marvin Gardens, by John McPhee in a collection, and then asked about him in my essay writing class. Soon, I was on a hunt for his books - but just the right ones. Not the geology. Not collections of essays, which were easy to find but just looked... old. Yes, I judge books by their covers - but also by their tables of contents and flipping through and reading a few lines here and there - and I wasn't sold.
Finally, I wandered into a secondhand bo...more
Finally, I wandered into a secondhand bo...more
Read in March, 2008
recommended to Mr. Hill by:
Mike Wedaman
If I were the kind of fella to write books, I like to think that they would end up looking like McPhee's. Most of the time, his style and "authorial presence" are invisible, so when he does stick his head in with a bit of subtle subjective commentary, it stands out.
I always kind of wished I could have spent a summer on an ore freighter on the great lakes or something. I would read on the deck. They would call me "college boy." But that is never going to happ...more
I always kind of wished I could have spent a summer on an ore freighter on the great lakes or something. I would read on the deck. They would call me "college boy." But that is never going to happ...more
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recommends it for:
nautical buffs
This is McPhee's report of his voyage on a freighter, the Stella Lykes. Another thing I really want to do before I croak. He travels for 42 days, through the Panama Canal and down the coast of South America delivering containers. The are attacked by pirates, navigate around storms, and discuss the decline of the American Merchant Marine. My father actually took a trip on one of the Lykes container ship and was stuck for several weeks on the west side of the Panama Canal during our invasion of P...more
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Read in February, 2008
Clipper ships. I like clipper ships. Actually, this book has nothing to do with clipper ships, but rather is about John McPhee hanging out with the Merchant Marine on one those big tanker/shipping crate ships. Pretty interesting look at commerce and shipping and travel from a different perspective than most travel novels. The book was written in the 1980's, and I'd be very interested to see how it would be different now with the global economy that has expanded much more since then. Still, ...more
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Read in June, 2008
This was great!
I read McPhee's Archdruid after having read Uncommon Carriers. I loved the style and structure of UC (a very recent book), but A (from the 70's), was disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but I wasn't running around telling people how great it was...
This one though...wow...I just want to tell everyone how great it is! But I don't....because I'm not sure everyone would like it....I think you have to have some inherent interest in international...more
I read McPhee's Archdruid after having read Uncommon Carriers. I loved the style and structure of UC (a very recent book), but A (from the 70's), was disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but I wasn't running around telling people how great it was...
This one though...wow...I just want to tell everyone how great it is! But I don't....because I'm not sure everyone would like it....I think you have to have some inherent interest in international...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
the sea worthy
"Valparaiso pilots, Valparaiso pilots. This is the American steamship Stella Lykes. Stella Lykes. Whiskey, Mike, Romeo, Golf. Over."
If you say those words, in that order-Whisky, Mike, Romeo, Golf-anywhere in the world, they mean this ship. Right now, no one seems to care.
"So much for moving ships at this hour of the morning," the captain says. "The port isn't even awake yet. When Ethan Allen was expiring, people said to him, 'Ethan, the angels expect you,' a...more
If you say those words, in that order-Whisky, Mike, Romeo, Golf-anywhere in the world, they mean this ship. Right now, no one seems to care.
"So much for moving ships at this hour of the morning," the captain says. "The port isn't even awake yet. When Ethan Allen was expiring, people said to him, 'Ethan, the angels expect you,' a...more
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Read in January, 2001
Yet another McPhee masterpiece. McPhee follows Andy Chase, a licensed second mate, aboard the S.S. Stella Lykes on a forty-two day run through the Panama Canal and down the western coast of South America. While illustrating the woes of the U.S. merchant marines, from present-day pirates to international competition, McPhee captures a fascinating way of life that is on the ropes.
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Just picked this one up and Mcphee's style is easy going and the subject matter is close to my heart
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Not particularly fascinating, but a comfortable and fun-fact-filled read as usual from McPhee.
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Read in January, 1998
Huck Finn lives on! Studs Terkel goes to sea.
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