English Passengers: A Novel

English Passengers: A Novel
Average customer rating:

Intellectual epic, very good, unusual style, "Dickens" detail

The English Invade Paradise

Very Good Book

Excellent historical fiction

an adventure story, a morality tale, a cultural/historical novel

English Passengers: A Novel
Matthew Kneale
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 038549744X
Release Date: 2001-01-16

Amazon.com

Christopher Columbus was looking for a passage to India when he ran full-tilt boogie into the Americas. One of the narrators of Matthew Kneale's ambitious historical novel English Passengers has more modest aspirations: Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley wants only to smuggle a little tobacco, brandy, and French pornography from the Isle of Mann to a secluded beach in England. Yet somehow in the process, he and his crew end up weighing anchor for Australia. Worse, they're forced to carry three temperamental Englishmen bound for Tasmania on a mission to discover the exact location of the Garden of Eden. The year is 1857, and the study of geology is beginning to make serious inroads into areas of religious doctrine. When the Reverend Geoffrey Wilson runs across a scientific treatise that puts the age of Silurian limestone somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred thousand years, he is scandalized: "This was despite the fact that the Bible tells, and with great clarity, that the earth was created a mere six thousand years ago." His many attempts to prove the Bible's accuracy lead, eventually, to a scientific expedition comprising himself, Timothy Renshaw, a dilettante botanist, and Dr. Thomas Potter.

Now jump back 30 years, to 1828, when a revolution of sorts is stirring on the island of Tasmania. Over the years, white settlers have been encroaching on aboriginal land and relations have deteriorated into violence. At the heart of the action is Peevay, a young half-breed abandoned by his aborigine mother, who had been kidnapped and raped by a white escaped convict. Now his vengeful mother is leading a war against the whites, and Peevay, desperate to win her love, has joined her. Chapters from the past narrated by Peevay and augmented by letters and dispatches from white settlers alternate with the sections told by Kewley, Wilson, Renshaw, and Potter. Eventually, of course, the two time lines intersect with momentous results.

War, mutiny, shipwreck, and not a little farce make English Passengers a gripping read, but it is Matthew Kneale's literary ventriloquism that renders it remarkable. In a novel with so many different points of view, the individuality of each voice stands out. There is, for instance, the mutinous Dr. Potter, whose descent into paranoia and egomania results in diary entries reminiscent of a 19th-century psychotic Bridget Jones: "Manxmen = treacherous even to v. last. Self heard Brew (lashed to mainmast as per usual) instructing helmsman to steer N.N.W. When self questioned he re. this he claiming we = carried into Bay of Biscay by difficult sea currents + must set course to avoid Breton Peninsular. He pointing to distant point of land to N.N.E. claiming this = Brittany. Self = doubtful." But perhaps the most compelling voice in English Passengers belongs to Peevay, who paints a vivid picture of aboriginal life in a foreign tongue he nonetheless makes his own:

When we sat so in the dark, after our eating, Tartoyen told us stories--secret stories that I will not say even now--about the moon and sun, and how everyone got made, from men and wallaby to seal and kangaroo rat and so. Also he told who was in those rocks and mountains and stars, and how they went there. Until, by and by, I could hear stories as we walked across the world, and divine how it got so, till I knew the world as if he was some family fellow of mine.

By the close of this epic tale, the world Peevay had known is gone forever and the lives of the Manx sailors and English passengers have been irrevocably changed. Based on real events in Tasmanian history, Matthew Kneale's novel delivers a home truth about Australia's brutal colonial past, even as it conveys the wonder and allure of the age of exploration. --Alix Wilber

Book Description

In 1857 when Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley and his band of rum smugglers from the Isle of Man have most of their contraband confiscated by British Customs, they are forced to put their ship up for charter. The only takers are two eccentric Englishmen who want to embark for the other side of the globe. The Reverend Geoffrey Wilson believes the Garden of Eden was on the island of Tasmania. His traveling partner, Dr. Thomas Potter, unbeknownst to Wilson, is developing a sinister thesis about the races of men.

Meanwhile, an aboriginal in Tasmania named Peevay recounts his people’s struggles against the invading British, a story that begins in 1824, moves into the present with approach of the English passengers in 1857, and extends into the future in 1870. These characters and many others come together in a storm of voices that vividly bring a past age to life.

Customer Reviews:

Intellectual epic, very good, unusual style, "Dickens" detail.......2007-07-26

I really enjoyed this book but not everyone will. It is not an easy "beach book." This is a thoughtful epic that is long and complex. The story is fascinating. It's told from many points of view -- at least 10 if I recall. The story always moves forward but from various viewpoints such as that of an Australian aborigine. It is handled superbly. I think this is sort of a "Berkeley" type book - I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did my UC Berkeley graduate son and even his wife who is new to the English language. Very different.

The English Invade Paradise.......2006-08-23

In reading this book, the Prime Directive in the Star Trek series came to mind. Star Fleet personnel were not to interfere with the civilizations they studied to prevent harm. This book demonstrates the value and need for such a policy.

In the early 19th Century, the British Empire was in full swing. In Tasmania, once known as Van Dieman's land, England had established penal colonies and other colonies for the intrepid. The fact that Tasmania was already occupied was not an issue, for the aborigines were seen as savages, in need of civilizing and Christ. The felons kidnapped and raped the women with impunity. When the aborigines fought back, the colonists, with better weapons and resources, eventually captured the majority, often through trickery, and placed them in a camp. That the aborigines slowly, but surely fell victim to European diseases for which they had no immunity was seen as a sign of their unfitness. The colonists tried to evangelize the aborigines, and at one point, in a cringe-inducing moment, gave the aborigines "Christian" names.

The English Passengers in the title may refer to the colonists on Tasmania, though, in actuality, they were not passing through Tasmania so much as taking over. No, the English Passengers are three Englishmen who board a Manx ship to Tasmania for the purpose of finding the Garden of Eden. They include a minister, rigid in his beliefs, who is fighting the emergence of evolutionary theories, a "scientist," whose theories on race are chilling, and a young, hapless man, whose family thinks this trip will make a man of him. The ship is manned by sailors from the Isle of Wight, who failed in an attempt to smuggle goods into England, and only reluctantly took the passengers on as a way to escape the sharp eyes of English custom inspectors. On Tasmania, Peevay, the son of an aborigine and the man who raped her, describes the tale of English treatment of aborigines and him.

The story utilizes numerous narrators, and the author does an excellent job of giving them their own distinctive voices. The story of Peevay is especially poignant, as we observe his betrayal by the English and the delusions of the English that they are actually helping the aborigines. The Manx sailors provide a great deal of comic relief. I highly recommend this book. It is an interesting read, and the story is compelling.

Very Good Book.......2006-08-13

This is one of the best and wittiest books I have read, dealing with "benign" colonialism. The British, in the name of "saving the natives" managed to eradicate the whole population of Tasmania. True comedy always has the element of the tragic in it as this book proves.

Excellent historical fiction.......2006-08-06

I recently read the English Passengers as part of my local book club. Not being a huge fan of historical fiction, and having heard that it was a difficult book to begin, I wasn't looking forward to reading it. However, once I began, I was quickly entranced and delighted by the story. Kneale has a quick, dry wit that permeates all the different story lines, which are told in many different voices and perspectives.

There are two main missives, one following the ship Sincerity, captained by Manx-men from the Isle of Mann, trying to surreptitiously smuggle some goods to make a profit, and their unlikely passengers who are off to find Eden in Tasmania.

The second follows a half-caste Tasmanian as he struggles to find his place in a world where neither the white men nor the aboriginals accept him. I found this part to be very disturbing and gripping, as it illustrates the near-extermination of the Tasmanian natives. The concept of benign (and intentional) malevolence is very clearly presented.

I found the ending to be very satisfying and not something I would have anticipated. In part sea yarn, historical fiction, and social commentary, I highly recommend this book.

an adventure story, a morality tale, a cultural/historical novel.......2006-05-23

What a marvelous book. It is an adventure story, a morality tale, a cultural/historical novel. It is informative and fun. In 1857, three Englishmen charter a ship to Tasmania, where one of them, a pastor, expects to find evidence of the Garden of Eden. The reader does not find it incredible that he might believe in his theory. The ship is crewed by "Manx", sailors from a town in the Isle of Man and their roguish captain, who are intent on making their fortune through smuggling. Their tale is wrapped into an account of Tasmanian history, focusing on the aborigines. The story is told in the voices of its many characters, most powerfully by a half/caste Tasmanian who witnesses the decline of his mother's people, while "enduring". The Tasmanians are destroyed by the English, mostly through the English germs. While some of the English were brutal, it is not active evil as much as indifference to others that Kneale finds. The plot has a remarkable number of twists, which come ever more quickly as the book nears its end. The beginning of the book may seem lightweight to some readers, but stick with it.

Average customer rating:

Useful Guide To A Beautiful Place

Lonely Planet Tasmania
Carolyn Bain , and Gina Tsarouhas
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1740597745

Customer Reviews:

Useful Guide To A Beautiful Place.......2006-10-29

The Lonely Planet city guide to "Tasmania" is a very useful travel guide authored by Carolyn Bain, Gina Tsarouhas, and Paul Smitz. With 19 national parks which cover over a third of the territory, it will come as no surprise that a good portion of this guide is focused on outdoor activities. However, if you are headed to Tasmania for other reasons, as I am, there is still plenty of good information about sites to see, places to go, things to do, and places to eat. This review is based on the 4th edition of this particular travel guide, which was published in October of 2005.

The book opens with several sections about the state as a whole. There are sections on the history, culture, environment, the outdoors, national parks, and food & drink. It then follows with 12 more specific sections covering the major cities and different regional areas of the island, including a small section covering the Bass Strait Islands. The book then has a very useful section titled "Directory", which covers a large assortment of odds and ends which are useful for a traveler, such as business hours, climate, customs, embassies, festivals and events, holidays, insurance, money, and so on. There are then two more sections which cover transportation and health. The book then closes with a glossary, some information about the Lonely Planet books, a section for some notes, and an index.

I am fortunate enough to have friends there, so the main thing I used the guide for was to look at the descriptions of things to do, and to see what looks interesting. That blended well with my friends' suggestions, and I think it will prove to be useful to me in my trip. In particular, the "Directory" section is good to go through, as it can often serve as a checklist for things to think about and to take care of while you are planning your trip.

Human Remains: Dissection and its Histories

Average customer rating:

Badly flawed
The Use, But Mostly Abuse, of Cadavers

Human Remains: Dissection and its Histories
Helen MacDonald
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Human Remains: Episodes in Human Dissection
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ASIN: 0300116993

Book Description

Until 1832, when an Act of Parliament began to regulate the use of bodies for anatomy in Britain, public dissection was regularly—and legally—carried out on the bodies of murderers, and a shortage of cadavers gave rise to the infamous murders committed by Burke and Hare to supply dissection subjects to Dr. Robert Knox, the anatomist.
This book tells the scandalous story of how medical men obtained the corpses upon which they worked before the use of human remains was regulated. Helen MacDonald looks particularly at the activities of British surgeons in nineteenth-century Van Diemen’s Land, a penal colony in which a ready supply of bodies was available. Not only convicted murderers, but also Aborigines and the unfortunate poor who died in hospitals were routinely turned over to the surgeons.
This sensitive but searing account shows how abuses happen even within the conventions adopted by civilized societies. It reveals how, from Burke and Hare to today’s televised dissections by German anatomist Dr. Gunther von Hagens, some people’s bodies become other people’s entertainment.

Customer Reviews:

Badly flawed .......2007-03-14

Another blow for ignorance and superstition

One might think that in the 21'st century people would be smarter than they were in poor Dr. Knox's day. Sadly MacDonald shows they aren't. She rails against von Hagen's
public dissections, yet her entire book is noting but a thinly disguised bit of sensationalism using the very thing she decries to sell books. Like a carnival barker she incites the crowd to "come one, come all . . .see the bearded lady. Watch Jo-jo the dog faced boy eat a live chicken and shudder at every disgusting bite . . ."

"Human remains matter" according to MacDonald. What do they matter, other than as food for the worms? What does she think happens to the average corpse? That it's magically imbued with perfume and sealed under glass?

Sorry, but dead is dead. Either the anatomist or the worms get the body.

As for the specious argument about the British Museum bones "filthy with dust, and in a dark cellar" . . . a bit of research would have shown that many museum specimens remain uncatalogued and unexamined for years due to lack of funds and researchers. This does NOT mean the samples are unimportant. A cursory reading on paleontology, archeology or anthropology will show the utility of artifacts and specimens that have lain in a "dark cellar" for decades.

Interesting book, but badly flawed due to the authors bias

The Use, But Mostly Abuse, of Cadavers.......2006-11-21

Just last week, the Natural History Museum in London agreed that it would return the bones and teeth of some seventeen natives of Tasmania. The specimens were collected in the nineteenth century, and will be repatriated, probably for burial or cremation, because the Tasmanian Aboriginal Center made a request for such a return. The museum's trustees agreed to the return, but the museum's scientists don't want to let go of their bones, as they were seen as important to the global scientific community. However, in Human Remains: Dissection and Its Histories (Yale University Press), Helen MacDonald has already shown that the insistence of keeping such specimens to advance the cause of science is disingenuous. Skulls and other bones residing in the British Museum, for instance, are "filthy with dust, and in a dark cellar", and the cataloguing is such that it is difficult even to determine the number of specimens. It is hard to say that such specimens are vital to science if this is how they are kept, but the current keepers are also keeping up a tradition of holding on to skeletons from distant regions as souvenirs. MacDonald's is not a history of human dissection, but rather an examination of some particular instances of what happened to the dead bodies themselves. When doctors work on the dead, they are tinkering with an object that is not like any other. "Human remains matter," writes MacDonald, "Every society has conventions for dealing with them in a way that involves regulating who has access to bodies and care in their disposal." And yet, in the England and its colonies of the nineteenth century when most of her stories are set, anatomists and others treated bodies with a shocking professional callousness.

Education and research are sensible justification for using cadavers, but MacDonald shows that much less laudable goals are often at work. For instance, dissection used to be a sort of post-mortem punishment assigned particularly to murderers. The College of Surgeons was assigned any harvest from the noose, and the legal dissections on executed murderers were public, "crafted social events". Crowds would come to see the hanging, and then would jam in to see the body taken apart. The anatomists found that the applause during the dissection would be distracting. Female corpses were especially prized. Mary Paterson was a prostitute whose body was sold by William Burke to an instructor of anatomy in Edinburgh, Robert Knox. Knox's career would end when it was discovered that he was buying cadavers from the infamous Burke and Hare who were turning living people into anatomical specimens prematurely, and indeed Mary Paterson was their third victim. Her body was voluptuous and still pliable, and so the anatomists did ply it into an artistic pose, and she was drawn by an artist before the anatomists had a go. Most of the stories which MacDonald, an Australian, tells have to do with anatomizing in Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land as it was known. Certain English gentlemen liked to collect bones, especially skulls: "In Britain, collecting human bones was a kind of mid-Victorian mania, shared by amateurs and professionals alike." Such specimens were amassed in order to buttress the idea that different races were different species, and of course that Britons were the best among them. The final section of the book is about what happened after the death of the supposedly last Tasmanian native, and how while the body was in the hospital morgue, a surgeon covertly cut out the skull to steal, while substituting another one into the emptied head of the cadaver. So onward marched science.

MacDonald makes clear that we still are trying to define exactly how bodies stop being persons and become objects. She describes the now-famous exhibits by Dr. Gunther von Hagens, who "plastinates" bodies (a way of colorfully embalming them) to put them on public display. She also describes how von Hagens performed a public dissection in London four years ago, a performance she attended even though such dissections were outlawed almost two centuries ago. Von Hagens insisted to his crowd, "I stand here for democracy," just as other anatomists had claimed some sort of higher ground in previous centuries. MacDonald's gruesome and amusing book shows that such high-minded words about the use of cadavers have not always matched the truth.

Knockdown : The Harrowing True Story of a Yacht Race Turned Deadly

Average customer rating:

Over flowery
One of my favorite books
Gripping!
Third in a Three-Book Field
I feel like I was there...

Knockdown : The Harrowing True Story of a Yacht Race Turned Deadly
Martin Dugard
Manufacturer: Atria
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0671038796

Amazon.com

On December 26, 1998, 115 boats sailed out of Sydney Harbor at the start of the Sydney to Hobart race. The Syd-Hob is a grueling 735-mile race down the east coast of Australia, across the Bass Strait, and down the length of Tasmania. Known as the toughest blue-water (open ocean) race on earth, it is also something of a rite of passage for sailors around the world--especially Australians. Aussie landlubbers also follow the race closely, greeting the winning boat with fireworks and a city-wide celebration.

But the 1998 Syd-Hob was no party. Prior to the race, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology issued a warning for 55-mph winds in Bass Strait, later upping the severity and describing coming conditions as "atrocious." Atrocious proved an understatement. The first storm hit the fleet around midnight, causing many boats to turn and sail for home. At 2:00 p.m. on December 27, a rare phenomenon called a "weather bomb" hit Bass Strait as three massive weather systems collided. Over the next 24 hours, mammoth waves of 90 feet and higher combined with 100-mph winds to batter the remaining boats. By the end of the day on December 29, the results were in: six lives lost, five boats sunk, many more boats--and sailors--seriously damaged.

In Knockdown, Martin Dugard captures the excitement--and horror--of the doomed race and its participants, though he does indulge in melodramatic foreshadowing at times. Dugard is quick to name heroes; he lays honors at the feet of the men and women of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority for their valiant efforts in rescuing more than 50 sailors. He also praises Iain Moray and the crew of the Siena, who turned around to help save the crew of Stand Aside. Explaining his actions afterward, Moray said simply, "I certainly hope someone would do the same for me if I were in trouble." For Dugard the villains are the wind and the waves: "Together, they hunt for the fleet. Together, they hunt for a victim."

Though Dugard raises important questions--why are sailors willing to take such risks? Why didn't more turn back as the storm hit? Why didn't the race organizers call it off when the weather reports came in? Should the public be responsible for paying the $650,000 price tag for the sea rescues?--he provides few answers beyond platitudes, such as "The history of Syd-Hob is about storms as much as sailing" and the "brotherhood of the honor" of finishing the race. That said, Knockdown is compelling reading for those who like their adventure stories served raw. --Sunny Delaney

Book Description

"The 1998 Sydney to Hobart took us beyond sport, beyond the drive to compete. We found ourselves at the edge of life-and-death survival."
-- Ed Psaltsis, winning skipper of 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

In the extreme sport of open-ocean yacht racing, the 735-mile Sydney to Hobart challenge is considered one of the most treacherous races in the world. December 27, 1998, proved why. Slammed by a freak storm that unleashed 100 mph winds and waves eight stories tall, twenty-four boats were abandoned at sea as hundreds of sailors fought for their lives. This is the riveting story of that tragic race -- the punishing storm, the heroic rescues, the grim loss of life -- and a though-provoking look at the people who risked families and fortunes for victory.

Download Description

In the world of blue water, or open ocean, yacht racing, the Sydney to Hobart challenge is considered one of the most treacherous races in the world. Nineteen-ninety-eight proved why. Slammed by a sudden freak storm that unleashed ninety-mile-per-hour winds and waves seven stories tall, twenty-four boats were abandoned at sea as sixty-three sailors fought for their lives. Six would die, including two who would never be found. Here, premier adventure writer Martin Dugard recreates the emotional saga of these windswept sailors -- survivors and victims alike -- shedding fascinating light on this extreme sport

Customer Reviews:

Over flowery.......2004-05-04

While I realise a lot of work went into this book, and I applaud Dugard for bringing it together, I have to confess I hated it.

Lots of little inconsistencies and the overfamiliarity of a foreigner writing about an Australian race riled me because it is important to get the little things right. Mispelled names of people or yachts involved was just one of many things which was distracting and annoying.

I know conditions were deadly, appalling, and life threatening, however, this book (for me) played up on that fact way too much.

It read more like a rollercoaster, darstardly, murderous whodunnit puncutated with overflowery, repetitious slang rather than a real-life event which really happened to real people.

But hey, everyone's different. Maybe someone else loved it.
I've read better.

One of my favorite books.......2004-05-04

Wow. What a great book, and yes I am a sailer. True, we describe events differently than a non sailer but Dugard tells this story so non sailers could understand. As all sailers know...sailing "tales" bore non sailers to tears, so Dugard tells the Sydney Hobart story in such a manner that I can give this book to my non sailing frinds and they can read and appreciate what happened out there on the Bass Strait. A great book that impresses upon us all what dangers may await when we cast off the last line that binds us to terra firma.

Gripping!.......2003-11-15

This was one of the most vivid, compelling reads I have had in some time. Dugard is a master of description. Knowing virtually nothing of blue ocean yacht racing, I was transported into a world of driven men and the tragedy they willingly face. A must read.

Third in a Three-Book Field.......2002-12-01

I try not to review books solely by comparing them to other books, but in this case it seems justified. The story of the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race has been told in three books (that I know of): G. Bruce Knecht's _The Proving Ground_, Rob Mundle's _Fatal Storm_, and this one. Having read all three, I found Dugard's the least satisfying.

All are competent "true adventure" stories, and all deliver the goods on that basic level. Mundle, however, is first-rate journalism, following a wide range of boats and trying to give a precise picture of what happened. Knecht is more focused: an exploration of people facing mortal danger far from civilization, like Krakauer's _Into Thin Air_ and Junger's _Perfect Storm_. Dugard tries to split the difference, narrating the race as a whole while also exploring the reasons why people sailed in the Sydney-Hobart and other blue-water competitions. This would be a tall order for *any* 250-page book, and Dugard fails to pull it off. I was left neither with a good sense of the race as a whole nor with a clear understanding of why the crews involved made the choices they did.

Dugard's writing compounds the problem. It veers from breezy and imprecise (confusing if you're not familiar with yacht racing and severe weather, frequently irritating if you are) to ponderous and pretentious. His treatment of the storm as if it were a semi-conscious "enemy" is especially unfortunate because, paradoxically, it diminishes the storm's power. The essential, defining quality of the sea is its utter indifference to the fragile humans who venture out on it.

If you're only going to read one book on the 1998 Hobart, do yourself a favor: find a copy of Mundle or Knecht instead.

I feel like I was there..........2002-04-06

I found Martin Dugard's account of the Sydney to Hobart race compelling and accurate. Not only did he thoroughly research the facts, but he gives us a heartfelt account that makes one FEEL like you were there. I was riveted and compelled to continue reading, much more than other accounts I have read. Dugard truly seems to have a grasp on the subject matter from both a factual and emotional standpoint. I would like to read other books he has written!!!

Fatal Storm: The Inside Story of the Tragic Sydney-Hobart Race

Average customer rating:

The Imperfect Storm
Worth a read
Inspiring and frightning
Great Read for a long airline flight
Interesting

Fatal Storm: The Inside Story of the Tragic Sydney-Hobart Race
Rob Mundle
Manufacturer: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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In the world of competitive off-shore sailing, Christmas Day is thought of as Boxing Day Eve--that is, the eve of the annual Sydney-to-Hobart Race. One of the world's three major offshore races (along with the Fastnet out of England and America's Newport Race to Bermuda), the 630-mile course from Sydney, Australia, to Hobart, Tasmania, is a test of skills, guts, and endurance in notoriously unpredictable, fickle waters--and in any weather.

On Boxing Day, 1998, the 115 boats jockeying at the starting line off Sydney's Nielsen Park Beach had been warned that low-pressure weather systems were conspiring to guarantee a wild and chancy race. Yet few sailors anticipated the ferocity of the storm that descended around two o'clock the next morning, whipping up gale-force winds and waves tall enough to send 25-ton yachts "spearing into midair," then "plunging down into the trough ... like repeatedly launching a truck off a 30-foot ramp and awaiting the crash." The race quickly devolved into the worst sailing disaster in recent memory. Seven crews abandoned their boats. Over 50 sailors were rescued under near-impossible circumstances. Seven died, and five boats sank. Journalist Rob Mundle follows the dramatic struggles in Fatal Storm, skillfully re-creating from firsthand accounts the stories of bravery, luck, and folly that left a handful of sailors convinced they'd never go near the Hobart again. Yet as one veteran yachtsman lived to point out, "It's something you just have to do.... You can't be under the illusion at any time that it is safe." --Svenja Soldovieri

Book Description

"Harrowing shoreside reading."Booklist

"Should be required reading for all ocean sailors."Library Journal

The first book to recount the disastrous events of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race, Fatal Storm is sure to be a popular paperback selection. Rob Mundle takes readers through every white-knuckling hour of the gale that descended in the predawn hours of December 27, stretching over 900 miles from Australia to New Zealand, bringing with it hurricane strength winds and five-story waves. In all, 57 sailors were rescued, plucked from the decks of broken boats or from the sea itself under impossible conditions. Six sailors died.

A Sydney-Hobart Race veteran himself, Rob Mundle had total and unequaled access to the people behind the story. The result is a tale of extreme adventure, extraordinary will, and the overwhelming emotional tales of survivors, rescuers, and the bereaved.

Customer Reviews:

The Imperfect Storm.......2006-07-25

The Southern Ocean---that landless sweep of sea that girds the lower third of our planet and isolates Antarctica---is notorious for its evil weather. Huge rollers, unchecked by any landmass, roil around the circumference of the Earth, making this area one of the most daunting, hazardous and challenging for any mariner.

Once yearly on Boxing Day, the 630-mile Sydney-to-Hobart Yacht Race crosses a small portion of the Southern Ocean. One of the three great sport sailing events (along with the Fastnet and the Newport-to-Bermuda) the Sydney-to-Hobart has always had its fickle aspect, but never more so than 1998 when the entire regatta found itself trapped in an unforecasted cyclonic "bomb"---a small and unseasonable but virulent hurricane that produced 80 knot winds and steep hundred foot waves in the relatively narrow Bass Strait.

Although only six sailors died, most of the fleet was battered into kindling by the waves, tall as buildings, heavier, and with much more velocity. Author Rob Mundle, an experienced distance ocean sailor, does a fine job of reportage as he tracks and traces the fates of the various participants, including the Sea-Rescue parajumpers who leapt into the darkness of the angry ocean to save the hapless crews of the shattered boats.

FATAL STORM is well written and avoids becoming bogged down in too much nautical technospeak making it a good adventure story for the armchair enthusiast. The one drawback of FATAL STORM is that Mundle assumes the reader's relative familiarity with the meteorology, landforms, and idiosyncrasies of Australia's natural environment. For those of us not "Down Under" this makes FATAL STORM slightly more difficult to decode than it needs to be.

Worth a read.......2006-07-05

This is such a riveting story that it would be hard to write a bad book about it. Mundle is a fine writer, and the book is easy to read and a real page turner.
As a story teller though, he could use some improvement. For example, one of the yachts is capsized by a giant wave and a man thrown overboard. What happens to him? Will he drown in the stormy waters of Bass Straight? Or is he rescued? We turn the page to find... a quote from the man in question describing what was going through his head as he fell from the yacht. So he lives! Full marks for thorough research, zero for sustaining the tension of the story.

Another caveat for non boating readers. Mundle makes no attempt to explain any of the yachting jargon used throughout the book, so if you are a non boating person like myself, I would recommend reading with a copy of Wikipedia or the full Oxford dictionary by your side so you can understand terms like storm sail, jib, cockpit and many others that are used throughout the book. This will enhance your enjoyment of the book no end.

All in all a great read.

Inspiring and frightning.......2005-09-29

Rob Mundle is journalist and it shows. But behind the bonhomie and parochialism of the yachting scene insider there's an immediacy to this narrative, a rawness to the action and a fire in these heroics that combine to make Fatal Storm an inspiring read. There's something wild about this story, something that makes it different to Fastnet Force 10. There are moments in Fatal Storm when the sailors reading it will be afraid.

Great Read for a long airline flight.......2002-04-05

I finished this book on a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles...with one disaster after another occurring in this massive storm, the writer keeps the reader actively turning pages throughout the book. You would not believe the bravery of everyone involved, from the actual racing teams to the rescue teams, not one person was left unphased by this experience.

I am not an active sailor now, but with some experience in racing with a crew on sailboats, I found the account of this true story gripping.

Certainly, a fun book to read, even if you are not into sailing. It may even convince you to never go open ocean sailing!

Interesting.......2001-06-09

A pretty good read. The story jumped around a bit, but you can keep up with it. The map toward the start was a big help in locating where the accidents happened. The pictures could have used a little more explaining.

Average customer rating:

In Tasmania
Nicholas Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Vintage Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Australia | Australia & Oceania | History | Subjects | Books

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General | Australia & Oceania | History | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Tasmania: The Bradt Travel Guide
Lonely Planet Tasmania
Objects Of Desire - A Portrait of Love and Marriage
The Secret River
Mellon: An American Life

ASIN: 0099466082
Release Date: 2005-12-27

Book Description

The author first went to Tasmania having heard of the island’s exceptional beauty, and because it was famously remote. He soon decided that it was where he wanted to live. Shakespeare explores the island’s colourful history, inhabitants and ancestors, among whom he discovers some of his own.

Average customer rating:

Just the right among of information

Tasmania: The Bradt Travel Guide
Matthew Brace
Manufacturer: Bradt Travel Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Lonely Planet Tasmania
UC In Tasmania
Sydney (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
Streetwise Sydney (Streetwise)
In Tasmania: A House at the End of the World

ASIN: 1841620564

Book Description

Discover every aspect of travel in the magical Australian island of Tasmania, with emphasis on the natural splendor of the island and how to travel around it with minimal impact and maximum enjoyment. Tasmania is one of the world's last true wildernesses, with 40% of the island consisting of national park, much of it World Heritage protected. This guide contains invaluable information on all 18 national parks and their wildlife in depth, including endemic species such as Tasmanian devils, giant wedge-tailed eagles, numbats, and wallabies.
The thought-provoking history of this fringe of Australia is also covered comprehensively, together with its impact on today's Tasmania. The island's ancient Aboriginal past and brutal history of convicts exiled to 'Van Diemen's Land' is especially highlighted, along with details of Aboriginal sites and cave paintings and how to trace ancestors from colonial times.
Thrill-seekers can be assured of plentiful opportunities for adventure sports, from whitewater rafting and snorkeling to rock climbing and all-terrain mountain biking. Tasmania is also ideal for more relaxed pursuits--bushwalking routes, a range of trails taking in glades studded with waterfalls, or snow-white beaches have been selected for this guide, together with activities such as fishing, boating, and horseriding.
Day-trips out from Tasmania's lively and friendly capital, Holbart, information for Antarctic-bound travelers, seasonal tips on what to enjoy, and advice on the very best Tasmanian ales, wines and cheeses are just some of the topics covered.

Customer Reviews:

Just the right among of information.......2004-08-07

Used this guide book for a one-month biking trip in Tasmania. Other than differences in price listed (expected), the information provided is very accurate and I appreciate the author's personal touch in this book, particularly those blocked text introducing ordinary locals doing extraordinary things. In fact, I had one of the most memorable excursions following the author's footstep. Looking forward to using other Bradt guide for my future travel.

Under the Southern Cross or Travels in Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Samoa, and Other Pacific Islands

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Under the Southern Cross or Travels in Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Samoa, and Other Pacific Islands
M.M. Ballou
Manufacturer: Ticknor & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The boy travellers in Australasia;: Adventures of two youths in a journey to the Sandwich, Marquesas, Society, Samoan, and Feejee Islands, and through ... Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia

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The boy travellers in Australasia;: Adventures of two youths in a journey to the Sandwich, Marquesas, Society, Samoan, and Feejee Islands, and through ... Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia
Thomas Wallace Knox
Manufacturer: C. E. Tuttle Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 0804800723

Carnivorous Nights: On the Trail of the Tasmanian Tiger

Average customer rating:

A ROLLICKING ADVENTURE.... FUN!
Great disappointment due to the filthy language and crude humor
An informative book but unfortunately bad choices in writing style
Everything you want
funny and depressing

Carnivorous Nights: On the Trail of the Tasmanian Tiger
Margaret Mittelbach , and Michael Crewdson
Manufacturer: Villard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Tasmanian Tiger: The Tragic Tale of How the World Lost Its Most Mysterious Predator
Searching for Ropens: Living Pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea
Tasmania: The Bradt Travel Guide
BIG BIRD! - MODERN SIGHTINGS OF FLYING MONSTERS
The Last Tasmanian Tiger: The History and Extinction of the Thylacine

ASIN: 1400060028
Release Date: 2005-04-05

Book Description

Packing an off-kilter sense of humor and keen scientific minds, authors Margaret Mittelbach and Michael Crewdson take off with renowned artist Alexis Rockman on a postmodern safari. Their mission? Tracking down the elusive Tasmanian tiger. This mysterious, striped predator was once the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial. It had a pouch like a kangaroo and a jaw that opened impossibly wide to reveal terrifying choppers. Tragically, this rare and powerful animal was hunted into extinction in the early part of the twentieth century. Or was it?

Journeying first to the Australian mainland and then south to the wild island of Tasmania, these young naturalists brave a series of bizarre misadventures and uproarious wildlife encounters in their obsessive search for the long-lost beast.

From an ancient cave featuring an aboriginal painting of the tiger to a lab in Sydney where maverick scientists are trying to resurrect the animal through cloning, this intrepid trio comes face-to-face with blood-sucking land leeches and venomous bull ants, a misbehaving wallaby who invades their motel room, and a crew of flesh-eating, bone-crunching Tasmanian devils gorging on roadkill.

They bond with trappers, bushwackers, and wildlife experts who refuse to abandon the tiger hunt, despite the paucity of evidence. Sifting through local myths, bar-room banter, and historical accounts, these environmental detectives sweep readers into a world where platypus’ swim, kangaroos roam, and a large predator with a pouch was–or perhaps still is–queen of the jungle.

Filled with Alexis Rockman’s stunning drawings of flora and fauna–-made from soil, wombat scat, and the artist’s own blood–Carnivorous Nights is a hip and hilarious account of an unhinged safari, as well as a fascinating portrayal of a wildly unique part of the world.

Customer Reviews:

A ROLLICKING ADVENTURE.... FUN!.......2007-10-02

This book is a wonderful celebration of wildlife--what's lost and what still survives--in a beautiful and strange part of the world. But what makes Carnivorous Nights great is the oddball voice of its narrators.

While appalled by the destructive forces that pushed the Tasmanian tiger to the edge of extinction, the authors manage to find beauty and humor in the amazing creatures--and people--that still populate this far-flung island.

The illustrations are black-and-white watercolors of Tasmania's animals. And they're like ghostly photos of a long-lost world.

This book really stuck with me, and made me want to travel to Tasmania.

Great disappointment due to the filthy language and crude humor.......2007-08-05

Being an avid fan of the Thylacine, I had great hopes for Carnivorous Nights. Boy was I disappointed!!!!! "The Last Thylacine" 2005 by Terry Domico ISBN 1883385156 is a far better book.

There is some very good information in Carnivorous Nights but it is covered by filthy language (the F word every few pages) and Middle School level humor (nipple clamp joke on page 111, many references to scat or other bodily functions in a so-called humorous manner, etc...) Additionally, I did not like the glorification of illegal drug use by one stoned adventurer who seemed to focus his life around his next hit of weed.

I also did not care for the artwork. It was simplistic and not especially inspiring. The black and white images were just basic and nothing special. I thought some of them looked like they were traced over old photos.

A truly good book could have been here if the authors had just had some common decency and maturity. Not everyone speaks with a potty mouth, nor do all adults think of mating habits and sexual issues all the time about all of nature. Unfortunately, reading Carnivorous Nights was more like digging through a dung heap looking for treasure. Too bad that in this case the treasure was not worth the garbage it was covered in.

An informative book but unfortunately bad choices in writing style.......2007-05-04

Carnivorous Nights on the Trail of the Tasmanian Tiger follows three New Yorkers, authors Margaret Mittelbach and Michael Crewdson and their artist friend Alexis Rockman as they search for the Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger. The thylacine is presumed to have been hunted to extinction with the last known individual dying in Beaumaris zoo in 1936. There have been many sightings since then and many still hold hope the Thylacine persists somewhere on the island of Tasmania.
As you might expect, the trio find little evidence of the Tiger in their travels but provide a lot of information on its natural history and some of the more credible recent sightings. They also spend a lot of time checking out Tasmania's many other non-extinct weird and wonderful animals, and I believe they give a good feel for the general atmosphere on the Island. I read this book a few months prior to my own trip to Tassie and it lead me to visit Marakoopa caves and check out the glow worms, which was really fantastic. As far as an informative and interesting book on the wildlife of Tasmanian goes, it earns five stars.
I had to take two stars off however for what are basically stylistic reasons. Normally this doesn't bother me too much, but in this case it turned what would have been a great book into something that was a bit of an effort to read.

The first problem is that this book intends to be a bit of a wacky-travel-adventure read. That in its self is fine (check out Redmond O'Hanlon's "Into the Heart of Borneo" for a perfect example of how it can work) but the problem here is that we have three Americans traveling in Australia, a first world English speaking country. Let's face it, they don't have any really wacky adventures. In fact the attempt to have wacky adventures seems to distract from the book and dumbs down the text a bit. (see pg. 10 "... we were happy to find out that English was spoken on the island.") Nevertheless the authors try to keep the humor up by making lots and lots of quips. Mostly unfunny quips in my opinion. Most other reviewers found this book funny, and I usually enjoy a humorous travel book (Bill Bryson) but most of this was just off for me. Most of the 'humorous' dialog is attributed to Alexis, which resulted in my wishing about halfway through the book that he'd just keep his mouth shut. But I have to admit I took an early disliking to Alexis due to what was probably the worst part of the "travel adventure" side of the text, his purchase of pot (illegal in Australia as in the US) and his smuggling it around the country. There is something about a tourist abroad willfully committing a crime that is also a crime in his own country that I find really distasteful, and I was sorry to see it treated as a sort of comic aside in this book. To be even handed to poor Alexis, his artwork featured in the book is beautiful and I loved his choice of media.

The second problem and really the worst aspect of the book for me was the narrative voice. Since the book was written by two authors and covered their personal experiences, they opted to refer to themselves as 'WE'. Bad idea. While I can't really offer a better suggestion for two authors to have an equal say in a tale, using 'we' is a bad way to go. At times it was fine, at times it sounded like a married couple, at times it sounded like a olde time king, and at times it sounded like a missive from the Borg. To see how bad it gets one can read the dream sequence on page 118 "That night we dreamed about wombats and feral cats..." Actually I recommend using the search inside function to read a few pages and see whether or not this style will bother you.

A final gripe that is probably worth a third of a star or so is that this book lacks an index, which is probably indicative of its trending to pulpy mass media marketing as opposed to a more intelligent natural history text. And yet it does have a decent set of notes and further reading in the back. While I haven't read any other works by these authors, it feels like they are smart natural history writers lead astray by an editor asking for a dumbed down text in the hope it will have a boarder appeal.

In short, if you have an interest in Tasmania, the Thylacine, or Australia travel in general I can recommend purchasing this book, but I was sorry to see a potentially fantastic book severely damaged by some bad editing decisions.

Everything you want.......2006-10-02

Funny, deep and educational. Environmentally aware and a fantastic travel story. What else could a person want?

The book centers on the Tasmanian tiger but threads through cloning, giant lobsters and other strange Tasmanian beasties, extinction, hope and, of course, all manner of strange Tasmanian scenes.

funny and depressing.......2005-10-29

The book is depressing because it's about extinction and endangerment; it's funny because our authors manage to stay optimistic and cheerful in the face of extinction. They have an extremely clear eye for the foibles of humans, as well as for the traits of the animals they see. It takes talented writers to make roadkill amusing; these guys manage it.

If you've ever read Gerald Durrell, then you would find this book similar, both in the attitude toward travel and the observations of native humans. The humor is somewhat similar, too, although of course Durrell's is a bit dated by now. If you read and enjoy this book, then I'd strongly encourage you to go find and read anything you can by Gerald Durrell, especially his earlier books.

Completely by coincidence, during the same week that I read this book, I read a story by Harry Turtledove in a science fiction magazine, and an article in a newspaper about lemurs. Turtledove's story was about an alternate history where the island of Atlantis did not sink, and it has a great deal of unique island wildlife, like Tasmania or Madagascar. The plot of the story was that John James Audubon goes to visit Atlantis to sketch and paint all the endangered wildlife there - because of course, the incursion of man onto the island has endangered most of the species. The story highlights the casual cruelty of 19th-century practices, killing rare animals just to pose and paint them and stuff them for museums; I contrasted that to the care that Mittlebach et al. take not to kill anything, and Alexis' efforts to connect to the animals he is painting by using their bioproducts to make paint. Then the article in a Maine newspaper was about a 14-year old who had saved money since she was 6 years old to go to Madagascar and work on lemur conservation; she accomplished her trip finally, and I felt that the viewpoint of the young generation on the many endangered island animals also added to my appreciation of what the authors of "Carnivorous Nights" were seeing on Tasmania.

The paintings in the book are wonderful; I only could wish some were in color. I have always been fond of wombats, echidnas, and platypodes (or platypuses if you want to simplify it), and have stuffed toys of each (yes, I am half a century old and have a large collection of plush toy marsupials, insectivores, extinct reptiles, and assorted endangered species) and had the fun of meeting an echidna face to face once; it was the short-beaked kind, not the long-beaked one, but still odd enough.

A short "family-reading" alert: while the topic is ideal for kids, there are a few things some parents might object to - assorted unmarried people sharing hotel rooms, more than a few four-letter words, a lot of discussion of blood, gore, and animal parts. I personally don't think there's anything here an 11-year old wouldn't already have met, but your children may vary, and I suspect that more than one 8-year old would have nightmares after the scene about feeding a Tasmanian devil. But definitely, the whole family should get to see the pictures, and get to hear about baby pademelons and Bennett's wallabies!

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