Book Review: Captains Courageous
By: Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
Title: Captains Courageous
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 245
Rating: 5/5
I am not a Literary Fiction fan in general, but Captains Courageous is one of my all-time favorites. Every serious reader should read it at least once, if only for Kipling’s genius of description and storytelling.
Harvey Cheyne, Jr., spoiled only child of a wealthy family, is swept overboard as they cross the Atlantic to Europe. He is picked up by a fishing trawler working the Grand Banks. Captain Troop, silent and stern, refuses to lose the season’s catch to return the boy to shore, especially since the boy’s tales of his family’s wealth are fantastical at best.
Harvey has to learn to work as a fisherman, aided by the crew of the We’re Here and Dan, Troop’s son. He sees the vast and menacing expanse of the north Atlantic sea, learns of the varied lives of the crewmen, and participates in all the traditions and customs of the fishing fleet, competing and helping each other wrestle a living from the sea.
This is a quintessential coming-of-age story. Kipling’s prose is lush in places, stark in others. There are ghosts and sea monsters, adventure, death, the comradery of young boys and the courage of men. He definitely influences my writing and my love of stories.
So good. Go check it out from the library and devour it.
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