Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling

Plot:

(From Amazon.com)-The only one of Kipling's novels to be cast in an American setting, Captains Courageous endures as one of literature's most cherished and memorable sea adventures. Harvey Cheyne, spoiled millionaire's son, tumbles overboard from a luxury liner--only to be rescued by the crew of a Gloucester schooner. Thus begins the boy's second voyage into the rugged rites and ways of sailors. Like all Kipling's masterworks, Captains Courageous is an interweaving of art and moral purpose. Angus Wilson has said that it shows "delicacy of craft and violence of feeling, exactitude and wile impressionism, subtlety and true innocence." A popular favorite since its first publication in 1897, the novel remains a classic story of youthful initiation--and a lively tribute to the author's famous code of bravery, loyalty, and honor among men.

 My Initial Expectation:
This is one of those books that makes you feel smarter just having it on your bookshelf. I was excited to read it because I love the classics and I especially love the seafaring stories. I haven't seen the movie with Spencer Tracy (it is in my queue, though) and I wanted to read the book first. 

My Thoughts:
While this book wasn't my favorite, I am glad that I read it. I couldn't read it unless I was sitting perfectly still because the imagery was so vivid, I started getting seasick. No, I'm not exaggerating- ask my boyfriend. There were times I got frustrated with the book, though. Kipling wrote the conversations between the fisherman phonetically (or whatever that's called) so it was hard to read at times. There was a whole section of the book where I had no idea what they were talking about but I kept reading and I got the jist of it.

There's one part where the crew attends the auction of possessions from a man who fell overboard and drowned. While they were fishing, Dan gave Harvey a knife that he had bought and they had this nice moment. The moment lasted until something tugged at Harvey's line and when they pulled it up, it was the dead sailor. They started freaking out saying that he had come for his knife in a scene that made me laugh out loud. I won't tell you the rest so you can read it for yourself but that was definitely my favorite part.

At 160 pages, this was a pretty quick read. If you're looking for an easy classics read, this is a good one for you. It's not intense but it isn't boring, either.

Ratings:

(See rating chart on right)

Overall Concept-4
Plot-3
Loveability of Characters-2
 Cover Appeal-3
 Overall Rating-4

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