Customer Reviews

Beam Ends

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3 star:		(1)
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This book is a great read! It's stylish, witty, action packed and full of youthful bravado. A barely twenty year old Flynn and three chums set sail up the east coast of Australia in a sail boat Flynn acquires during a binge. While not all the details are exactly true, the nuts and bolts of his story are. You're right there with him,and at the end, wish he'd written more - before his demons dragged him down. If you're a Flynn fan, or just love a good tale, this book won't disappoint. Errol was a talented man; "Beam Ends" gives us a glimpse of what might have been.

a voyage not to be missed-full of descriptive passages about the sea and tropical islands-obvious the writer had first hand knowledge of the ocean

I did not know what to expect when I ordered this book. I found that I enjoyed the wonderful adventure described as well as the language used to convey it. It is a great first book for a then twenty-something author. The characters, the passion for sailing and the descriptions of even the smallest of plants and sea life come alive vibrantly. The author clearly read and learned from the classics, and his wonderful, sharp sense of humor comes through with precise, but natural, timing. This is a book that one will truly enjoy reading over and over again. Errol Flynn's second novel "Showdown" is also a fantastic, entertaining read that is again, full of life, passion and clarity and a book worth reading many times over. Mr. Flynn was a multi-talented man whose talent for writing and storytelling should have been supported and encouraged. His "devil may care" attitude and behavior offscreen masked the damage and insecurity caused by a sad childhood and upbringing. It is unfortunate that he was typecast and that tabloid writers seemed to relish riding the coattails of his fast-rising star and then proceeding swiftly to strike him down.

I love Errol Flynn so wanted to read his work, but it was too much sailing and fishing for my taste. He writes well, very conversational, as if you were right there sitting across the table and he were telling you stories. I liked one of his other books better, My Wicked, Wicked Ways just because it had more interesting stories to me. If you like outdoor stories, though, you will like it.

Errol Flynn was an adventure before he was a movie star. This story is about one of his adventures before he got famous. In his years of fame, his peers thought he was making up these crazy stories of his past.

The story of the yacht Sirocco was barely mentioned in his autobiography My Wicked Wicked Ways. Errol buys the boat one night when he is blind drunk after selling a mining plot he has claimed in PNG. The boat is old and not a sea boat. It was designed for harbor racing. However they set off on the journey from Sydney to PNG anyway. Their money runs out and they resort to any means necessary to get a buck including scams and drug running. Along the way they meet many crazy characters and get into plenty of mischief including brawls and other illegal activities. A must read for any adventurer or sailor.

I read his autobiography, My Wicked, Wicked Ways (also terrific) just before I read this book. It is apparent that the autobiography (MWWW) which was co-authored, really was Flynn's book - he probably just dictated it to the other writer credited along with Flynn. The reason I say this is because by the way that Beam Ends is written,(descriptions mainly),it is clear that Errol Flynn had a true writing talent. Flynn wrote this book when he was about 28 years old. It's a treat for the Errol Flynn fan because you can really hear him speaking throughout the book. The subject is the voyage he and a few friends made from Sydney, Australia to New Guinea aboard his boat the Scirocco. You can see how much Flynn had already lived at that tender age and also how much of a sensitive man he really was. I look forward to reading his one and only novel, Showdown, even though it didn't get great reviews. I really like the way he wrote. His desciptions are very vivid. I highly recommend this book. Men, especially, I believe will find it fascinating. It's a true adventure by one of the world's most adventurous men.

I always loved Errol Flynn and I wanted to read his books to learn what kind of writer he was. And to my surprise, I found out what an exceptional great writer he was. Extremely conversational, one can visualize being at the place at the same time. In addition, I also love his other books "My Wicked, Wicked Ways" and "Showdown", which are in every way as entertaining and in many passages I laughed my head off. "What a guy" is all one can say.
Errol Flynn was an exceptional writer and what a wonderful command of the English language he had; what a pity he never pursuit this talent of his fully.
Beams End is full of wit, action packed and full of youthful bravado.
Three adventurers set sail up the east coast of Australia in a sail boat Errol Flynn acquires rather accidentally. He describes a voyage, which would be a true delight to a real hearty sailor. The description of the passage is truly outstanding very realistic and as known he was a great lover, but most of all a lover of the sea.
In this book all the characters and descriptions of even to the smallest detail of a plants, scenery, storms, mishaps and ocean life comes vibrantly alive.
He was a such multi-talented man, in every instance truly magnificent. There are only very few man born in the world with his looks, caliber, charisma, magnetism, bravado, talent and possibly many other attributes he possibly had. He truly was magnificent - an extremely gifted man!

It's amazing, the power 'Television' has to control

an entire population, not only its action but thoughts as well!!

Particularly with some specific meadia!!!

It is almost Orwellian, Down Under, these days!!!