Blue Road (Summersdale Travel) [Paperback]

Windy Baboulene (Author)

Book Description

Series: Summersdale Travel | Publication Date: May 1, 2002

After "liberating" the school chemistry lab, 16 year old Windy impetuously embarked on a career in the Merchant Navy. Lurching form one disaster to another, Windy and his fellow cadets worked their way around the world, leaving a trail of destruction and broken hearts in their wake.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Summersdale (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840242345
• ISBN-13: 978-1840242348
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,242,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Blue is the sea we sail on, red is the blood we sweat..., October 26, 2011

By 

Michael Taylor "Ancient mariner" (Miami Shores, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blue Road (Summersdale Travel) (Paperback)

I served my time with the same company that Windy worked for (name changed, to protect the guilty) and I have to say, he nailed it.
People sometimes ask why I don't write my memoirs, and the short answer is that nobody could possibly believe that any of it was true!
Both this book, and the sequel about his second-trip capture the essence of life on a British tramp in the late Seventies in all its crude and tawdry glory. I've given away about three copies already to fellow seafarers, and they all agree that this is the real thing.

5.0 out of 5 stars Shockingly funny and accurate, November 4, 2008

By 

B. Chapman (New Orleans) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blue Road (Summersdale Travel) (Paperback)

I am myself a merchant mariner, and this book better than almost any other I have read captures the life of a seaman. Drinking, whoring and abuse of your self and shipmates are all on parade, in this book as in life at sea. A fine and funny book, treat yourself.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who knew the merchant marines were this funny?, November 23, 2003

By 

Glen Engel Cox (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blue Road (Summersdale Travel) (Paperback)

I first read Windy's book in manuscript, having met the fellow online through the now defunct "studguppies" online writing workshop. For some reason, we had hit it off--likely because he said nice things about my stories, while I couldn't get enough of his Monty Python-ish humor. And while we stayed connected all these years since, I had nearly forgotten Windy's book and how funny I had thought it, and what a shame it was that he hadn't sold it yet.

Except he had sold it and it was finally published, nearly ten years later. I had nearly forgotten about it, except that I finally had an opportunity to meet him in the flesh due to a recent trip to Brighton. "Windy, old boy," I said, "I must beg a copy of your book," neglecting to mention that I have no idea where that original manuscript copy may have been misplaced in my numerous moves. Being the kind of stand-up guy that he is, he not only presented me one gratis, but he also signed it with his real name and not just some pseudonym foisted off on the less-suspecting.

Ten years later, and the book is only better than I remember. First off, the big difference is a title change, to one that is more metaphorical and about the entire book rather than just culled from one of the more hilarious episodes. I suspect there's been some general word-smithing as well, although my memory isn't good enough to be able to pin anything exact down.

Windy was only seventeen when he felt the call of the open sea--the "blue road." Of course, it was either that or jail, given his young prolictivities which had recently centered around attempting to burn down the school chemistry lab. The education he was to receive as a merchant marine was much more practical, and likely more suited to his destructive temperament, than the one behind a desk or in front of a chalkboard. He joins the classroom of the confined space where he discovers the amazing properties of coconut oil. Windy undergoes the crossing-the-line ceremony, not for the weak of stomach (and definitely not to be read while eating dinner). And he learns about the love of the sea, and the sea of love, or at least what sometimes passes for that when one is young and apt to ship out on the next tide.

Like other British travel writers, Windy has the ability to be both self-effacing and courageous, that ability to keep a stiff-upper lip in times of crises. In a manner similar to Eric Newby, Windy strings the reader along on a story that goes for pages to then quickly be undercut by a single line that reveals the narrator hasn't got quite the upper-hand he was telling us about. And, like Redmond O'Hanlon, Windy's travels are the kind that you don't mind joining in virtually but might think twice about if he rang you on the mobile to join in for a quick jaunt next Tuesday.

But mainly, Windy's funny, and that's why you need to read this book. Yes, you can learn about the merchant marines, and yes, there's some bits about places you never heard about before, but the reason you keep reading is because you want that next pain in your side just like the one you got from reading just a few pages back. Not to worry, because Windy's patter is perfect, just as if you were in the audience for one of the better stand-up comics.

I know, you're thinking, "He's a friend--you're just saying these things because you know him." Ahem. I dare you read this book and not laugh. It really is that good, and deserves to be better known.