Customer Reviews

Boat Bastard: A Love/Hate Memoir

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Two horribly mismatched people stumbling through a relationship that didn't have a chance in heck of working. I kept hoping that the protagonist would wake up and dump him if their relationship was as bad as the author describes. I also felt that there are two sides to every story and wondered what the "captain" would say if he could write a book. Was he treated fairly by "The Boat Bastard"? I doubt it. It must be terribly comforting to write a book about a break-up where you can airbrush your own flaws while highlighting those of your ex. Then all you have to do is admit to some not-too-objectionable personal foibles yourself to give the impression that you are being brutally honest.

I didn't enjoy this book and would not recommend it. A more apt title would have been "Sour Grapes".

I don't usually read much in this genre but this one is juicy in form and content. Using consistently inventive writing and open-heart surgery with only local aesthetics for protection, the author travels over male-female oceans familiar in their choppy rhythms and treacherous currents. Yet she adds fascination through taking her own distinct bearings, standing on her integrity, getting blown off course, and finally finding safe haven - albeit not in the destination she desired. Despite the pain and love van Rooyen comes over as more than fair to her fellow seatraveller but I can't help but feel she jumped ship just in time. Otherwise he'd have sailed her into a sea of alcoholic despond infested with vapid wasps in what must be one of the inner rings of Hell. In the end, the feisty Jewishness that blocks her acceptance to the class and salt encrusted establishment proves to be a blessing - you need to read to the conclusion to understand what I mean - as Israeli directness rips the thin topsail of upper East Coast America's illusionary inclusiveness into shreds.
Each time my interest began to die down, van Rooyen found a fresh inspiration to keep me reading right through to the finale and even after that she had a unexpectedly entertaining coda of friend's comments. I hope she writes a mystery next time around as this is a talent to enjoy already and to watch in the future.

Congratulations! You have created a masterpeice! You are lovable and forgivable. You are not the victim, nor the victimizer, you are honest, poignant, and funny. I knew you were funny, and sensitive, but I saw a whole different dimension to that in your book. Your intelligence and charm shine like a beacon. You are any woman, and every woman. Including me. I had a very similar relationship, feeling that the object of your affections was always slightly out of reach even though they were seemingly right there to be had. I rushed home from where ever I was to read this book, I was hungry for it. I wished there was more,as I dreadfully feared the arrival of the last page. Your recalling of details was so impressive, but then again, when you give so much of yourself to a relationship, you tend to absorb it all like a sponge, the person becomes your drug. I'm still thinking about the book, it had an effect on me, and I'm speaking objectively! That's what makes a story good, when you are still working it over in your mind. This world is filled with forgettable books, but this is not one of them. God Deb, I loved it, and I love you, and I
could go on forever, but you get the point. Well done...

"Hell hath no fury..." but does not have such a talented one as she who has expressed it with the candor, love, humor, artistry and sophistication of this intimate memoir. Deborah takes you by the hand and invites you to visit the ports of call of this stormy relationship that are the tapestry against which she portrays vividly, and with remarkablke economy of brushstrokes, the human foibles of the characters, including her own, that bring to life this memorable and deeply moving human saga.It is around The Captain and his thoroughbred yacht, who at center stage display exquisite style and presence topside but considerably less elegant and accomodating selves below deck, that the protagonists are unmasked.This is the work of a compassionate artist whose sensitivity and generosity give life to a cast that is above all imminently human. It is, in no way, a "bitch and moan" statementbut rather an expression of courageously processed and resolved experience of abandonment and loss which keeps author and reader intact as they navigate the stormy passage.Deborah offers a compelling and delightfully readable book that belongs in everybody's beach bagfor a first read, with anticipatuion of many subsequent revisits.

Two passionate lovers, moving at a different pace, their egos colliding at high sea and on shore. This is a 13 year trip across borders with their personal history and expectations of each other .

The Boat Bastard is a wonderful book and a must read for all on the ocean of love, or heartache.