Customer Reviews

Captains Courageous (Bookcassette(r) Edition)

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

 

 

My favorite Rudyard Kipling story and atypical for him. Upbuilding coming-of-age story about a rich kid who was washed overboard and picked up by a fishing schooner and made to work. Ultimately likeable main character who improves himself. Very readable and full of action. The only issue affecting the interest of younger readers this story's use of phonetic spelling to reflect the colloquial pronunciations of the various characters from Gloucester, Mass, Newfoundland, Portugal, etc.

This free March 17, 2006 Kindle edition was very readable, no glaring editing errors and only the usual margin issues.

I hadn't written very many reviews. However, in reviewing Kindle reading material, I was sorry to see so few reviews of Kindle versions, especially when comparing two or more similar choices. So I am ramping up my reviews while I have the opportunity.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RKRW0C/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

I first read this when I was seven years old, and I can't say that it made much impression on me. But future readings, up to my present age of 67, have convinced me that the story is a good one, and the characters are strong and believable. A rich brat who has been saying it would be fun for the liner he is on to collide with a small fishing boat has exactly that happen--but the fishing boat survives, and the brat falls into a new life in which he is expected to pull his full share of the load.

At first he bristles with threats and promises, but nothing changes his situation. Work he will, or eat he will not. By the end--oops, I was headed for a spoiler.

Just read it, and enjoy the characters and plot, remembering as you do so that Kipling has said that "the magic is in the words." He was extremely conscious of what words he used, and since I have been reading him since I was five, I internalized that saying long before I became a writer myself. The magic is in the words, and you will enjoy the words used in this book, unless you have a totally tin ear for dialogue.

One of Kipling's best, written while he was in love with the United States.

If you've ever been around a group of men who are engaged in an activity; they have a certain way of talking to each other. When they tease each other with mighty insults then you know that they really like each other. Kipling draws a male character better than anyone I've read. Even, sad to say, more so than my favorite, Jane Austen.

When this group of men are talking; they sound just like men would today; with the exception of the horrible colloquial English, that an earlier reviewer referred to, and nowadays people do not refer to their religion as if they really believed it like the story characters did. I do think that if Kipling were to portray modern working men that you would hear an accurate reflection of modern conversation.

Just a fantastic story. Highly enjoyable.

I had recently rented the movie version of Captains Courageous, and it occurred to me I had never read the original book, and would like more of the background and details of the characters shown in the film. Don't bother. The movie is much better for modern audiences. I found the first part of the movie followed the book fairly closely, but the last half deviated significantly and was much more interesting. Many of the attitudes and prejudices of the late 19th century figure prominently in the book, and trying to read Kipling's attempt at writing in various accents was difficult and confusing.