This Townsend Library classic has been carefully edited to be more accessible to today's students. It includes a background note about the book, an author's biography, and a lively afterword. Acclaimed by educators nationwide, the Townsend Library is helping millions of young adults discover the pleasure and power of reading.
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The spoiled son of a millionaire, Harvey Cheyne is used to living a life of luxury. But when an accident at sea brings him to the deck of a Massachusetts fishing boat, he is suddenly thrown into a world he knows nothing about. Can he endure the back-breaking work of a fisherman? Will he ever see his parents again? Will he survive in a world where money does not matter, and laziness can lead to death on the high seas? --From the Publisher
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Captains Couragous is both grabbing and acurate. Kipling who spend no more than six weeks at sea captures the life of the Grand Bank Schooner fishing culture spot on. Although the account traces the transformation of a spoiled rotten rich 15 year old to a respectable member of a fishing crew, Kiplings discritions of life at sea are so acurate that I can varify every aspect of his discriptions. I am a marine biologist who has spent considerable time opn schooners and other tall ships. Kipling nails the life dead on. I could not put the book down. J. Philip McLaren, Ph.D.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Ketzela
Format:Paperback
Captains Courageous, as actually written by Rudyard Kipling, is a terrific story and anyone of any age can relate to it. Whoever decided that it should be "edited" to make it more "accessible" to today's youth was, to put it mildly, wrong. Aside from the flat-out hubris of re-writing a brilliant book, the actual editing is terrible. Anyone interested in reading Captains Courageous should buy the un-edited original, not this travesty.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I picked this book up hoping I could learn a bit about fishing/ sailing in 19th century New England; I did learn a lot but I also enjoyed the story. This books holds up amazingly well, having been written a hundred or so years ago. The story is interesting and moves along at a good pace, and the characters are distinct and enjoyable. It was a quick read, not because it's just over 200 pgs, but because it was so well written. I'll be reading it again in the future, definitely recommended!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'd always misread the title of the book as Captain Courageous singular and my expectations were that the rich spoiled Harvey Cheyne would slowly over the course of the book develop into a man thanks to a courageous ship captain. Actually the title is Captains Courageous plural and comes from a ballad by Mary Ambree which explains its grammatical strangeness. Captains Courageous is a very short book, my copy being a mere 165 pages even with lots of illustrations, and Rudyard Kipling doesn't waste any time at all getting going. Almost immediately the 15 year old Harvey tips over his ocean liners railing due to a bit of ill advised bravado. Thanks to a lucky rescue by a member of the fishing boat "We're Here" he's scooped up saving him from a watery grave and sending him on a nearly half year journey fishing the Atlantic Ocean.
Initially Harvey demands to be taken ashore and accuses the ship captain of stealing the money from his pockets but after captain Disko Troop lays him out cold the young man quickly discovers some humility and respect. There is no slow maturation for Harvey, the jaw dusting pretty much immediately transforms Harvey into an eager useful member of the crew. Harvey's initial arrival on the boat is April but since they aren't scheduled to pull into port until September he has almost a half year to absorb the fishing life as his parents grieve the loss of their son (the book was written in the 1800's so there's no means of communication between the boat and shore). The crew is a very eclectic group composed of different nationalities including a Gaelic speaking black cook.
Despite the descriptions of the book the story isn't really about Harvey's coming of age.... Read more ›
Initially Harvey demands to be taken ashore and accuses the ship captain of stealing the money from his pockets but after captain Disko Troop lays him out cold the young man quickly discovers some humility and respect. There is no slow maturation for Harvey, the jaw dusting pretty much immediately transforms Harvey into an eager useful member of the crew. Harvey's initial arrival on the boat is April but since they aren't scheduled to pull into port until September he has almost a half year to absorb the fishing life as his parents grieve the loss of their son (the book was written in the 1800's so there's no means of communication between the boat and shore). The crew is a very eclectic group composed of different nationalities including a Gaelic speaking black cook.
Despite the descriptions of the book the story isn't really about Harvey's coming of age.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you let your son read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, make him read this to learn the value of hard work!
April 29, 2010
Format:Paperback
The making of a boy into a man, Captains Courageous is the story of the coming of age of young Harvey Cheyne. Harvey is the son of a millionaire who falls overboard from an ocean liner and is rescued by a Portuguese fishing boat. At the beginning, Harvey is a winy little brat who can think of nothing by his own self-interest. But with hard work and the love of this rough crew of fishermen, Harvey is transformed into a man - able to work hard, willing to sacrifice for the good of others, interested in taking a stand for what is right and just. When Harvey is finally reunited with his parents almost a year later, his father is so proud of the young man that Harvey has become understanding that it took the hardships of the fishing boat to break through the affluent lifestyle which shielded Harvey from hardship.
1 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Adam D
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I guess this book may be more suitable for younger readers. I thought as an older reader, I could still enjoy it, and just read it faster, but I was wrong. The writing is so poor, that as an older reader I could not withstand it. But I do think it could still be very enjoyable for younger readers.
0 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Guang Wu
Format:Paperback
I have already known the great patience that this author showed in his Just So Stories. This time I am extremely impressed by the author's ability to take so much pains and patience to record correctly and to invent correctly the non-standard English pronunciations.
These strange words invented by author could be a fun for himself or his time, but this is really painful for a non-English speaking foreigner. I really wonder which is the author's intentions: to transfer fun or pain to the readers. At time, he successfully transferred his pains in invention to the readers.
These strange words invented by author could be a fun for himself or his time, but this is really painful for a non-English speaking foreigner. I really wonder which is the author's intentions: to transfer fun or pain to the readers. At time, he successfully transferred his pains in invention to the readers.
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