One swig from an oddly shaped bottle turns Cornelius Vanderdecker, an ordinary Dutch sea captain, into an unhappy immortal, drifting around the world from port to port. By the author of The Walled Orchard.
Flying Dutch
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Alive for more than 450 years, doomed to ply the seas endlessly (except for shore leave), Capt. Cornelius Vanderdecker is the Flying Dutchman immortalized in legend and Wagner's opera. In a sophisticated fantasy that is occasionally hilarious but sometimes as creaky as the Dutchman's wood ship, levelheaded London accountant Jane Doland discovers some anomalies in an old ledger and sets out to find beer-swilling Vanderdecker to prevent him from cashing in on a life insurance policy that would bankrupt all of Europe. Meanwhile the captain, cursed with an unpleasant odor, seeks the Ultimate Deodorant from megalomaniac alchemist/inventor Professor Montalban, who invented the computer in 1694. Holt ( The Walled Orchard ) peppers these antics doings with jokes about accountants, history, death, taxes and the general rottenness of existence. His diverting story provides numerous compelling reasons why one would not want to live for centuries.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Another British-accented comedy-fantasy inspired by Wagner (Expecting Someone Taller, 1988, based on the Ring Cycle), here centering on the Flying Dutchman legend. Wagner, of course, got it all wrong: Julius Vanderdecker, a.k.a. the Flying Dutchman, accidentally drank an immortality elixir back in the 16th century, along with the entire crew of his ship--only to discover that he and his men smelled so awful that they were forced to return to sea. Since then, only for one month every seven years has the stench subsided enough for Vanderdecker to take shore leave. Now, however, thanks to an insurance policy that Vanderdecker took out before he became immortal, the stability of the entire global economic system depends on his continuing survival--so discovers accountant Jane Doland; luckily, Jane has a very poor sense of smell. Meanwhile, Professor Montalban, the elixir's inventor, has spent the last four centuries directing the planet's economic and scientific progress in a single-minded effort to find a cure for the stench--a cure that finally arrives in the form of an exploding nuclear reactor. The Flying Dutchman's problem is tedium, and it shows: mechanical plotting, predictable doings, and humor too obvious and trite to raise even a glimmer of a smile. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Republish! So I don't have to steal it from the library!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Flying Dutch (A Thomas Dunne Book) (Hardcover)
Although I subsequently read and was a bit disappointed by Tom Holt's other books, Flying Dutch was one of the best books I have ever read. "Hitchhiker" fans will find the same absurdities, wild use of language, cynicism, and underlying frustration with the universe that Adams conveys. I have been looking for it for awhile & am sorry to find it's not readily available
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and interesting story. Sarcastic view of the world,
By A Customer
This review is from: Flying Dutch (A Thomas Dunne Book) (Hardcover)
The book was a good read and fun. Author made great characters and some great situations and commentary on society. Sometimes it lagged though in moving the story along. Overall I liked reading it but would not call it a must rea
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Astounding.,
By Fosky Bob "human" (Vacaville, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Flying Dutch (Paperback)
I loved this book. Tom Holt is a wordsmith, a genuine magician. This is British humor at it's best. It's odd that British television and movie comedy is mind-numbingly stupid (excepting Fawlty Towers and some of Monty Python of course), but that the very best humorous writing comes from the U.K. Tom Holt tackles the 'Flying Dutchman' myth, that an old Dutch seaman is cursed to sail the seas forever. Holt tells us how Wagner got it a tad wrong. In actuality the seaman drank an immortality elixir. Hilarious stuff. I love reading about Sebastian, the seaman who keeps jumping from the crow's nest to kill himself. This ranks among the best books I've ever read, up there with Douglas Adams, Stephen Donaldson, & Tolkien. I recommend this for everyone.
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