Customer Reviews

Great Circle

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

 

 

If you have the sailing bug, you know what I mean when I say it's hard to find sailing fiction as exciting and full of the sailing jargon you crave as Sam Llewellyn's. This is the wave dancer at his best that every wind jockey should have in their collection. Sam Llewellyn has this novel 20 degrees off the wind and the sheets tight as he draws you into an adventure of a lifetime. Immediately there is danger all around in the open seas and the mystery begins. Sam Llewellyn did a superb job of bringing together characters from around the globe. Some you will love to hate. Others you will cheer on as they overcome the imposible odds of just surviving in this meat grinder of a race known as "THE GREAT CIRCLE". But there are unseen threads woven through all as they enter the big dance in THE race over the great oceans of the world. I have NEVER read a book this many times

After coming across this book in a South African hostel, it sat in my basement for almost a year. When I finally cracked it I thoroughly enjoyed it as the author stronly illustrates the boats skippers, their crew and their camraderie as they race around thw world stopping in Captown, Sydney & Rio. I read the 650 odd pages in less than three days. The first section introduces the the large cast of supporting characters following the race, from wives to sponsors, although these never become unmanageable. Unlike Frederick Forsyth's "The Dogs of War", the setup doesn't drag and moves bristly to the race. However, it was intriguing to find why skippers decided to sail and why the boats wanted to race for the 7 months or so.

Llewellyn's real strength is that he's able to create so many characters that are have very developed personas and then weave them in this race together that I really cared for them. I disagree with the earlier reviewed, as Llewellyn is apparently a seasoned sailor; he added enough detail to explain tactics and terminology without (excuse me) "going overboard" and was able to describe the monotony of bordom and then change gears to sheer suspense in squalls; as well as richly describing the climate, especially the cold, the wet and the ills. This route seems very dangerous and I would not want to do it!

Combined with the richly defined character cast this was a fast moving and very exciting book than I could not put down - I needed to know which captain and which boat would win the race! An excellent read and I strongly recommend you give it a go if you have any interest in its subject matter.

Few writers have the ability to coonjure the world of competitive yacht racing as well as Llewellyn does. This is not his best, but it still knocks the socks off most of what you would find in an airport bookshop. The sailing de3scriptions, and the adventure is great - the only weakness is in the stereotyping of some goodie and baddie characters. Read it for the sailing.

Because of the recent Whitbread race, which excited me, and because of the many positive reviews I have read about this book, I purchased it. However, it is one of the worst books I have ever read. Llewellyn knows about sailing, but his writing is so cliche it makes me nauseous.