Customer Reviews

Ship of Miracles

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

 

 

This is a truly wonderful story. Unfortunately, the presentation is truly awful. This was my choice for our book group, based on reading the obituary of the captain of the ship. After reading the book, I had to aplogize for selecting it. The story itself is quite interesting and compelling, but Gilbert really butchers the tale. The organization is disjointed, the attempts to blend in the wider story fail, and parts of the prose could be submitted to the Bulwer-Lytton contest. Here is the first sentence of Chapter 1:

"In bone-chilling tempertures and howling winds, with the imminent threat of enemy gunfire aimed at his ship from the beach and return fire from the USS Missouri, four destroyers, two heavy cruisers, and four rocket ships sailing over him back toward the shore, destiny was summoning a thirty-seven-year-old Merchant Marine captain from Philadelphia."

The book is very disjointed, with what seems to be a collection of independent articles joined together to form a collection. The best parts of the book are the sections where the author quotes other sources or the recollections and writings of the participants. This is a real shame, because the story of the rescue of the refugees, their terror and the eventual decision of Captain La Rue to give up the sea and join a monastery are a great story. But this book is a waste.

In the foreword to this book, Alexander Haig wrote "(t)his book did not just deserve to be written - it needed to be written." I agree. It is a thorough and gripping account of a miraculous rescue which could have ended in disaster any number of times. The account is largely written through quotes from those who were involved in some way - crew members, the captain, Koreans who were rescued, and others. Once in a while the style of writing distracts from the content, but I give the book 5 stars anyway because the story is so engrossing and the reader is easily involved. I used this book in a presentation and the audience was fully engaged. It is an inspiring account of a truly miraculous rescue.