Customer Reviews

Tamata and the Alliance

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a huge fan of Bernard, and LOVED "The Long Way". Perhaps I was just not in the mood for this lengthy diatribe involving his youth in Indochina and the stages of his life. I made it through about 3/4 of the book but his going on and on and on about his gardening methods and coconut planting just made me impatient; frankly, I just lost interest. It seemed a bit narcissistic to me also, and, when he was younger, he found it very entertaining to hunt and kill beautiful animals with his slingshot for entertainment, which really upset me.
This is my least favorite of his books I've read; my husband loved it. It does contain his usual themes of freedom and bucking the materialistic establishment, though he seems to come from a very privileged background and also seems to enjoy making money when he can do it some of the time.
We do happen to be sailors and I read most of this on our sailboat. Sorry, I just didn't get it and feel I am a pretty discriminating reader.
It just went on way too long and in detail I found to be boring and excessive. Just my opinion; everyone else seems to love it.

Bernard Moitessier was more than the "Father of singlehanded sailboat racing", his book is that of a poet in action-all his life. Reading The Long Way first would be well recomended to better understand Bernard's references in this book. The author has put his heart & soul into writing this for us as he did working to elevate social awareness. If you've ever been daunted by Cape Horn, yearned to live on a deserted Atoll, or thought World Powers should make the world a better place, then this is for you! If you want to bring Western ways to the Paradise of Sea and Sand, you'll not likely understand what the title means!! :)))

The book is for anyone with the insight and vision to look within themselves for the answers to the questions that plague man. Bernard Moitessier once wrote, "to feast at the great table, you must have a great hunger and a willingness to go unfed. Only one in amillion have both." This book illustrates that beautifully. This book isn't about sailing. It is about man's struggle within himself to reach peace and harmony. This book is about the hope and triumph of man's indomitable spirit. It is about man's fortitude to pursue dreams and follow their passions. The ideals contained in this book are like the messages in the bottles that Moitessier alludes to in the book. Some of them will bear fruit immediately, others, only after many years, and yet others will be washed up on desert islands where they will fade and wither dismally with age.

This is not only a story of Bernard Moitessier the sailor. It is more a story of his life, starting from his childhood in Vietnam in the 30's and 40's until becoming the famous sailor and artist of life as we learned to know him. The book is about living your own life, it can be read as a philosophical dive into the search of ones soul. Bernard Moitessier refused to share a world whose values were not his. In his mind he always goes back to his youth in Indochina, the Japanese war and the tragedy which took his younger brother from him. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the art of living and the necessity of sailig

While in Italy a French sailor recommended this book to me. Bernard captures his life of growing up in pre and post wartime Indochina, his passion to live life his way, and his growing love for the ocean and sailing. A must read for any sailor whose is drawn to the sea as a horse is drawn to water. Broke, wreaking 2 boats, and his eventual fame was done his way, in spite of the "Dragon" that lives inside of every human. A great book by a thoughtful man.

Yes, I am a dedicated reader of B.M. I find it stunning to learn his ways and views, his practical seamanship and openness. This last work of Bernard's gives a deep moving account of his early life and gives partly new views on aspects that where already issues of his earlier books. Some reader might find too much of mysticism. Granted! However, this world needs such kinds of thoughts and resulting actions as B.M. is telling and was realizing. Don't you think this world would be better if there were more Bernards (and less Ackermanns)?! I say a wholehearted "Yes, I do!".
Whatever, if you're a sailor you could profit very much of Bernard's hints of seamanship. If it has never crossed your mind to set a foot on board of a sailing yacht, maybe you'd get motivated to do so (although that motivation might come even more from the wonderful Seraffyn-adventure-books by Lin and Larry Pardey) - or you simply let yourself immerse into the enticing life of a marvellous character.
Hats off to the the excellent work of the translator (I cannot compare with the French original; nevertheless I very much enjoy the English version)!
To my opinion, if you want to get the most out of "Tamata and the Alliance", you should first read the preceding publications of B.M.

In preparation for my own Circumnavigation, my father insisted I read this book. I have mixed feelings. First off, this is not a book about sailing, passages across entire oceans are often summed up in one sentence and only the appendix gives some sailing tips or techniques. The first 1/3 of the book can be skipped, it's all about his childhood on land in Vietnam. the last 1/3 of the book is all about gardening, mulch making techniques, planting trees and his struggle to bond and make peace with his inner child. This guy abandoned a fiancé, a wife in France, and a wife and child in California. I lost a lot of respect for him there. However, I still liked this book. It is interesting to look into his adventure and this unique life. This is a man with very bad and very good luck at the same time. He keeps shipwrecking boats and then people just help him out and give him another one, repeatedly. Amazing. Maybe there is something to be said for the things he does to appease the gods.

I found Moitessier's book to be captivating from the beginning to the end. It is a chronicle of spiritual and mystical exploration. For him, sailing was the doorway for a full experience of life. However, he had many difficulties, including wrecking three boats! So the book is not all misty-eyed romanticism. His struggle to understand and integrate his experiences as well as his love for the planet are inspiring. The "Alliance" is his relationship with the deeper parts of himself and he encourages others to search for and make friends with the "gods." He says "They enjoy it, and occasionally lead us to the third dimension, where things become clear and the obvious effective."

This was my first Bernard Moitessier book. I picked it up after reading "Godforsaken Sea" by Derek Lundy. Lundy referred to Moitessier several times through the book as the father of single-hand sailboat racing.

The book was not at all what I expected, about solo long-distance blue water racing, but I enjoyed the first half about Moitessier's childhood in Indochina, how he came to love the sea and set out to follow his dreams. It was an account of the history of Indochina that I found facsinating, told through the eyes of an adolescent that loved that part of the world. Moitessier can be an excellent writer.

Unfortunately, the second half of the book turned into a self-absorbed, preachy lecture about his trying to "find himself." What was forgivable wanderlust and adolescent idealism in a teen and twenty-year-old, turned into a sad tale of a middle-aged guy who could never grow up. He tried to legitimize his behavior as his attempt to save the world from war and poverty (from Tahiti, mind you). On several occasions I felt like saying "Get a life!"

I probably will read Moitessier's classic, "The Long Way." I hope that it is as good as he says it is in "Tamata and the Alliance!"

While in Italy a French sailor recommended this book to me. Bernard captures his life of growing up in pre and post wartime Indochina, his passion to live life his way, and his growing love for the ocean and sailing. A must read for any sailor whose is drawn to the sea as a horse is drawn to water. Broke, wreaking 2 boats, and his eventual fame was done his way, in spite of the "Dragon" that lives inside of every human. A great book by a thoughtful man.