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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Living History, August 10, 2009
This review is from: Two Years Before the Mast (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a great read. If you missed it in high school, as I did 55 years ago, it's never too late to catch up. This is the story of Richard Henry Dana Jr., a young Harvard student, who leaves school to go on a sea voyage to improve his health. He ships out of Boston on the brig Pilgrim bound for California to bring back cow hides, presumably for the leather industry around Boston. There are parts of the book that some will complain about. At times he seems to go on for page after page rattling off technical stuff about managing sails on a sailing ship, albeit under horrific conditions. Give up early, he does not explain and you will not understand all this stuff about sails. But, he gives a graphic, sometimes chilling, picture of what life was like for seamen on a merchant ship in the 1800s. They were no better than slaves and life and death was subject to the whims of the captain. Their pay was small and sometimes they were forced to spend it in what amounted to a company store. It was possible to go on a two year voyage and wind up owing the shipping company money. Again, the conditons under which this labor was performed was sometimes beyond our imagination. Those of us who whine when the freeway slows down should try rounding Cape Horn in a sailing ship. Also, if you are interested in pre gold rush California history, this book gives a great view of Mexican Alta California, at least the history that happened close to the coast. Some of Dana's views will be seen as racist, and they are, but they seem to be a result of a judgment drawn from personal observations rather than a prejudice. He did have high regard for Sandwich Islanders (Hawaiians). All in all, an exciting adventure story and an insightful look into early 19th century merchant sailing. Highly recommended.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great tale of the sea and early California, November 23, 2009
This review is from: Two Years Before the Mast (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)
Two Years Before the Mast is a remarkable book. It is part travelogue of what was then undiscovered land, the California coast. It is part seafaring adventure, a great look at what life was really like on the merchant sailing ships of the first half of the 19th century. It is part suspense yarn, too, with the hero's return to his native land in serious doubt due to events beyond his control. There is nothing else like it.
Seen through the eyes of young man in his late teens who looks for both a cure for his measles and some real thrills, we are treated to his view of the west coast and the Californians as compared to his native, very urban and developed Yankee city of Boston. He finds them very different - but when he first visits San Francisco, the city is a single shack! This book was the guide for the many Americans who headed west for gold 15 years after its publication, too. As such it helped shape their settlement and exploration of the land.
Dana's time aboard ship differs hugely from his comfortable home life in Boston. That he was willing to accept this, even embrace it, moves the book from a dry history to a real-life human interest story.
The description of the sailing ships of the day involves many terms which few now will understand. A glossary or diagram of the ship and its parts and sails would be nice. Beyond that, the excitement of Two Years Before the Mast makes it a must-read for anyone in search of a young man's quest for real-life thrills at sea and in a new country.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
well worth reading, February 16, 2010
This review is from: Two Years Before the Mast (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)
I had expected this book to be mostly a tale of a young man's coming of age, and something of a tutorial about the operation of working ships during the age of sail. While these elements are present, the book is just as much a description of the early history of California and a study of managerial styles. Dana spent a year in California when there were few "Americans" there, trading on the coast and commenting on the geography and the people. Much of what he describes was radically changed even ten years later, after the gold rush and the joining of California to the United States.
However, enough remains the same that anybody who has spent time in California can picture Dana's route and compare his descriptions of the various cities he visits to their status today.
His discussion of the ship captains under whom he served, and whose work he witnessed, has value to anybody in a managerial position. His initial captain on the Pilgrim did a poor job, not recognizing where his subordinates knew more than he did, and imposing his authority at times in an arbitrary manner. Listening to his mates, and working more consistently would have better served the ship.
When originally published, the book was intended in part to illustrate the difficult lot of common sailors and the injustices they suffered. This material was summarized by Dana primarily in the final chapter of the book, which he removed in the second edition of the book. I think the book does well without it; the point is adequately made by the incidents on board that Dana describes.
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