The Breath of Angels: A True Story of Life and Death at Sea (Paperback)

by John Beattie (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Beattie's humor is delightful and he's a good storyteller. His love, longing, anger, and frustration are described with candor that is eloquent....His descriptions of the people who befriend him and the land and seascape are vivid....This is a book that will be enjoyed by armchair travelers who have never been aboard a boat and have no desire to do so. For those of us with a passion for boats and travel it's a book to savor. Buy several copies, you'll want to share it with all your friends. -- Coastal Cruising, October/November 1998

The Breath Of Angels is an action-packed tale of the sea and a story of love and longing. Even as a teenager, John Beattie felt drawn to the ocean, but it was 25 years befor e his dream of circumnavigating the globe in his 35-foot yacht, Warrior Queen, could beg in to come true. After sailing from Ireland to the Canary Islands, and facing difficulties with weather, crew, and ship, John was forced to abandon his goal of circumnavigation. However, he also decided he was ready to tackle the daunting transatlantic passage alone. Along the way, he discov ered what he had been search for: the rapture of the ocean. His voyage continued along the South American coast and into the depths of the rain forests via uncharted tributaries. The adventure r eached a stirring climax during his return voyage from Venezuela. One day at dawn, hundreds of mil es from land, he spotted a man dying of thirst aboard a drifting open boat, a man given one last slender chance to live. The Breath Of Angels is a riveting, powerful, more-dramatic-than-fiction, tru e biographical story of life and death upon the open sea. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Description
When Beattie set out to sail the globe in his 35-foot yacht, Warrior Queen, it was a dream come true. From England he sailed into the depths of South American rain forests via uncharted tributaries. One day he spotted a man adrift in an open boat, dying of thirst. He had only one hope for survival...

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Product Details

• Paperback: 270 pages
• Publisher: Sheridan House (January 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574090283
• ISBN-13: 978-1574090284
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #991,830 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Of hand-rolled smokes and opera..., November 27, 1999

By A Customer

Not what I was hoping for in a sailing adventure narrative. I quickly tired of tabulating how many hand-rolled cigarettes the author smoked and how many varieties of music he enjoyed. I kept waiting for the essence of blue-water sailing to emerge in the form of vividly described sunsets and starlit skies. It was also surprising a person would take a boat with as many mechanical problems as the Warrior Queen out of swimming distance of the nearest port. By mid-way through the book the author was out of money and out of crew. This book is essentially a beginner's guide on how-not-to circumnavigate.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping narrative that is multi-dimensional., December 1, 1997

By	[e-mail] (Jacksonville, Florida) - See all my reviews

John Beattie could not have scripted a better book; he had to live it. The story that rests on the surface of this book is at times funny, always fast moving, and just plain moving...all at once and all consuming; you do not want to put the book down. But as you read you come to a series of revelations. It is not just a narrative going on here, but a series of discoveries, for the reader that is. It is an evolution if you will, that culminates in '...life and death at sea.' The discoveries are profound, as the writing often is, and lays bare the author's many conflicts and struggles as he crosses the Atlantic Ocean in his 35' sail boat. But what is notable is that regardless of the number and degree of challenges he faces, many of them immediately life threatening, you never get the feeling that he will give up. From the first days sailing he has reason, and opportunity, to give up...but he does not and it is only about half-way through reading this book that you realize that giving up does not enter into his personal equation. The reason it takes so long for that message to dawn on you is that he stays well and thoroughly 'out of your face'. That is, his writing is honest and never presumptious. Though you are at times reading high-drama, he does not force the drama onto you. There is humility and sometimes great understatement that anyone, whether a sailor or not, can see is sincere. With the final 'episode' that relates most directly to the '...life and death at sea...' you realize that the point of the book, besides giving you a great read, is about vision, and goals, and fighting odds. There can be found inspiration in these pages but it's motivating with absolutely no trace of preaching. You will also find that John Beattie, while posessing a marvelous deterministic way of looking at life and nature, is blessed with analytical and descriptive skills that are nothing less than 'high prose'. So, 'high praise' for John Beattie's book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars High Drama and Humor -- an unbeatable combination, February 10, 2000

By A Customer

If you're looking for a practical guide to sailing this is not the book to go for -- there are plenty of these around and most of them make dismal reading. Also, if you're after a "how-great-a-sailor-I-am" read, then give this a wide berth. However, if you want a rattling good story about long distance sailing, and all the ups and downs that this entails, then you'll be hard pressed to find anything much better or more honest than this. Funny and moving throughout with some beautifully written passages, it drives towards a terrific climax when the author comes across a shipwrecked, dying fisherman in the most amazing circumstances.