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Summary: A focus on fishing details clouded the human tragedy.
Review: I read this book after just completing "Into Thin Air" and it's hard not to compare the two. While I learned much about the nature of deep-sea fishing on the east coast, I felt that the author devoted more pages than necessary to those details. Because of that, I felt the book had a clinical feel to it. I thought there'd be much more emotion associated with the gut-wrenching story hidden in its pages.
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Summary: Excellent book-- great read
Review: When the author started in his book, he made it very clear that at the beginning of the book, he would not insert words into the people's mouths that he didn't have testimony on. It was a worthy descision, one that helped his credibility, no doubt, but it kept me from giving him the fifth star. Without what the people were saying, you lose the connection between yourself and the people in the storm, and it loses some of its impact.Other than that, you can tell the author really did his homework, and it shows. Great book, and wonderful detail in the history of storms going all the way back. Real entertaining, and a lot of fun!
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Summary: Compelling Story
Review: Junger's account of the October 1991 storm is a compelling story, but the writing leaves something to be desired. Since a first-hand account of the Andrea Gail's experience isn't possible, the book contains much speculation about what may have happened. Even though Junger presents a highly educated guess about the crew's fate, it seems somehow unfinished. That story line is then abandoned to discuss other rescues. He does, however, handle the fragile emotions of survivors with sensitivity. The results of his interviews with them brings the book closer to home, and helps the reader remember this isn't just a story -- it really happened and made a lasting impact on one community and many families. If you can get over Junger's proposed dialogues in some places (which he discusses in the Foreword), this is a good read.
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Summary: MAKES ME HAPPY TO BE A NONSWIMMING LANDLOVER
Review: Book reminds me of what my mother once said if you don't know how to swim you'll drown. Solution stay out of the water. Not since JAWS has book or movie inspired such fear of the sea.
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Summary: If you've ever been on a boat, you must read this book.
Review: As other reviewers have said, this is an historical page-turner. You think you know how it all ends, but you don't! Compelling is an understatement. The Perfect Storm is required reading for every boater, fisherman and sailor out there. Regarding Junger's ability as a writer, this reader would buy his next book regardless of subject.
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Summary: Powerful Non-fiction!
Review: The Perfect Storm is about the effects a ferocious, once-in-a-century storm which hit in 1991 had upon an old New England fishing town, its swordfishing fleet, one boat's crew in particular whom we come to know and care about, their families, their friends, and their would-be rescuers. I lived in Gloucester until I was sixteen. I could see the Fisherman at the Wheel statue that honored those who "go down to the sea in ships" and overlooked the outer harbor from my house on Stage Fort Avenue. I went to school with the children of fishermen. I knew Our Lady of Good Voyage Church, Portugee Hill, Rogers Street, the fishing piers, Dogtown Common, Gorton's, and the Cape Ann Market. I have seen photos of the destruction the October '91 storm did on Cape Ann: major damage to Wingaersheek, Good Harbor, and Cressy's beaches, as well as to the Back Shore, Essex Causeway, Shore Road in Magnolia, Manchester's seawalls, and Bearskin Neck in Rockport. I even remember go! ! ing through several Gloucester hurricanes myself during the 1950s ... but I never had any idea what the life of a Gloucester fisherman and his family might be like until The Perfect Storm. It is a spell-binding and fascinating read made all the more so because it is true-life. Probably, very few people get to read an exciting non-fiction book about their hometown. I have and I was as entertained by Sebastian Junger's writing as I was educated by the background information he provided.
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Summary: A suspenseful tale of life and death on the Grand Banks
Review: Unlike most other readers, I found this book most compelling in its details of the ocean, storms, and the design of the boats and not in the life and death of several swordfishermen. I did not find myself personally attached to the main characters, rather I saw the protagonists as pawns in the sea of life and death. Junger's intermixing of history with current events provides the reader with perspective and context by which to comprehend the "100 year storm". Perhaps most fascinating of all is the vast lengths the Coast Guard and Navy went to save their lives and those of several of their rescuers. The selflessness of the PJs will serve as a reminder that people truly are willing to sacrifice for the aid of others. Overall, a fascinating look at a lifestyle and the circumstances surrounding it that few of us will ever know.
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Summary: not-so-fond memories
Review: I read this book earlier this year and it literally left me shaking. I was a crewman aboard the USCGC Cherokee (sister ship of the Tamaroa, the cutter that picked up the crew of the ditched helicopter)and we went through our own "perfect storm" in March 1973. As a member of the fraternity of people who have survived a bad storm at sea,I'm here to tell you that Mr Junger has nailed it. Read it and shudder.
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Summary: Great Reading - Get ready for two days
Review: This is a great book to escape into for a weekend(2-3 days). A fairly richly detailed reconstruction of a real event, the author takes you through the preparations of a final voyage, the voyage and the significant peripheral events which surround it. A stunning description of life on the high seas (literally and figuratively), if you want real-life action, this is the next best thing. Having said all of that, however, there are some problems with the author's writing style which can be overlooked but would have enhanced the story that much more. In all, a wise investment for your entertainment dollar. Forgo one sub-par movie this summer and get this book.
Rating:
Summary: Remarkable
Review: I picked up the book after seeing a part of it in Outside magazine. I was not disappointed. Sebastian Junger's portrait of the fishing industry from history to present day life of the people who live it moved me to appreciate a segment of America that before I never gave much thought. When we landlubbers breath a sigh of relief when I storm "heads out to sea" we are wrong to assume that all will be well. This book opened my eyes. I wished only that there were more diagrams. I must have flipped back to the single one at least 20 times to get my bearings as the story unfolded. I could read it again to fully appreciate the character descriptions early in the book because as the drama unfolds you feel at one with the characters and their families. No fiction here!
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