The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor

Rating:
Summary: A remarkable story of survival
Review: "The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor," by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, has an interesting history (which is described in a short introduction by the author). In 1955, 8 crew members of a Colombian naval vessel were washed overboard. One of them, Luis Alejandro Velasco, survived 10 harrowing days on a drifting life raft before reaching land. The sailor collaborated with Garcia Marquez to produce a series of newspaper articles about the ordeal; those articles eventually became this book, which has been translated into a very readable English by Randolph Hogan.

The book is written as the sailor's own first-person narrative. This is truly an amazing tale of endurance under some horrible conditions. Velasco describes his experiences in graphic detail: the harsh weather elements, the disorienting hallucinations, the times of despair. Particularly interesting are his encounters with a variety of marine animals. But it's not all suffering; there are moments of poetic beauty.

I've never experienced anything as harrowing as this. But as a U.S. Navy veteran, I can say that Garcia Marquez skillfully captures the wonder that can only be encountered at sea, far from land. An excellent book.

Rating:
Summary: A remarkable story of survival
Review: "The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor," by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, has an interesting history (which is described in a short introduction by the author). In 1955, 8 crew members of a Colombian naval vessel were washed overboard. One of them, Luis Alejandro Velasco, survived 10 harrowing days on a drifting life raft before reaching land. The sailor collaborated with Garcia Marquez to produce a series of newspaper articles about the ordeal; those articles eventually became this book, which has been translated into a very readable English by Randolph Hogan.

The book is written as the sailor's own first-person narrative. This is truly an amazing tale of endurance under some horrible conditions. Velasco describes his experiences in graphic detail: the harsh weather elements, the disorienting hallucinations, the times of despair. Particularly interesting are his encounters with a variety of marine animals. But it's not all suffering; there are moments of poetic beauty.

I've never experienced anything as harrowing as this. But as a U.S. Navy veteran, I can say that Garcia Marquez skillfully captures the wonder that can only be encountered at sea, far from land. An excellent book.

Rating:
Summary: The best one hundred pages I've read in a long time...
Review: ...I read this book in Spanish as a teenager and loved it. Just ordered it for my teenager son and when it came I started reading it again and couldn't put it down. Excellent translation. Reads as well in English as in Spanish. Great piece of journalism.

Rating:
Summary: Don't be misled by the author's name
Review: As I start to find this reviews more helpful to select my books, I feel the necessity to write this review. I love Gabo's (Gabriel Garcia Marquez pseudonyme)books and he's one of my favorite authors, but this book is not one of his best. Personally I dislike his journalistic writings, I think some of them are dry and boring. Any one might get confused because of his name and think that this book is similar to his truly fictional writings. Probably you won't be disappointed if you read it; it's a solid and well written book, but why spend your time and money reading this book when you have others much better like "Of love and other demons," even better: "Chronicle of a death foretold" and his maximum expressions: "Love in Cholera time" and "A hundred years of solitud." You may even find more entertaining "The general in his labyrinth" or even "No ones write to the coronel" which is another of my least favorites. The books is not boring, it's interesting and somehow engaging, but you won't get to appreciate the real Gabo in all his splendor and you won't be able to taste his magic realism in this book. My personal theory is that with virtually thousands of great books to read, one shouldn't waste the time reading the minor works even of a giant like Gabo. I respect the opinion of the people who wrote great reviews about this book but I feel compeled to inform my fellow readers before making a decision. Perhaps Gabo who was an avid reader agrees with me.

Rating:
Summary: A gripping narrative
Review: Mr Marquez based his narrative on the true story of 8 members of the destroyer "Caldas" of the Colombian Navy who fell overboard during a storm in the Caribbean Sea on February 28, 1955. It is a journalistic account of the survival of the only one of the eight men, Luis Alejandro Velaso, who managed to reach a life raft and survived ten days with neither food nor water until he drifted to the Colombian coast and was rescued by a group of villagers.
The narration is incredibly gripping considering that practically nothing happens to Luis during the ten days he spent on the raft. There is only the sea, the sky, the stars, the fish, the gulls and a lonely man lost at sea. It shows what a genial storyteller Mr Marquez is, a true virtuoso of the word. In the same vein, it is worth mentioning "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.

Rating:
Summary: Garcia's another wonder
Review: The book is about a shipwrecked sailor "Velasques" who struggles for ten days to reach the coast.He has only his raft at his aid and the novel describes the hardships faced by him. Garcia tries to show man's continuous struggle to dominate over nature and to improvise and innovate after difficult circumstances. The novel is based on true story. Garcia manages to keep the excitement going throughout the story.

Rating:
Summary: Stunningly Vivid
Review: This book is a marvel. The writing is so engaging in its simplicity and clarity. Vivid details abound in this account of Luis A. Velasco's ten days at sea in a little raft after he was swept overboard from his Colombian naval ship, en route from Mobile, Alabama to Cartagena, Colombia. He endured watching fellow crew members drown, followed by daily visits from sharks, intense sun that blistered his skin, near starvation and thirst, and fear. It's an amazing account of just what it is to survive, and not think or ponder about life, but just survive. And all with one oar bitten in half by a shark!

I've loved this author for a long time, and consider this early work of his a special treat. Stories of the sea can be so magnificent! I kept thinking of the Old Man and the Sea when reading this. Very highly recommended! You won't be able to put it down.

Rating:
Summary: The best one hundred pages I've read in a long time...
Review: This is one of those few books that after reading it has haunted me for years.

Rating:
Summary: A book that's hard to put down.
Review: You can read this very quickly, but it's so captivating you'll wish there were more. Marquez makes you feel the sailor's hunger, his thirst, his lonliness, his fear, and his hope. It's an ideal book to give a young reader--twelve to fourteen years old, perhaps--to get him/her interested in "adult" reading: the narrative is quite simple, but the story is as exciting as any you'll find, and one you'll remember for a long time.