The Cruel Sea

Rating:
Summary: I Am What I Am.
Review: This book literally changed my life.

In the eleventh grade in Greenville, South Carolina, i had an English teacher who designated Thursday as "Free Reading Day" and encouraged the entire class to read anything they wanted to (well, within limits -- "Playboy" would have been Right Out, i'm sure.) -- and, in case you had nothing of your own, she laid out an assortment of magazines and books on a table at the front of the room.

On that table, one Thursday, was a copy of "The Cruel Sea". Since i've always been at least a bit interested in sea stories, and it looked interesting, i picked it up. From the first i was hooked solidly.

In the next three or so years, i reread it twice at least, possibly more than that.

And then i joined the Navy -- and i am sure that it was because of what i read in this book, and what i sensed behind it, in what Monsarrat -- who, like his viewpoint character, Lockhart, was there from the beginning, working his way up to command his own ship before the end of the war -- didn't so much say as assume about the sea and the Navy -- *any* Navy.

Monsarrat presents us here with a brotherhood of the sea, corny as that idea may sound. Sailors, more than the other Armed Forces, tend to regard other sailors -- even enemy sailors -- as brothers in arms, and, as Monsarrat says, the only true enemy is the cruel sea itself.

As he shows us here, the sailor who was your enemy five minutes ago, who was trying to kill you as you tried to kill him, is merely another survivor to be rescued from the cruel sea once you've sunk his ship.

And, even more so, as Monsarrat portrays it, there is a kind of brotherhood that binds sailors in the same Navy together in very mcuh a family manner -- you may not like your cousin, but you want to know what's happening to him and, when all is said and done, he IS your relative.

The best summation of this sort of attitude (which i felt to some extent myself during my time in the US Navy) comes when Ericson, the Captain, is touring his new ship as she stands under construction in a Glasgow shipyard; he meets one of his future officers, and mentions the name of his previous ship, which was lost with over three-quarters of her crew, and realises that

"He's heard about 'Compass Rose', he probably remembers the exact details--that she went down in seven minutes, that we lost eighty men out of ninety-one. He knows all about it, like everyone else in the Navy, whether they're in destroyers in the Mediterranean or attached to the base at Scapa Flow: it's part of the linked feeling, part of the fact of family bereavement. Thousands of sailors felt personally sad when they read about her loss; Johnson was one of them, though he'd never been within a thousand miles of 'Compass Rose' and had never heard her name before."

To be part of a band of brothers like that is a proud thing, and Monsarrat captures it perfectly.

He also captures the terrified boredom of being in enemy territory with nothing happening as you wait for the enemy to make the first move, and the shock, confusion and horror of combat (particularly sea combat, in which the battlefield itself is the deadly, patient enemy of both sides).

And he captures the glories and rewards of life at sea, the beauty of a glorious clear dawn at sea, the stars and the moon and the wake at night and so much more.

This is the book that made a sailor out of me.

It will tell you what it is to be a sailor.

Rating:
Summary: A favorite from my high school days -- over 30 years ago!
Review: This is an absolutely thrilling, gripping, involving story of war at sea. I have no disagreement with those who say this is one of the best novels to come out of WWII. I've had a copy with me through the years, ever since I first read it in high school. Monsarrat has a beautiful feel of the language, made more so by his own familiarity with the subject at hand. Every time I pick up the book and reread passages, I am still enthralled by the fine writing. There is even a lovely, poignant love story in the middle of it. Here is a passage describing nothing in particular, merely the ship "Compass Rose" when the convoy was a quiet one and the men aboard her could relax a bit:

"They found that some nights, especially, had a peaceful loveliness that repaid a hundred hours of strain. Sometimes in sheltered water, when the moon was full, they moved with the convoy past hills outlined against the pricking stars: slipping under the very shadow of these cliffs, their keel divided the phosphorescent water into a gleaming wake that curled away till it was caught and held in the track of the moon....Compass Rose, afloat on a calm sea, seemed to shed every attribute save a gentle assurance of refuge." (p 105, 1951 Knopf edition)

There was a movie made by the British earlier on, with Jack Hawkins as Ericson, the captain. The plot obviously had to be shortened, and I think the love story was changed a bit. The novel is better, still, and I do hope that they do NOT try to make another movie of it, for surely the Hollywood treatment will only cheapen this superb piece of work.

Rating:
Summary: The Cruel Sea
Review: Mosarrat shows us that there is no glory in war, but much honor attached to the men and women of the armed forces. The Cruel Sea tells us how to behave during a conflict - be loyal, resilient, and have faith in ourselves and our comrades
I re-read this book every few years and each time I am impressed with the characters, settings, and the lessons that Erickson and Lockhart teach us. And each time I feel better about people and their potentials. This book stays in the current section of my bookshelf.

Rating:
Summary: Wow. Even women will love it.
Review: "The Cruel Sea" was recommended to me by my mom who read it as a young woman when it was first published. I was skeptical about reading this epic of WW2 battle at sea -- thought I wouldn't want to read about war in great detail -- but I found that the pages turn themselves. It is a GREAT book -- expertly constructed and beautifully written. It is an insight into the human spirit in a time of war, but it also works so well because it does an amazing job of making the ship itself a living, breathing character, in whose destiny one becomes intimately wrapped up. The copy I have is from the 50's and I'm thrilled to see it is still in print, though not surprised. The book is a true testament to the fact that GOOD WRITING, on any subject, is fascinating and stands the test of time.

Rating:
Summary: Probably the best WWII naval novel written
Review: The cold gripping fear, frustration,and agony of the convoy escorts in the North Atlantic during WWII. The physical and emotional sacrafices of the men assigned to escort duty to protect the life blood of Great Britan. Monsarrat is a fantastic story teller, filling the reader with emotions in a way that very few writers will ever master. The realization that Command is really lonely,and the second guessing of descisions is a tough pill for Captain Ericson to swallow. These sailors are not Regular Navy from a Family lineage of Naval service, rather the average Joe brought together by the war. Yet they form a strong fighting unit. As as in every war, death is not picky about whom it takes. A great book that will be hard to put down till it is finished. Give it some time and you will read it again.

Rating:
Summary: Nicholas Monsarrat,s best.
Review: The more I read this book,(having read it on six previous occasions),the more I want to read it. The best book ever written about war at sea. Nothing else come close.

Rating:
Summary: Wavy Navy
Review: SUPERB BOOK, a Classic I use this title because the story is written from the viewpoint of a RNVR Officer (a prewar voluntary reserve officer, background and qualifications yachtsman). I mention this because having a father that served on USN convoy duty before the war started (USS Jacob Jones), and having lived in the UK amongst many who also served in the war, I realize now that the book and the film provide an accurate and vividly emotional portrayal of what it was like. Also, add to list of why "There will always be an England"

Rating:
Summary: An astonishing portrayal of the human side of war
Review: "The Cruel Sea" focuses on the British naval experience during World War II--more specifically, on the crew of a corvette during the first half of the war and, to a lesser extent, of a frigate during its waning years. Like most war stories, the plotting is at times necessarily predictable (yet still thrilling), but Monsarrat's epic is a cut above in both its human element (even in its occasional depiction of Germans) and in its presentation of the morally gray aspects of war. This is no ode to blind patriotism. Instead, the novel is an elegy on the selfless bravery and selfish survival instincts of a group of sailors whose reasons for being in the war are as varied as the men themselves: the stern but fair-minded Lieutenant-Commander Ericson, the indolent and tyrannical (and somewhat comical) First Lieutenant Bennett, the nervous and self-doubting Sub-Lieutenant Ferraby, the level-headed and thoughtful Sub-Lieutenant Lockhart (who, I would guess, is Monsarrat's alter ego), and a supporting cast of dozens. There are some spine-chilling and devastating battle scenes, but the book never once loses its focus: the men (and women) who fought and endured the war.

Another surprising aspect of "The Cruel Sea" is its intense lyricism. There are many sentences and descriptions that linger in the mind long after one has finished the novel. The death a crew member: "He did not exactly surrender to the sea, but he stopped caring much whether he lived or died; and on this night, an ambiguous will was not enough." An officer finding out his girlfriend is pregnant: "The child would be the occasion of their marriage, not the cause for it." Equally impressive is the novel's unusual wit--humor far beyond the stereotypical bawdiness of sailors: the friendly banter between crew members, the scrapes between men on leave and family members or other civilians, the hilarious clash of cultures when the frigate is docked for repairs in New York City.

Generally, I am averse to "war novels" (with the exceptions of the usual famous classics); I'd rather read the real thing--journalism or history--and forego the shallow characterizations and poor writing so common to the genre of military fiction. So I can't explain what caused me to pick up this 500-page book, but I am certainly glad I did. This novel is a neglected classic and should be read by an audience far beyond the aficionados of war novels.

Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Slice of History
Review: I found this book purely by accident, thanks to a recommendation by another book review. I think this is perhaps one of the finest novels about combat, certainly about naval combat, that I have ever read. Every word rings with a sense of authenticity and drama that is all too often missing from modern literature.
I'm loathe to give away any plot detail; the story builds slowly like a fine meal. In short, the book concerns itself with two warships during escort duty during the whole of British involvement in WWII. The first ship, a Corvette, is small and perhaps a bit amateurish to begin with. Its history, and the relations of its crew are treated in intricate detail. The second ship, a Frigate, is larger, less personal and much like the war more mechanized and colder; its is more effective, to be true, and a step closer to victory but also represents a loss of humanity.
Monsarrat weaves these two stories into a seamless whole - the bood deserves to be called an epic, and at times I almost felt like I was watching an old British war film, like Sink the Bismarck: every word rang true. I had one small complaint, and that involves either a misplaced death near the end of the novel. Again, I don't want to give anything away but it just felt unnecessary.
Please, read the book. If you are at interested in Naval history, or just want a good read, you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, it is
Review: the best drama-at-sea novel of WWII, really, and stylishly written, by a professional writer who served as a naval officer. You not only believe he was there, you believe you are there. After reading it, one feels the weariness of war.