The Death Ship: The Story of an American Sailor

Rating:
Summary: rocky
Review: Have read a good third of the book so far. Story is usually fine and moves right along, is humorous at times even--which is o.k.; the thing that bugs this reader is the fact the author seems to slow things down now and then whenever he attempts to cram his political views down the reader's throat. I don't mind messages in small doses, but to stop your narrative and get on a soap box and start preaching is just plain stupid and bothersome and does not work. Rocky is a good word to describe this tale. On the other hand, I loved Cottonpickers. Your money, your choice.

Rating:
Summary: rocky
Review: I came to B. Traven's _The Death Ship_ after viewing the recent Chicago exhibition by famed woodworking postmodernist artist H.C. Westermann. At the exhibit, I found myself absolutely entranced by his carved and molded "Death Ships," which are quite unique and were ostensibly inspired by this novel.
I was expecting a less pedestrian story (yes, *less* pedestrian), and a bit more of a challenge. I must admit that the colloquialisms were at times very amusing, but I wasn't impressed at all by the quasi-Kafka bureaucracy-bemoaning. I understand the novel was written before Kafka became well-known; still, Kafka is much more masterful at expressing in words early 20th century bureaucratic alienation. In addition, I felt that the novel was poking fun at Melville's supreme _Moby Dick_ in the first few chapters (especially so as the Melville revival was occurring in the 30's), and I didn't really find that necessary. If this was supposed to be an "updated" _Moby Dick_, I would have opted for a reread of Melville's classic.

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Summary: The Mysterious B. Traven's Best Work!
Review: I first read "Government" by B. Traven and was very impressed. Then the same friend that gave me that book said to buy this one. I didn't think Traven could do better but this book was it. His storytelling is some of the best ever. From the descriptions of border crossing tribulations to the weird snake dance to get past a steaming pipe and to eating the rations off a marooned ship Traven does well. Unfortunately, but amazingly you can almost smell the disgusting bowels of the death ship because it is so well written. No movie could even do justice to this book as Traven helps you see, feel, smell and taste the experience. Supremo!

Rating:
Summary: The Mysterious B. Traven's Best Work!
Review: I first read "Government" by B. Traven and was very impressed. Then the same friend that gave me that book said to buy this one. I didn't think Traven could do better but this book was it. His storytelling is some of the best ever. From the descriptions of border crossing tribulations to the weird snake dance to get past a steaming pipe and to eating the rations off a marooned ship Traven does well. Unfortunately, but amazingly you can almost smell the disgusting bowels of the death ship because it is so well written. No movie could even do justice to this book as Traven helps you see, feel, smell and taste the experience. Supremo!

Rating:
Summary: A VERY STRANGE STORY
Review: Imagine your very worst nightmare; you have lost absolutely all references to your identity and are displaced thousands of miles from any contact with anyone who would be able to positively identify you. Since you are sort of a drifter to begin with, your problem is compounded. You have no money. You are kicked out of a few countries, decide that life is just too good for you in another country and that moreover you long to return to work at your profession, that of a sailor. A weird ship takes you on and now you can't get off it.

This a story the likes of which you will probably never come across again. It is weird, the writing is vivid, and you become the doomed sailor reading it. You might not think the story the best you've ever read, hardly so, but you certainly wont long forget this one.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic -- one of a kind!
Review: Just finished reading this book for the third time. Traven's writing style is clear, harsh and as vivid as fireworks. You can feel sparks fly off every page. Man, I wish I could write even half as well as he does. If you ever want to feel as angry as an anarchist over the human injustice in this world, read this book. Plus it's a great story. I can't do it justice.

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Summary: A definitive narrative of the triumph of human will
Review: Manual labor. That's what I think of most of all when I think of B. Traven's The Death Ship. I actually read the majority of this book during break periods while working a manual labor job. Every time that my bones ached, I thought about the horrors of the Death Ship and the determinism in the face of certain doom; a real man is measured by his will and his strength.

B. Traven's prose is terrific, unpretensious, and profound. The Death ship tells the story of an American salior who becomes an outcast in a world indifferent to the circumstances of the little people. The crew of the ship, facing the possibility of death, starvation, and reside in squalid living conditions, show more humanity and honor than any pencil pusher behind a desk whose power and influences have condemned the honest man to a life of torture; they no longer fear hell, but at the same time, they embrace their situations with a fortitude that expresses a savage peotry. This novel is not to be missed by anyone that considers themselves serious about literature.

Rating:
Summary: Style Too Thin and Fantastic
Review: The mysterious B. Traven, may have been the son of the Kaiser Wilhelm, and he is quite a writer of interesting repute. Being a fan of the movie "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and the off-beat style of the movie, I thought that this novel would give me a realistic grit-eyed view of the labouring class in the 20s and 30s. What I got was a modern day Candide!

Now I love Voltaire as well, but the style is just not my cup of tea for a modern novel perporting to show you the real side of the industrial working class: although the death ship is a real rust bucket and a voyage of the damned, it is written in terms at time fantastic and at times deadpan comical Kafka-esque. The style does not work for me... maybe that is just me. If you are looking for grit and realism then this book clearly does not offer it. Like Candide the hero is washed from country to country and scenario to scenario with almost hilarious regularity. Although there is no sop to Dr. Pangloss, our hero seems to be both equal parts tragic victim and survivor... no matter what...

I was really kind of put off by Traven and you know about the old story of once bitten....