Rating: 
Summary: Excellent and exciting reading!
Review: Saw the movie and thought I'd like to learn more, and did I ever! The book offers complete details about fishing and storms and rescues. Along with the real accounts of the storm, this book is an excellent story of life on the seas. Reading at times was like being on the high seas, my heart was racing and I couldn't read fast enough--it was so exciting.
Rating: 
Summary: boring book
Review: has sebastian junger ever wrote a book before? this book of his has to be the worst book that i tried to read. i could not finish this book .did he write this book thinking to make money out of it? he fooled us all. anyone want a good book try spike walkers books
Rating: 
Summary: The Perfect Storm: A guide to the life of a fisherman
Review: Sebastian Junger's book, The Perfect Storm, is about the men and women who were caught at sea during the Halloween Gale of 1991. The book tells three different stories, which are all connected by this storm. Each story is seamlessly wound into the other stories, which makes the book easy to read. The book is very slow however; the storm doesn't even start until the middle of the book. Once the storm does start, there is only a little action and it doesn't come around often. The book does have heroes though, all the rescue men had to jump into the middle of the storm, and risk their lives to save others. Their selflessness, courage, and clear thinking in a crisis are what made the rescue men heroes. I did not enjoy this book, and I would not recommend it for others to read, because it is slow and not very exciting.
The book starts out in the town of Gloucester, Mass. in the early fall of 1991. For the first half of the book, the book describes the fishermen and their lives. The book describes fishing as "A young man's game, a single man's game." Fishing is described this way because it is back breaking work. The fishermen are out at sea for a month at a time. While they are at sea, they have to work 20 hour days with little too eat. The fishermen have to be physically fit in order to pull the fish up onto the deck out of the water. It is a single man's game because the fishermen might never come back. Many things could go wrong at sea. In their own way, the fishermen were heroes themselves. They knew that there was a very good chance that they would never come back, yet they went out to sea anyway. This type of thinking took courage and determination, which are qualities of a hero. This whole half of the book however, is the book's downfall. There is no action whatsoever in this half and it takes forever to read. The technical definitions are easy to understand, but there is so much of it that it numbs the brain and hinders your enjoyment of the book. If this part of the book had been cut down, the book would have been much more enjoyable.
The first story in the book is the tale of the Andrea Gail and how it got caught in the storm and sunk. The crew is introduced in the first half of the book, but Captain Billy Tyne and Bobby Shatford are the two most important crewmembers. The Andrea Gail leaves Gloucester in the beginning of October for the Grand Banks, a good swordfishing spot off the coast of Newfoundland. Their trip is uneventful until they start to head home on October 24th. On October 26th, they got a message from the Coast Guard warning them about the weather. On October 28th, after being hit by a giant freak wave, Billy Tyne issued his last message to all the other fishing boats on the water, which was "She's comin' on boys, and she's comin' on strong". The Andrea Gail was never heard from again after that message. Since no one knows what really happened after that, Sebastian Junger has to speculate about what happened. The book becomes slightly confusing, since Junger switches from talking about the Andrea Gail, to talking about how a ship works in mid-paragraph. He finally does get the message across at the end of the chapter, with the sentence, "Tyne, Pierre, Sullivan, Moran, Murphy, and Shatford are dead."
The second story is about the rescue of the crew of the Satori, a sailboat. In early September the Satori had set out for a few months of pleasure cruising. The Satori received the same weather warning as the Andrea Gail, but the captain decided to continue onward. The Satori ends up getting stuck in the middle of the storm, and is forced to radio in a mayday. A Coast Guard helicopter arrives to rescue the crew of the Satori. A rescue diver named David Moore has to jump into the water to save the crew of the Satori. By jumping in the water, David demonstrates that he is a hero. He risked his own life to save people he didn't even know, which is what heroes do. After a few tense minutes, everyone is safe aboard the helicopter and they are flown to the Tamaroa, a Coast Guard boat. The rescue workers proved themselves as heroes by flying into the heart of the storm.
The third story is about the rescue of four National Air Guardsmen, who had to ditch their helicopter in the ocean. The Guardsmen had been deployed to rescue a sailboat captained by Mikado Tomizawa, a Japanese sailor. The Guardsmen determined that Tomizawa didn't need rescuing, so they headed for shore. They ran out of fuel on the way back to shore, so they had to do a planned ditch. All five Guardsmen ditch, but only four are recovered. The last Guardsmen is lost and is never found again. The four surviving Guardsmen are rescued by the Tamaroa, which rescued them by throwing down a cargo net that the Guardsmen hung onto. All five Guardsmen displayed heroic qualities by jumping in the water, even though they knew that they might not survive. The third story had by far the most action in it, and was the most enjoyable story in the book.
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger is slow and slightly confusing. The action is not very intense, and very rare throughout the whole book. This is why the book was disappointing to read, and I would not recommend it to other people. Sebastian Junger does have many heroes in his book, which save people that they don't know. Their bravery and persistence in the middle of the worst storm of the century, the Halloween Gale, proves that ordinary people can become heroes.
Rating:
Summary: Come up for air
Review: The chapter on drowning was very powerful and I've never read it again. I jumped in the pool and swam three or four lengths underwater to see what it is like. Your chest really starts to burn. It remided me of that terrible scene in the movie Amistad when they threw the people overboard tied to a rock. That also had a great effect on me. I guess I have some phobia about drowning. Overall, while I liked the historical rundown of the New England fishing industry, the book IS excruciatingly slow to read. I kept falling asleep...
Rating: 
Summary: A Sad Story Sadly Written
Review: i read this book because i was intrigued, and indeed touched, by the story of these fisherman...i soon after saw the movie, and i am sad to say that this is the one in a million time that the movie is better than the book....Junger weighed down this novel with boring stories about the history of fishing and a bunch of other meaningless drivel...the story is of course sad, though it is thrilling (as evidenced by the action in the movie) but the book drags unbelievably...its sad to say that such a tale has been told in such a poor way
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Storm-a history of fishing?
Review: The book The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger, provides a wealth of information on the marine life of New England, a fascinating insight into modern fishing techniques, and a new understanding of meteorological phenomena. However, if its sheer thrill and excitement at a remarkable story about the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat that was lost at sea during a huge storm, readers will find themselves disappointed. They will want to skip over the textbook garble, looking for the actual story, and the story does not make itself obvious.
The parts that are the most fast-paced and exciting are the actual rescue stories about ordinary people who became heroes under extraordinary circumstances. The main story is that of the Andrea Gail, a commercial sword fishing boat that vanished in the huge storm while on its way home from a month long fishing trip. The boat disappeared, and all aboard died, so the author can only hypothesize about how it ended based on other accounts in similar circumstances. Sebastian Junger introduces the crew of the Andrea Gail so you really start to care about them. He researched what these people were actually like, based on the people who knew them best. You get to know them in full detail, as seen in this quote "...Bobby Shatford struggles awake. He has flax-brown hair, hollow cheeks, and a sinewy build that has seen a lot of work. In a few hours he's due on a sword fishing boat named Andrea Gail... headed on a one-month fishing trip to the Grand Banks." You get to know these doomed men so well, and feel real sadness when you know they are going to die. The feeling of disappointment that comes when you close this book is because you want closure on the story. The reader wants to know exactly how they died, just like their families and friends want to know exactly how they died. The closest we come to ever knowing what happened to the crew of the Andrea Gail is listening to the stories of others who survived similar situations.
Another large portion of this book are accounts of other boats that bailed out during the storm and had to be rescued. They are real stories about real people who survived a completely horrific act of nature that killed so many others. These are true heroes, and their stories are told in a very straightforward manner. However, the author does not allow you to develop any true feelings for the characters whose lifes were hanging in the balance of the storm, nor does he do their horrific stories justice. He he speaks about their terrifying stories as if he was just reporting the weather. Some readers may like his no-frills style, but most will feel apathetic about what happens to the people stuck in the storm, besides the crew of the Andrea Gail.
This book gives plenty of facts and figures about fishing history of New England. About one fifth of this book is devoted to this topic. It provides a history of fishing techniques, from when the colonies where just being formed, to the days of the clipper ships and schooners, and continues right up to modern day fishing. For example
" Early fishing in Gloucester was the roughest sort of business, and one of the deadliest. As early as the 1650s, three-man crews were venturing up the coast for a week at a time in small open boats that had stones for ballast and unstayed masts." This section continues onward, the history intertwined with the story of the Andrea Gail, and can become quite boring and lengthy at times. More impatient readers will become easily bored, because the book continues like the quote above for pages and pages.
A major portion of this book is devoted to the meteorological explanations that created the storm that caused the Andrea Gail's nightmare. There were three major meteorological occurrences that combined into on powerful destructive force that spanned almost 2,000 miles. There was a hurricane, a cold front, and a storm that were all headed for the Grand Banks, were most sword fishing boats fish. The book goes in depth with the logistics of how the weather happens, as you can see in this quote "Hurricanes start when a slight kink...develops in the upper-level air. The squall line starts to rotate around the kink, drawing in warm, volatile air and sending it up the gathering vortex at its center...Eventually the system starts spinning so fast that inward-spiraling air can no longer overcome the centrifugal force and make it into a center." Again, the book continues like this for several pages, and bounces between this and the story of the Andrea Gail.
This book also provides a wealth of information on fishing techniques. In fact, it probably offers more information on marine life of the North Atlantic than most readers will ever care to know. However, since the book is about the fishing boats stuck in the storm, such information is fairly necessary to make the reader understand why men will devote their lives to fishing. The sections about fishing methods are often tedious, and read like college textbooks. The quotes "Grand Banks swordfish spawn in the Caribbean and then edge northward during the summer months, heading for the cold, protein-rich waters off Newfoundland" or "... U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined that swordfish carried dangerous amounts of mercury in them, and... banned the sale of the fish" show how slow moving these sections can be.
If a lengthy history of fishing history in the Northeastern United States is what you're looking for, then this is the book for you. Or, if you want to read about meteorological phenomena and fishing techniques, this is also a great book. But if you are looking for an exciting and riveting story of men against the sea, then the reader's faith is best placed in another selection.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Snooze
Review: The Perfect Storm is a real life story retelling the "storm of the century" that takes place in 1991. The book shows rescuers and ship members becoming heroes because they don't give up no matter how hard their task seems. This book also shows these people put their own lives in jeopardy so they can save others in peril. But although the book portrays many admirable heroes it is also quite a slow and boring read.
For the rescuers and crew members, doing their persistance makes them heroes. For example, even after the boat, the Satori, starts filling with water and most of the crew loses hope at making it through the storm, crew member Karen Stimpson signals for help and continues to try to survive. This shows her strength and courage against the odds, two important qualities of a hero. Another man who proves himself a hero in The Perfect Storm is John Spillane. After bailing out of his helicopter and falling seventy feet into the ocean during the storm, Spillane is badly injured. But he still manages to keep himself conscious long enough to swim over to the other men who bailed out of the helicopter. Thsi ordeal takes great strength and willpower on his part, which shows that he is a hero. The man who flies that same helicopter, Dave Ruvoli, is also a hero. As the helicopter runs out of fuel and the men bail out, Dave stays in the helicopter until it has crashed in the water, then tries to escape even though "his chances of escaping with his door still in place are negligible." He shows that even though the odds ore are piled against him he is willing to take a chance to save himself and his crew. These incidents all show that the people of this book are fighters and give up no matter what happens.
In The Perfect Storm the characters put other people before themselves. This is shown first when the Satori is in danger of sinking. This puts the crew in a position where they could lose their lives. The crew jumps overboard, in their survival suits, and wait to be rescued. Their rescue swimmer, Dave Moore, attempts to rescue them while huge waves are crashing overhead. It is a dangerous mission for him because there are no garantees as to whether or not he'll come out alive. To risk his life for people he doesn't even know can only be thought of as an act of heroism. Later in the book, the entire crew of the ship Tamaroa risk their lives for a group of rescuers whose plane runs out of fuel and crashes into the water. Their commander says "I knew there was a chance that I could lose some of my men," if he does the rescue. The fact that the ship decides to go through with the rescue tells the reader that they show bravery and selflessness beyond what anyone can ask of them. The heroes who are in this storm have the strength to save other people before they save themselves.
Even though The Perfect Storm show heroism at its finest it is not enough to capture the reader's attention. The book is slow paced, focusing more on the history of fishing and how the storm forms that the experiences of the people who are caught in the storm. An example of this is right after the ship Andrea
Gail sets sail. The writer goes into a passage that tells about fishing from the time Columbus discovers the New World all the way up to present day. This has little or nothing to do with the storm or the current events of the Andrea Gail. The passage fails to catch the reader's interest. On the contrary, it makes one want to skip over it to get on with the rest of the story. Unfortunately, this useless information continues for another few pages until one is thoroughly bored with the book. Another reason this book fails to grasp the reader's attention is because it goes into too much detail over trivial things. This is shown when the Andrea Gail has been at sea for a few weeks. The book, for no apparent reason, starts describing every nook and cranny of the ship. This explanation goes on for pages, with the reader quite confused as to why the author is writing down the information in such detail. It does not add anything to the book besides pages. Therefore, it is not a worthwhile read, overall.
The Perfect Storm is the perfect example of heroism at its bast. It shows real people risking their lives for other people and trying their hardest to save themselves and others, even when it seems impossible. However, due to the book being overstuffed with trivial facts and descriptions the book feels painfully long to read. The great acts of heroism at the end of the book cannot compensate for the rest of it. If one wants to research the history of fishing in New England or learn exactly what the inside of the Andrea Gail looked like, then read The Perfect Storm. If the reader is not interested in these areas, then The Perfect Storm is far from one's perfect read.
Rating: 
Summary: The Perfect Storm
Review: The story The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger is a worthwhile read. It tells the non-fiction story of three crews that were all heroes. A hero is someone who goes through a terrible danger that few have gone through before. They may be terrified but they try to stay alive, they try to be brave. The Perfect Storm tells the tale of the struggles of heroes who stare death in the face, some live, some die. But it is not up to them whether they live or die, only fate decides. Anyone who has been face to face with death is a hero, because bravery is staring death in the face, and not giving up. One cannot go to another who has been through such a danger and call them a failure, whether they have perished or overcome. The heroes of The Perfect Storm are the crew of the Andrea Gail, the crew of a helicopter, and the crew of the Satori. Another reason why this book is a worthwhile read is the way the author explains everything that most people don't know much about, such as fishing. And the final reason is the detail the author puts into what is happening, so one can picture the story in their mind.
Junger's story is ineresting because of the heroes he describes in it. A hero has courage, hope, and an ability not to give up when the going gets tough. The Andrea Gail is a boat that fishes for swordfish. The crew, Tyne, Pierre, Sullivan, Moran, Murphy, and Shatford are just straining to live aboard their ship in the treacherous storm. "This can only mean one thing: that he's hopeful about their chances right up until the moment when they have no chance at all." The men of the Andrea Gail have lost all communication with the rest of the world, all chance for help. But these men didn't give up. As long as there was work to be done the men didn't just sit down and cry. This is one of the most important qualities of a hero. Hope. Where there is no hope there is no hero. Also during the storm a helicopter is on it's way back from an attempt to rescue a Japanese sailor, and now they are caught in the storm and in trouble. The helicopter needs to refuel but cannot because of the severe storm conditions. Soon the helicopter's main engine stops, and the crew gets ready to jump into the raging Atlantic, they do not know how far down the drop is. All the crew jumps before the aircraft falls, except for the pilot. "He looks back at the radar altimeter, which is fluctuating between ten feet and eighty and realizes the timing of his jump will mean the difference between life and death." Now this is true bravery in a dangerous situation. This crew knows what it's like to know that the timing of your jump will decide your fate. The Satori is a fishing boat, just like the Andrea Gail. The Satori only has three crewmembers, Karen Stimpson, Sue Bylander, and Ray Leonard. The crew, like the Andrea Gail, find themselves fighting for their lives. "And I had a sense that things were going to get worst. But it's a strange thing. There was no sentiment there, no time for fear." This was said by Karen Stimpson. Karen is proving herself a hero here because although she knows that the danger is only going to get worst, she isn't afraid, she doesn't give up. Leonard, on the other hand is really scared. "Leonard curls up on his bunk, sullen and silent, sneaking gulps off a whiskey bottle." Leonard feels just the opposite; he has given up hope. But despite Leonard, Stimpson and Bylander keep on striving to stay alive.
Another reason why The Perfect Storm is a worthwhile read is because of all the thorough explaining the author does to help the reader to understand the story better. For example since the story revolves around fishing, the author explains a lot about what fishermen do, and how dangerous some of their jobs can be. "The hook is easily big enough to pass through a man's hand, and if it catches some part of the baiter's body or clothing, he goes over the side with it." The author also explains the Andrea Gail's history, and why it is consider a boat with bad luck. "Bob Brown simply pulled her out of the water and started welding: no stability tests were performed, no marine architect was consulted." Junger explains that perhaps the Andrea Gail's remaking added to her terrible fate on the Atlantic. Also, Junger talks a lot about the life and background of the crewmembers on board each craft. This really helps to make the story more vivid in one's mind. Also, one feels like they know each member personally, and therefor one better understands what the characters are going through.
The final reason why the book The Perfect Storm is a worthwhile read is because of the realistic descriptions that the author makes about the characters. It's almost as though the author were there himself, though he was not. "There was the typical howling of wind on the wires and there was a lot of foam because of the wind." Junger has descriptions like this for exciting events that occur during the storm. They may be short and small, but they really create a big picture. "The Satori is his home, his life, and if he allows himself to be taken off by the Coast Guard he'll probably never see her again." This is another description of Junger. Junger helps the reader to understand how Ray Leonard feels about leaving his boat. Most people would have trouble understanding Leonard's reluctance to leave a drowning boat, but Leonard has no other home, or family, he feels the boat is both of these. Another time Junger uses description is when he talks about what it's like to drown. Not many people know, but Junger has talked to people who have almost drowned, and therefor has as close a description as possible. "At that point there's so much carbon dioxide in the blood, and so little oxygen, that chemical sensors in the brain trigger an involuntary breath whether he's underwater or not." Junger goes into great detail about this, helping the reader to understand what so many people during the storm went through. It may be a terrible thing to know about, but one must know in order to truly understand, which is what Junger intends of the reader, to understand what these heroes went through.
The story The Perfect Storm is definitely a worthwhile read because of the exciting stories of hero's experiences, the thorough explanations, and the realistic descriptions of Sebastian Junger. The Perfect Storm is about three groups of heroes that Junger works so hard to help readers understand. The Perfect Storm is definitely a fantastic and worthwhile read.
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Summary: Courage, Strength, and Perseverance
Review: Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm is "a true story of men against the sea". The author had some misgivings about calling the novel, The Perfect Storm, but he decided to use it after all. In this novel, perfect was "used in the meteorological sense: a storm that could not possibly have been worse." This novel is concentrated around the Andrea Gail and her crew of six men, Tyne, Pierre, Sullivan, Moran, Murphy, and Shatford. The Andrea Gail was harbored in Gloucester, Massachusetts. In Gloucester harbor, she was one of biggest moneymakers. However, other ships and people were mentioned throughout the entire novel. All the people who dared to face the sea and fight against the storm to survive were heroes. They showed courage, strength, and perseverance against the storm of the century. Fisherman had to have a lot of courage to face the unruly sea. Two men, Devine and Lee, were hauling up the trawl (hooks on a long line used to catch fish). They both got knocked over board by a huge wave. Devine managed to get back into the boat, but Lee began to sink. In Lee's attempt to reach the surface he grabbed the trawl line and began to pull himself up. Right then and there, a hook sank into his right hand. Lee jerked it away, leaving part of his finger on the hook, but he continued pulling himself up. He finally reached the surface and climbed back into the boat. If the boat got tossed around, accidents could happen if the fishermen were not careful. Many fishermen knew accidents like this and much worse could happen to them, but they had a choice. They either had enough courage to go to sea, or they did not go at all. Strength was an important characteristic of the heroes. It took a lot of strength to haul trawls onto the deck. Some fish weighed over a few hundred pounds each. It also took a lot of strength to pull up lashing fish from the unstable sea. Swordfishermen had to have a lot of strength. If the swordfish were still alive when they were pulled onto the deck, they were very dangerous. The swordfish would thrash and whip around the deck. Their noses were sharp and dangerous like swords and could injure men easily. Men on the deck had to beat the creature to death before any person was injured or even killed. The amount of strength that the fisherman had, or his crew around him, usually could determine the difference between life and death. All of the men and women that were on the sea during the storm had a lot of perseverance. Crews had to work together if they wanted to survive. They had to take loose items on the deck and bring them down into the hold. Bolts were tightened on the portholes so water could not get in. The waves were extremely high and the skippers, the captains of the ships, had to judge them carefully. If the ship came upon a wave at the wrong angle, the whole ship could be rolled over and destroyed. The men and women never gave up the fight for life until one of two things happened. They would drown and sink along with the ship, or they could hang on until rescuers came. Every single man and woman showed courage, strength, and perseverance against the sea. Unfortunately, not everyone survived the storm of the century. This novel was a very good read. Not only would one read about men and women against the sea, but learn how the weather conditions over the Atlantic Ocean effect the ships and people. More than just a story comes from this novel, but "a breathless sense of what it feels like to be caught, helpless, in the grip of a force of nature beyond our understanding or control." Any person who enjoys a real-life thriller and suspense should read this novel.
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Summary: The Horrible Fishing Trip
Review: The book, The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger, was a mediocre book. I personally did not enjoy it, but I do recommend it to someone who enjoys reading about fishing, the weather, or the ocean. Even though I did not thoroughly like the book, there were some parts of the book that I did favor. I thought the book's main character, Bobby Shatford, was a good example of a hero. He shows many examples of heroism throughout the book, like putting others first, bravery, and determination. Throughout The Perfect Storm, Bobby put many people, other than himself, first. His town, Gloucester, has an economy that is based completely on fishing. All the income for many of the families is brought in through men fishing. Bobby was asked to go on a swordfishing trip, during a dangerous month to go fishing. He and his girlfriend did not want him to go, but he knew that this trip would bring him and Gloucester a lot of money. And he knew Chris, his girlfriend, really needed some money. After some thought, he decided to go on the trip for his girlfriend and the town. He put many people first, before himself. Bobby also showed heroism by being brave. The month Bobby went fishing during, was a stormy one. After catching many fish, but not enough, they were hit by a horrible storm. Some would call it, the perfect storm. He either had the choice of turning back, or "battening down the hatches" and riding it through. He knew it would be perilous time, but he knew he had to do it, even if he was risking the life of himself, and the lives of others. That took a lot of bravery, and strength. A third example of Bobby's heroism, is when he is very determined. When he and his crew were in the worst of the storm, he was determined enough to not give up. Things looked grim for them when a window was broken by a wave. But that did not stop Bobby or even his crew from giving up hope of making it back to shore, alive. He knew he had to make it back to his girlfriend and he had to get the fish to Gloucester. The Perfect Storm is a book that displays heroism through Bobby Shatford, the book's main character. He shows his bravery, determination, and puts others first. I think this book would be perfect for sea-loving people, and the adventurous.
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