Hungry Ocean, The:A Swordboat Captain's Journey

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: To the reader from New England, my family has been fishing Long Island for about 350 years. It is the tourist trade that enhances our living, not diminishes it. Not many locals I know actually paid for seafood. So, put your comments aside and review the book, which is very good. Commercial fishing is the most dangerous job in America, and one that is not easily understood. But just as farmers are drawn to the land, we are drawn to the sea. And even though I now live in the MIdwest (granted, I see lake Superior from my house), this brought back memories of home. I could smell the water. Bravo

Rating:
Summary: Plodder. Captures boredom at sea.
Review: I am not too familiar with commercial fishing. I was looking for an engaging book on the topic. What I got was a book that effortlessly captured the boredom and tedium of life at sea. Anyway, I learned some stuff (but it wasn't fun).

Rating:
Summary: The catch of the day
Review: Coming from Gloucester, I am quite familiar with the fishing industry. My father is a very close friend of Linda Greenlaw, and i have grown up hearing stories about her and her adventures at sea. My father worked on the Hannah Boden for a brief period, and we were constantly hearing of what a great ship she ran. I commend her on her novel, but to me she will always be the tough swordfisher as opposed to the author....Congratulations Anyone can feel free to contact me

Rating:
Summary: You people dont get it
Review: We don't want all you crazy people flocking to our towns, crazing our lives, and asking if you can "come out on our boats for a ride". We fish for a living, Just because a Captain writes a good book, dosen't mean you psycho's ought to come running up here asking questions, just like you did after Junger's book. Chill out. Let us do our jobs. You can just read the books. But until you step on the deck of a longliner for a month, and in most of our cases year after year, please don't act like you know what it's like...this isnt flyfishing. Stick to what you know people. We will stick to what we do.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating narrative of a swordfisherman
Review: I loved this book! I read it in less than a day. However, as a woman, I would have liked more insight into Linda's personal life. She is one interesting lady! Also, some pictures of the gear used for catching the swordfish would have been helpful. I got the general idea that you don't just go out and put a pole in the water and catch the fish. To see a longline would have been helpful. Maybe in another book?

Rating:
Summary: My Kind Of Adventure
Review: Growing up on the East Coast (NJ), I have a great respect and appreciation for the ocean. Linda's book only served to further that respect! I spent many weekends fishing with my grandfather in the Delaware Bay and in the Atlantic and had one bad weather experience. For swordboat captains, it's an everyday thing. I met Linda at her book review in Denver, where I now reside. She's an open, honest, friendly person. She really captured the day-to-day life of swordfishermen in her book. It's a life with which not many people are familiar. Linda's writing style, peppered with humor and based on honesty, helped me to envision what it's like out there every day. Excellent!

Rating:
Summary: The Hungry Ocean
Review: Great book! In a world lacking female heroes, Captain Greenlaws' book is a refreshing, welcomed addition to my book collection. The writing style shows a wonderful sense of humor and the talent of a modern Sheakespear.

Rating:
Summary: Hungry Ocean-Greedy Fishermen
Review: This book is a direct capitalization on Jungers book.It is also a poor facsimile of his work. I kept waiting for it to grab me in the way The Perfect Storm did. However much to my dismay, it never did. It leads me to believe that if The Perfect Storm was never written, this book wouldn't have been either. Miss Greenlaw fails to explain how the Atlantic longliners are decimating the billfish population.That is,the depletion of the swordfish and other game fishes are a direct result of their lack of concern. This viewpoint of my did not however influence my opinion of this book. I was very disappointed with this read.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: This book should be required reading for all young high school females. (and males). I'd like to thank Linda for this book it was well written and a great story.

Rating:
Summary: a good fast read, but not worth 5 stars
Review: This book could be read in 1-2 days, but it took me longer than that; I just couldn't get wrapped up into a "story" here. While I admittedly did appreciate the "mug up"'s and found them entertaining, especially about emptying the family latrine, the tale was constantly being broken up and I constantly needed to shift focus. While I did not expect this to be another "Perfect Storm", I did expect a better story, but maybe what I was really missing was compassion. Maybe that is what fisherman lack, although I highly doubt that, so why couldn't we see more of it here? Because Linda was writing about a day on the job. To sum it up, this book is Lindas version of "what I did on my summer vacation" - down to the last detail. I too would have loved some pictures, and more feeling. To prove my summary, at the end, when she describes Bob Browns death: "Bob died. I miss him". I was really hoping for a little more than that! I learned a lot about swordfishing, and still would recommend this book, but is lacking true story grit.