Rating: 
Summary: A fast-moving, funny, honest and poignant tale of the sea.
Review: Every now and then you pick up a book that can't be put down --The Breath of Angels is one such book. It hooks you from the firstline and gets better with each page. The author's style is honest and forthright and he draws you into his account of his attempted circumnavigation of the world with all the skill of a novelist. I kept having to remind myself that his endless string of adventures and mishaps were not something dreamed up, but real lived experiences. The book ends with one of the most moving accounts of a rescue at sea that I have ever read. I won't say any more about it other than to mention that it had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. If you like seafaring narratives, then read this book. I believe it's destined to become a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story, bad writing
Review: I read this book for the story about sailing the oceans and quickly found that the author lacks good writing skills when it comes to such things as describing people, emotions, and his surroundings. It was almost as if he didn't want to sound like a sissy by telling the reader that he cried every now and then, so he would mince words and maneuver around it. The author had great courage to head off into the unknown with a ship he knew virtually nothing about. But it is a good sea tale and now I want to do further reading on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Good Story of Adventure and Fulfillment
Review: I was looking for a good true story about what is would be like to sail on a sailboat around the world. I have never sailed before. Though he doesn't make it around the world this is a great story about sailing an ocean. Surviving on a minimal budget he fulfills most of his dream. Some reviewers seemed to think the story was a little dry. I say it may start off a little slow but soon picks up the pace. The author can tell a good tale but at other times he can become completely poetic. He will go through danger, he will meet new friends, adapt to life on the sea. He has some good times on his trip as well as confict and uncertainty. He visits paradise and then some taking a few chances along the way. He experiences camaraderie and seamanship and makes the most of his journey. If you are looking for a story to sweep you out of the recliner and take you away to the middle of the Atlantic or to a warm beautiful place on a sailboat I think this will work. This is a true throw your life to the wind and hit the sails tale. I would have to say I will read it again.
Rating:
Summary: Courage and honesty plus experience do a make a good sailor
Review: I would have to say that I loved it. I had to read it twice just to make sure. I hope everyone who buys the book will enjoy it cause I sure did.
Rating:
Summary: High Drama and Humor -- an unbeatable combination
Review: If you're looking for a practical guide to sailing this is not the book to go for -- there are plenty of these around and most of them make dismal reading. Also, if you're after a "how-great-a-sailor-I-am" read, then give this a wide berth. However, if you want a rattling good story about long distance sailing, and all the ups and downs that this entails, then you'll be hard pressed to find anything much better or more honest than this. Funny and moving throughout with some beautifully written passages, it drives towards a terrific climax when the author comes across a shipwrecked, dying fisherman in the most amazing circumstances.
Rating:
Summary: A gripping narrative that is multi-dimensional.
Review: John Beattie could not have scripted a better book; he had to live it. The story that rests on the surface of this book is at times funny, always fast moving, and just plain moving...all at once and all consuming; you do not want to put the book down. But as you read you come to a series of revelations. It is not just a narrative going on here, but a series of discoveries, for the reader that is. It is an evolution if you will, that culminates in '...life and death at sea.' The discoveries are profound, as the writing often is, and lays bare the author's many conflicts and struggles as he crosses the Atlantic Ocean in his 35' sail boat. But what is notable is that regardless of the number and degree of challenges he faces, many of them immediately life threatening, you never get the feeling that he will give up. From the first days sailing he has reason, and opportunity, to give up...but he does not and it is only about half-way through reading this book that you realize that giving up does not enter into his personal equation. The reason it takes so long for that message to dawn on you is that he stays well and thoroughly 'out of your face'. That is, his writing is honest and never presumptious. Though you are at times reading high-drama, he does not force the drama onto you. There is humility and sometimes great understatement that anyone, whether a sailor or not, can see is sincere. With the final 'episode' that relates most directly to the '...life and death at sea...' you realize that the point of the book, besides giving you a great read, is about vision, and goals, and fighting odds. There can be found inspiration in these pages but it's motivating with absolutely no trace of preaching. You will also find that John Beattie, while posessing a marvelous deterministic way of looking at life and nature, is blessed with analytical and descriptive skills that are nothing less than 'high prose'. So, 'high praise' for John Beattie's book.
Rating:
Summary: Good Story of Adventure and Fulfillment
Review: One of the most understated of adventures I've read. Beattie just brushes the surface of emotions that most of us would feel under some of the circumstances he encountered. In fact, most of us would have given up long before ever setting out to sea. I am a sailor and know many hardcore sailors who would see this tale as complete foolishness. They would never have persevered as Beattie did. Likewise, they would not have felt the rapture and reward that John felt once his troubles were behind him. The amazing ending to this book is just too incredible for fiction. That Beattie only gives a one-page account of his life afterwards is testamant to how much of an impact it had on him.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Travelogue
Review: Quite simply, I was very disappointed in this book. I was hoping for a gripping tale of man against nature along the lines of Into Thin Air or The Perfect Storm, but this book proved to be more travelogue than compelling adventure. Though aspects of Beattie's solo trans-Atlantic voyage were indeed dramatic, Beattie lacks the necessary skill to make the events truly resonate with the reader. I felt like I was on Everest with Krakauer and in a great storm with Junger (who was not even there), yet here I read Beattie's adventures as a dispassionate observer. Perhaps even more disappointing was the fact that much of the writing seemed totally superfluous. I would have liked to learn a little bit more about the difficulties of solo sailing and a lot less about Beattie's fondness for drugs and alcohol and what he had for breakfast every morning. I certainly went into this book with high hopes, but finished it quite disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Tenacious Sailor; Tedious Writer
Review: Reading a book about long-distance sailing tends to make the reader a part of the crew, as one is at the mercy not only of the elements but of the moods and competence of the captain/author. In a well-written sailing account, the reader, like a crew member, has relished learning as much about the personality of the captain and other crew members as he or she has the sea and sailing. A lesser account is a different experience. Perhaps I have done John Beattie a disservice by reading The Breath of Angels directly after reading Tristan Jones' The Incredible Voyage, the latter work one that would seem to set the standard for what Beattie is trying to attempt. Jones has a charming irascibility, and his spirit and prose truly reveal why, even in the midst of great hardship, he relishes his life at sea and in various, well-described ports. Unfortunately, Beattie's early prose is stilted and, even after he warms to his subject and theme, never lyrical. While long-distance sailing produces many moments of wonder, we learn more about Beattie's glaring fondness for cheap wine and his dislike for his crew, an acrimony that becomes more discomfiting as the narrative progresses, than we do that which draws him to the cruising life. For anyone who has ever sailed even a protected bay, his naiveté in both human relations and the demands of nature on a boat seems disquieting. Perhaps in the sub-genre of books about sailors attempting both an arduous voyage and, essentially, learning how to truly sail, this would ordinarily be a welcome addition. There seems to be little joy in what Beattie does, though. Interestingly, by the time the reader reaches the moment that the author seems to feel ratifies his journey, he has been made indifferent by the tedium of Beattie's world. While we can be glad that he found much meaning in his daunting rescue of another sailor, it did not seem to lead to anything but a prosaic "revelation". If a book about long-distance sailing is desired, stick with Tristan Jones. If one wishes to read about the sometimes hapless adventures of a sailor learning to sail during a singular and dangerous voyage, read the out-of-print Tinkerbelle by Robert Manry, who sailed a 13-foot boat across the Atlantic. [And without wine!]
Rating: 
Summary: Salty and enjoyable, yet somewhat disjointed
Review: Seems that starting out on a sailing voyage without much experience or true expectations is often times the most popular methods. And similarly this boat does have it's problems, as the does the Skipper's judgement. But after slowing down to the pace of this book and acknowledging the particular mindset of the author, it's really a nice read about Singlehanded Sailing, and the unique communities that establish themsselves in the harbours and ports around the world. But what really impresses, is the courage, humility and politeness of the young man rescued so near death! The dealings with the 3-rd world politics is something every American should realize, if not experience.
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