In this nineteenth-century nautical memoir, a Harvard man sails around the tip of South America to California–and returns with this classic tale of adventure. In 1834, nineteen-year-old Richard Henry Dana left Harvard University to enlist as a deckhand on a brig sailing from Boston to the California coast. For the next two years, he recorded the terrifying storms, awe-inspiring beauty, and … beauty, and dreadful hardships of the journey in a diary he would later expand into this riveting memoir of “the life of a common sailor at sea as it really is.”
Dana spares no detail in portraying the wretched conditions he endured and the cruelty of the ship’s captain, but he also paints vivid, unforgettable pictures of natural wonders such as icebergs and schools of migrating whales. His descriptions of the missions and presidios of pre-Gold Rush California captured the imagination of the country when the book was first published in 1840, and they serve as valuable historical documentation to this day.
An instant classic and inspiration for contemporaries such as Herman Melville, Two Years Before the Mast is one of the most remarkable and influential adventure stories in American literature.
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This is an excellent book that describes in great detail about the life of a simple sailor on sailing ships.
The review will present an assessment of various aspects of the book on a scale of one to five. I also use the rating 6 as extremely high.
Plot. Rating 5
It’s actually a memoir, but the plot of the book is intriguing enough to grab the reader’s attention. Most of all, I was interested in various problems that constantly arise on sailing ships in their difficult voyages. Dana very scrupulously describes the various operations with the sails depending on the strength and direction of the wind, rough seas, cold or heat, as well as all sorts of unforeseen situations. If you try to understand this, then you will gradually realize how experienced this young student has become and how much knowledge of his era he gives the reader. Of course, his book is aimed at people who are familiar with sailing ships in much the same way that drivers are now familiar with cars.
The overland part is also interesting. There are a lot of small details both during the sea and land part. The author describes not only his own life, but also the people around him, and many of them have their own short storylines. And although the main plot of the book is predictable, no one can imagine the development of the fate of the characters in the book. In addition, Dana managed to arrange the climax of the plot in the second part of the book.
Characters. Rating 5
Despite the seeming dryness of the narrative, Dana knows how to create living, well-rounded characters. A stern captain, a careless second mate, a prodigy sailor, an experienced Swedish sailor and dozens of other diverse people not only on ships, but also in California. They all have a certain depth, which also adds interest to the narrative.
Dialogues. Rating 4
There are few dialogues in the book, but they are natural and true. The aggravation of conflicts between seafarers is well shown in the dialogues. For example, (view spoiler)
Writing style. Rating 5
I believe the book has a good writing style. It is written with subtle humor and easy to read. Only the constant technical details can cause difficulties in understanding; although, they are also described quite clearly. The book has beautiful descriptions of the ocean, ships, California shores, and icebergs. There are various metaphors that I liked.
Peacebuilding. Rating 6
There is hardly any other fiction book that describes the sailing ships of age in such detail. I would call the peacebuilding in the book extremely outstanding. In documentary books about geographical discoveries, there are many details about the life of sailors, but I have not seen such a large wave of details anywhere. Dana also brilliantly describes uninhabited California, the battle of ships against the wind off its shores, the lives of the locals, and the difficult job with hides he had to do.
Conclusion. Overall rating 5
This book is a gem that takes the reader aboard sailing ships. I do not see any significant shortcomings in it and will definitely re-read it.
This book was facinating, hard to understand because I know nothing about sailing, but still facinating. Since I am from California, I am familiar with the cities that Dana visited and enjoyed those segments. I glossed over the sailing descriptions but I learned enough that my historical reading will be more interesting.