Category Archives: Seafaring

Everything is connected

Posted on August 28, 2019 by

Another post in my continuing salute to Herman Melville, on the occasion of his 200th birthday. For today, I’ve selected an unlikely book, Julian Barnes’ 1989 novel, The History of the World in 10½ Chapters (Borzoi/Knopf). This was the book … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Science fiction, Seafaring | Tagged | 2 Comments

Lost at sea

Posted on August 13, 2019 by

Although I’ve been neither lost nor officially “at sea” since my last post, I’ve recently returned from a month away from city life, with 24/7 ocean views of sand, sea, sail, and sky. I watched the island-studded ocean, read, ate, … Continue reading →

Posted in Am reading, Seafaring | Tagged , | 9 Comments

A well-governed shark

Posted on June 23, 2019 by

It’s time for another progress report on my reading-the-sea project. For this post, I had planned to include notes on Melville’s Billy Budd, but I’ve been busy having fun instead — fun reading other books, that is, so BB will … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, History, Seafaring | Tagged , , , | 23 Comments

Quiet Backwaters

Posted on May 30, 2019 by

The novels featured in today’s brief post (another for my Melville bicentennial celebration) are set on rivers. Two are classics, and the third deserves to be. I’ve read all three before, but they fit so neatly into my on-the-water theme … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Animal tales, Humorous, Seafaring | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

The voyage so far

Posted on May 16, 2019 by

As promised, here’s the first of what may be several updates on my tour of books set on water in honor of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday. Initially I had planned to make these reviews brief, but, well, you know … … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Classic, Fan fiction, History, Seafaring, Travel | Tagged , | 19 Comments

Sea Fever

Posted on May 3, 2019 by

Matching my current reading focus is John Masefield’s “Sea Fever” (quoted here, in full, from The Poetry Foundation’s website): I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, Fiction, Seafaring | 10 Comments

Sea cruise, baby!

Posted on April 23, 2019 by

No need to get excited. I plan to travel virtually, in honor of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday. Over the next few months I’ll be aboard stories set on ships (with perhaps a rowboat or two) that will take me up … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, Fiction, History, Seafaring | Tagged | 8 Comments