Bucking the Tide

[Dirk Visser 166]

"The Old Man and the Sea"

I am relaxing in the satisfying contemplative glow that can accompany the completion of a sea story of this importance, quality, and stature..

And no, " Bucking the Tide", good a tale as it is, cannot pretend to do these profound things, that Hemingway makes look so effortless...nor was that D. B.'s vision, I am sure.
Still, Buckman does a remarkable and accessible job of seeing under and through events..making one think about the bigger picture, using the boat, and the sea, in very creative ways to address universals, not just specifics, as it might first appear.

Ernest Hemingway's book is short, and the story is concentrated and compact . There are a limited number of themes, but they suggest an infinity of interpretations and bring up deep memories in the human experience... especially for the male, yes, but unquestionably, for all of us..

While it's fresh, and to refresh past and furure readers....

-The Old Man
-the Boy
-the Skiff
-the Sea
-the Sky
-Risk
-Luck
-the Fish
-Strength
-Thought
-Food
-Solitude
-Identity
-Comfort
-Resolve
-Pain
-Sharks
-Friendship

Every one of these topics, and more, are honestly touched upon, or seriously delved into in this classic novella which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1953.
In 1954 Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his powerful, style-forming mastery of the art of narration."

[Art Haberland]

The difference being that "the old man and the sea" is not a real life story. It may be am amalgamation of things Hemmingway did, distilled down to a compact yet touching story.. but it is not a telling of what Hemmingway himself did.

Bucking the tide is a series of recollections of cruising the New England the Canada Maritime coast in a lightning converted into a lightweight (and leaky) cruising sloop. It is not meant to convey anything but what actually Happened to Mr. Buckner and his crew

[Dirk Visser 166]

"It is not meant to convey anything but what actually Happened to Mr. Buckner and his crew."

[Dirk Visser 166]

Sure Art, but how do you rate his success in this attempt at a "value free" narrative ?

Just about an impossible job, I reckon! Especially for a novice salt water coaster with a green crew...Learning curve Central!!

Anyway, you are a fast reader, maybe you have changed your opinion since they were bogged down in that time warp on page 60, outside of Plymouth Harbor?

[Art Haberland]

I didn't notice much of a bog.. but I did recognize some of the same attitudes around here. I grew up in a "resort community" on the southern NJ shore. We hated the tourists with a passion, but realized that they were very necessary to support our way of life.

I have to say I did not care for the end.. it just sorta ended.. no wrap up, no attempt to lay interest for another chapter or two... just done.

[lustyslogger]

I didn't notice much of a bog.. but I did recognize some of the same attitudes around here. I grew up in a "resort community" on the southern NJ shore. We hated the tourists with a passion, but realized that they were very necessary to support our way of life.

I have to say I did not care for the end.. it just sorta ended.. no wrap up, no attempt to lay interest for another chapter or two... just done.

Two of my peeves with this book was first the claim it was a $400.00 boat. Yes, it was, 30 plus years ago. Fast forward to 2016 and that $400.00 is now well over $1200.00. Add to that the $400.00 he claimed he put into it for repairs and you are approaching $2500.00. Still cheap but not $400.00 in 2016 dollars. Secondly was the fact that unlike Ride the Wild Ocean for example, this was not a single sail. It was multiple sails of relatively short duration over a six year period. Still interesting on their own but somewhat misleading in my opinion.

Of the two books Ride the Wild Ocean and Bucking the Tide I think Ride the Wild Ocean is a much better read. I am not a professional critic, just a guy who knows what he likes when he reads it.

[Michel]

I am reading it now. I am not a fast reader and I am about at the middle of it. So far I like it a lot. I can see and feel the events of the book and I relate to it.
This is the kind of adventure that all of us, normal small boat sailors can have and It makes me dream about my next sailing season a lot!

[Dirk Visser 166]

Glad you guys are enjoying the "Armchair Sailing" this winter!
Hardly comparable to the real thing, but still, we sailors have the advantage of being able to apply our own memories of similar experiences to the stories...
And then, a key part of the pleasure for me is to get back out on the water, and remember the experience of the book!
How does that work?
And which becomes which?
I guess that's just part of the package with a well told yarn..and a boat of your own...

[lustyslogger]

The Four Basics of Sailing
Knowing how to read the wind
Knowing how to read the tides
Knowing how to read charts
Knowing how to tell better, more believable stories than fisherman.

[Art Haberland]

I just ordered "a little breeze to the west". We will see how that goes