David's review of The Children of the Sea (original) (raw)

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David's Reviews > The Children of the Sea: A Tale of the Forecastle

The Children of the Sea: A Tale of the Forecastle
by

A beautifully written book (admittedly with possible the worst title imaginable, which is why I chose this ironically censored title to review), though admittedly very dense in its prose, slowing my reading to a crawl. I found the book to be a fascinating look at how a ship in this time as a law and an entity unto itself, a tiny society, representing both the noble and the reprehensible through Conrad's skillful use of layers of meaning and allegory on their journey to the "Mother of Ships," that is, Britain. Throughout the book we are assaulted by characters that are curious, repellant, stoic, evangelistic, humanistic, and cruel, representing a tiny part of all the evils and otherwise of Western Society at the time. I'm not sure if my interpretation of the book is terribly 'correct,' but it seems to deal with mortality, aspersions to the afterlife (or futility of life and its associated toil?)through the ship's cook and the curious character of James Wait. I'd recommend it if you are a fan of Joseph Conrad, otherwise you might be better off avoiding it. I read it as I intend to slowly work through his body of written work in the order it was written after being enchanted by Heart of Darkness as a child.

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Reading Progress

February 23, 2015 –Started Reading

February 23, 2015 – Shelved

February 28, 2015 –Finished Reading

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