October 1991. It was "the perfect storm"—a tempest that may happen only once in a century—a nor'easter created by so rare a combination of factors that it could not possibly have been worse. Creating waves ten stories high and winds of 120 miles an hour, the storm whipped the sea to inconceivable levels few people on earth have ever witnessed. Few, except the six-man crew of the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat tragically headed toward the storm's hellish center.
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The Perfect Storm By: Sebastian Junger. This was a good book when you read it then watched the movie but when you read the book a second time afte... (show more)
The Perfect Storm By: Sebastian Junger. This was a good book when you read it then watched the movie but when you read the book a second time after watching the movie it just seems shotty. The events in the book seem like they are all crammed into the first 90 pages of the book. The book was good but compared to the movie I would have to say that I like the movie better.
The book was good at kepping my attention. It was very suspensful and had me interested as the book went on. If I hadto recommend a book to anyone I would suggest this one and the movie. I also like the fact that the book was based on a true story cause I didn't know that until I watched the movie which made me want to read it again to see if the book sounded like a true story. (show less)
The only thing that shames me more than admitting I read this because everyone else had, is admitting that after I read this I ALSO watched the dam... (show more)
The only thing that shames me more than admitting I read this because everyone else had, is admitting that after I read this I ALSO watched the damn movie. Dear Lord, forgive me! (show less)
Junger's book is not so much about the sinking of a ship, but about the carelessness of nature when it comes to mankind. Initially written for a magazine, Junger had to stretch the article out to make it book length when the demand rose. The effects of this stretching are obvious in certain areas. Junger delves into long stretches of technical language that only the hardcore reader would care about. While he manages to keep it interesting (for the most part) it is still grueling to get throug... (show more)
Junger's book is not so much about the sinking of a ship, but about the carelessness of nature when it comes to mankind. Initially written for a magazine, Junger had to stretch the article out to make it book length when the demand rose. The effects of this stretching are obvious in certain areas. Junger delves into long stretches of technical language that only the hardcore reader would care about. While he manages to keep it interesting (for the most part) it is still grueling to get through. The book really picks up after the central ship sinks, and begins to turn away from conjecturing to detailing other rescue missions, especially considering the well-trained PJs. The Halloween Gale is indifferent to mankind; if you are marked, it will come for you. No matter how important, well-trained, or well-prepared you are, nature doesn't care, nature doesn't know. Junger and the men he features are so badass. Great read, despite the long diversions into technicalities. (show less)
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Quite a good read. I had to read this book for my Literature and the Sea class and once I started I couldn't stop and finished it in two and half days. I find it hard to imagine what it must be like to be at sea in one of these storms. I've camped out when the tail end of a hurricane swept through New England a few years back and those winds blew things staked in the ground all the way across a field into the forest on the other side and it was a dying storm. Junger does a good job at get... (show more)
Quite a good read. I had to read this book for my Literature and the Sea class and once I started I couldn't stop and finished it in two and half days. I find it hard to imagine what it must be like to be at sea in one of these storms. I've camped out when the tail end of a hurricane swept through New England a few years back and those winds blew things staked in the ground all the way across a field into the forest on the other side and it was a dying storm. Junger does a good job at getting us as close as we can into the world of danger at sea in the Halloween Nor'easter of 1991. He does the lives of the Andrea Gail's crew justice by not making up stuff but using examples of other boats at sea at this time and the evidence beaten against the shores of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
We've read many books for Literature and the Sea but this one goes the deepest into the lives of the fishermen on boat and off whereas most focus on the "on the boat" portion of their lives. We see the culture on land born from the culture at sea through the stories from the Crows Nest bar and the families they leave behind.
Being just a year old during these events it is doubtful I will ever witness or any of us for a matter of fact witness the destructive power told of in Junger's Perfect Storm but for those saw, fought and survived and even died during this storm, The Perfect Storm serves as a tribute and record of what happened for future generations. (show less)
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