At the Mercy of the Sea by John Kretschmer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
50% compelling story of 3 sailors who were lost at sea in a hurricane. However I think the author, maybe in an effort to make the story interesting, maybe in an effort to assuage any perceived guilt he had for his friends death, at some points seems to be victim blaming – either that the sailors did something wrong or went against a superstition.
Now I am sure lots of mistakes were made but at the same time there is a point where nothing you do is going to get you out of a hurricane. “If only they had called the coast guard 2 hours earlier, if only they had sailed north, if only, if only”. Yes some was bad decisions but some was decisions based on widely accepted sailing tactics and what many sailors probably would have done in the situation. The hurricane (Hurricane Lenny) was a freak occurrence that was not only travelling the wrong way but also was late in the season and unexpected, even for the weather service. At some point, there was nothing these sailors could have done to survive.
The other part – the superstition – maybe it was just being an element of excitement or interest to the book but I highly doubt these guys died because they renamed their boat or because they left on a Friday. However when you say it it pulls me out of the story because I have to analyze it – are you mentioning a superstition? are you saying this added to their misfortune? I felt it was jarring.
The audio narration was so so. Sometimes the technical parts were read in a different volume like they were recorded in a different studio. Overall through the narrator was clear and easy to understand.
Recent Comments