Scan barcode
vasha's review against another edition
5.0
In 1834, the Harvard student Richard Henry Dana decided that he needed to improve his health by fresh air and exercise, and therefore shipped as a common sailor aboard a brig bound for California. Thus was the origin of one of the most readable and informative sea memoirs ever written. A good part of its charm comes from the enthusiasm with which Dana describes his experiences: though he does not fail to emphasize the terribly hard work, miserable discomfort, and monotony involved, nonetheless his youth allowed him to keep in good spirits, appreciate novelties, and be satisfied with the work he did. Another appealing aspect is that he paid a lot of attention to depicting the characters and interactions of the people on board; many of them actually stand out as personalities in a way that few memoirists can accomplish.
Dana was an example of the legendary Yankee propensity for thrifty industry, puritanical habits, and religious punctilio. He unquestionably disapproved of blaspheming and Sabbath-breaking, and had great faith in the power of pious tracts to reform sailors' morals. Yet he was saved from priggishness by his human sympathy and his sense of humor. Tolerance was necessary to live in the ship's close quarters, and it shines through the writing that he had plenty of it.
Dana was an example of the legendary Yankee propensity for thrifty industry, puritanical habits, and religious punctilio. He unquestionably disapproved of blaspheming and Sabbath-breaking, and had great faith in the power of pious tracts to reform sailors' morals. Yet he was saved from priggishness by his human sympathy and his sense of humor. Tolerance was necessary to live in the ship's close quarters, and it shines through the writing that he had plenty of it.
samcarlin's review against another edition
4.0
I have a tendency to read books involving sailing. This one was recommended to me while I was on a sailing trip what with the author being from Harvard and all. Anyway, it was excellent. It was intriguing to read about Henry's adventures and to see him progress as a sailor. One of the best sailing memoirs I've read.
conradowen's review against another edition
5.0
One of the most fun and fascinating adventure books I've ever read. It can get slow, and it's got plenty of moments where you have to say "well, consider the times he was writing in." But the high times and all the historical curiosities are really incredible.
kalin_grace's review against another edition
challenging
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
lovmelovmycats's review against another edition
5.0
My high school science teacher recc'ed me this book, and I loved it.
chramies's review against another edition
4.0
Sank.
Actually that's unfair, this is a good yarn and for once from the perspective of a non-sailor (at least at first). I expect I'll get back to it in time.
Actually that's unfair, this is a good yarn and for once from the perspective of a non-sailor (at least at first). I expect I'll get back to it in time.
skitch41's review against another edition
4.0
A fine novel about life onboard a trading ship in the early 19th century. Dana puts you right in the middle of his sailing adventure and never lets go. In its best moments, "Two Years Before the Mast" describes things so well that you can almost feel the spray of the sea or the wind on your face. It also has an added bonus to it for the die hard historian: life in California prior to the U.S.-Mexican war and the settlement of California during the gold rush. Nearly all of Dana's work took place on the California coast, so he got a front row seat to early 19th century California and Mexican culture. If I have one criticism about the book is that it spends TOO much time on the coast. For a book that bills itself as being about life on a sea-going ship, Dana spent a lot of time on land. It only took a few weeks to get from Boston, around Cape Horn, to California and he spent the rest of that time trading up and down the coast of California. Not only that, but, since his original journal was lost and he had to write his narrative based on leftover notes, some of his chapters are very bare bones. But as a first person account of life at sea on a sailing vessel, and as a warm-up for "Moby-Dick," there is no better book out there.