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jenmangler's review against another edition
4.0
Rose George writes books that make me realize how little I know about the world around me. I consider myself fairly well informed...and then I read her books and realize that, like Jon Snow, I know nothing. And I love that about her books. She shines a light on things like toilets or the shipping industry, things that impact our lives in such a fundamental way that without them we wouldn't be who we are or live the lives that we live. I'm ashamed how little I knew about the human beings whose jobs on board these ships make my life possible.
jmrprice's review against another edition
3.0
Things rarely considered regarding shipping made clear: piracy, whales, storms.
threegoodrats's review against another edition
4.0
This was pretty fascinating. I was inspired to pick it up after reading The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel, in which a character goes to work on a container ship. The author mentioned this book in her notes at the end.
This industry is complicated and like nothing else I’m familiar with. The lack of responsibility for ships and the people on them is kind of astounding. There’s a lot about how cheap it is to ship by sea, how much a crew member can make, how there are no costs left to cut, and relatedly how terrible the food is, how the crew are dangerously fatigued from working such long hours, and how the companies sometimes fail to pay employees, blacklisting them if they complain. It’s all rather contradictory, which maybe just speaks to how wide-ranging the experiences are. There was one story about a captain whose ship was at anchor and he watched helplessly as another ship barreled towards it, not responding to his calls. He was later imprisoned for the collision even though it wasn’t his fault and he did everything he could to try and stop it.
Shipping has changed a lot. All sorts of boxes and barrels and whatnot used to be loaded, taking a very long time and a lot of skill to do. Now it is all containers - those standard metal brightly-colored containers. The crew have no idea what they are carrying, unless they are refrigerated or contain hazardous materials. Sometimes human traffickers use them to ship people.
There were a few chapters all about Somali pirates and hostage negotiating, which was pretty fascinating. Apparently they use actors for negotiations because they are good at convincingly reading from scripts, and there are always scripts.
This is written somewhat as a memoir, as the author traveled aboard a container ship for 5 weeks (and for a shorter jaunt on a pirate-watching boat) so she spent time with the crew and interviewed them and whatnot. Her captain still knew how to navigate by stars and sextant and lamented that others did not. I thought this mix of personal stories and larger history and facts worked well. It made me want to read even more about this industry we depend so heavily on but don’t ever see.
This industry is complicated and like nothing else I’m familiar with. The lack of responsibility for ships and the people on them is kind of astounding. There’s a lot about how cheap it is to ship by sea, how much a crew member can make, how there are no costs left to cut, and relatedly how terrible the food is, how the crew are dangerously fatigued from working such long hours, and how the companies sometimes fail to pay employees, blacklisting them if they complain. It’s all rather contradictory, which maybe just speaks to how wide-ranging the experiences are. There was one story about a captain whose ship was at anchor and he watched helplessly as another ship barreled towards it, not responding to his calls. He was later imprisoned for the collision even though it wasn’t his fault and he did everything he could to try and stop it.
Shipping has changed a lot. All sorts of boxes and barrels and whatnot used to be loaded, taking a very long time and a lot of skill to do. Now it is all containers - those standard metal brightly-colored containers. The crew have no idea what they are carrying, unless they are refrigerated or contain hazardous materials. Sometimes human traffickers use them to ship people.
There were a few chapters all about Somali pirates and hostage negotiating, which was pretty fascinating. Apparently they use actors for negotiations because they are good at convincingly reading from scripts, and there are always scripts.
This is written somewhat as a memoir, as the author traveled aboard a container ship for 5 weeks (and for a shorter jaunt on a pirate-watching boat) so she spent time with the crew and interviewed them and whatnot. Her captain still knew how to navigate by stars and sextant and lamented that others did not. I thought this mix of personal stories and larger history and facts worked well. It made me want to read even more about this industry we depend so heavily on but don’t ever see.
holly_keimig's review against another edition
4.0
50 Book Reading Challenge 2015: A nonfiction book
This book was fascinating! I had wanted to read it for a long time and it didn't disappoint. If you've ever wondered how things get from other countries to our doorstep, this book helps answer that question. It could be a very dry subject but the author does a great job of keeping things interesting by writing the book almost as a series of journal entries or investigative journalism. She rides along on a container ship and actually goes looking for pirates. I highly recommend this one.
This book was fascinating! I had wanted to read it for a long time and it didn't disappoint. If you've ever wondered how things get from other countries to our doorstep, this book helps answer that question. It could be a very dry subject but the author does a great job of keeping things interesting by writing the book almost as a series of journal entries or investigative journalism. She rides along on a container ship and actually goes looking for pirates. I highly recommend this one.
beeeeg's review against another edition
5.0
Found this quite a fascinating look at a world I know nothing about. Not too long, kept my interest, learnt a lot.
jetia13's review against another edition
3.0
definitely interesting that an industry can affect so much of your life but you never really think about it. plus pirates.
wearsteel's review against another edition
5.0
How. To be Invisible & Vitall
A excellent introduction to box containers. Moreover a glimpse behind the horizon as life, work currently exists at sea. Informative entertaining and eye opening providing a sweep both through time technology nature and humanity.
A excellent introduction to box containers. Moreover a glimpse behind the horizon as life, work currently exists at sea. Informative entertaining and eye opening providing a sweep both through time technology nature and humanity.
richardwells's review against another edition
3.0
Rose George has done a pretty good job writing about the shipping industry, so don't let the three stars throw you off. Much of the book is second hand, but I think that's to be expected. Though she writes about a voyage aboard a container ship, there's not all that much to write about unless you're looking for crew mate life stories, and there's a good chance those wouldn't be all that exciting either. I know from first hand experience, though I was on a cruise ship rather than a freighter, that outside of emergencies life is pretty dull. Put in your 12 to 16 hour day (with breaks,) go to bed, get up, put in another 12 to 16 hour day. If you're lucky, get one shift, not one day, one shift off per week. And that's life in a nutshell. Those of us on cruise ships wanted on to freighters because the pay was better, but that was when there were ships under US flags, and the unions were strong. That's not the case any more, as you'll find out.
Ms George takes us through the various functions and jobs, but once that 's done, she has to look off-ship for her stories. She gets us through the state of the industry, insurance, port-of-call clergy, storms, pirates, and war, and only gets bogged down writing about underwater life. She's neither expert or particularly compelling in that area, and it almost caused me to stop altogether. I pressed on, though, and am glad I did. BTW, if you want to learn about whales, I suggest Fathoms: The World in the Whale, by Rebecca Giggs (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52765413-fathoms)
If you've never paid attention to how most of our stuff gets to us, this will tell the story.
Ms George takes us through the various functions and jobs, but once that 's done, she has to look off-ship for her stories. She gets us through the state of the industry, insurance, port-of-call clergy, storms, pirates, and war, and only gets bogged down writing about underwater life. She's neither expert or particularly compelling in that area, and it almost caused me to stop altogether. I pressed on, though, and am glad I did. BTW, if you want to learn about whales, I suggest Fathoms: The World in the Whale, by Rebecca Giggs (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52765413-fathoms)
If you've never paid attention to how most of our stuff gets to us, this will tell the story.