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ariadnamonkeys's review against another edition
5.0
quan dic que és el meu llibre preferit no ho dic a la lleugera
sthompson13's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
emmagoldblum's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
darlings's review against another edition
4.0
Having been recommended this book, I didn't read much about it before picking it up. I was several chapters in when I recognized the lucid, straightforward voice as belonging to one of my favorite New Yorker bylines. It was a delight reading a book by someone of Finnegan's talent about a subject that is rarely described with such fluency and passion.
It's a truly transporting memoir and Finnegan's memory is formidable. You could say it's a formative novel as surfing is not so much an anchor as a vehicle toward (sometimes away from...) maturity, a way of experiencing the world even as Finnegan escapes from it in far-flung locales. As a memoir, its written in a tight first-person perspective which suggests the varied experiences of the people he's closest too without trying to inhabit them. I found this both a strength and weakness of the book; figures like Bryan and the author's own wife were ciphers and the story lacked dimension because of it.
Finnegan's writing is at its strongest when he describes surfing itself. He sees the waves and the ocean in a way most people never will and describes the experience and art of surfing with rigorous poetry, inventive and luminous. The emotions that accompany the inconstant waves are similarly realized and it's hard not to feel anxiety grip you when Finnegan finds himself pummeled and thrashed by a succession of waves.
Despite this, and the author's progression into manhood and maturity, the book can get repetitive and the middle sections are overly long without the dynamic of characters or more deeply felt relationships to add depth to the narrative. When it hit the doldrums somewhere in Southeast Asia, I put the book aside for almost a week in favor of something more tightly plotted. The book could be shorter by 100-200 pages and not suffer for it.
Those flaws aside, it was a beautiful read and a unique subject.
It's a truly transporting memoir and Finnegan's memory is formidable. You could say it's a formative novel as surfing is not so much an anchor as a vehicle toward (sometimes away from...) maturity, a way of experiencing the world even as Finnegan escapes from it in far-flung locales. As a memoir, its written in a tight first-person perspective which suggests the varied experiences of the people he's closest too without trying to inhabit them. I found this both a strength and weakness of the book; figures like Bryan and the author's own wife were ciphers and the story lacked dimension because of it.
Finnegan's writing is at its strongest when he describes surfing itself. He sees the waves and the ocean in a way most people never will and describes the experience and art of surfing with rigorous poetry, inventive and luminous. The emotions that accompany the inconstant waves are similarly realized and it's hard not to feel anxiety grip you when Finnegan finds himself pummeled and thrashed by a succession of waves.
Despite this, and the author's progression into manhood and maturity, the book can get repetitive and the middle sections are overly long without the dynamic of characters or more deeply felt relationships to add depth to the narrative. When it hit the doldrums somewhere in Southeast Asia, I put the book aside for almost a week in favor of something more tightly plotted. The book could be shorter by 100-200 pages and not suffer for it.
Those flaws aside, it was a beautiful read and a unique subject.