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bailey_bea's review against another edition
4.0
Overall, Captains Courageous was an enjoyable read. It's a short book, but the dialogue is written in dialect, and there's quite a few references to the anatomy of boats. This made the reading slow going, as I often had to reread the dialogue to get its gist. The prose itself is often quite beautiful.
For example: "... and they brushed the Continent behind them. Towns and villages were close together now, and a man could feel here that he moved among people."
Or: "It was the forty-fathom slumber that clears the soul and eye and heart, and sends you to breakfast ravening."
The story itself is interesting enough; a spoiled millionaire's child falls overboard to be discovered by a small fishing schooner where he's put to work for several months before he can be returned to his family. The themes you might expect are the themes you get (e.g., the importance of making your own way, satisfaction from work, etc.).
For example: "... and they brushed the Continent behind them. Towns and villages were close together now, and a man could feel here that he moved among people."
Or: "It was the forty-fathom slumber that clears the soul and eye and heart, and sends you to breakfast ravening."
The story itself is interesting enough; a spoiled millionaire's child falls overboard to be discovered by a small fishing schooner where he's put to work for several months before he can be returned to his family. The themes you might expect are the themes you get (e.g., the importance of making your own way, satisfaction from work, etc.).
uhambe_nami's review against another edition
2.0
For those who are familiar with the dialect and the nautical terms it may be an enjoyable read, but I found Kipling's Captains Courageous unintelligible. My library copy of Kim (which I read last year) had an introduction in which Kipling was compared to Twain and Steinbeck because of his use of vernacular. I didn't quite see the point of that comparison back then, but now I do! You kin see a kelleg ridin' in the bows fur's you can see a dory, an' all the fleet knows what it means. Yes, but I don't really care what it means, I don't like the sound of it.
On the other hand, Kim is a wonderful novel, set entirely on land, with vegetable curries instead of codfish, and beautiful British prose, so don't let this fishy sea adventure deter you from reading Kipling's other work!
On the other hand, Kim is a wonderful novel, set entirely on land, with vegetable curries instead of codfish, and beautiful British prose, so don't let this fishy sea adventure deter you from reading Kipling's other work!
allie_hilleson's review against another edition
4.0
My family has loved this story for a long time, we discovered it as an audiobook and listened to it on a road trip. The character development of Harvey is very good and the friends he meets and adventure's he has along the way are fun and interesting. A very sweet story.
littletaiko's review against another edition
3.0
Fun, short, coming of age story about a rather spoiled young boy who becomes an earnest hardworking young man while working on a fishing boat. It was a challenge to follow the dialogue at times, but the crew were an entertaining bunch.
sunjammer's review against another edition
Kipling's only novel set in America, and perhaps not his strongest.
Very short, but perhaps could have been shorter: works best as an extended fable, a little like Tolstoy, and least when attempting to paint a picture of Gloucester fishermen. This is perhaps an unfair criticism, but the spellings used to represent the Gloucester dialect are irritating. Dialect in dialogue is difficult, and best done with a light touch, and this is heavy.
Kipling is always good at keeping you on the hook for what happens next, but at times that is all you want: to know what happens so the plot can move on.
Some of the tangents are worthwhile: particularly interesting is the tale of the dead man's knife, and particularly well-written, the tale of Cheyne Sr.'s youth, but these come late in a narrative that already seems to drag.
Recommended only if one is seeking to read the entire Kipling oeuvre—otherwise, better off with something like KIM.
Very short, but perhaps could have been shorter: works best as an extended fable, a little like Tolstoy, and least when attempting to paint a picture of Gloucester fishermen. This is perhaps an unfair criticism, but the spellings used to represent the Gloucester dialect are irritating. Dialect in dialogue is difficult, and best done with a light touch, and this is heavy.
Kipling is always good at keeping you on the hook for what happens next, but at times that is all you want: to know what happens so the plot can move on.
Some of the tangents are worthwhile: particularly interesting is the tale of the dead man's knife, and particularly well-written, the tale of Cheyne Sr.'s youth, but these come late in a narrative that already seems to drag.
Recommended only if one is seeking to read the entire Kipling oeuvre—otherwise, better off with something like KIM.
ehays84's review against another edition
3.0
Had fun reading this to the kids. Another famous sea story checked off my list too. Does a great job of bringing a fishing life to the page, but has some outdated elements, which is obvious when it came out in 1897.
ashdawn's review against another edition
1.0
Another DNF. The story itself is good, but reading any conversation between the characters was so hard with it being in older English/foreign languages with a seaman's twang to it.
kentexmom's review against another edition
4.0
It took a while to get back to this one. The boys are ages 11 & 12 now. They liked it, but I think they wish Harvey had acted like a brat for longer. That amused them!
*****Review from 2014 below*****
I enjoyed it, but it was way over the boys' heads (they're 3 and 4). Just a bit too wordy for them. The dialogue was very fun, though difficult to read aloud because of the accents. I think this would be a good one to try again in a few years, when they're older it may be more fun for them.
*****Review from 2014 below*****
I enjoyed it, but it was way over the boys' heads (they're 3 and 4). Just a bit too wordy for them. The dialogue was very fun, though difficult to read aloud because of the accents. I think this would be a good one to try again in a few years, when they're older it may be more fun for them.
lullavi's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5