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book_lizard42's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. It went back and forth from shark biology and conjecture about the animal's behavior, to the economic and political climate of the time. It was a delicious read. I devoured it. It became a little repetitive at the end, but it was so worth the money. I bought it off a recommendation from Book Bub, so it was on sale and quite a gem.
chuskeyreads's review against another edition
4.0
I initially picked up this book out of sheer curiosity, but put it on the TBR pile for a few years. It wasn't until the most recent shark attacks off Long Island that I grabbed it from the pile and (forgive me) devoured it.
The book was very well researched and includes an extensive bibliography. Written as narrative nonfiction, the history behind the New Jersey resorts, the polio scare, the limited knowledge of sharks from the leading experts at the time, captures the day-to-day lives of folks in 1916.
The book was very well researched and includes an extensive bibliography. Written as narrative nonfiction, the history behind the New Jersey resorts, the polio scare, the limited knowledge of sharks from the leading experts at the time, captures the day-to-day lives of folks in 1916.
badseedgirl's review against another edition
4.0
I've read Jaws, I've seen the movie, and now I have Read Close To Shore. I guess I am ready for my trip to the Beach in April. I found this story fascinating. The author kept the suspense of the capture of the shark. All the parts about what the shark was thinking was pure conjecture, of course, but I still found it entertaining. It was obvious that this was a well researched story. I find it interesting how humanities feelings about sharks tend to swing on a pendulum curve, from man-eating terror of the sea to misunderstood majestic beast of the sea, and back again.
I did find the repeated references to how all the scientist were "Victorian" and had Victorian manners" and beliefs a bit monotonous after a bit, but not enough to distract from the story. An interesting non-fiction read.
I did find the repeated references to how all the scientist were "Victorian" and had Victorian manners" and beliefs a bit monotonous after a bit, but not enough to distract from the story. An interesting non-fiction read.
haferbaker's review against another edition
3.0
Not my typical type of read so I find it hard to appropriately rate, but this did build some suspense and mostly I found it really captivating how different our cultural relationship with sharks is now versus prior to 1916.
ipanzica's review against another edition
4.0
The author really put in the effort to make sure the reader understood everything that was going on in the book by providing as much background information as possible to fully understand the context of the events and what the people living through it were feeling. This helps build suspense and get the reader invested in what is happening in the story. There is also a lot of interesting shark facts sprinkled into the book. I read it in one sitting because it was so interesting.
rexsavior's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the many 'slice of life' asides as much as I enjoyed the central fish story, but YMMV.
jacqueshol's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book as it described the terrible events of the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks. It is similar to Black December experienced here in South Africa in 1957 when sharks attacked nine people in a localised area over a period of a few weeks. Six of those attacks were fatal.
I particularly enjoyed how the author described the culture and events shortly after the start of the 20th century. I realised that it is scarily similar to what we are experiencing here at the start of the 21st venture. There was major upheaval back then with great technological changes, for example, the horseless chariot (cars), aeroplanes had barely been flying a decade, and electricity started making inroads into hotels for lighting, etc. Does it sound familiar with today's technology? But wait, it gets better. We just survived a major pandemic, but the world was battling polio back then. Today there is a war between Russia and Ukraine, and rumours about China invading Taiwan are not subsiding. Back in 1916, the world was at war with itself (WW1). It is indeed scarily similar.
Back to the book. The storytelling was done well, but at times it seemed to slow down and then speed up again. The pace was all over the place. The story would also jump at times. Therefore, the four stars. I highly recommend that readers watch the movie 12 Days of Terror (2015), which dramatises these events. It is not nearly as scary as Jaws, but a very good and faithful rendition of actual events. I most certainly will recommend the book.
I particularly enjoyed how the author described the culture and events shortly after the start of the 20th century. I realised that it is scarily similar to what we are experiencing here at the start of the 21st venture. There was major upheaval back then with great technological changes, for example, the horseless chariot (cars), aeroplanes had barely been flying a decade, and electricity started making inroads into hotels for lighting, etc. Does it sound familiar with today's technology? But wait, it gets better. We just survived a major pandemic, but the world was battling polio back then. Today there is a war between Russia and Ukraine, and rumours about China invading Taiwan are not subsiding. Back in 1916, the world was at war with itself (WW1). It is indeed scarily similar.
Back to the book. The storytelling was done well, but at times it seemed to slow down and then speed up again. The pace was all over the place. The story would also jump at times. Therefore, the four stars. I highly recommend that readers watch the movie 12 Days of Terror (2015), which dramatises these events. It is not nearly as scary as Jaws, but a very good and faithful rendition of actual events. I most certainly will recommend the book.