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A review by helterskelliter
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo
4.0
Honestly, I didn’t think I’d care much for this book. I’m not very interested in historical works. Not really my literary flavor of choice. But, this was a pleasantly horrific and surprising story about something I knew very little about despite living in New Jersey, a state where my family has lived for generations. Prolific and horrifying shark attacks along the Jersey Shore just never came up.
Which is a shame.
Though I found the start of this book to be slow and some of the descriptions melodramatic at times, the actual story and the attacks are incredibly interesting. I definitely have several questions and concerns about the veracity of the events surrounding the attacks but there seems no doubt that something was on the prowl along the Jersey Shore in the summer of 1916. 4 dead people and several maimed men and children makes that clear. It is very much a real horror story, the reality that inspired Jaws sixty years later (supposedly that’s true).
Again, I found myself pleasantly taken aback by how absorbed I became in this story and the mounting intensity of the quest to find this “man-eater”. Even though I quite like sharks and find them to be terribly misunderstood, this story didn’t disturb my sensibilities too much. Much of the sensationalism is followed up with what science we now know as far as great whites are concerned. (We shockingly don’t know all that much.) There is definitely some creative license taken with the shark and the attacks but it’s not so great that it’s distracting. I found it oddly charming to imagine what this shark must be thinking, as if it were a reasoning human being.
Anyway, I feel like I’ve droned on enough. If anything I’ve mentioned sounds interesting, I recommend checking out this book~
Which is a shame.
Though I found the start of this book to be slow and some of the descriptions melodramatic at times, the actual story and the attacks are incredibly interesting. I definitely have several questions and concerns about the veracity of the events surrounding the attacks but there seems no doubt that something was on the prowl along the Jersey Shore in the summer of 1916. 4 dead people and several maimed men and children makes that clear. It is very much a real horror story, the reality that inspired Jaws sixty years later (supposedly that’s true).
Again, I found myself pleasantly taken aback by how absorbed I became in this story and the mounting intensity of the quest to find this “man-eater”. Even though I quite like sharks and find them to be terribly misunderstood, this story didn’t disturb my sensibilities too much. Much of the sensationalism is followed up with what science we now know as far as great whites are concerned. (We shockingly don’t know all that much.) There is definitely some creative license taken with the shark and the attacks but it’s not so great that it’s distracting. I found it oddly charming to imagine what this shark must be thinking, as if it were a reasoning human being.
Anyway, I feel like I’ve droned on enough. If anything I’ve mentioned sounds interesting, I recommend checking out this book~