A review by sahanac
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

5.0

 

I grew up obsessed with shipwreck stories. Between Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels, and The Swiss Family Robinson, I felt like I was preparing myself in case I was ever caught marooned in a foreign land. I carried a compass with me, and a little kit full of tools in case I was caught off guard and thrown into the wilderness. It was like I was doomsday prepping, but I was eleven, and really only prepared for a night or two on my own. 

This book, nonfiction though it may be, was the same rollicking, wave-crashing tale of survival that I devoured growing up, and the most titillating part is that it was real. 

You want mutiny? You want Lord of the Flies style governmental structure and then subsequent breakdown? You want nautical tales and stories of the open sea? The Wager has all of that, and more, it weaves together a narrative from such disparate perspectives, to make a reader feel as though they too are looking at this 18th century phenomenon as it occurs. It’s a captivating, engrossing read and I can’t recommend it highly enough.