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Book Review of Captains Courageous

Captains Courageous
perryfran avatar reviewed on + 1178 more book reviews


Captains Courageous is the classic tale of Harvey Cheyne, a rich, spoiled fifteen-year-old boy who falls overboard after smoking a cigar and becoming seasick on a ship bound for Europe. Luckily, he is picked up by a fisherman in a dory and put aboard a fishing schooner called the We're Here. The owner and captain of the boat, Disko Troop, is not pleased to have the boy aboard but tells him that he will pay him ten dollars a month and board until the schooner docks in Gloucester the following September. The captain's son, Dan, is glad to have someone his own age aboard the fishing boat, and he soon becomes a friend of the castaway. Gradually, Harvey becomes accustomed to the sea. There are times of pleasure as well as of work. Eventually, they return to port and Harvey is reunited with his parents who had thought he was dead. But in the end, Harvey became a man while at sea and was better for it.

Overall, an interesting sea tale. However, sometimes Kipling overused the use of New England vernacular to the point where some passages were indecipherable. Otherwise, a mild recommendation.

I have seen the movie version of this with Spencer Tracy which was very enjoyable. I would actually recommend it over the book.