Sheridan Books

Our book club recently had the privilege of reading Pug Sheridan. Our discussion of the book was momentous because we were joined by the author herself, Sandra Cline. As a group, we found the book enjoyable and thought-provoking. Written in the style of magical realism, the novel is set in early 1900s Alabama against the backdrop of racism, fear and hatred incited by the Ku Klux Klan. The book centers around Pug, a spunky, privileged white girl who collects her band of multicultural best friends and forms a secret sisterhood. The friends grow up together and are supported and protected by a circle of wise women--mothers, grandmothers, mentors. In making their way to adulthood, the girls suffer unspeakable loss, prejudice and violence. Pug is a soul who longs for peace and justice. She confronts the ugliest of life's issues and, though she struggles with her own imperfections, retains her spirit throughout.

Ours is a book club made up mostly of teachers and former teachers who love a good story and a good discussion. Sandra Cline delivered both with Pug Sheridan.

Our book club chose this book as our September 2008 read, especially because Sandy Cline is a local author, and agreed to attend our discussion after we finished the book. What an amazing experience! We were able to really get a feel for Sandy's frame of mind and intentions while writing the book.

I really enjoyed this book...it reminds me on several levels of To Kill a Mockingbird, one of my very favorite novels. The young southern protagonist, the racial themes, and the strong family influences are all reminiscent of Harper Lee's classic. Pug is a very memorable character, and her "sisters" all add a vital piece to the story. The plot has a lot of action, several surprising twists, and really pulls you along. I found myself breeezing through this book.

Overall, I thought it was a great choice for our book club; it allowed for a very satisfying discussion of the central themes. I would definitely recommend this book.

I first read Pug Sheridan 18 months ago, since then I've purchased 6 copies to give as gift to friends, and have led discussions on Pug Sheridan for 2 book groups. The last time I read Pug Sheridan my husband and I were making a long drive and I read several passages to him, I find the wording to be beautiful and so did he. I'm a great admirer of Sandra Cline and am looking forward to her next book. I'm hopeful that our high school will include Pug Sheridan in their curriculum. There are dark passages but they are followed by support and survival.

Sandra Cline did an excellent job in writing this book. We read it for discussion in a book review club. This group is composed of senior citizens and several members were reared in the south. They verified the existance of viewpoints expressed by the characters. Sandra Cline visited our group when we discussed the book and it seems clear she did a lot of research before writing it. She also told us that a sequel is coming. I am sure it will be well received. While I regard it as a "chick book", I say, "So what." it was very enjoyable reading and held my interest throughout. The events experienced by the many characters were individually believable and described very well. I would recommend the book to anyone from high school age on.

Pug Sheridan is a young girl in the south who deals with prejudice, ignorance and hatred of the very people she loves. Sandra Cline gives the reader a truthful picture of southern life in the early part of the century. She brings her characters to life and the reader grows to love them all, even the bad guys because we understand why they are as they are. On a larger scale it is a picture of how one person can change an entire community with love and acceptance. It's clear that Sandra Cline has a story to tell and it comes from her heart. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I wish it could be read by every high school student in America. Perhaps it could be used as a catalyst to change the way our young people view others. The paraphrased words that come to me are "Treat others the way you'd like to be treated."

I live in Bishop, CA which is a flyfishers paradise. This book made flyfishing simple, easy to understand and is the best single work on the topic ever written. I say that while adimiting that I was a friend of the late, great Sheridan Mullholland Andreas Anderson and I miss him. Don't miss this book. I have just ordered a copy for a flyfisher beginer.

I am a newbie at the sport and bought this after seeing it highly recommended on several group discussions. But I was disappointed. The book is very short. It is written in comic book style. I don't have a problem with this, but I thought it was limiting.

Unless you are a extreme newbie, I can't recommend it. And if you are, go with LL Bean's book by Dave Whitlock.

Older book timeless in its message and written in a style that makes flyfishing easy for anyone who want to pursue the sport.

For me, this book was instrumental in developing good fly fishing techniques and habits. It is entertaining, easy to read, and technically accurate. Filled with highly animated comics, the book is a work of art.....very carefully designed.

I recommend this book for any beginning fly fishing angler. It is much less intimidating that other manuals and really is a delight to read...rich with information.

Great summary of fly fishing. Easy to read and reread. Excellant ideas that can easily be put into practice

I love sea stories, I love survival stories & I knew very little about this book besides the fact that almost every review was 5 stars. I thought I would give it try. This is the story of John Caldwell who at the end of WW2 was stranded at the opposite end of the world from his new wife Mary whom he had married the year before. Try as John might he could not find a way to get back to his wife in Australia. From his years of service in the merchant marine he had enough money saved up to buy a 26 year old 29 foot sailboat. With ZERO training & knowledge of sailing he set off from Panama for a 9,000 mile journey.

One of the things that sets this book apart is at the start John really knows nothing about sailing & he isn't afraid to admit it. Right from the moment he casts off he is only minutes from disaster but somehow he prevails & after numerous mistakes he slowly learns to be a better sailor. He sails solo but he is far from alone, he has two kittens who you learn to love & other secret stowaways. Some become friends, some become dinner. John writes with a great sense of humor. As I was reading the book I was expecting John to get lost or beat up in storms but I wasn't expecting the epic tale of survival. It is one of most successful sailing stories ever. I won't delve any farther into what happens but I will say he has endless interesting escapades with the creatures of the south seas & you will see why this is a desperate voyage. Also you will be amazed at what a human being will eat if pushed to the brink of death.

You will love John's storytelling. I was sad to learn that John has passed on. This week (Sept 2008) his wife has published another book (Mary's Voyage) about further journeys with John - I can't believe he stepped foot on another sailboat. If you love sea stories this book will not disappoint.

John Caldwell was in love. So in love he bought a less-than-adequate 29 foot sailboat to sail thousands of miles across the Pacific (from Panama to Sydney, Australia) to be with his new bride. On his way, adventure and obstacles ensue, and he really shows what he's made of throughout the story.

What a great book! A real page-turner. You will have a hard time putting this one down. I know I did!

John Caldwell, a young American who served in the Australian air force and the US merchant marine during WWII, found himself at the end of hostilities stranded in Panama. He had no way to get back to Australia and his new wife Mary.

With more pluck than brains Caldwell, who had not done any small boating, buys a small sailboat (about 29 feet) with the idea of sailing to far off Australia--more than 8500 miles of open Pacific. First he learns how to maneuver his boat in and around the islands off Panama, with many hilarious screw-ups. Finally he sets off across the ocean. He has a tiresome voyage to the Galapagos Islands, again with many screw-ups, some of which almost cost him his life and nearly wreck his sailboat and disable his auxiliary engine. After the Galapagos the sailing goes better as he has wind and current with him and only some 8000 miles left to go. Then about half way there, between the Marquesas Islands and Samoa, Caldwell is hit by a terrible hurricane that destroys his rig, nearly sinks his boat, and forces him to jettison all of his food, water, navigation equipment, and supplies. His prospects for survival, not to speak of getting to Australia, are remote. Fortunately he had an almost indestructible craft, and that was his greatest piece of luck.

Under jury jig and near death from starvation, he eventually fetches up in the Fiji Islands. He is nursed back to health by the kindly natives and soon makes it the rest of the way to Australia by hitching rides on boats and planes, and is reunited with his beloved Mary. They apparently have lived happily ever after (or at least until the late 1990s), even founding and running a resort in the Caribbean.

Desperate Voyage is a wonderful and wonderfully engaging story. Caldwell writes so well and so engagingly that this book is really hard to put down. I thoroughly enjoyed it. You cannot help liking this plucky screw-up with a penchant for survival. Of course, I feel somewhat guilty enjoying this tale so much--after all it is mostly about screw-ups, disaster, pain, and close brushes with death most of which resulted from Caldwell's rashness and carelessness. Caldwell's voyage is not one to emulate. But as A.J. Mackinnon says in his masterful The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow (another boating story full of screw-ups) "No screw-ups, no story." Certainly if Caldwell had been an accomplished yachtsman and as careful as we boaters are supposed to be, there would have been nothing here to laugh and cry about. Also when reading Caldwell's tale I was reminded of Mackinnon's admission: "Of course, I exaggerate for effect." How much has Caldwell exaggerated to enhance his tale? No one knows, but I sincerely doubt that he really drank his engine oil in order to assuage his hunger when he was starving.

More than thirty years ago when my young family were avid deep water sailors, I read many survival and adventure stories written by those who had had narrow escapes. John Caldwell's vivid tale of his struggle to return to his Australian lady love following his release from the Navy at the end of WWII still stands out in my mind. This year, as I home school my grandson and encourage him to develop innovative thinking, determination and loyalty, "Desperate Voyage" once again comes to mind. One of your other reviewers remarked that Caldwell "had no literary pretentions," but his book is, nevertheless, well worth reading for Caldwell's own humor and durability in the face of disaster. I am happy once again to add it to my library on my grandson's behalf.

This was a very insightfull book of one man's sailing adventure to return to his true love. I was very moved by this book as I have visited both Costa Rica (from where he starts his adventure) and where he finally found his perfect island in the West Indies. Both sailers and non sailers will love his humour and love.

An interesting look at the life of an interesting personality. I don't understand the socialist attitude about money and investment. Mr. Hayden gives a good look at the attitude but doesn't clarify it.

I recommend his novel Voyage.

This book is as convoluted as its author. It maintains a flow of semi-stream-of-consciousness from start to finish, and what emerges are the memoirs of a man whose love of seafaring and considerable self-deprecation ("self-loathing" is a little too strong a term) has brought him to a sea voyage to Tahiti with a pick-up crew and his four children in violation of a court order. Hayden's story is it's own animal, going from the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine, to the forests of Yugoslavia, to courtrooms and congressional chambers and movie sets and finally to the high seas and South Pacific islands with a strain of fatalism and regret throughout. It should make for a downer of a read; instead, I found myself staying up and turning the pages to see what happened next. A great book.

I would like to add something to the excellent and perceptive reviews above. What came through so strongly is that life is messy, yet Hayden's remarkable self awareness didn't seem to help him. This is a fascinating look inside a big life. I found it valuable.

I believe it was 1959 and I had just returned from a month's cruise to the Tuamotus and Marquesas islands on the copra schooner Charlotte Donald. I was sitting at a table on the quay in front of the Hotel Le Grand when the schooner first appeared off Papeete. It sailed in smartly, picked up the Pilot, and docked stern first, as was the custom, at the concrete quay. The name "Wanderer" was nicely affixed to her transom. I lived in District Punavia, kilometer thirteen, next to Paul Gauguin's old home by the Thompsons. Several weeks later I would board the Wanderer after meeting her skipper at a party to buy some of the 16mm color film he had for sale. He was courteous, the children were well mannered, the library below was impressive, and his ship was clean and appeared to be able to sail on a minute's notice. We chatted for some time and he recounted some stories of his trip. We knew the same haunts in coastal California. We met a couple of more times at functions on the island. He seemed to be a cheerful and courteous person. He was a large man and deep voiced and I knew he was an actor, but that's about all I knew. Not long ago I had written my autobiography and had made a small mentioned of the encounter and the film. A friend who read my book asked if I had read Hayden's biography, which I hadn't. He suggested I do so, and last month I ordered it from Amazon. The book was disheartening for me to read. While he and I had many similarities in our lives (I wasn't an actor) and had been to many of the same places, we came away with massively different reactions. Mr. Hayden is a good writer and tells, especially about his life at sea, in an authentic style that kept me reading. I don't know if I would have finished if there weren't the similarity of our experiences. The sparse interjection of the third person voice over his normal narrative of first person was effectively used. The book and his life stand on their own merits and I make no judgment. He was first and foremost a seafaring man of unusual talents, and I wish I had visited him in the States in our later years. Mr. Hayden, you steered the course you wanted in recounting the voyages of your life. That's about all most of us could ask for. Rest in peace.

PS:
Spike Africa, his mate, came as a surprise, or else I had forgotten. Skip ahead twenty years and I chartered the "Spike Africa", a 70 foot schooner out of Newport Beach California somewhere around 1979 for a company off-site (the exact thing Hayden despised ... sorry). Bob Sloan built and then christened the boat "Spike Africa". The California yachting community all knew of Spike Africa the man, as a legend in the Pacific ocean, although I never knew any details of the legend.

Hayden was one of those force of nature types who, sadly don't exist in sufficient quantities to make the world a really interesting place. In this book, he tells his life story, while telling the story of his last voyage on the 100 foot schooner, Wanderer. His prose is lovely and has the rythm of the sea; like other great works of sea literature (like Moby Dick). I'll give a high point of his prose before I complain:

"What does a man need ---really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in --and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all --in the material sense. And we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where then lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be, bankruptcy of purse of bankrutpcy of life?"

Hayden was a child of the depression who worked his way out of bad circumstances by a combination of stubbornness, physique and leadership skill. He is eventually given a job a an actor, after being spotted by the media during a sailboat race in Glocester. He abandons this due to a love affair with an actress who fancies herself concerned with serious social issues. He joins the war and does OSS/CIA type operations in maritime support of partisans in Yugoslavia. He returns to his acting. Makes many movies. Marries an evil shrew. Divorces. Gets the kids. Chucks it all for a trip to Tahiti in his 100 foot yacht. All this is well and good, but the man reveals too much about himself. His self loathing isn't interesting. It is certainly not edifying, and though he seems to abundantly pity himself, I cannot feel sorry for him. The man had many fine opportunities. He had fine charachter qualities; I admire the fact that he chucked it all, just because he didn't like it. But he was not a fine man: he was petty and ugly -he couldn't even treat his own widowed mother decently, and though his ex wife was probably no better, I rather doubt as being around such a tormented spirit was good for his kids. In that way, he is a tragic figure; all the more tragic because he doesn't seem to realize it himself. It is no suprise he never did much with himself after he wrote the book. I don't know this to be true, but I suspect he drown himself and his self-loathing in booze.

Still, it is a beautifully written book. In a way, the book is his triumph over it all. It is doubtless a finer thing than any of the movies he made, and his great "the heck with it all" dramatic gesture is probably better than any he made on camera. I know I will read the book again. Perhaps when I am older I will think differently of Captain Hayden. Amusingly, a visit to Sausalito revealed that I had known Hayden as the demented General Jack D. Ripper in "Dr. Strangelove."

I own the original copy book this guy wrote back in the early 70's and found it to be both practical and enjoyable to read. For perspective, I develop and sell land. And I share his "treat your neighbors well and enjoy life" philosphy.

This new book has a lot of his personal history which many people looking for practical advice may not enjoy. But I enjoyed them. And mixed in with that history are absolutely great land ads he wrote. They could be used today and still be highly effective. I know I'm borrowing from them.

The rest of the book has lots of practical advice for people who want to buy and sell land from the developers stand point. He keeps it simple. And useful.

Overall, a real treat for me.

I am a real estate agent and I roll people's IRA or retirement funds into well chosen California Real Estate and I want to express just how great this book is. I love it! For anyone who wants to retire comfortably, I really recommend this book. It is so well written and it is very common sense. I look so forward for the new book "The Habitual Millionaire"

I especially enjoyed this book because I was a small part of the country property business when I lived in the Washington D.C. area 40 years ago during the 60's. As a salesman, I sold many of the properties developed by B.K. Haynes to enthusiastic and highly satisfied buyers. My work was made much easier when excited customers asked to meet the person who wrote "those wonderful ads." Haynes has the remarkable ability to form pictures in the minds of those ad readers looking for country property. They became doubly excited when the properties they looked at were exactly as he described them and precisely what they were hoping to find. His inclusion of world historical events in this book is a valuable tool that hopeful property developers might use to gauge the state of mind in prospective buyers. The How To features in this book are so clearly defined that readers should have little difficulty adapting them to their own property development efforts. With an entertaining narrative writing style, B.K. Haynes delivered what was promised in the book's title. He explained exactly "How I Turned $50 into $5 Million in Country Property - Part Time.

We recommend anyone who is interested in purchasing country property, even for personal use, to read this book. B. K. Haynes offers a lifetime of selling and investment knowledge with amusing stories thrown in! A great read, and a terrific teaching tool for all interested in land investment.

Ahmad and Linda Kangarloo, Middletown, Virginia

I bought BK Haynes book because he is from my home town and I thought it might be interesting. I am so glad I did! Not only does he share his life story but he also shares the secrets to how he went from being a poor kid in DC to being the multi-millionaire he is today. And the best part about it is that I can do the same thing! Mr. Haynes did not let small obsticles (like lack of funds) keep him from realizing his dreams. He is an inspiration and model that I plan to immulate.

i am not a novel fan but this (trilogy) really got me, i can't stop reading them, one after another. so wicked and facinating especially the ending. who likes intense plot should read the books.

As other reviewers have noted the plot well and carefully, my only comment to add here is that this book is as confounding as life itself: the scene that is always continous is never the same twice. It is rewritten over again and again..the characters are the same, or are they?
It is a different novel depending on what level you read it..a war novel, a novel about love and friendship, a novel about truth and lie, a novel about memory and forgetting: it is a cross between the kind of novel Gunter Grass has written, and also the kind of novel Kundera wrote..quite amazing.

This is probably the best book you will read this year. Her writing is incredible, the plot fascinating in its historic and geographic absurdity (where are we? East Germany? Hungary?), the details vivid and unforgettable. Why are her other books not translated?

Mathias is a boy whose life has so many imperfections. He is troubled with looking like an ogre being born deformed. The doctors said that he will be like that for the rest of his life. His mother left him to go live in the big city and his father, who is also his mother's father, is in jail or maybe even dead.

Left to the care of Lucas, Mathias lives out his life from an intelectual stand point. Lucas taught him that while other children would grow big and strong, so would he. Mathias corrected Lucas knowing damn well the sadness of the truth. Lucas explained that he would work hard on his mind a grow an ever strong unsderstanding of the world around him. Sure enough, Mathias did just that and was the envy of all his classmates for always having the right answers.

Lucas loved Mathias very much, but was only a boy himself when he took on the responsibility of raising him. Lucas is a very unikely Father being one with such a disturbed past and shady presence. He goes around the city making money at night by playing his harmonica in bars and by selling produce by day. His relationships are very odd including the priest of the town who he plays chess with on a nightly basis. Lucas himself does not believe in God, but the priest takes the role of a father figure for him in the story. He also has relations of a more intimate kind with 2 women and a man in the story.

I first read "The Notebook" when I was in High School. A Video Game known as "Earhtbound 64" (never released) had led me to read this story. ONe character from that game would have been based from this story. I had no idea what I was about to read. It definitely warped my mind as a youth and became an instant favorite. Now 5 years later I read "The Proof" and remembered why it is I had enjoyed "The Notebook" so much tp begin with.

This story is definitely not for the weak at stomach. It is can become pretty disturbing and downright sickening at some points of the story. It is, however, very well written and leaves feeling emotions the characters must have felt when they were going through the events in their lives.

There aren't that many amazing books to read in the world. How often do you take a book and find that it lacks that something that keeps you awake at night or makes you wake up early (when you adore sleeping) just to read it? This is not a thriller (which can have the same effect but for different reasons). This is a monster itself, but in the best sense possible. You just can't miss it. For anything.

This veteran reader has come across many books in his time - books that deal with important subjects; books about important people; books that have increased his knowledge and understanding of the world, a few that have been plain dreadful and a penance to plough through, but every so often books that are unadulterated entertainment and an absolute pleasure.

The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow sits firmly in the final category. I did not want to put it down, and I was sorry when I turned the last page and realised there would be no more. End of story.

But what a story. A.J. (Sandy) Mackinnon, born in Australia, but with strong links to Britain, is teaching at a school in Shropshire, close to the Welsh border, when he decides that it is time to move on "not by the Inter-City 10.15 to Birmingham with a suitcase in each hand, not by a lift to the airport checking the whereabouts of my passport every three minutes....but like dear Doctor Doolittle, by sailing away in a jolly little galleon and seeing what I bumped into on the way."

The "jolly little galleon" was in fact a Mirror dinghy called Jack de Crow after a pet jackdaw, long since departed, which had in turn taken its name from the school's headmaster. Initially planning to take Jack down various canals and minor rivers to Gloucester near the mouth of the River Severn, Mackinnon just decides to keep going, cutting back across Britain to the Thames, then across the English Channel to France, Germany and through the heart of Europe and eventually to the Black Sea - 4900 kilometres in a tiny vessel more suited to a sunny afternoon on Lake Burley Griffin.

And what an adventure it was. Hardly ever out of sight of land he nevertheless encounters a succession of obstacles including obstructive lock keepers, stifling bureaucracy, drunken revellers, a burgeoning Balkan war and Danube River pirates. Forced to strip off and swim out to a wayward Jack swept downstream by floodwater on the River Vyrnwy in Shropshire he inevitably encounters a party of female canoeists as he is rowing back to his camp site with nothing but a trusty pith helmet (an essential part of his equipment until it is stolen somewhere in Germany) to cover his modesty.

Mackinnon is without doubt an eccentric and while the British are known for their love of them, the Europeans also embrace him. He is fortified by a throng of friends and acquaintances along the way, but several times damage which could easily have ended his voyage is repaired, usually without cost, by kindly strangers bemused and intrigued by this intrepid adventurer. Many times, wet, miserable, and in Serbia penniless and starving, he admits he is on the point of quitting, yet the new day somehow recharges his enthusiasm often simply by finding a warm, dry Laundromat where he can wash his clothes and write letters.

"An astonishing question kept insisting: why wasn't everyone doing exactly as I was? For there was no doubt about it: this was the most perfect occupation known to humankind."

The story is aided by its author being not just an adventurer, but an artist, philosopher and keen observer of the world around him. Details of birds in flight, the plants and animals of the riverbank work their way into his narrative, often with appropriate extracts from the great nature poets, Masefield, Keats, Wordsworth and so on. Anyone with an education that predates the computer age will delight in the classical references and there are moments in the journey painted so vividly one is almost inside the writer's head, sharing his experience completely.

One of my favourite passages among many comes as he is struggling to take Jack through London on the Thames at night and (illegally) without lights. Desperately dodging party boats and giant barges which had no hope of seeing him in the darkness he still has time to observe the Houses of Parliament, towering above him.

"As I passed, one youngish-looking man came to the window and stood staring out beyond the glass into the darkness over the Thames. He rested his forehead for a moment against the cool glass. He looked tired and a little glum, I thought, as though he longed to be away from that lit room, its secretes and its linenfold panelling. Perhaps he longed to be in a small sailing dinghy off to foreign parts on an outgoing tide under the stars."

Finally, I will commend this book for its illustrations, drawn by the author, which add greatly to the gentle humour of the narrative. Sandy Mackinnon is now on the staff of Geelong Grammar at its Timbertop campus in Australia. His students are fortunate to have such a teacher.

I think a lot of us who sail in small boats have occasionally thought about getting in our boats and seeing just how far we could manage to sail. Sandy MacKinnon set out in a Mirror dinghy, thinking he just might be able to reach the channel.. and ended up in Eastern Europe!

Beside being a great adventurer, MacKinnon is a first-rate storyteller. He paints a vivid image of his adventures large and small, whether he's crossing the English Channel in his tiny open craft, or simply trying to navigate the shallow rivers that mad up a good part of his early journey. He has a knack for putting the reader into the boat with him, sharing his trials and triumphs alike.

If you own a small boat, have ever thought of owning a small boat, or if you're a fan of Swallows and Amazons, or even The Wind in the Willows, you'll love Sandy MacKinnon's real life adventure. As Toad of Toad Hall says, there is nothing quite as nice as simply messing about in boats- and few authors describe it better.

Sandy Mackinnon says it himself - 'I exaggerate, for effect'. I loved the description of the journey from small streams in the north to the tidal rivers of the south and the crossing over to France. It all rings true to my own much more limited experience of rivers and canals in small rowing boats and canoes. But this man is much more capable than you might think from a superficial reading of the book - I know this because I'm on my third reading and have no intention of leaving it there.

The only other book I've loved this much is Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers, in some ways the complete opposite of this book where the main character convincingly describes the skill and expertise of Davies, the owner of the small yacht Dulcibella. A J Mackinnon as a single-hander must write of his own journey himself, so to preserve modesty and to entertain the reader he presents himself as a bumbling amateur with little idea of how to row, sail or maintain his eleven foot boat, but he still gets to the Black Sea by way of rivers and canals that would challenge any experienced sailor. His self-deprecation mightn't fool me but I'm left feeling even more impressed by the journey he describes so well.

I'm not a sailor nor intend to be after reading this wonderful adventure book but, I love adventure stories especially true ones where someone goes off on their own and let's nature do what she will.

This book had me laughing out loud as I think our boy here bit off more then he could chew at the start . seemed like a good idea at the time I suppose : ) altho he did manage to become learned about the nautical jargon thru trial and error . buy it, borrow it ...have a laugh .

A. J. Mackinnon writes like an eccentric Englishman, just perfect for this type of travel. Just imagine going out one afternoon with almost no preparation and embarking on an epic journey, really this is the stuff most of us would like to do, but can't for all the obvious reasons and now here A. J. Mackinnon has gone and done it and written it all up for us. Heck, maybe it might motivate you enough to have a go at it one day. Certainly A. J. Mackinnon can write in a way that is easy to relate to, though you can't help but be in awe of his intellect when it comes to a command of the english language, not to mention history, culture and all things worldly wise that we all should know....

Anne Perry, the enormously popular writer of historical fiction, just recommended this ballad by G. K. Chesterton as one of five must read tales of historical fiction. (See the Wall Street Journal's online Opinion Page for April 21, 2007 in an article entitled "Past Tense.") Here's part of what she said:

"This is the story of the English King Alfred's desperate stand against invading Danes in 878. England is conquered, and Alfred is a fugitive when he sees a vision of the Virgin Mary that bids him call together the remnants of his people for a final battle. "The Ballad of the White Horse" is an epic poem of courage, passion and unsurpassable beauty."

If you'd like to read other tales and poems by Chesterton, you might want to get "The Ballad of the White Horse" as part of a collection of his poetry that I edited for not much more money. It's called G. K. Chesterton's Early Poetry and has "The Ballad of the White Horse," along with two other books of Chesterton poetry under one cover. That means you'll also get his best humorous poetry, "Greybeards at Play." No less a writer than George Orwell ranked Chesterton as one of the three best writers of funny poetry in twentieth century England. The poems are a riot of the ridiculous and are accompanied with equally funny sketches he did.

And although Anne Perry and I have the same last name, as far as I know we're not related. Her's is a pen name. Mine is a real name. I guess I'm not creative enough to invent a name for myself.

G. K. Chesterton's Early Poetry: Greybeards At Play, The Wild Knight And Other Poems, The Ballad Of The White Horse

Mr. Chesterton has a masterful skill with the pen; _Orthodoxy_ and _The Napoleon of Notting Hill_ are wonderful books--but _The Ballad of the White Horse_ is heartbreaking in its power, beauty, and nobility. With a stunning use of alliteration, rhythm, and imagery, Mr. Chesterton teaches the reader about true hearts, true faith, and true sacrifice. I have bought a few copies of this book to give as gifts to friends, and I eagerly recommend it to anyone who will listen. This book is a must-have for any individual interested in expanding their knowledge of great poetry!

Out of the thousand or so books I have read in my life, if I were to put the Bible aside (since the Bible speaks with a special authority to believers and cannot really be compared to other books), I have read no more than five or six books that I would call truly great. That means there are only five or six books I would rate at five stars. This is one. Yes, it is that good.

I have never read any author who could make the English language sing the way Chesterton does in this poem -- for over a hundred pages. In contrast to contemporary "poets" whose "poems" consist of a bunch of strange words scattered apparently at random on a page, whose meaning, if there is one, is far beyond obscurity, Chesterton had apparently unlimited ability to create rhyme and alliteration, and then he bound it all tightly in the sing-song ballad style that carries it all swiftly along. The words of this poem are glorious to hear, and really, this book should be read aloud, so that one might hear the music of the words.

And few have ever been able to match the way Chesterton paints pictures with words. I will quote one passage, and hope it is not to long, to illustrate this. The scene here is Alfred's army making one final charge against the Danish camp:

Then bursting all and blasting
Came Christendom like death,
Kicked of such catapults of will,
The staves shiver, the barrels spill,
The waggons waver and crash and kill
The waggoners beneath.

Barriers go backward, banners rend,
Great shields groan like a gong,
Horses like horns of nightmare
Neigh horribly and long.

Horses ramp and rock and boil
And break their golden reins,
And slide on carnage clamorously,
Down where the bitter blood doth lie,
Where Ogier went on foot to die
In the old way of the Danes.

It would be hard to imagine anyone anyone describing such a violent scene in so few words any better than Chesterton does in that passage. And this passage is but one of dozens of glorious word-pictures that Chesterton's poetry paints in this book.

Beyond its magnificent use of the English language, this book also contains much philosophical insight -- insight that, although first published in 1911, is directly and clearly applicable today. Chesterton expresses very clearly the way that Christianity has formed the heart of Western culture over the ages, and the way that Christian faith -- which seems all about self-denial and thus sadness -- leads to unconquerable joy.

The book, of course, is not perfect; no work of literature can be. There are places where it gets a bit too preachy for my taste. But the book's flaws are few and minor, while its good points are many and glorious.

How good is this book? I have read it at least 50 times in my life, and I still enjoy reading it. In my opinion it is one of the truly greatest works written in the English language. It is one of the few books I have read that truly deserves five stars.

I had read some of Chesterton's fictional books, most of which contain poems which he has written, and I very much enjoyed his poems, so I decided to get a book of his poetry. This too I really enjoyed, so I decided to get another book of his poetry, this time it was The Ballad of the White Horse, and this book simply blew away all of the rest of Chesterton's poems. In fact, it simply blows away most poems by anyone. I have read Dante's Divine Comedy, Milton' Paradise Lost, Eliot's Wasteland, Chaucer's Canturbury Tales, etc., but I can honestly say that I enjoyed this epic far more than any of them. I am not saying that it is a better written poem or that it should be ranked above these classics, but I am saying that it is much more exciting to read than the others. Somehow Chesterton makes his poem involving: you are drawn into it and cannot put the book down until you have finished the chapter. He wrote it in such a way that the verses beg to be read quickly, and as I read I found myself reading faster and faster, until I was stumbling over the words and had to slow down again. Chesterton, like no other poet whom I know of, paints a picture of glory, honor, bravery, and captures the true spirit of an idealized Medieval War. The poem resounds with the drums of doom, the cries of angels, the hordes of invading barbarians and great deeds of heroes of old. If I were to recommend owning one epic poem, this would be the one.

Overall grade: A+

A stirring epic poem with a message important for the future of western civilization...to act on hope when there is no longer any hope... The outcome is always, finally, in God's Providence. "The Ballad of the White Horse" should have great appeal for young men who can dream impossibilities because they are firmly grounded in the eternal verities. The battles scenes will fire the blood!

As you read this book it seems as though you are right there with Larry and Lin as they build and sail their small boat from California through Mexico, Central America, Jamaica, up the U.S. East Coast to the Chesapeake Bay and finally to Europe. This is the 25th Anniversary edition of this book. It has been updated from the original with pictures and maps. A great book I would recommend it highly for anyone with an adventurous spirit.

Page turner - made me want to drop everything and sail. The combination of this book and Slocum's book gave me the sailing bug. Contains useful information for those that are thinking about buying a boat. As seasoned, adventurous, resourceful sailors, the Pardeys' books are useful for salties or salty-wannabes (like myself).

Now available in a brand new 25th anniversary edition, Lin and Larry Pardey's Cruising in Seraffyn now sports a new introduction, "Anyone Can Go Cruising," and a new appendix, "Affordable, Attainable Dreams." Cruising In Seraffyn is an exciting, detailed cruising guide with a 16-page spread of full-color photos, making it an adventurous reference for nautical buffs and armchair travelers alike. With its decades of sailor's wisdom and inspirational prose, Cruising In Seraffyn is very highly recommended reading for anyone interested in setting sail for pleasure.

I loved the book, but always wished there were more photos. Now I have seen the new edition, in hard cover, published by the Pardey's. It is great. They have done it for the 25th anniversary of this book. Lots of color photos, a really updated discussion of cruising costs and a really nice story about what has happened to Seraffyn over the past 30 years. The pictures of the Pardey's new boat and Seraffyn sailing side by side are worth the $2l.95 price. Unfortunately, the book will not be on the American market until June. I got one from a friend who is a book reviewer. I was told you could wait till june and get it at ..., or you can go to the news letters on thier web site, ... and order one early.

As other folks have written, this book is lovely to read and inspiring as can be. The new edition, in its hard cover is not just a simple reprint. It is almost a whole new book - the new introduction gives grand info for sailors today, the appendix puts it all where it is for those who want to sail off in 2002. But best of all are the l6 pages of full color photos - stuff to dream about, ideas to use on your boat. Really lovely. If you have the old edition, you'll still want this one. If you've never read the first book, this is the one for you.

While on the road to Calvary, a Jew cursed and spat upon Christ. Christ in turn looked at him and simply said, 'Thou shalt tarry till I return.' This book is the fictional autobiography of that man's subsequent 2000 years of life. He has, in turn, been Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Car-ta-phal and other notorious historical figures. And he carries on a torrid love affair with the eternal woman, Salome over the centuries.

THE WANDERING JEW AND WANDERING JEWESS?
AHASVER CD-ROM ISBN 1895507901 (SALE)! "THE JEW" (I-IIII):
"...Audacious and magnificent." "The book is in both substance and method of the highest originality; it is both fascinating and brilliant; the historic pageant is unrolled with a colorfulness and clearness that astonish me. And I am delighted too by the play of implicit wit, the quaint malice of the innuendos, the symbolic pattern sustained throughout." "...fascinatingly interesting and instructive...very ingenious conception and treatment of the various psychological and philosophical themes...I am particularly impressed with your ingenious way of presenting the various phases of psycho-sexuality....A great work." "It is a remarkably interesting idea to present the pageant of the World as it unfolded before the eyes of the same man during two thousand years. Also, to keep him a young man instead of a doddering grey-beard. It is like reading a series of entrancing short stories with the added interest of logical sequence. Their erudition is amazing, and it is presented in a manner that lures one on-and-on, as well as inducing the pleasant belief that one is learning something really worthwhile. It is a big thing to have attempted, and as far as I have gone there is certainly nothing to cavil at." "The book is gorgeous in its epigram and cold satire. It is one of the most brilliant books of sophisticated World-wisdom ever written. It sums up the case of intelligence against life. Isaac Laquedem is the Ulysses of your brain." "`My First Two Thousand Years' looks to me like a big thing." "Instead of leaving the reader stimulated, this would-be entertaining and philosophic tome leaves you prostrated...quality-of-life, so difficult to define to any healthy piece of literature, is absent." "The story captures the reader's interest in the beginning, holding it enthralled through every short chapter to the very end of five hundred and one pages. This number is significant. It recalls those gentle tales of one thousand and one nights." "The halfpenny cynicism in which the authors revel is the type resulting from protracted adolescence. The greatest mystery of it all is that the authors if not their book comes recommended, however guardedly, by no less than Sigmund Freud, George Bernard Shaw, and Havelock Ellis." "`My First Two Thousand Years' has occasional defects, but, out-weighing these, are pages of beauty, clearly seen and transcribed; and chapters of adroit and smiling satire...throughout there persists the restless reach of man toward a forever elusive finality." "This is in may respects and astonishing book, and in all respects one that deserves attention." "Cartaphilus's speculations and comprehensions about life, as without growing older, watching others grow old and idle; his amatory experiences, his judgments of great men of history, his increasing self-knoledge...all these give the book substance and intellectual stimulation, as well as very occasional brilliance. But in no major sense does the book triumph over its inherent difficulties. It is not history surveyed from high philosophical peaks, but history regarded by two intelligent minds. It is all human experience collected and annotated, but not interpreted with any profundity. So is its irony without depth, and its wit without freshness." You would think that anyone might, in two thousand years, grow weary of tryingto solve the riddle of life through sexual orgies, especially if, along about the middle of the fourth century of it, a Chinese adept has taught him two hundred and eighty secrets of love. But not Cartaphilus...undeniably an eenormous achievement." "...a work that must not be measured by ordinary standards....It will be read and thoroughly enjoyed by any lover of good fiction no less than by him who has a preferment for history and biography." "...As a work of creative imagination, Viereck and Eldridge have written a fascinatingly unique and alluring story. It is done with a spareness of words that sometimes approaches the beauty of the Greeks....In summing up the book...it is the story you remember." "...an unusually good story...some readers will detect a slight suspicion of Kraft-Ebbing; our respectable ancestors would have burned the book -- and perhaps the authors -- with a clear conscience. But a good many moderns will read it with enthusiasm." "...too colossal, too powerful, too broad in scope to be tarnished by the tired adjectives of reviewers....No detail is left untold; no intimacy is too delicate to go unrelated....A great work."

George Sylvester Viereck (1884-1962) was a German-born poet and novelist. Paul Eldridge (1888-1982) was a poet and authored a number of plays and essays. In My First Two Thousand Years: The Autobiography Of The Wandering Jew, Viereck and Eldridge collaborated to write an impressive, 512 page novel that purports to be the story personal story of Cartaphilius (alias Isaac Laquedem), a young man who was the "wandering jew" of ancient myth. An elegant and immortal young man, his "autobiography" provides us with portraits of Salome, Jesus, Mary Magdalen, Nero, Attila, Mohammed, Don Juan, Leonardo da Vinci, Pope Alexander, Rothschild, Spinoza, Einstein, George Bernard Shaw, Lenin, Mussolini, and other historical figures. All intertwined with fascinating social commentaries, philosophic observations, as well as history and science based episodes with a new perspective through which we can view them. My First Two Thousand Years is an original and enduring work of literary substance that a whole new generation of readers can now discover with enthusiasm and appreciation.

This is the story of Cartaphilus, the wandering Jew, who begins his life in the holy land of Jerusalem over two thousand years ago during the time of Jesus Christ. A Hebrew man turned Roman solider, childhood friends with Mary Magdalene and the beloved apostle John, Cartaphilus refuses to join his friends and follow this new and rebellious prophet. Although he loves Mary and John more than life itself, and despite their pleads to accept Jesus and his teachings, he remains steadfast in his convictions that Jesus is no more than a clever magi, a false prophet, jealous perhaps, that this man has taken away the two people he loves most in the world. Cartaphilus attends the trial of Jesus as Pontius Pilate hands the final judgement to the crowd, where the crowd unanimously call for the crucifixion of the "King of the Jews". As Jesus carries the cross to the Place of Skulls and falls for the third time, Cartaphilus calls out and mocks him. Jesus lifts his head, looks at Cartaphilus direct in the eyes, and utters:

"I will go, but thou shalt tarry until I return."

Thus begins this man's immortal journey through two thousand years of history, tirelessly searching, attempting to find the meaning of his existence, protesting constantly at his plight, escaping torture and death, witnessing hundreds of religions and great civilizations rise and crumble, though the central thread of his long existence remains constant - his search for the truth.

Most would agree that the Christian legend of Cartaphilus, the Wandering Jew, is a metaphor, some would go as far as to say, a cosmic symbol, of the plight of humankind. Cartaphilus asks the same questions we all ask at one time or another. He recognizes the absurdity and humour of our lives on earth - our suffering, constantly seeking happiness, our search for the divine, our confusion over life's many contradictions, the great love and the great evils that appear to live side by side. Is life merely an illusion, a sadistic trick played on us by some mischievous god? Does our existence abruptly end at death or do we continue on in some other form? As Cartaphilus moves through the centuries, he recognises people, friends and lovers that lived before in other guises, only to come back to him again. He asks, is existence merely circular, recurring again and again? These are profound questions that the cursed one, made to tarry the earth until Christ's return, attempts to answer throughout the ages.

Throughout Cartaphilus' journey, we meet great historical personages such as Marcus Aurelius, Nero, Attila the Hun, and Mohammed, Leonardo da Vinci, Spinoza, Peter the Great and many others. One becomes so immersed in this intriguing narrative that these historical figures truly come to life. In the end, however, does Cartaphilus finally make peace with Jesus?

The great German writer Thomas Mann, called this novel, "Audacious and magnificent." I would have to say that it is the most original novel, encompassing religion, philosophy, history, and psychology, et al, which has ever been written.

It's been 20 years since I last read this book, and I've read literally hundreds of books since, but this book has stayed with me, and I am very glad to have found it again. This is one of those books that, when you loan it out, it NEVER comes back. It's history, science fiction, mythology, philosophy and religious thought all rolled into one wonderful read.