331 pages
English language
Published Jan. 10, 2023 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
An incredible account from the author of Killers of a Flower Moon. I'm in awe of the work required to collate and then articulate this story almost as much as the events themselves.
The Wager is a harrowing tale of perseverance, discipline, brutality, hubris, and survival that illustrates and brings to life humanity at its extremes.
I usually like stories of shipwrecks and such but this one went off on tangents too much for me. Especially towards the end, a few other stories are discussed that I felt were unnecessary. Without a lot of history knowledge most of the other stories were new to me as well and kind of distracting. Apart from that I enjoyed it.
DAD BOOKS DAD BOOKS DAD BOOKS
seriously this rules if you're a dad. Signed a dad.
Do you want british cannibalism or not you fools!
Very well written and, after a somewhat slow start, gets the reader very interested in the personalities and story. Cheap, Bulkeley, and Byron were all well drawn and distinct.
I enjoyed the novelistic history format and the tighter focus compared to Killers of the Flower Moon, and I was thinking four stars right up until the last fifth or so. The trial is a fizzling anticlimax. I get that it's a history book and Grann can't change what happened, but he chose the subject and the structure of the book. The trial felt like a let down after all the buildup of the shipwreck and the conflicting accounts.
Everything you want from a high adventure, high adrenaline story of the days of sail. And all true.
In a novel I read years ago, a woman described a certain type of men as being the kind who like to sit in comfortable armchairs and read about sailors circling the earth, often alone. Being me, I've always been a little wary of reading such books, though I know I'm reversing cause and effect, and I doubt I'd have sought out [a:David Grann|1431785|David Grann|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1678988439p2/1431785.jpg]'s [b:The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder|61714633|The Wager A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder|David Grann|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1659407155l/61714633.SY75.jpg|97290386]. It was the choice of my library's book club.
Grann is in the news at the moment because he also wrote [b:Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI|29496076|Killers of the Flower Moon The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI|David Grann|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1470699853l/29496076.SY75.jpg|49782213], which is out as a movie now.
The Wager is fascinating and if …
In a novel I read years ago, a woman described a certain type of men as being the kind who like to sit in comfortable armchairs and read about sailors circling the earth, often alone. Being me, I've always been a little wary of reading such books, though I know I'm reversing cause and effect, and I doubt I'd have sought out [a:David Grann|1431785|David Grann|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1678988439p2/1431785.jpg]'s [b:The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder|61714633|The Wager A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder|David Grann|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1659407155l/61714633.SY75.jpg|97290386]. It was the choice of my library's book club.
Grann is in the news at the moment because he also wrote [b:Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI|29496076|Killers of the Flower Moon The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI|David Grann|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1470699853l/29496076.SY75.jpg|49782213], which is out as a movie now.
The Wager is fascinating and if you're at all like me, as much as you think you know about the days of iron men and wooden ships, you'll learn more by reading this. One example is that those ships were rotting almost from the moment they were launched. Long worms ate through hard wood; rats ruined food.
Side note: I can't remember reading a book in which there were fewer mentions of women. Other side note: I read this unusually quickly, for me, which I attribute to Grann's writing style.
9:30
I may just be a sucker for a good naval history, but this was a fantastic book with an amazing narrator. Definitely worth the listen.
Riveting. I read slowly enough that if I've ever read anything in one sitting, it was very short, but this history is a candidate for a list of books that you (not me) might read in one sitting.
