Tagged: explorer

Shadow Divers

Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson, 5/5

When a group of shipwreck divers discover a German WWII U-boat sunken just 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey, it sparks a 6-year saga of danger, drama, research, speculation and discovery. Kurson’s prose is beautifully written and guides the reader effortlessly through the biographical backstories, technical diving information, and historical events that combine to form the context for a real-life adventure story so intriguing that I stayed up until 2am to finish it in one day. Though less mythical in topic than the author’s other diving book, Pirate Hunters, this one is equally interesting, has a more satisfying conclusion, and contains more photos.

Why I read it: I enjoyed Pirate Hunters and wanted to check out more by this author.

Shogun

Shogun by James Clavell, 3/5

This 1300-page monster of a hardback novel weighs almost 4lbs, and anyone who thinks it’s weird to dwell on a book’s physical dimensions in a book review has clearly not been been physically traumatized, as I have, by attempting to read it in bed every night! I am only partially joking; the book’s unwieldiness gives a palpable presence to the author’s leisurely writing style, which often makes it seem as if scenes were occurring in real time and not in the pages of a novel. As far as plot, well it’s got a lot. A lot of politics, religion, drama, and unacknowledged historical inspiration. There were a few chapters that dragged, but overall, I felt surprisingly engaged by the story, despite its obscene length and last-minute reliance on a deus ex machina of sorts. The detailed portrayal of 17th-century Japanese culture, written by a European making no claims to historical accuracy, seems problematic to me (I doubt something like this could be written nowadays without causing controversy), but surprisingly, there seem to be no complaints. While I am impressed by the author’s confidence and stamina, I found the length of the book to be a bit self-indulgent and would prefer to read a true account of the historical events portrayed in this novel.

Why I read it: When the first season of the 2024 TV show based on this book ended, I was left wanting more.

Trader Horn

Trader Horn: Being the Life and Works of Alfred Aloysius Horn, the works written by himself at the age of seventy-three and the life, with such of his philosophy as is the gift of age and experience taken down here and edited by Ethelreda Lewis, 3/5

It’s safe to assume that everyone has a story to tell by the age of seventy-three, but not everyone was a trader who explored central Africa in the late 1800s. As such, “Trader Horn” fully deserves to have his life adventures immortalized in print and lovers of tall tales will have no quibble with his fantastical stories and idiosyncratic writing style. However, readers, like me, who prefer a clear separation between fact and fiction, will struggle to distinguish between the two in this book. At first, I wrongly suspected the author was not even a real person, but further research did not necessarily inspire confidence in the historical accuracy of someone who, for example, embellished even their own age in the book’s subtitle (he was sixty-seven at the time of publication, according to Ian Cutler’s excellent and very detailed article). The fact that editor Ethelreda Lewis was a novelist, not a historian or biographer, and that Horn aspired to be a novelist as well, further muddies the waters. While this sort of factual ambiguity does not make for a very enjoyable reading experience in my opinion, I’m glad that Horn’s life story was preserved instead of being lost forever.

Why I read it: Making progress in my efforts to ensure my collection of old books is more than purely decorative.