The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder (David Grann)

⭐ 10.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

I couldn't get enough of this book. I ran through it in a week and loved every moment. After reading Anne of Green Gables all year, it was time for a book written for the boys! No girls allowed! It's the true story about a British naval ship that... You know what, it's all in the subtitle. But it's amazing, and I think Grann is the premier writer of creative nonfiction right now.

I think he does an incredible job of capturing the magic of sea life. The conditions were abominable, with nonstop disease, cramped living, rotten food, dangerous, strenuous labour, little pay, and of course you have to be away from friends and family for months or years at a time. And yet? Get me on one of those boats!! I know I'd be one of those guys to die of typhus the week after setting out, but this book captures the romance and adventure of being out in open water, or navigating foreign shores. There was one passage in particular about being at the tip of the world, shrouded in mist, that really enchanted me.

If this was just a book about being out at sea, it would be a 10, and yet there is so much more going on. Terrific drama, lots of twists, and men doing anything to survive. It really is hard to believe that this was true. There are so many twists and turns in this book, and it plays out more wildly than most movies (and wouldn't you know, this is Scorcese's next story). You get truly invested in several characters and can't help but flip the pages to find out what happens next.

So yeah, just a fully immersive, wonderfully written tale o' the sea. I've only ever dabbled in sea lore, listening to the occasional shanty, and promising Jess that if she died, I would spend my life on a fishing vessel. But this book totally converted me. I don't want to be a filthy landlubber, I want to navigate Cape Horn and go aloft to spot Spanish galleons. Land ho!