Yet another great sea story

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Wednesday, February 2. 2022

Yet another great sea story

The child of a distinguished Boston family, Richard Henry Dana Jr. (born 1815) dropped out of Harvard to try his hand at sea-faring. He sailed out of Boston on a merchantman, headed around the Horn to California (which was part of Mexico at the time).

The result was his classic Two Years Before the Mast. It is written in a journalistic style. He went on to a career as a lawyer and in politics.

As a friend of Herman Melville, who read his book, Dana suggested that Melville do a similar sort of book, but about whaling. Melville did.

Posted by The Barrister in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 17:59 | Comments (8) | Trackbacks (0)

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It's a crackerjack of a book. I remember reading it as a young teenager.

#1 Aggie on 2022-02-02 19:18 (Reply)

Two Years Before the Mast is a great book! It is valuable for its historical information and for insights into the culture of mid 19th century commercial sailing. Glad you referenced it.

#2 EMIL WARREN TURNER on 2022-02-02 20:48 (Reply)

I read it as a young teen also. Great book. For some odd reason, I remember the detail of how they compressed the buffalo hides into the hold of the ship to fit in the maximum amount of cargo to ship back east. Crazy amount of sails on those ships and it must have been very dangerous work up in the rigging.

#3 Eric Peterson (Link) on 2022-02-02 21:07 (Reply)

The story of the whale boat "ESSEX" was also a big contributor to Moby Dick. Recent retelling of the Essex story "In the heart of the sea" was a good book and then a movie last year or so.

#4 sch on 2022-02-02 23:34 (Reply)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l58n7J60XWs

#5 Michael Flournoy on 2022-02-03 03:14 (Reply)

Great book. Read it back in the misty past, half a century ago, once I had acquired a sufficient knowledge of English. Funny thing, though, I never quite understood the full meaning of "before the mast" until I started to burrow through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin magnum opus.

#6 Michael on 2022-02-03 06:44 (Reply)

Excellent book. I read it again this past year. The cowhides were apparently quite valuable. The indentured servitude of the preparers is often overlooked in memories of the book, but figured prominently in the story.

#7 tim ferrell on 2022-02-03 09:24 (Reply)

I live right up Harbor Boulevard from the coastal town of Dana Point, CA, named after the author. Thank you for sharing the story. I need to add the book to my reading list.

#8 Harmon Ward on 2022-02-03 18:19 (Reply)

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Wednesday, February 2. 2022

Yet another great sea story