The weather part of this story was very good. I found the human story too tragic, which made the book hard to enjoy, hence the three stars. ( )

The weather part of this story was very good. I found the human story too tragic, which made the book hard to enjoy, hence the three stars.

Synopsis:

The Perfect Storm deals with the lives of the men who were swallowed by the sea while swordfishing on the Andrea Gail, along with their relatives and other aspects related to the disastrous event that occurred on October 1991, off the coast of Massachusets.

Personal opinion:

Sebastian Junger does a terrific job putting the Andrea Gail and the fishermen into context. First he describes the reader the kind of life a long time fisherman lives; he dwells on their relatives (parents, partners, friends) and the places they live, creating a good background before riding the boat to its final destination.

The chapters describing the storm are thrilling, and you can't help but holding your breath and read faster just to know what's going to happen next. I'd say that this is one of the main virtues of this book: although you might know how it all ends, the narration is nerve-racking: it keeps you intrigued all the time, and it draws as clear a picture of the storm that you find yourself in the middle of the severe storm that caused the tragic accident.

Some chapters might be a little too technical for my taste, though. Interesting as they are, the parts where the author dwells on the weather conditions and some technicalities about boats might be a little too long. On the other hand, I liked a lot the testimonies of the people who suffered the life of their loved ones until the end.

In addition, I'd highlight the way in which the author wrote about how it would have been to be on the Andrea Gail during the storm. His technique here was to interview people who had survived in similar situations and mix this information with what little is known about the shipwreck and its circumstances; guessing what could have happened out there, eventually. Again, thumbs up for Mr. Junger.

I also loved the part when the author explains how he came to meet the relatives of the men who died on the Andrea Gail, at the town of Gloucester. This part is terrifying, because all along the book you realize that The Perfect Storm is as real as it gets; but this is the ultimate proof that the facts are genuine. Certainly, the book feels like a complete TV report on the event. ( )

In the last couple years I've read two other maritime disaster books: In the Heart of the Sea by Nethaniel Philbrick and In Harm's Way by Doug Stanton, and although this book was a fast read and engaging, I didn't find myself as involved with the characters as in the other books.

Perhaps it was simply aptly titled. It was, to me, indeed a book primarily about a storm, more than it was a book about the people in it. Though they figured prominently in the telling of the story, the other two were stories of survival and death. . .this book read like it was just a story of a sinking. ( )

Great story telling - character, detail, tension.

Author photo is a bit spooky, like a zombie football player. ( )

Junger is one of the premier non-fiction writers working. Well written, very readable, and emotionally engaging. ( )

It's OK to admit it -- you watch "The Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel. It's just something about the danger and romance of the sea, and the grit and pride of the men and women who work the waters for a living. The movie made from this book was OK, but only because of George Clooney. The book will blow you away (pardon the pun).

I picked this up because I had read an autobiography of a woman who captained a commercial swordfish boat & it mentioned a movie made from this book. The author paces the account of a ship lost at sea with facts about weather, fishing, and other shipwrecks. I’m still trying to imaging 100-foot waves… “”She’s a beautiful lady,” one guy said, jerking his thumb oceanward out the bar door, “but she’ll kill ya without a second thought.”" (p. 293) A chilling adventure.

This book just didn't grab me the way I expected that it might. ( )

For title #4 I chose to watch the video version of the story for the second time. The first time I watched this movie I did not know the true story of what had happened on the Andrea Gail during that storm. I am a huge fan of George Clooney, so I enjoyed this movie because he was in the picture. Even through I knew the true ending, to the very end I thought George would survive.

This book documents the fates of several people who had the misfortune to be at sea during the "perfect storm" -- a storm that became unexpectedly big and powerful due to the alignment of several weather systems. The primary story is the fate of the Andrea Gail, a fishing vessel that gets lost in the storm. Other stories of those who encountered the storm -- including a thrilling Coast Guard rescue -- are also chronicled. Junger does a good job of telling a true story in a novelistic way, and his description of what probably happened to the crew of the Andrea Gail is haunting. Like Alive described above, this book was made into a movie (this one starring George Clooney -- swoon)! ( )

A chilling and heart quenching diary of families not being able to put closure to the deaths of the five seamen who lost their lives to nature’s most horrendous weapon. The catastrophic account uncovers the dangers of the sword fishing business.

The Andrea Gail was a sword-fish fishing vessel.

Good nautical story where you learn about boats, fishing, swordfish, Gloucester, some history, and meteorology. Strong character development. ( )

The Perfect Storm started out as an article in Outside magazine, where Junger was an occasional free-lance contributor, although his day job was a lumber jack and waiting tables. When he wasn't slinging an axe or chops, he expanded the original article into a book, his first, published in 1997 when he was about 34 years old. It did well on the New York Times list and quickly went on to a big-budget star-powered movie. The natives of Gloucester, the New England fishing town at the center of the story, gave it a positive reception, which for Junger was its highest praise. In fact it made some of them famous, Linda Greenlaw went on to write her own book The Hungry Ocean.

Stylistically the success of the book is remarkable because the final moments of Andrea Gail, the climax of the book, are a mystery. Jungler says it was "journalism by analogy". But the effect works well by lending the account authenticity while engaging the readers imagination to fill in the blanks, making it all the more terrifying. In addition it lends a great deal of sympathy and compassion to the friends and relatives of the dead, who also live with the unknown and terrors of the minds eye. Most non-fiction authors would have no problem interjecting some fictional dialog or scenes to make the book more readable, but it would have been a lie, the truth is unknown and it showed a great deal of integrity on Jungers part to take the high but more risky and difficult road.

Of course the book is about the storm, and not just the Andrea Gail. Probably the most riveting part of the book concerns the Air National Guard helicopter that forced landed in 100 foot seas. The details of this are well documented and Junger is thus able to sustain a strong narrative without falling back on tangents, or "analogy," as he does in the Andrea Gai story - which happens to make up four-fifths of the book. Thus some of the most popular complaints by readers is that it doesn't flow well and has awkward anecdotal tangents breaking up the storyline. However for anyone with a natural curiosity with how things work (fishing, boats, rescue), this type of braided narrative - common in creative non-fiction these days - is perfectly normal.

Overall I'm impressed with the books integrity and compassion. The writing is workman-like, dense like a magazine article but not stylistically original, except for the effective use of journalistic analogy to tell a story.

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2008 cc-by-nd ( )

http://spwebdesign.livejournal.com/54... ( )

This was an amazing book. The writing fairly leapt off the page. ( )

Historical fiction is always an interesting read and this story is exceptional. Junger has the reader relive the experiences of the men on the Andrea Gale as they fight against their demise in one of the most powerful storms in our history. It also delves into the history of fishing dating back to the 1800’s and gives the reader a sense of what the life of a fisherman is like today. An excerpt of this novel is included in our ninth grade textbook for English and is part of Coachella Valley High School’s core literature requirement. ( )

This is the first ever Times Promotion book that I bought and it was incredible. I never thought that I would be overly concerned by this story, had heard of the film and wasn't interested but OMG this book blew me away.
I learned much more about the fishing industry, life at sea on a smallish fishing boat, storms and how it feels to drown than I ever thought I would want to know. And I knew the outcome of the storm and the book, Sebastian Junger makes it very clear, but even so I was routing for them all the way.
I cried at parts and recommended it to my reading group and they cried too. All of them loved it for different reasons and I sent and received an email from the author, who proved himself to be a very kind, polite and charming man. I have read his other book, Fire, which was equally as gripping and I reccommend them both. Outstanding book. ( )

A well told, true tale of the dangers of the sea, focusing on the tragedy of the Andrea Gail and her crew. A book for all, those nautically inclined or not. The story is engaging - you will keep turning the pages. ( )

I admit it, I cried like a baby at the end of the movie. I tried to hold it in while reading the book but it kept reminding me of the movie and I managed to hold it to a few sniffles this time. That being said, I usually always prefer the book to the movie but it was the other way around this time. ( )

I really did not enjoy this book too much. I thought it went way too in-depth about fishing and sea life. I understand they have to paint a picture of what these men faced at sea, but I erally did not care. ( )

Junger, Sebastian. The Perfect Storm. Harper, New York, 1997. Wow! What a great book. It's both a gripping adventure tale, a tragedy, and an excellent piece of non-fiction that covers economics, the fishing industry, meterology, drowning (!), search & rescue

It was the storm of the century -- a tempest created by so rare a combination of factors that meteorologists deemed it "the perfect storm."
When it struck in October, 1991, there was virtually no warning. "She's comin' on, boys, and she's comin' on strong," radioed Captain Billy Tyne of the Andrea Gail from off the coast of Nova Scotia. Soon afterward, the boat and its crew of six disappeared without a trace.
Michael Comments: ( )

This is another case where the movie has almost nothing in common with the book. The book is very readable even when explaining changes in fishing laws, and how changes in boat design can change its bouyency to the training of the Air force
rescue jumpers. ( )

Men at Sea ( )