Although Captains Courageous is not a particularly complex story, it is nevertheless rife with concepts that serve as a foundation. It reflects the author's moral philosophy as well as his way of thinking about life. The relatively short novel focuses on 15-year-old Harvey Cheyne, the sole child of an American business magnate, as he grows up. Harvey, a once-pampered youth, learns what the American dream is via his interactions with unspoiled nature, hard work, and common guys, and he prepares himself to achieve it.

The book illustrates enduring American values while being on one level a sea adventure with a joyful ending. Harvey gains respect for hard effort, honesty, and social equality via his exploits. He also develops a sense of adventure, self-reliance, and pride in a task well done. As a result, he is ready to participate in the developing American drama. This is a great work to read as a young boy, but also warrants rereading when you are no longer quite so young. It bears the telltale signs of the great novelist who would go on to write Kim. one of my favorites. ( )

With the exception of the ubiquitous "Rikki-tikki-tavi," I think this is the first Kipling story I've read. I liked it a great deal. The plot concerns a spoiled rich kid who ends up on a fishing boat and learns the values of hard work. There's little of the philosophical baggage that weighed down London in The Sea Wolf; Kipling's only "message" is the promotion of an antediluvian vision of manly self-sufficiency, which is all par for the course in this genre.

The story is brisk and the characters are cheerful but my favorite part of the novel was the actual writing. Kipling's images are crisp and his words are a pleasure to say out loud. It's been too long since I read a book written with such a muscular joy in adverbs. ( )

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Can't quite remember when I read this one, but I thought it was very good. Transformation of a spoiled rich kid into a good, hard-working person under the guidance of a simple fisherman. ( )

A classic coming of age story, set at sea. It's a simple timeless classic full of the prejudices of the era and the author but still well deserving to be read. ( )