Tom Cringle's Log
by Michael Scott
On This Page
Description
Born and raised in Scotland, Michael Scott went into the family business as a merchant when he reached adulthood, a role that required frequent sea voyages to Jamaica. Based on his experiences at sea, Scott penned the tale Tom Cringle's Log, one of the earliest nautical-themed novels..
Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This was a "novel" originally serialized for newspapers and then reconstructed chronologically for the book. Perhaps this is why this book felt disjointed to me. Besides being disjointed, it was tedious in many places, especially the conversations with the "natives" in Jamaica. These are the "logs" of Midshipman Tom Cringle from about 1811-1834. This midshipman spent a lot of time on land! The section on yellow fever and the incident where Tom is imprisoned in Germany were the best part(s) of this book. This ebook has languished on my tablet for about 10 years and after 2-3 starts I finally finished. If I had it to do over again, I would not have read it! As far as detail goes, think Dickens on steroids! 576 pages 2.75 stars (it gives a show more "fair" picture of Jamaica/Caribbean during the early 19th century). show less
Finally finished! Parts are very interesting & funny, but getting through the minute descriptions can be boring. Gives a record of Tom Cringle's sea life from the time he first joins a ship to becoming a commander!
"" Tom Cringle's Log " should have one for certain. I hope boys respond now as they once did to the sharks and the pirates, the planters, and all the rollicking high spirits of that splendid book. " --Through the Magic Door, p. 241
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
1898 C.K. Shorter List of Best 100 Novels
100 works; 34 members
F. B. Perkins' List of 100 Best Fiction
100 works; 5 members
150 Best Novels Selected by Brander Matthews (1883)
150 works; 7 members
Author Information
2+ Works 95 Members
Irish-born Michael Scott is one of Ireland's most successful and prolific authors. He has over one hundred titles to his credit, spanning a variety of genres, including Fantasy, Science Fiction and Folklore and audiences writing for both adults and young adults. Scott had been published in thirty-seven countries, in twenty languages. Scott is show more considered one of the authorities on Celtic folklore. His collections, Irish Folk & Fairy Tales, Irish Myths & Legends and Irish Ghosts & Hauntings have remained continuously in print for the past twenty years. Scott is the author of the Series Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Tales from the Land of Erin, Tales of the Bard, and De Dannan. Scott also writes historical novels under pen name Anna Dillon. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Is abridged in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Tom Cringle's Log
- Original title
- Tom Cringle's Log
- Original publication date
- 1829-1833 (Published as sketches in Blackwood's Magazine) (Published as sketches in Blackwood's Magazine); 1833 (First Edition) (First Edition)
- First words
- Dazzled by the glories of Trafalgar, I, Thomas Cringle, one fine morning in the merry month of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and so and so, magnanimously determined in my own mind, that the United Kingdom of Gre... (show all)at Britain and Ireland should no longer languish under the want of a successor to the immortal Nelson, and being then of the great perpendicular altitude of four feet four inches, and of the mature age of thirteen years, I thereupon betook myself to the praiseworthy task of tormenting, to the full extent of my small ability, every man and woman who had the misfortune of being in any way connected with me, until they had agreed to exert all their interest, direct or indirect, and concentrate the same in one focus upon the head and heart of Sir Barnaby Blueblazes, vice-admiral of the red squadrons, a Lord of the Admiralty, and one of the old plain K.B.'s (for he flourished before the time when a gallant action or two tagged half of the letters of the alphabet to a man’s name, like the tail of a paper kite), in order that he might be graciously pleased to have me placed on the quarterdeck of one of his Majesty’s ships of war without delay.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Thus I cut my stick while the play is good, and before the public gets wearied of me; and, as for the Log, it is now launched, swim, or founder; if those things be good, it will float from its own buoyancy; if they be naught, let it sink at once and for ever---all that Tom Cringle expects at the hands of his countrymen is---A CLEAR STAGE, AND NO FAVOUR.
- Disambiguation notice
- First published as a number of articles in Blackwood's Magazine, 1829-1833. Brought together with linking material, and first published in book form in 1833.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 82
- Popularity
- 386,730
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (2.70)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 32
- ASINs
- 9
