A very solid collection of short stories from the 19th/20th centuries that all have something to do with the sea. I particularly enjoyed Jack London's "The House of Mapuhi" and Stephen Crane's "The Open Sea", which read like a watercolour painting; I didn't get on with Patricia Highsmith's "One for the Islands" or the last story, Mark Halprin's "Sail Shining in White" (smug; wildly unconvincing dialogue). Definitely one to dip into if you've got a thematic interest in the sea or seafaring. ( )

A pleasant mix of stories but nothing that really made my brain zing. I think I liked the Conrad and Butler stories best. ( )

Personal highlights include the evocative, atmospheric tales by Bradbury, Poe, Stevenson, Crane, and Ballard; and the rich character studies of Lessing, Updike, Conrad, and Dinesen. ( )

The book was passed to me with some stories recommended.
I intended to read a very few before the book went back to the library but actually read quite a lot. One story 5 star (Jack London) and others all the way to 1 star - but a good collection to dip into.

Updike's 'Cruise' was very good. I feel sure I must have read a book by Updike a long time ago but none of the titles sound familiar, I've never heard of the Rabbit series and I didn't realise he wrote the 'Witches of Eastwick'. Has a similar langourous tone to Liz Williams 'Century to Starboard' which also features a cruise.
Kipling's 'A Matter of Fact' was not recommended but I still loved it. Had read it years ago when I was reading lots of Kipling. It's dated since he wrote it, but has a marvelous sense of the deep sea and ends with an interesting take on the media.
There's something wrong with Doris Lessing's 'Through the Tunnel'. Might be well written but to me the vignette is like a description of a painting. The attempt to enter the mind of a boy rings very false to me and the other people who appear are 2 dimensional. Nice descriptions of sand.
Saki's 'The Treasure Ship' Unnecessarily wordy. Shan't bother with anything else he has written.
J. G. Ballard's 'Now Wakes The Sea' - loved it, even if the rich wife's character was treated unfairly. Might have read one of his books back in my teens but none of the titles sound familiar. Shall look out for one in the library.
Mark Helprin's 'Sail Shining in White' is more about aging and death than about the sea. The writing engaged me but not the content - and perhaps all the stories are really about something else than the sea.
Kurt Vonnegut's 'The Cruise of the Jolly Roger' an illustrated lecture - not of much interest to me.
Conrad's 'Youth' was very good. Captivating. Have read this before.
Patricia Highsmith's 'One for the Islands' was wiffle waffle. Good job it was short.
Jack London's 'The House of Mapuhi' was absolutely the best so far. A riveting physical description of a hurricane and a host of interesting characters. I'm in love with Mapuhi's mum [spoiler] who survives on coconuts, reconstructs a broken canoe, nearly paddles it home and swims the rest of the way, fighting off a fifteen foot shark as she goes. A whole book in just a few pages!
Isak Dinesen's The Young Man With The Carnation' DNF. ( )