I appreciated it again as he set his course around Australia and across the Indian Ocean. Around Cape Horn especially, I found this imperative for fully understanding the route he was describing, which is otherwise a bit confusing. Beginning with his voyage up the New England coast, a good atlas will show you the harbours and islands he names along the way and you can follow his progress. It's a fun book to follow along with a map. The rest is mostly descriptions of the course he sets. I read these as the pleasant memories of his stay, the way I might talk about a Carribbean vacation after I'm back at work. Some romanticized descriptions of islands he visits - he was especially fond of Samoa - seem unlikely for being so idyllic. The bulk of the narrative is taken up with describing the people and places he encounters on his voyage around the world. The fact that he wasn't, however, lends the story a humble charm. This journey might have yielded a more gripping tale if its author had exposure to today's dramatizing. Threats encountered are usually acknowledged and dismissed within a paragraph or two. Slocum skims over the risks and dangers of his undertaking more than most writers would. As first suggested when he makes his oh-so-casual decision to undertake the voyage - there must have been more to this? - I think Mr. This book is written in a breezy manner and with some narrative skill, but readers looking for a adventure tale about the rigours of the voyage will only get small tastes of that.

Slocum sailing alone around the world