The Perfect Storm – Sebastian Junger
Shakespeare was not wrong when he invented the phrase, ‘Oft expectation fails where it promises the most.’ The Perfect Storm promises a lot. There are umpteenth critical praises and recommendations splashed over its opening pages, still it delivers unsubstantially. In terms of sales and popularity this novel has created landmarks but when it comes to reading it is not enthralling. There are reasons attached.
If you ask me, ‘Where would I like to be when there’s a storm raging outside and why?’ my answer would certainly be, ‘In the eye of the storm, that’s where the whole action is!’ Jokes apart, The Perfect Storm is a true story of men against the sea. It is about the power and rage of the sea and how insufficient men are against the fury of nature.
Based on a real life incident The Perfect Storm is considered a piece of journalism. Sebastian Junger, a freelance journalist tries to recreate the last days of a six-man crew of the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat. Junger belonged to a different world when he started work on this book. Naïve to fishing terminologies he was the odd one out at Gloucester. Armed with nothing but determination he managed to rope in the family members of the perished crew after much persistence to recreate this account.
The storm that hit North America’s eastern seaboard in October 1991 was termed as ’’the perfect storm’’ because of the rare combination of factors that created it. For everyone else, it was perfect hell. The Perfect Storm builds slowly to its tragic end. The book weaves the history of the fishing industry and many other sea terminologies. One gets to know a lot many sea terms and fishing technicalities, which definitely is an advantage. Junger has done a remarkable job and used comprehensive narration technique to explain the coming together of the forces of nature and the human spirit.
A tempting book The Perfect Storm moves in spasms. At times it is engrossing and difficult to put down. And then there are a few pages, which tend to get on your last nerve. Nothing major happens in those pages and gives us an idea that Junger is simply filling in the pages.
With much promises attached it can be considered a great book but because of entirely different reasons. Since it is based on a true incident and without any survivors to recount the tragedy adds empathy. Readers want to share the grief with the family members of the dead. Junger does not bring in any fictionalized characters or describes the perfect storm. He simply lets the readers picture the horrors of the actual storm by recounting and comparing tales of less powerful storms and its survivors.
Now what can be said of a book which starts on the following note:
How do men act on a sinking ship? Do they hold each other? Do they pass around the whisky? Do they cry?
This man wrote; he put down on a scrap of paper the last moments of twenty men in this world. Then he corked the bottle and threw it overboard.
This introduction is about a ship Falcon that sank. A crewmember overboard during the last moments scribbled all he could on a piece of paper and threw it overboard. The corked bottle was discovered a year later.
The book is recommended for those looking for a piece of factual adventure, which turns tragic. It is definitely not a fun book. There is no amount of fiction used in this novel and thus even more connecting.