Captains Courageous, by Rudyard Kipling

Captains Courageous, by Rudyard Kipling

Brief Summary:

While on his way to Europe to improve his education, a wealthy brat is washed overboard in the North Atlantic, near the Grand Banks. He is saved by a dory-man fishing for cod, and brought aboard the "We're Here." The captain of the "We're Here" doesn't believe the boy is wealthy and presses him into service aboard his cod-fishing vessel, finest in the Gloucester, Massachusetts fleet.

The boy, Harvey, learns about fishing, and sailing, and the virtue of hard work from the captain, Disko Troop, his son Dan, and the rest of the We're Here crew. They have a few close calls but no real peril, and Harvey straightens up and flies right.

When his parents discover he's alive they rush to Gloucester to retrieve him, and Harvey's father is so impressed with the boy's growth that he stops neglecting him and begins grooming him to take over the family business.

Reaction:

The first thing you have to say about this book is that it's a book for a child, not really for an adult. The plot is simple, the lessons simplistic. That said, it was a pleasure to read: the characters are mostly believable and pretty richly drawn; you get a feel for the cosmopolitan nature of the Grand Banks fishing fleet of the 19th century, with all its camaraderie and international stereotyping; and some of Kipling's descriptions are lush and wonderful. To pick a near-random sentence: "There was quite a little bubble at the bows, where some irresponsible Bank current held the dory full stretch on her rope; but they could not see a boat's length in any direction." The picture here is just...nicely drawn.

Further Reading Prompted by this one:
More Kipling, perhaps something a touch meatier
A history of the Grand Banks cod fishery - is there one?