Review
WL Rating
In 1834, a young Richard Henry Dana set out as greenhorn aboard the brig Pilgrim. For the next two years Dana dutifully documented the activities aboard the ship as he served before the mast (a term that refers to the sailor’s quarters in the forecastle of the ship, the area located just ahead of the mast). While I enjoyed this book, it is not a particularly easy read. There is no doubt that Dana possessed excellent writing skills. Unfortunately, in this journal Dana finds no detail, no matter how seemingly trivial, worth omitting. There are numerous passages about the methods for raising, lowering, reefing and securing the countless types of sails on a ship. It gets tedious. Dana also delves deeply into things like local dress, that I found just a bit better than boring. That having been said, there’s much to like about Dana’s book. By far, my favorite sections dealt with the landings up and down the sparsely settled, Mexican-owned California coast. Dana’s descriptions of the surf (a hazard) in Santa Barbara and other California spots paints a romantic picture of an entire coastline with uncrowded, peeling surf (imagine the beauty of the Hollister Ranch, but spanning the distance from Oregon to Tijuana). Passages describing life aboard a ship, including food, discipline, politics, death at sea, etc. are equally engaging, as are the chapters devoted to shore leave activities. It’s also worth noting that while Dana originally wrote the book as a way to highlight the harsh conditions endured by sailors, Two Years Before the Mast ultimately was seen as a classic seafaring adventure. Either way, it’s a great book with excellent content that will pique and hold the interest of readers with a fondness for history. (January 2010)
Two Years Before the Mast - Richard H. Dana
