Wednesday, April 01, 2020

Book review - "The Lonely Sea" by Alistair MacLean

Solid collection of writings from MacLean. Some of the later short stories aren't that great but this includes the short story that attracted the interest of Ian Curtis, "The Dileas" - that's about some fisherman who discover a raft where kids are strapped to it. This is very good.

There's quite a few non fiction pieces, mostly about sinking of various boats during World War Two - MacLean has a gloomy interest in these. They are well done. There's also an account of the sinking of the Bismark.

The essay at the end "Alistair MacLean on the Rewards and Responsibilities of Success" is interesting. I wish there had been more autobiographical stuff along this line.

This isn't a masterpiece but it has some memorable moments and it was great to read after the slog that was Floodgate.

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