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Trawler: A Journey Through the North Atlantic

Customer Rating:

Redmond O'Hanlon lost me on this one. There are a handful of fine vignettes of daily life and duty aboard the ship in "Trawler: A Journey Through the North Atlantic." But those few succulent morsels are seriously outdone by a ponderous, rambling narrative, dashed off late at night which he never revisits to polish up, which simply, tires you out. I was disappointed because as an armchair adventurer, this could have been the type of tale I relish. But O'Hanlon's writing here is sloppy and loose, unstructured with lots of tangents that lead to dead-ends. It was too heavy to shake off. I can't recommend this book as a book of its type. There are many other seafaring adventure tales that "tell the tale well." You might glance through this book and find the few juicy morsels but that's it.

Fun, witty, crazy, well-written, crazy, evocative, and crazy

Customer Rating:

I'm typically not a non-fiction fan, but my wife loves "real world adventure" books, and as a result "Trawler" hit my shelf. Now, to put things in perspective, I am a fiction writer, with two books under my belt: one about time travel, and one about zombie chickens (Cluck: Murder Most Fowl), so the fact that I enjoyed this riveting true story about fishing off the northern coast of Scotland should be a clear indicator that there's more here than boring facts and "oh my gosh it's cold out there" adventure prose. O'Hanlon is a master. A crazy master, sure, but a master nonetheless. The above statement that I enjoyed Trawler is perhaps a bit misleading. I LOVED this book. It made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions, and almost makes me want to head out into a Force 12 hurricane in January. Almost. The split-your-sides first-person commentary of the novice seaman Redmond O'Hanlon is interspersed with second-hand narratives of the crew: consisting of bank-indentured skipper; a marine biologist; and your typical assortment of cooks, engineers, fishermen and (to find the one common element among them all) crazy Scotsmen. The facts are fascinating, the adventure is fist-clenching (my copy is permanently warped), and the writing is fast-paced, eloquent, and excellent overall. Five stars for the book. Five more for O'Hanlon himself: if this is even 20% true he has a larger pair than I'll ever carry.

A thrilling and evocative read

Customer Rating:

Though I don't generally read a lot of non-fiction, I'm interested in all things Scottish, and have a fascination with those who've chosen a life at sea. I discovered this book and, once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. It was an engrossing look at the lives of fishermen, and a fascinating character study of some very different men and how they respond differently under such an unfathomably stressful and exhausting experience.

Stay On Shore

Customer Rating:

Yes, yes fellow reviewers, this book is a bit fishy, so to speak, in many respects, not the least of which being the supposedly verbatim accounts of dialogue aboard ship. But, "aye", anyone who's read ANYTHING by O'Hanlon knows that he has to be taken with a few dashes of salt, in this case perhaps a whole shaker. My problem with the book was that O'Hanlon's playing a bit fast and loose with the truth did not make it fun to read, as in his previous books. Indeed, I felt seasick and in need of sleep (though I'd had plenty) after some chapters. So, on the one hand, he DOES do what the trawlermen hope he'll do: Show us what a hell on earth it is like for them out at sea. On the other hand, these sleep-deprived manic ramblings are more than a bit hard on the reader. It's not a very jolly book to plough through, a first for O'Hanlon. So, unless you have some deep and abiding need to know what it's like to be on a trawler in the worse possible weather for days on end with no sleep, or desire to go on a fishless diet for some medical reason, my advice is to pick up one of O'Hanlon's earlier works, such as No Mercy. - I've been on many a deep sea fishing boat and never been seasick. But something tells me, with memories of this book lodged in my head, next time I just might be.

Great book about some really brave men

Customer Rating:

These guys go out in crazy weather to catch the tuna and lobster that we all easily go to the restaurant or grocery and buy to cook and eat. There are always several of these brave sould who lose their lives each year. But it's all about the fish and who can get the most fish, and hoping your family, if you still have one when you return, will come meet you at the dock when you return and be happy to see you. It is better for those that do and pretty depressing for those that don't. I never hear any mention of health insurance or extended time out with pay for a vacation or anything like that. You either go out or you stay home and relax and make no money. It's an interesting crowd to be around. I maay have to go visit the local bar there just to see it for myself!