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I think the thing about ships is, before you factor in the duration, the isolation, the infestation, before anyone can go mad or mutinous, there's open water - a whole ocean of it, and with that several seas-worth of the most nightmarish death one can imagine. I am interested in ships the way I am interested in sharks; I like to be frightened by them. And really, it doesn't take too much really thinking about it before one can conclude that being on a ship is True Horror, because at its core it is inescapable, which is the only thing horror ever really needs to be.
And yet, horrors aside, the book about a ship I am going to recommend to you today is specifically about escape; multiple escapes - on a ship! off a ship! as part of a crew! from a crew! - it's about the human capacity to keep escaping from the most dire situations and then, after getting into a situation that is somehow even worse, escaping some more. The word survival is just not sufficient for what these men have to endure. If this book wasn't non-fiction, it'd be unbelievable, but it’s the best thriller I’ve read in ages.
I'm not going to pretend that absolutely anyone will be interested in David Grann’s nautical non-fiction epic The Wager, because I know I already had an inclination towards this sort of thing, having previously been enchanted by both the TV series The Terror and the Peter Weir adaptation of Master and Commander The Far Side of the World, starring the Gruntasaurus-Rex himself, Russell Crowe.
Midway through reading The Wager I insisted we watch Master and Commander again, just for some visual references to enhance my reading experience, but mostly because it's an absolutely cracking film. What I like about it is the way you can tell Russell Crowe really fancies his character, Captain Jack Aubrey. The way he flicks that long blonde wig around; he loves being this guy. It isn’t the gruelling punishment of playing Maximusdecimusmerridiusfathertoamurderedsonius,1 it's just the joy of being on this big bloody boat, bounding around in a blouse being so relentlessly heroic that a whole gang of men look at you with puppy dog eyes even when you’re sending them to their deaths. And death is never far away; there’s some hideous surgical activity going down on the Surprise (even that sentence - performing an operation, on a moving (filthy) ship?) and there’s always the horror of the seas - the image of the man overboard being left to the thundering waves is seared onto my brain, it is truly haunting. But Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is generally upbeat in the face of adversity. There has to be some good bits about being on a ship, or people simply would not do it, and when I was reading the relentlessly distressing story of the Wager, Russell Crowe’s power poses at the helm of the Surprise, drinking his tiny tea and wearing a big hat by his big wheel, grinning into telescopes, helped me remember that.
By the way the set pieces of this movie are insane. The effects, incomprehensible. Crowe famously said that learning to play the violin for this role was the hardest thing he's ever done, but when you see the music scene he literally seduces himself as well as Paul Bettany so it was probably all worth it. I love this role for Russ, and I wish there had been more of the films made. Crowe was a Proper Movie Star for a moment and this film was surely his wet dream of a role. If you haven't seen the film, or think you have but can't remember it - I'm delighted to remind you it's on Disney+ and you'll need The Big Speakers on. I should point out, the account of the Wager did not inform any of the individual Jack Aubrey adventures, but Patrick O’Brian did write a novel based on its tragic fate in The Unknown Shore,2 ten years before he published the first ‘Master and Commander’ novel. 3
Patrick O’Brian wrote twenty novels about Captain Jack Aubrey's adventures with surgeon Stephen Maturin because he knew one book could only hold so much plot. When it comes to the history of the Wager there is no common sense measure that says This Is Too Much For One Tale; twenty adventures collapse into one disastrous history and it's as readable as the best contemporary thriller. The book isn't even that long, but like those cabins under the decks, it's stuffed with supplies that will raise a ship to life for its reader so violently you'll recoil from its smell. David Grann's work here, like the set building on Peter Weir’s film, is almost beyond the scope of human capability. From an ocean of sources he builds a narrative that is peopled with voices that lurch through history to argue their side of the story. A story of betrayal, murder, mutiny and deceit. It's a page-turner with more historical detail than you would believe your own capacity for, but don't doubt the hunger with which you'll eat this epic up.
I regret to inform you that my other pre-Wager affair with a ship is no longer streaming. The 2018 TV drama series, The Terror, starring everyone's favourite theres-just-something-about-him, Jared Harris, tells the true story of the doomed Franklin expedition, before descending into fictional fun with monsters, based on the 2007 novel by Dan Simmons. Now I know I'm trying to convince you that The Wager is a book for everyone and now I'm going to undercut that with further evidence that I was already secretly Nautical But Nice, but I swear to you, I did not expect to be as thrilled by The Terror as I was. I did not expect to be so galvanised by Master and Commander. My enthusiasm for any of the now three pieces of ship-based storytelling could have happened in any order, they're not informed by each other and do not build as steps to the next. They're exemplary in their wooden-world building; their stories grip with a unique hold; their individual impression, irresistible. I'm saying, if you like one you might like the others, but you don't need to like any to love one.
Indulge me in The Terror for a moment more because should it ever resurface on iPlayer I want you to want to prioritise it. Not only does it have the dashing Jared Harris as Captain Crozier, it has Ciaran Hinds as Franklin, Tobias Menzies playing a character who is so posh his names is James Fitzjames, a who-the-hell-is-that introduction to the spectacularly chilling Adam Nagaitis and a stunning turn from that guy that you think of as Kevin from Motherland but I show respect to by addressing as ‘Mr Goodsir’. It's a revelation; an absolutely harrowing series that kept me under its spell for weeks. I mourned it. I think of its colours often; the deep blue of their uniforms against the terrifying white of snow... the black of the water.
If anyone in Hollywood has got any sense, The Wager as told by David Grann will be adapted for a similarly stunning experience on screen as soon as is financially possible. Grann's previous work - The Flowers of the Killing Moon, is the text behind the next film from Marty Scorsese so I'm sure the conversation is already happening. But, you don't need to wait for the movie, or the prestige serial, because the book is available to you now in an undaunting hardback volume. If the book had been a brick I simply would not have picked it up, assuming it to be too dense with information that I wouldn't understand. But I suppose, and you'll have to forgive me the inevitable here, Grann has assembled this story as a craftsman builds a ship. The materials are so heavy, it seems impossible that it should float, and yet it's a vessel built for speed, elegance is important, it has to slice through whatever wants to delay the journey to its destination. And, impressive tactician that he is, he’s plotted a course that will keep you gripped to the edge of your hammock. A thoughtful Captain too, Grann has stocked the storerooms with provisions for your travels and he rations the information so as not to overface you; everything is lean and taut. When you find yourself in a squall, he throws you the life preservers - reminders of who is who, where is where and what direction you need to be facing to progress. Grann wants you to get there swiftly and in style, armed with the most terrific story he can gift you. That’s called treasure. He’s marked the map for you.
Painful for him, tremendous for me - I love Gladiator
I can’t get a direct purchase link for this title but if you do want to buy it from me drop me an email by replying to this letter.
Teehee, "starring everyone's favourite theres-just-something-about-him, Jared Harris,"
Yes!
I really enjoyed The Terror on tv, but my wife bounced off of it. I haven't read the book because I'd read less positive things about it so it slipped down my list.
I do love a good ship name, though. And all the myriad parts of ships. It's a whole other thing, ship types and anatomy. I read China Mieville's second book after (omg yes) Perdido St Station -- the name of the book escapes me right now -- and it was all SHIP ANATOMY NAME and SPECIFIC SAIL TYPE and THIS TINY BOAT IS FALLED A SPECIFIC THING. It was wonderful. An education in ships that I've duly forgotten now, of course, along with the title of the book.
I'm also already secretly Nautical But Nice! I was surprised by how much I loved Master and Commander so I tried the books and was surprised but delighted by how funny they are! I've added The Wager to my list and I have to ask, have you read Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World's Most Secretive Industry by Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel? It's another non-fiction that reads like a thriller. It starts with the suspicious hijacking of a ship and from then on it's a wild ride with explosions, murder, fraud and pirates! It's one of the best books I've read this year and I tend to struggle a bit with non-fiction. (And there's just enough information about Lloyds of London in there to make me really want to read a history of them because it would be WILD! A bit like 'insurers but make them pirates'!?)