It tells the story of Jaff and his seafaring friends and their disastrous maritime adventure. Jaff is born in a poor working class slum, and works in a local hotel cleaning the vessels. Once while on one of his walks he falls for a Tiger on loose, that he tries to touch its nose in turn to get caught in its jaws. That simply implies to his fascination for animals, birds and natural history. He says that is when he was born again. 
Jamrach, an animal collector and an adventurer himself, rescues him and takes him to his unique menagerie of exotic animals and Jaff just finds where he wants to belong. That is when a ship is chartered for Dutch East indies on a mission for Jamrach, and Jaff couldn't resist from signing up for it. Thus begins the ride through the turbulent Atlantic and peaceful Pacific into Dutch East Indies like the good old Jack Sparrow.
They arrive at the Dutch east Indian colony, possibly one of the present Indonesian islands, to capture the dragon(iguanas) and take it back to the ship. Somehow the hell breaks loose after that animal arrives in the ship. A maritime adventure has one thing inevitable, storm and a shipwreck. I was anyways waiting for that to happen. Now that happened in their return journey to Valparaiso. That journey would test their spirit of comradeship and friendship against instincts for survival as the ship gets caught in a deadly maelstrom and is crushed, leaving them to take refuge in two boats against the violent ocean. As their supplies starts running out, so does their sanity. When caught in a calamity, somethings have to be forgotten and some unforgivable choices have to be made for the survival of the most. For the survivors it would leave scars irreparable for lifetime.
I first found this book to be in league with children's adventure book and was wondering how it got nominated for Booker. The characters, apart from few important ones, were rather flat and the story proceeds mostly on the strength of narration. Even then the journey and the menagerie of sailors entertained themselves with wit, songs and hope for adventure. But soon, as the tragedy befalls, and the waters started getting murkier, as the adventure ends and horror begins, the mood of the novel turns darker. The final chapters of Part 2 just shies away from sickening the readers while the Part 3 tries to rehabilitate the shattered spirits. The second half of the book somehow reminded me of the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "Water water everywhere, not a drop to drink". It is an unforgettable adventure.
Jamrach, an animal collector and an adventurer himself, rescues him and takes him to his unique menagerie of exotic animals and Jaff just finds where he wants to belong. That is when a ship is chartered for Dutch East indies on a mission for Jamrach, and Jaff couldn't resist from signing up for it. Thus begins the ride through the turbulent Atlantic and peaceful Pacific into Dutch East Indies like the good old Jack Sparrow. They arrive at the Dutch east Indian colony, possibly one of the present Indonesian islands, to capture the dragon(iguanas) and take it back to the ship. Somehow the hell breaks loose after that animal arrives in the ship. A maritime adventure has one thing inevitable, storm and a shipwreck. I was anyways waiting for that to happen. Now that happened in their return journey to Valparaiso. That journey would test their spirit of comradeship and friendship against instincts for survival as the ship gets caught in a deadly maelstrom and is crushed, leaving them to take refuge in two boats against the violent ocean. As their supplies starts running out, so does their sanity. When caught in a calamity, somethings have to be forgotten and some unforgivable choices have to be made for the survival of the most. For the survivors it would leave scars irreparable for lifetime.
I first found this book to be in league with children's adventure book and was wondering how it got nominated for Booker. The characters, apart from few important ones, were rather flat and the story proceeds mostly on the strength of narration. Even then the journey and the menagerie of sailors entertained themselves with wit, songs and hope for adventure. But soon, as the tragedy befalls, and the waters started getting murkier, as the adventure ends and horror begins, the mood of the novel turns darker. The final chapters of Part 2 just shies away from sickening the readers while the Part 3 tries to rehabilitate the shattered spirits. The second half of the book somehow reminded me of the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "Water water everywhere, not a drop to drink". It is an unforgettable adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment