This is compelling novel reflecting the experience
of being captain of a merchant ship in WW-II convoys.
The main character provides opportunities for the
author to explore the nature of command, and the
author exploits those opportunities well. The
writing itself is strong.

The novel ends with an intrusive antiwar sermon that is
not effectively integrated into the rest of the novel
and which has nothing to do with the overall story.
Good sermon, but not integrated into the story.

Engrossing story with exceptional emotional detail of the North Atlantic in WWII. A courageous mix of seafaring and philosophy about war. Seems to explain passivism to the warrior and war to the pacifist with equal empathy.

Superficially, The Captain is a very well written novel about life aboard a sea-going tugboat pressed into service as an escort vessel for convoys to Brtitain in the early days of World War II. Read at this level, The Captain is a rousing, highly-readable adventure story with interesting, well-developed characters. But there is much more than rousing adventure to this book which skillfully probes many deeply-fundamental matters, including the horrors of war and the true nature of human courage. In my opinion, this is one of the most greatest novels ever written.

During the winter of 1957 I was attacked by the measles and confined to the house for two weeks. My Aunt Mary dropped off a book she thought would interest me. She never new just how much it would.I was transfixed for hours.The descriptions of the indvidual seamans jobs,the day to day art of survival on board ship,how to behave,pack your clothes etc.held me spell bound.It also sealed my fate.Yes,I became a sailor.I never found De Hartogs descriptions over drawn,or over romanticized.Just lyrical. And factual,which is not an easy combination to put together. Much later De hartog would inflence me in other ways,but this the first and most important one.De Hartog writes in the tradition of Conrad.With English as his second language he shapes his sentances with a spareness and ecconomy that more authors should use.

A Sailor's Life is a masterpiece. It is simply wonderful. It leaves the reader ready to run away to sea, for those who have never heard the call of the sea, this book may be the closest they maybe able to come to it...

I am almost embarrassed to give this book stars. I think it is too good for my praise.

I first read this book on the recommendation of a friend in the navy. If he never did me any other favour, I still would be in his debt. For one thing the book is a marvellous read. It is by turns intriguing, blasphemous, enchanting, interesting, intimate, penetrating, romantic, a fine historical series of observations, an unpretentious self-help book, and almost everywhere it is funny. The laughter varies from sympathetic smiles, through cynical chuckles, to hysterical gasping while the tears drip off your chin.

The book suffers from two shortcomings: Its title, while accurate, is uninspiring, and its headings to its topics (about one page each) are down to earth. Who wants to read about hygiene or the ship's carpenter, or pilots, for instance? Trust me, YOU do, even if you do not realise it yet.

It came as a shock to see how poorly known this book is. It is so good and is such good reading, and even so unpretentiously useful, that it should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the sea, or contemporary history, or the human state in a range of enterprises as vast as those that involve the sea.

And if my shouting in your face to read the book does not attract you, then just ignore me and go off somewhere by yourself and do yourself a favour: dip into it and read a page here and a topic there. That is all it should take to hook you.

I absolutely loved this novel!! It is the story of a retired naval commodore who takes journeys of another kind when he decides to take up dousing, and ends his journey with the best discovery of all--about himself! The book deals with spirituality without becoming preachy nor holier-than-thou, as the main character, Martinus, is forced to look at himself as seen through the eyes of a 4th century Roman centurion. Personal relationships, family relationships (and the love and frustration that go along with them) are explored, often with a sense of humor that will leave you laughing and crying at the same time because you will probably recognize yourself (or at least parts of yourself) and your family in his descriptions. As Martinus begins to question his long-held beliefs (not just the religious ones), so too will you.
I have since read other books by this author, but none have the same quality as this book. This is a book that I shall read again and again.

This book is superbly written. The characters are quite realistic. The main character, Anton Zorgdrager, receives a "scholarship" to medical school from the government of the Netherlands in exchange for a commitment to serve several years in the government health service treating pygmies, aborigines, and other natives of Borneo, New Guinea, and other islands in the East Indies. After graduation from medical school, he serves in various jungle settings in the East Indies. There, Zorgdrager meets a series of atheists and Christians (early Salvation Army soldiers). From certain experiences he has in the jungle, Zorgdrager becomes convinced that he has a special gift (sixth sense) that enables him immediately to diagnose early stages of diseases (leprosy, frambesia) that other doctors cannot perceive. This hubris leads him to hypothesize that God does not exist, and the evils of man can be cured simply by the discovery of a "serum of conversion," a drug that will turn its patient into a God-fearing, pious being. Self-obsession and thanatos envelop the doctor, leading to a series of personal missteps in which he foresakes the comforts of civilization for "purification" of his soul, alone in the heart of a terrifying jungle of New Guinea. This book should be a classic in the mold of Hesse's "Steppenwolf," and Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," but inexplicably I've seen no reviews of it on the Internet. This book is quite suspenseful and totally captivating. The reader should beware that one of the characters has what appears to be a dream sequence that lasts for about 40 pages (at around page 150 of the 465-page first edition (1957)) that is difficult to get through because of the incoherence that all dreams usually have. It is well worth the patience and effort to read past the dream sequence, however, because elements of the dream are important to the plot, and the book resumes its steady pace of suspense after dream sequence is over.

This wonderfully rich novel is the story of the passionate, flesh-and-blood men and women who began the Quaker movement in England in the 17th century and of those who settled in Philadelphia one hundred years later.

I received this book unsolicited from a book club during the seventies. The way in which the author presents the struggles of these early Quakers with themselves and the world in which they lived left me with a stronger sense of individual values and the importance of our individual commitment to our own. I have highly recommended this book as a must read since then. There are two sequels which are interesting but lesser works.

In the course of his flowing narrative, De Hartog manages to deal with all sorts of issues surrounding the intersection of religion, daily life and history including:

--is a prophet or founder of a religion anything other than a troublemaker who attracts women and wreaks havoc in society?

--how does "doing the right thing" differ from "being a do-gooder"?

--how does one listen for the voice of God?

--isn't religion absurd in the face of evil?

--what's the deal with religious people who kept slaves?

Not that there are pat answers to these and other questions De Hartog, a Quaker himself, explores in the novel -- sometimes there are no answers at all, just characters who go on with their lives and their work anyhow.

I think the book will be liked by the religiously inclined as well as atheists like myself. Just don't expect another absurdist, postmodern, depressing read, because you won't find it here...thankfully.