johndf
New member
I got a book from the library recently that was so good that I had to go out and buy it - Bill Cooper's 'Sell up and sail'. If you haven't read it and you're even just dreaming of long term cruising, buy it.
Another one I got from the library was just so bad that if the subject matter hadn't been so interesting, I'd have put it down after the first page. It's called 'Knockdown', written by an American called Martin Dugard and is his version of the story of the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race. Almost everything about the book irritated me. The general style is sensationalist, and it's written in true American cowboy style, but for me was the worst aspect was Dugard's obsession for writing down what the yachtsmen's supposed thoughts were during the race. It's bad enough when he does this for people who survived, but when he writes out detailed descriptions of the thoughts of people who died in the race as the pass through their last hours, he just goes too far. The very worst bit must be when he describes the thoughts of Briton Glyn Charles after he has been washed overboard, safety harness broken, and drifts away from the boat to his death. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
So read Bill's book, but leave Dugard's on the shelf - may it gather much dust.
Another one I got from the library was just so bad that if the subject matter hadn't been so interesting, I'd have put it down after the first page. It's called 'Knockdown', written by an American called Martin Dugard and is his version of the story of the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race. Almost everything about the book irritated me. The general style is sensationalist, and it's written in true American cowboy style, but for me was the worst aspect was Dugard's obsession for writing down what the yachtsmen's supposed thoughts were during the race. It's bad enough when he does this for people who survived, but when he writes out detailed descriptions of the thoughts of people who died in the race as the pass through their last hours, he just goes too far. The very worst bit must be when he describes the thoughts of Briton Glyn Charles after he has been washed overboard, safety harness broken, and drifts away from the boat to his death. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
So read Bill's book, but leave Dugard's on the shelf - may it gather much dust.