Tristan Jones

[Guest]

Would someone please enlighten me as to why Tristan Jones is alwyas written of in such derogatory terms. Hers is just one example:- Richard Henderson in "Singlehanding" wrote:

"Two Blue Water medalists have called him a charlatan ... and he sometimes mixes fiction with fact"

Many of the ridiculous comittees of self appointed egos didmiss his claims to have sailed as many miles, or to have achieved what he did (just as they dismissed Tania Abie's achivement).

Is there some general knowledge about Jones I have missed but everyone else is aware of?

 

[VMALLOWS]

I think if you read a few more of his books you will soon realise it is a bit more fiction than fact!... it's even admitted in the later books.... and of course he's from Wales, just like me.

A jolly good read whatever....and I'm someone who would not normally pick up a fiction book. (Love the one on the canals with the gimslip gin drinking girl).

 

[Guest]

Circular tales

Tristram Jones wrote first in the cellar of a warm NY boiler room ... and it sold ... So he wrote more, and as those articles/books sold to both magazines and publishers so the 'circular' diameter got wider.

H, Have I ever told you the story of how I got hijacked in Syria and ended up lo-jacked in Libya?



Nige

 

[Guest]

Not quite

"One Hand for Yourself and One for the Boat" was his third book, written in New York at the same time as he had his leg amputated - in 1979

1977 Incredible Voyage
1978 Ice
1979 Saga of a Wayward Sailor
1982 Steady Trade
1982 One Hand for Yourself etc.

 

[billmacfarlane]

His books do make a good read , but as to their veracity ? Don't think so !

 

[SNAPS]

Re: Not quite

give TJ his due. In One hand etc. he does admit to being hospitalised.


JACKTAR

 

[PaulJ]

I have only read "Incredible Voyage" and I didn't know about his reputation but I haven't read any more of his books simply because there was so much of that book that simply wasn't credible..... but then I suppose I should have taken the hint from the title!

 

[Vasco]

Re: Circular tales

I would like to know if you actually know that he was a fraud or you just heard it somewhere.I'm a great fan of Tristan Jones, and will be a bit disapointed if you can guarantee that the man was no sailor, wich I very much doubt.You know , a lot of people don't think some things are possible because thay can never conceive doing them themselves.

 

[jeanne]

T J Biography

There was biography, published about 15 years ago, by an obvious fan of the author, which ends by by concluding that nothing that he has written can be relied on as fact.
He was not Welsh, he was born in Birmingham. He was not originally called Tristram, at some point in his life he changed his name. He sailed many miles, and some of them held the kernel of the stories he told. Others are pure invention.
I have probably sailed as far as he has, but I have not entertained anyone in the way T J has, and so I hope that this post only serves to alert the reader to the possibility that even when you are curled up with a good book, someone is having you on.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

They are foc'sl yarns, tall tales tinged with enough truth to make believers out of doubters. Great yarns to be read over the winter with a glass of rum in one hand and tongue firmly in cheek.

 

[oldvarnish]

I met him once and found him a straight bloke. His achievements were considersble: he did sail the same boat on the highest water in the world (Lake Titicaca) and the lowest ( Dead Sea).

I imagine the pressure on him to write more best sellers (and the lure of the money) led him into the realms of fiction. Nevertheless, he remains a considerable sailor and deserves credit for that.

 

[Searush]

The heart of a good story is often the incorporation of many different peoples' stories in a single flowing thread. He is very good at that. I love his books & don't care if they are fact, fiction, or most probably, faction.

Edit: OV
I'm distraught, I thought you were him!

 

[jhr]

 

[KristiferColumbus]

Would someone please enlighten me as to why Tristan Jones is alwyas written of in such derogatory terms. Hers is just one example:- Richard Henderson in "Singlehanding" wrote:

"Two Blue Water medalists have called him a charlatan ... and he sometimes mixes fiction with fact"

Many of the ridiculous comittees of self appointed egos didmiss his claims to have sailed as many miles, or to have achieved what he did (just as they dismissed Tania Abie's achivement).

Is there some general knowledge about Jones I have missed but everyone else is aware of?

Are you the same "Guest" that posted in the books forum,if so how do you continue to post this rubbish?

 

[prv]

Are you the same "Guest" that posted in the books forum,if so how do you continue to post this rubbish?

"Continue"? He posted it ten whole years ago!

Pete

 

[KristiferColumbus]

"Continue"? He posted it ten whole years ago!

Pete

Apologies....I have only just twigged how you tell the dates but this still seems to me that it would be more appropriate if it was posted in the books forum & the notion that all authors embellish their tales is also preposterous.To some people the truth is a matter of honour & I certainly would'nt like to say that they are all rotten.

 

[Searush]

Apologies....I have only just twigged how you tell the dates but this still seems to me that it would be more appropriate if it was posted in the books forum & the notion that all authors embellish their tales is also preposterous.To some people the truth is a matter of honour & I certainly would'nt like to say that they are all rotten.

Honour? Rotten? What are you on about? Truth is how you see it. Everyone has different perceptions & different requirements from life.

You can read a dozen Biographies about the same person, but when they are written by different people, it will seem as tho you are reading about 12 different people. There is a long tradition of entertainment in telling stories & presenting them in an inspiring manner. I see little wrong with either concept.

 

[capnsensible]

I think that the problem some have with Arthur Jones is twofold.

Firstly, he presented a lot of fiction as factual events. Thats, well, lying.

The second is that for a lot of people, his books were a bit rubbish!

 

[webcraft]

I think that the problem some have with Arthur Jones is twofold.

Firstly, he presented a lot of fiction as factual events. Thats, well, lying.

The second is that for a lot of people, his books were a bit rubbish!

Embellishing a well-told sea story is not lying - it is in the very best tradition of yarning, and most sailors I know consider his books to be some of the finest of yarns.

- W

 

[capnsensible]

In the Navy I was in, it was called bull**** and he was seen for exactly what he was.

Lots of sailors I know reckon he was rubbish and as Ive spent more time at sea than he ever did I am inclined to agree