by Brandt Aymar
First published 1988
This collection brings together sixty stories of sailors, fishermen, and adventurers who pit themselves against the ocean's fury. Melville's whalers battle leviathans in churning seas. Poe's mariners face supernatural terrors aboard ghost ships. Conrad's merchant sailors navigate treacherous waters and moral storms. London's seamen struggle against Arctic ice and crushing waves. Hugo's characters confront both nature's violence and human cruelty on the water. Hemingway's fishermen wrestle with marlins and their own mortality. The anthology weaves together complete short novels, gripping excerpts from longer works, and historical accounts of real maritime disasters and triumphs. Each selection captures men testing their courage, skill, and endurance against an indifferent sea that can destroy or transform them. The stories span centuries and oceans, from ancient sailing vessels to modern fishing boats, but all share the eternal drama of human will confronting natural force.
Genres: fiction, anthologies, 20th-century, adventure, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: human-endurance, man-vs-nature
Setting: Arctic, Oceans
Period: Centuries, Modern
640 pages · Hardcover · Crown