Sailors on the Inward Sea

by Lawrence Thornton

Book Overview

In a triumphant fusion of fiction and history, award-winning author Lawrence Thornton re-creates a terrible tragedy at sea and takes the reader on an unforgettable voyage through the human heart.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416568360
• ISBN13: 9781416568360
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Lots to like in this novel, written in a unique-device style

Although knowledge of things nautical and the author, Joseph Conrad, and his works make this novel more enjoyable, the work makes for a particularly good read. Written in the first person, Sailors on the Inward Sea takes the reader on a fast-paced voyage that features sojourns in the English Channel, the docks of London a century ago, the English countryside, and exotic ports of call in the Far East. Several twists and turns keep up the pace, and this reader put down the novel anxious to essay several literary routes suggested by the story. Wonderful writing.

beautifully structured and written

Sailors on the Inward Sea is narrated by seaman Jack Malone, Thornton's imagined model for Joseph Conrad's most famous character/narrator--Marlow. In his memoir, written as if told to Ford Madox Ford, a friend common to both Conrad and Malone, Malone details how he became Marlow and what impact this had on his and Conrad's friendship. In its examination of a famous author and how he appropriated story material from the lives of friends and family, Sailors is similar in theme to Colm Toiban's recent The Master, concerning Henry James. My own preference is for Sailors, for several reasons. In both books, a foreknowledge of each author's texts, in this case Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim, without a doubt makes the reading experience a more rich and rewarding one. Because Sailors, however, is less focused so microscopically on the author, a lack of knowledge of Conrad's work has less of a negative impact than I think holds true if one reads The Master without knowing James. Thornton also does a nice job of quoting long passages from relevant works (admittedly such quotes are at times awkwardly introduced) to help the reader out when absolutely necessary. Appropriately for a novel with Conrad as much of its focus, there are layers within layers in Sailors. The book has several stories within stories: Conrad's appropriation of Malone's own stories and Malone's first conversation with Conrad about this, a separate sea tragedy Conrad uses for a later tale, Malone's purchase of the Nellie (the famous ship that opens and closes Heart of Darkness), Malone's tragic love affair, Conrad's funeral, and so on. All of these are neatly layered one within the other, opening up the story at just the right times. They also help to add some compelling interest to a story that could have felt a bit claustrophobic and self-referential. What will happen to the fogged-in ship? What will happen to the captain charged with ignoring the naval code? Will Conrad's use of Malone destroy their friendship? What happened to Malone's girl who is mentioned but never seen? These are simple plot questions that engage the reader beyond the literary and the abstract (another reason I preferred this book over The Master). The writing itself is beautiful, in its evocation of place and scene-the sun going down on a pier, the exotic settings of the East, a fog-enclosed ship moving out to sea-or equally so in its description of binding friendships and their inevitable loss over time. Thornton examines a much wider world, a much more common world than simply that of a famous author and his source material, and every reader, familiar or not with Conrad's work, will feel him/herself moved by many of the scenes. Highly recommended for both Conrad fans and those not particularly familiar with Conrad but simply looking for a wonderfully written and constructed novel.