Far Tortuga: A Novel

Though Peter Matthiessen is great, this book is written entirely in broken up dialect, it’s a bit difficult to get into the rhythm of the text.It’s difficult to read.If you’re looking for a “ tropical” novel, I suggest: Don’t Stop The Carnival, Islands in the Stream or Island in the Sun.

This book, in my experience of reading it, is not what I would call, essentially, a novel at all. Rather, it is an extended imagistic prose-poem, exquisitely reminiscent of "The Rime of The Ancient Mariner" more than anything else, with the Romantic lyricism of Coleridge's poem replaced by striking, crisp and mordant verbal snapshots of the sun-bleached Caribbean Sea.I don't think I'm giving anything away here by saying, just as when reading the first lines of Coleridge's poem, from the first pages of Matthiessen's book, one is gripped by an eerie sense of mortality and doom, a sense which only welters ever deeper as the rattletrap turtle-fishing expedition wends its way through a world that is both a dreamed world and the real world. The book, like all art, annihilates any distinction between the two. Passages such as this one become more frequent:"The wind rises through the night to fifty knots or better. Intermittently the sky is clear, and the masts of the rolling vessel carve great circles in the stars. The hull squeaks and bangs with strain. Where the ocean crashes on the reef, wind and waves are lost; there is no time, no space, but only the chaotic rush of the dark universe."The only reason I'm giving the book four rather stars than the superlative five is that somehow the dialogue doesn't flow, at times, like it seems to me it should. Too often, I felt that I was listening to Matthiessen himself, his voice thinly disguised beneath a dialect, regaling me with the lore of the old turtle fishers from days forever past. I have the same problem with Coleridge and his mariner.But, otherwise, this is a stunning work, not to be missed. Like Coleridge's poem, it triumphs despite of, or indeed because of the wrack and ruin it chronicles:"The bird raises its wings, and the wind lifts it; it flies away westward, into bright wastes of ocean afternoon."

Far Tortuga is powerful and compelling. Loved it, loved the different voices of the men and the tension between them. I found the almost total lack of attribution of who was speaking to be difficult though and sometimes I was distracted wondering who was speaking.

The book is a compelling window into the lives of a motley crew of crusty old and young salts trying to make a living catching sea turtles as the decline of sea life in the Caribbean makes life harder. Time passes, lives come and go, and the weather changes. How different from them are we, really?

This book has not received deserved recognition by those who identify our "great novels," primarily it seems because in the early pages it requires extra attention to determine who speakers are. This must be done and the clues are always there and there's even a dramatis personae of sorts, with the ship's manifest. But you need to read these opening pages slowly and carefully. Once you get to know the characters you find their interactions are truly engaging and often hilarious. When first published, a New York Times critic panned it, said boring, and so forth. The man no doubt has a decent IQ, but totally missed the boat by trying to skim this powerful piece of writing and not doing his share in bringing it to life. Far Tortuga is a "deep" book but also a fascinating story. It will be "discovered" in time, much as was Moby Dick--but hopefully it won't take as long.JM

Like all Peter Matthiessen's works this is deep and insightful. To me he is one of the best authors in the last hundred years. Some cannot get into his writing however. Once the reader lets go and allows the idiom to overcome him the reader is not merely reading any more but becomes part of the story. I have read At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Far Tortuga and Shadow Country and was not able to put any of them down. Having spent time in the jungle, in Caribbean Central America and living in South Florida made it even easier for me to visualize his descriptions. Any mature serious reader cannot help but be left stunned by his writing. If you have not read Peter Matthiessen you have not read the some of the best of American Literature. You will be haunted years after you finish reading.

A poetic yet stark journey of ordinary, poor men trying to make a living from the sea, living a life that died long before.There is a recurrent lament of the modern days and how nothing is the same: not the men, not the work, not the world.A haunting picture of life working hard on a derelict old boat trying to defy the decay of the men, the boat, and their lives.The only error I noted was they kept raising the jib on their catboat, which has only one sail and no jib. Otherwise, a vivid picture of old ships, the ever changing sea, and desperate men.Probably 15% too long but worth every minute.

Tough read given the dialect. Ending caught me by surprise. Left me thinking. Didn’t start a new book for a couple days I was thinking about it so much. Recommend.

This is a book which will linger and linger in the mind provided you can stick with the opening chapters - the time it takes to get used to the patois in which the book is written. But five stars if you can stay the course.

Unusual book. Started reading his fiction with his last book In Paradise. Terrific book. Immediately followed it up with Shadow Country which again was a great book. The next book was Far Tortuga which was an equally compelling read. Will definitely read his remaining books of fiction - At Play in the Fields of the Lord and his collection of short stories On the River Styx. I was under the impression that he was mainly a writer of non fiction having read Snow Leopard and Tree where Man was Born which were great books. I find his fiction to be equally great, unique and original.

I ordered this book when I was ordering another by the same author. It use to be in our library and every few years I would take it out to read again. It is like reading a poem. Somehow Matthiesen is able to make the characters have so much personality in their speaking style that he can omit the..... he said....she said aspect. I enjoyed the story but loved the format and that is why I bought the book that our library no longer has to loan.

For me it was difficult to follow. I think I could not grasp the format, a story in poetry perhaps? I saw what was intended, but I had a hard time with it and could only stay with it for about 50 pages. :-(

Came a little damaged