Playing in the sand by the skeleton of the Peter Iredale on summer vacation trips to the Oregon Coast, my brother and I would try to outdo each other with who could make up the most horrifying shipwreck story. In our games, it was always night; with fifty-foot waves; and the ship’s captain usually got eaten by sharks. Then the pirates would show up. Now, when I go to the beach, I still like to take a good, spine-tingling shipwreck story or two to read.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
While not the first tale of shipwreck survival ever published, (the Crusoe character is believed to be based on the true story of Alexander Selkirk) Defoe’s fictional account was so influential its title is now synonymous with the genre.
Island of the Lost: shipwrecked at the edge of the world by Joan Druett
In January of 1864, the Grafton was returning to Australia from a prospecting expedition in the South Pacific. The ship wrecked and the five men aboard were stranded on the southern tip of a small island near New Zealand. Five months later, the Invercauld also sank, leaving 19 survivors stranded on the north end of the same island. Neither group knew of the other’s existence. The Grafton survivors worked together: hunting, building shelter and eventually getting all five safely off the island. The Invercauld survivors fought with each other, never successfully made plans for being stranded long-term, and eventually turned to cannibalism. Only 3 survived. Druett is a maritime historian and an outstanding writer, and she weaves a vivid tale from diaries, letters and newspaper accounts.
The Terror by Dan Simmons
In 1845 the two ships of the Franklin Arctic Expedition entered the Arctic waters of northern Canada in search of the Northwest Passage. Neither of the ships and none of the 129 members of the crew ever returned. Simmons’ novel imagines what happened. Spoiler alert: The Terror doesn’t just refer to the name of the ship.
South: a memoir of the Endurance voyage by Ernest Shackleton
Shackleton’s own account of his failed attempt to trek from one side of Antarctica to the other, doomed when his ship became trapped in pack ice, leaving him and his crew of 28 shipwrecked in Antarctic waters. One of the most famous true stories of shipwreck survival.
The Unforgiving Coast: maritime disasters of the Pacific Northwest by David H. Grover
Grover describes 9 of the most harrowing shipwrecks to take place between northern California and Vancouver Island.
And of course I can’t write about shipwrecks without mentioning the Titanic:
Lost Voices from the Titanic: the definitive oral history by Nick Barratt presents the story of the Titanic entirely through first person accounts from the survivors and other documents and primary sources.
-Amy
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Coming very late to Toni Morrison, I recently read and listened to 3 of her books in a row (Paradise, Tar Baby and Beloved). While I cannot say with certainty that I particularly understood any of them (even after watching one in movie form), I truly enjoyed the journey. For me her writing style is very atmospheric and sharp, and seems more like singing than writing. I will definitely seek out more of her titles. I believe she could write a 500-word essay on carpet fibers and leave me wanting more.
