caine mutiny

caine mutiny

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Wouk, Herman. The Caine Mutiny. New York: Doubleday, 1951.

I read this book before I took on the BookLust Challenge, even before I even knew of Nancy Pearls Book Lust at all. I read it because it was one of my dads favorites (although, when I think back I think he was referring to the 1954 movie version). When a 1951 edition fell into my hands last summer I couldnt resist cracking it open, despite the fact I had always assumed Wouk to be a difficult read. I thought anything and everything he wrote would be filled with technical military terminology; guy fiction adventures I couldnt possibly understand. I was wronger than wrong.

The Caine Mutiny was about a mamas New York boy, Willie Keith, who joined the navy to avoid going into the more dangerous, death-sentence army during World War II. He fancied himself a musician and if it werent for the tour of duty hed been in the bar, entertaining the fun-loving crowd, romancing a beautiful nightclub singer. He skated through practically everything from basic training to active duty. Only when Willies vessel was put through the dangers of a typhoon, and his acting Captain Queeg froze with indecision, did Willie rise to the challenge of assuming command. True, Willie had been growing up all along, but this was a heroic burst of responsibility. This act, among others, resulted in a court martial of Capt. Queeg and led to the most fascinating part of the book. The court-martial finale scrutinized all characters involved in the events leading up to trial so brutally that I was left wondering if assumption of command from Capt. Queeg was really necessary. There was much more to the story than that. such as the incident with the strawberries, but Ill leave it at that. 

BookLust Twist: In Book Lust Wouks Caine Mutiny is mentioned twice, in What a Trial That Was (p. 243) and World War II Fiction (p. 253).

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Post je objavljen 27.12.2007. u 09:55 sati.