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The Voyage: A Novel
List Price: $15.95Our Price: $10.85 You Save: $5.10 (32%)Prices subject to change.
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780679768395
ISBN: 0679768394
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 432
Publication Date: November 14, 2000
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: November 14, 2000
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Review:
The title voyage of Philip Caputo's sweeping new novel commences under exceedingly strange circumstances: in June 1900, Cyrus Braithwaite, a gruff Yankee granite magnate, orders his three teenage sons to board the family's beloved schooner, sail away from their imposing Maine summer home, and stay away until September. His sole explanation for this sudden expulsion: "It's a new century, boys." Puzzled, abashed, but also intrigued by the adventure forced upon them, Nathaniel, Eliot, and Andrew leave behind their privileged WASP childhood and head out to sea--bound, they decide more or less on a whim, for the Florida keys.
Adventures are slow to shape themselves at first, but once the Braithwaite boys enlist the help of blond, worldly wise Yale dropout Will Terhune, the pace quickens considerably. Nat, who serves as skipper, and is also the most naive and most ambitious of the brothers, nearly dies in a bar fight in lower Manhattan. Fourteen-year-old Drew, the seasick-prone family rationalist, discovers a penchant for cold-blooded violence. Caught in a blow off the Carolinas, the boys limp the damaged schooner into Beaufort, South Carolina, their mother's birthplace, where an ancient aunt invites them to dinner and hints darkly at family secrets. Then, about two-thirds of the way in, what has seemed a leisurely coming-of-age story explodes into an elemental drama as a hurricane swallows the boat and spits it out on the desolate coast of Cuba. This, as it turns out, is but the first in a series of terrible reversals.
The Voyage is a departure for Caputo, a former foreign correspondent who made his name with a Vietnam memoir (A Rumor of War), and he does a fine job of conjuring up an age "when both the awareness of death and the hope of salvation were writ on every face." True, his framing device of a present-day Braithwaite descendant delving into her family's secret history is a bit forced and yes, the characters could use more depth. No matter. At some point, The Voyage becomes irresistible. --David Laskin
In the tradition of great seafaring adventures, The Voyage is an intricately plotted, superbly detailed, and gripping story of adventure and courage. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Philip Caputo has written a timeless novel about the dangerous reverberating effects of long held family secrets.On a June morning in 1901, Cyrus Braithwaite orders his three sons to set sail from their Maine home aboard the family's forty-six-foot schooner and not return until September. Though confused and hurt by their father's cold-blooded actions, the three brothers soon rise to the occasion and embark on a breathtakingly perilous journey down the East Coast, headed for the Florida Keys.Almost one hundred years later, Cyrus's great-granddaughter Sybil sets out to uncover the events that transpired on the voyage. Her discoveries about the Braithwaite family and the America they lived in unfolds into a stunning tale of intrigue, murder, lies and deceit.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Very Satisfied
I was very happy with the condition of the book and all of the terms of sale. Nice Work!
joe
Rating:  - Great device for telling an old story
This is a fun read, all the way around. The author has developed a device for filling in the blanks of an old story of three boys (finally 4) on a fascinating trip from Maine down to Key West, and ultimately Cuba. A modern day woman is looking back at her family history, wondering why the boys' father sent them off on this voyage. She admits from the beginning that she must use her imagination to tell what she has discovered, and that helps fill out the story. Her research of old family records ... Read More
Rating: - well written sailing,coming of age novel
Caputo has written a turn of the century (last) adventure Novel.
Rating: - Flawed but fun read
I have to agree with the reviewers that are annoyed by the complicated present day naration at the beginning and end. I most enjoyed the adventure on the seas part, but didn't think the naration integrated well into the story. I was disappointed that it turns into just another disfunctional family saga. As a novice sailor I didn't notice the sailing term errors noted by others.
Rating: - ASTOUNDING STORY with an AMAZING twist
The Voyage is an incredible story of three teenage sons sent off by their father on a journey aboard their boat Double Eagle. The Voyage is an astounding tale about life in the early twentieth century, and also an amazing twist awaits the reader in the end. I was enraptured with the author's skill to weave an incredible story. The secrets they discover are told through Sybil the great grand daughter of their father as she discovers what really happened along their journey. All in all The Voyage is easily ... Read More
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