Captains Courageous - Softcover

Kipling, Rudyard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0448145960 ISBN 13: 9780448145969

Publisher: Ace Books, 1988

Synopsis

One of Rudyard Kipling’s most enduringly popular works, Captains Courageous is both a stirring tale of the sea and a classic coming-of-age story.

Harvey Cheyne, the pampered fifteen-year-old son of an American millionaire, is sailing to Europe when he falls overboard. Saved from drowning by a New England fishing schooner, he finds his rough new companions unimpressed by his wealth and shocked by his ignorance. He will have to prove his worth in the only way the captain and crew will accept: through the slow and arduous mastery of skills upon which their common survival depends. 

With an Introduction by Marilyn Sides
and an Afterword by Jane Yolen

About this title

From the Publisher

The only one of Kipling's novels to be cast in an American setting, Captains Courageous endures as one of literature's most cherished and memorable sea adventures. Harvey Cheyne, spoiled millionaire's son, tumbles overboard from a luxury liner--only to be rescued by the crew of a Gloucester schooner. Thus begins the boy's second voyage into the rugged rites and ways of sailors. Like all Kipling's masterworks, Captains Courageous is an interweaving of art and moral purpose. Angus Wilson has said that it shows "delicacy of craft and violence of feeling, exactitude and wile impressionism, subtlety and true innocence." A popular favorite since its first publication in 1897, the novel remains a classic story of youthful initiation--and a lively tribute to the author's famous code of bravery, loyalty, an honor among men.

From the Back Cover

At the start of Captains Courageous, one of literature's most beloved stories of the sea, a spoiled rich boy is literally swept away dashed overboard from an ocean liner. Luckily, young Harvey Cheyne is rescued by a passing fishing vessel.As it turns out, Harvey's apparent misfortune in tumbling from a life of pampered luxury into the humble company of a fishing schooner becomes a blessing in disguise. Compelled by the captain to earn his keep, Harvey loses his affectations as he learns the rewards of an honest day's labor amid the gruff and hearty companionship of the crewmen, who teach him to be worth his salt as they fish the waters off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.
Readers of all ages have delighted in Kipling's engaging maritime yarn since its initial appearance in 1897. The author's only novel to unfold in an American setting, this lively tale resounds with Kipling's customary blend of adventure and humor. This attractive new edition, unabridged and inexpensive, offers an irresistible invitation to a master storyteller's enduring tale of a boy's initiation into adulthood.Dover (1999) unabridged republication of a standard edition."

Edition details

• Publisher: Ace Books
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0448145960
• ISBN 13: 9780448145969
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1