Coasting: A Private Voyage

Put Jonathan Raban on a boat and the results will be fascinating, and never more so than when heâ s sailing around the serpentine, 2,000-mile coast of his native England. In this acutely perceived and beautifully written book, the bestselling author of Bad Land turns that voyageâ which coincided with the Falklands war of 1982-into an occasion for meditations on his country, his childhood, and the elusive notion of home.

Whether heâ s chatting with bored tax exiles on the Isle of Man, wrestling down a mainsail during a titanic gale, or crashing a Scottish house party where the kilted guests turn out to be Americans, Raban is alert to the slightest nuance of meaning. One can read Coasting for his precise naturalistic descriptions or his mordant comments on the new England, where the principal industry seems to be the marketing of Englishness. But one always reads it with pleasure.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Raban's introspective account of his solo circumnavigation of the British Isles in a 30-foot ketch is a seagoing walkabout, somewhat reminiscent of Paul Theroux's The Kingdom by the Sea: a journey around Great Britain (LJ 10/15/83) . It is a personal journey, an effort to come to terms with his native England and his perception of what it is, or should be, and his place in it. The book is also an attempt to understand his relationshippast and presentwith his father. We see the events leading up to the Falklands episode set against the memories of his growing up. We visit the coast of England as he describes his various ports-of-call, the people he encounters, and his experiences in port and at sea. An interesting book for public libraries. Susan Ebershoff-Coles, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.