Outerbridge Reach

Rating:
Summary: Solo circumnavigation in small sailboats ...
Review: Definately a haunting book. I am surprised that none of the previous reviewers mentioned the incident that inspired this book: The events of the first solo round the world sailing race in 1968. Outerbridge Reach is one of a number of books that followed "The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst" which first brought to light the events that inspired Robert Stone to write Outerbridge Reach. Those readers in the sailing/racing/crusing communities will easily recognise the connection. After reading Outerbridge, I want to read the Crowhust story even more (as soon as I find a copy). Many other Stone readers may want to do the same.

Rating:
Summary: Stone has worked his magic once again
Review: How does Stone do it? In this book, he has taken a decent plot about a man attempting to sail around the world and filled it with so much philosophical reflection and relationship analysis that it becomes absolutely unforgettable. Anne is remarkably well-written, with honest human emotions and flaws, and Owen and Strickland both serve as great examples of various extremes of the human character. I particularly loved the aspects of the book dealing with Owen's relationship with his daughter and Anne's relationship with her father. While Outerbridge Reach is undeniably disturbing, it is an incredible tale that deserves to be read over and over.

Rating:
Summary: Not much of a sea story
Review: I didn't enjoy this book, even though I'm partial to sea stories. There is not a single likable, admirable character in the book. I don't think the author, Robert Stone, has spent much time sailing or knows much about the sea. I would not recommend this book to anyone interested in reading sea stories. Actually the sailing material does not play a large part in the plot and is not convincingly portrayed.

So what then is it about? It seems to be about the misery of modern American life. Stone wants his novel to be deep and epic but it is just depressing and dorky. The symbolism and ideas are mostly shallow. There's obscure religious undertones that made no sense to me. The parent/child relationships portrayed in the book are utterly banal and ugly. I found no humanity at all in any of the relationships.

And consider the title-"Outerbridge Reach." Outerbridge Reach is supposed to be an area in New York Harbor where derelict boats lie (get the symbolism?). But I think the author wanted to title his story "Outta Reach" and came up with this 'clever' twist on the title instead. Basically what the book is about is how fulfillment, love, and happiness are outta reach. If you like this kind of depressing thing, you'll love this book. I don't and I didn't.

Having said all this, I must admit that I did read the entire novel which I don't usually do if I dislike a book. The reason I read on is that Stone writes well and has an elegant and interesting prose style. He knows how to skilfully pace a story. It's a shame that his talent is wasted on such negative content.

Rating:
Summary: Starts strong, then falls apart
Review: I liked this book very much when I started reading it. The authors' characterizations of sailing were right on the money. The characters and plot start out interesting but it seems the book was rushed to a sloppy and confusing ending that left me dissatisfied and wanting more. I kept waiting for somthing to tie things together, but it never happened.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of American literature.
Review: I've read this novel four or five times and consider it one of the best works of fiction by an American writer. The prose is simply perfect - not a false note or glob of fat. The characters have positive and negative qualities that make them believably human - but Stone finds a mote of corruption that he spins into consequence. Owen Browne's flaw is a penchant for glib surfaces - he is a PR man - and he is undone by a boat that is PR perfect but deeply flawed; his tragedy unfolds slowly while he is isolated at sea and the ship reveals itself. Strickland is a brilliant documentary filmmaker with an unfailing instinct for "the lie" and insufficient wariness of the perils of his clear-eyed objectivity. The novel confronts American situations - the Vietnam War, American capitalism, American documentary news. And so on - to the chagrin of readers on this board who were unprepared for Stone's realism. If you don't like realism of the Balzac variety, you won't like this book. But I consider it, along with A Flag for Sunrise, to be a masterpiece of the very highest order. And Stone's other books partake of all his virtues as a writer - less impressive only because they lack the felicitous focus of these two books. Stone writes a book every five years, so his oeuvre is modest: you can pile them on your nightstand and work your way through them over a winter. But begin with Outerbridge Reach. It reaches through surfaces to the corruption underlying ideals - personal and national - as surely as A Scarlet Letter and Moby Dick.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of American literature.
Review: I've read this novel four or five times and consider it one of the best works of fiction by an American writer. The prose is simply perfect - not a false note or glob of fat. The characters have positive and negative qualities that make them believably human - but Stone finds a mote of corruption that he spins into consequence. Owen Browne's flaw is a penchant for glib surfaces - he is a PR man - and he is undone by a boat that is PR perfect but deeply flawed; his tragedy unfolds slowly while he is isolated at sea and the ship reveals itself. Strickland is a brilliant documentary filmmaker with an unfailing instinct for "the lie" and insufficient wariness of the perils of his clear-eyed objectivity. The novel confronts American situations - the Vietnam War, American capitalism, American documentary news. And so on - to the chagrin of readers on this board who were unprepared for Stone's realism. If you don't like realism of the Balzac variety, you won't like this book. But I consider it, along with A Flag for Sunrise, to be a masterpiece of the very highest order. And Stone's other books partake of all his virtues as a writer - less impressive only because they lack the felicitous focus of these two books. Stone writes a book every five years, so his oeuvre is modest: you can pile them on your nightstand and work your way through them over a winter. But begin with Outerbridge Reach. It reaches through surfaces to the corruption underlying ideals - personal and national - as surely as A Scarlet Letter and Moby Dick.

Rating:
Summary: Useless AND Tedious
Review: It took me almost a year of off-and-on reading to finish this book. In most stories, there is at least one character that you can identify with - even if it isn't the author's intended goal. In this book, they are all pathetic losers on a fast track to Nowhere Land. To call this a monumental work is laughable. The story moves like sludge until the very end, then becomes simply forgettable. If you enjoy being abused with other people's dysfunctions, go for it. Otherwise, don't bother.

Rating:
Summary: A Disillusioning Waste Of Time
Review: Nicely drawn characters; good writing; different and compelling story. Why don't I like it, then? Because of what the author did with these things. It ends in disaster and proves nothing. Afterwards, I find that this novel lingers in the mind like a bad taste in the mouth. I wish to God I'd never read it.

Rating:
Summary: Truth and Consequences
Review: Owen Browne is a decent man. Husband (to the beautiful and complicated Anne), father of one, Annapolis grad, Vietnam veteran. A patriot. A solid, privileged, upper middle class lapsed protestant who writes bland copy to sell mediocre sailboats. A man of rectitutde who believes in the power and beauty of Truth with a capital "T". Good citizen Browne. A square. When the young dilettante owner of Browne's parent company absconds with the corporate treasury, Browne volunteers to take his place in a much-hyped round the world sailboat race. Solo. Documentary filmmaker cum artiste Strickland is hired on to tell the story of the race, Browne to film the ocean shots himself, and immediately sets about trying to artistically undermine Browne and the entire venture. Strickland fancies himself as a sufferer, one whose vision is so clear and accurate, so "truthful", that the world punishes him for destroying illusions. In reality, he's an annoying gnat of a man who will lie, cheat and steal in the name of his "art". Strickland and Anne Brown fall in love and some of Stone's best writing concerns the psychological and philosophical interplay between the two. Meanwhile, out in the middle of the ocean, neither Browne nor his vessel is up to the task. Browne descends into a solipsistic nightmare that ends in a tragedy that changes all involved.

"Outerbridge Reach" is not a classic man vs. the sea tale although there are many vivid action scenes. The plot is so nuanced and the characters, particularly Anne Browne, so finely drawn that the narrative is seamless, real and true. Compelling intellectual fodder wrapped in a good story; an unbeatable combination from a master craftsman.

Rating:
Summary: Solo circumnavigation in small sailboats ...
Review: Robert Stone proves once again that he is a master of the modern condition as well as an amzing storyteller. He remarks profoundly upon the dissolution of American idealism after the Vietnam conflict, the cynicism that has replaced it, and the elements that result from the juxtaposition of conflicting ideologies. Also, it's one hell of a man against the sea adventure. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in rousing fiction that is, as always with Robert Stone, deeply moving and thought provoking.