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Rating: 
Summary: A timid tome from a timid traveller
Review: As a simple account of one man's voyages, this is barely acceptable. On the other hand, great disappointment awaits those who, like me, bought this book in anticipation of an in-depth insight into travel on cargo ships. McCamish writes badly, and is seemingly concerned more with destinations than getting there. Even then, he resorts frequently to quoting the descriptions, often archaic, that others have written about various ports. He is overly concerned to the point of immaturity with a romanticised notions of barnacle-encrusted sailors brawling in bars where scared civillians like he fear to tread, and other cliches attached to men of the sea, and is then disappointed when he can't find them.
Throughout the reading of this I hoped he'd stop his moaning and nervous uncertainty, get on a plane, and go home.
It's the worst book I've struggled through in a long time. And I learnt next to nothing about travel on cargo ships.
Rating: 
Summary: Life, literature and a ship of fools
Review: McCamish sets out from London to India on several ships (and some planes) with a mission to immerse himself in an obsolete idea of ports: the edginess of port towns, their last-chance saloons, their toothless old salts. Has the romance of sea travel vanished from towns built from the dregs and riches of the sea? The answer, in this warm, engrossing story, is a qualified no. As he makes his way from Marseille to Cape Town to Cochin, India on various cargo ships, McCamish gradually accepts that the days of adventures before the mast are over, but finds that the workaday tedium of modern container ships has been amply filled by a bizarre cast of lonely sailors, prostitutes, missionaries and mystical drunks. The strength of this book lies in McCamish's dry humour and his passion for his subject. There are some great lines and some lovely writing, evoking the atmosphere of the empty sea, the pleasures of a long journey, and the comedy and dignity of the ordinary sailors he meets. This is a journey begins with travellers' nostalgia and ends in a celebration of real life at sea in the 21st century. Highly recommended to armchair travellers.
Rating: 
Summary: A Lackluster Excursion
Review: More often than not, travel literature is sparked by the imagination. That reality rarely coincidences with the imagination is more or less to be expected in the genre. As long as the journey is inquisitive and interesting, the reader remains satisfied. What is less successful is when a writer's imagination exceeds their own verve and boldness, as in this lackluster tramp through ports of the Mediterranean, around Africa and into the Indian Ocean. Australian writer McCamish embarked in search of the "idea of the port", a restless place on the edges of civilization, where cultures meet to trade, and the dregs of society cluster. He prepares us for disappointment by admitting up front that this kind of port "may have already disappeared," but proceeds to book passage on several cargo ships. It doesn't take long for him to realize that in the era of the container cargo ship, ports no longer carry much sense of adventure-or at least, not as far as he's willing to pursue the matter. For, even though he's enamored with the idea of dingy dockfront bars full of brawling sailors and women of ill repute, he shrinks from any contact with them. Bemoaning the absence of any "characters", he is too timid to place himself in the kinds of situations where he might meet interesting people with stories to tell. Constant references to calling his wife back home give the sense that he took this journey about a decade too late in his life. It also doesn't help that he can't get ashore at a number of stops due to bureaucratic hassles or the obstinacy of the ship's captain. Which is not to say there aren't some interesting stories and some amusing characters. The snippets of history and tales from other sources are woven in rather well, and life aboard a massive cargo ship is moderately interesting for a while. At the beginning and the end, McCamish is joined on his trip by friends, and these parts are noticeably better for the addition of another perspective. Eccentric sailors, stewards, and captains fill up the middle, but there's little made from the potential. Too often, McCamish seems to have little to say, and the result is a work that at times barely rises above the level of a good journal.
Rating: 
Summary: A good idea spoiled by a boring writer
Review: The idea of travelling from port to port sounds like an exciting prospect. And it probably would be a great subject for a book if undertaken by anyone with any sense of adventure or, better yet, someone with more degenerate qualities than McCamish. There is no question that such a voyage, especially one that is essentially arranged by a travel agent on the writer's behalf, is not going to necessarily live up to the cartoonish view of salty seamen brawling and whoring (although a fair share of the latter appears to have survived). However, the adventure is a basically sound concept that would have been better had it been vicariously lived through someone who was completely willing to immerse themselves into it instead of calling his wife at every port and trying to avoid prostitutes. McCamish's story is that of an obviously well-to-do Australian keeping an arms length distance from his subject.
Rating:
Summary: Move over Bill Bryson
Review: This book is simply a great read. The writer, Thornton McCamish, takes us on a journey of discovery as he travels the ports of the world. Fabulously funny, especially as he fends of prostitutes and tries to keep on the right side of the ship's cook. Any traveller will love it. Just a question, though. There's a passage that reads:
"...
"Give me another riddle," Tristan said. So I gave him the one about the dwarf who comes home, goes inside, picks up a stick and realises that he might as well kill himself..." Can anyone tell me the answer?
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful journey
Review: Thornton McCamish's journey among ports is a wonderful, witty and whimsical work - the perfect holiday read. McCamish has a gentle and very funny writing style - completely engaging. His observations are sharp and his journey compelling. When do we get a second book Mr McCamish?
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