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Title: Last Ship by William Brinkley ISBN: 0-345-35982-8 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 13 February, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.54 (78 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Poorly written, but a good read.
Comment: Brinkley was, perhaps, trying for profundity. Unfortunately, he failed. Throughout the book he employs a very strange sentence structure that, I think, is intended to show a seriousness of purpose. Instead, it is annoying, and makes for tedious reading.
It is interesting that some of the previous reviewers peg Brinkley as an ardent champion of women's rights. Although he does show an appreciation of the talents women can lend to the operation of a Navy ship, I don't think his views of women's supposed ruthlessness would be embraced wholeheartedly by many feminists.
Finally, though, he tells an interesting story. It seems, at times, implausible (would Big Ben really survive a nuclear blast? if drifting radioactive fall-out has covered all of Europe and Africa, why would the Mediterranean Sea be safe?), the endless philosophizing is wearisome, as is the gung-ho promotion of all things Navy, and the end is inexplicably abrupt, but all-in-all he does a good job capturing the reader's imagination.
Rating: 4
Summary: A hard read, not an 'action-adventure', but worth it
Comment: I will agree with a previous reviewer that Brinkley has a BAD habit of over-using some rather obscure terms. I will also concede that the book is VERY dry and introspective, and that it really doesn't have a long list of 'hero' figures to support. Lastly, the book is NOT Clancy-esque in its technical descriptions and situations, but it is accurate enough for the average reader. Having admitted these short-comings, however, I think it is also clear that Brinkly knows how to write. The dryness and the introspection of the first half of the book help pull the reader, willingly or not, into the character of the narrator (the ship's captain). This character MUST be dry and introspective... heavy issues weigh on his mind, and the reader will share them before the end of the book. While not a typical suspense novel, it has its share of that emotion as well, and the surprises can be like a stake to the heart for the reader.
Rating: 5
Summary: This One Stays With You.
Comment: I first read The Last Ship some 10 or 12 years ago. I got hooked. I know all about the writting style complaints, but hey, my other favorite book is Moby Dick...call me a sucker for over-wrought sea stories!
This is less about the "end of the world as we know it," and all about escapeism and fantasy projection. Who among us, as a perfect fantasy, does not dream about removing civilization's constraints, wondering what we'd do in a world without rules and restrictions? So we sign on to the Nathan James and find out by looking through Brinkley's eyes.
I think it is a pretty good view. The ending does suck...very unsatisfactory. Unless, that is, there were to be a sequel in the work. Since the book was written so many years ago, I fear Brinkley has dropped the implied promise of the book's last page.
Too bad. I'd like to know what happened to the crew members who left for "home."
I recommend this book.
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Title: The Rift by Walter J. Williams ISBN: 0061057940 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 04 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Earth Abides by George R. Stewart ISBN: 0449213013 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 12 September, 1986 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank ISBN: 0060931396 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: The New Madrid Run by Michael Reisig ISBN: 0965124010 Publisher: Clear Creek Press Pub. Date: October, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: This Is the Way the World Ends by James Morrow ISBN: 0156002086 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: May, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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