- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Lawrence Hill Books; New edition edition (Sep 1 1991)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1556521103
- ISBN-13: 978-1556521102
- Product Dimensions: 21.5 x 14 x 1.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 458 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #372,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
The Death Ship tells the story of an American sailor, stateless and penniless because he has lost his passport, who is harassed by police and hounded across Europe until he finds an 'illegal' job shoveling coal in the hold of a steamer bound for destruction.
The Death Ship is the first of B. Traven's politically charged novels about life among the downtrodden, which have sold more than thirty million copies in thirty-six languages. Next to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, it is his most celebrated work
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First Sentence
"We had brought, in the holds of the S.S. Tuscaloosa, a full cargo of cotton from New Orleans to Antwerp." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
"We had brought, in the holds of the S.S. Tuscaloosa, a full cargo of cotton from New Orleans to Antwerp." Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
_The Death Ship_ -- a good read, but thin,
This review is from: The Death Ship (Paperback)
I came to B. Traven's _The Death Ship_ after viewing the recent Chicago exhibition by famed woodworking postmodernist artist H.C. Westermann. At the exhibit, I found myself absolutely entranced by his carved and molded "Death Ships," which are quite unique and were ostensibly inspired by this novel.I was expecting a less pedestrian story (yes, *less* pedestrian), and a bit more of a challenge. I must admit that the colloquialisms were at times very amusing, but I wasn't impressed at all by the quasi-Kafka bureaucracy-bemoaning. I understand the novel was written before Kafka became well-known; still, Kafka is much more masterful at expressing in words early 20th century bureaucratic alienation. In addition, I felt that the novel was poking fun at Melville's supreme _Moby Dick_ in the first few chapters (especially so as the Melville revival was occurring in the 30's), and I didn't really find that necessary. If this was supposed to be an "updated" _Moby Dick_, I would have opted for a reread of Melville's classic.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A definitive narrative of the triumph of human will,
This review is from: The Death Ship (Paperback)
Manual labor. That's what I think of most of all when I think of B. Traven's The Death Ship. I actually read the majority of this book during break periods while working a manual labor job. Every time that my bones ached, I thought about the horrors of the Death Ship and the determinism in the face of certain doom; a real man is measured by his will and his strength.B. Traven's prose is terrific, unpretensious, and profound. The Death ship tells the story of an American salior who becomes an outcast in a world indifferent to the circumstances of the little people. The crew of the ship, facing the possibility of death, starvation, and reside in squalid living conditions, show more humanity and honor than any pencil pusher behind a desk whose power and influences have condemned the honest man to a life of torture; they no longer fear hell, but at the same time, they embrace their situations with a fortitude that expresses a savage peotry. This novel is not to be missed by anyone that considers themselves serious about literature.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Style Too Thin and Fantastic,
By Rodney J. Szasz "GESS INTERNATIONAL. Rod Szasz" (Tokyo, Japan Japan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Death Ship (Paperback)
The mysterious B. Traven, may have been the son of the Kaiser Wilhelm, and he is quite a writer of interesting repute. Being a fan of the movie "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and the off-beat style of the movie, I thought that this novel would give me a realistic grit-eyed view of the labouring class in the 20s and 30s. What I got was a modern day Candide! Now I love Voltaire as well, but the style is just not my cup of tea for a modern novel perporting to show you the real side of the industrial working class: although the death ship is a real rust bucket and a voyage of the damned, it is written in terms at time fantastic and at times deadpan comical Kafka-esque. The style does not work for me... maybe that is just me. If you are looking for grit and realism then this book clearly does not offer it. Like Candide the hero is washed from country to country and scenario to scenario with almost hilarious regularity. Although there is no sop to Dr. Pangloss, our hero seems to be both equal parts tragic victim and survivor... no matter what... I was really kind of put off by Traven and you know about the old story of once bitten....
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