From Publishers Weekly
This little-known but prolific English writer's story of survival on the ocean has resounding spiritual implications. After the explosion of the passenger ship Aurora, five men are left in a tiny boat tossing on the open sea, with only each other and their own longing to keep them company. Curtain, a rugged sailor, focuses his attentions on steering the boat to safety. Gaunt is crazed with misery over the loss of his wife. Stone is a teacher from Somerset, who misses his job and girlfriend. Burton is a younger man, unable to handle the challenges posed by the maelstrom. Petty squabbles among these men keep life on the boat as turbulent as the ocean itself. Hanley describes their inner turmoil through a stream-of-consciousness allowing for a complex interplay of symbols, and with a poetic vocabulary and phrasing combining the passion of Joseph Conrad with the repetitive focus of Gertrude Stein. More than just an adventure tale, the novel traces the shaky path of human survival. The sailors gradually grow weaker and weaker, until the story comes to a mysterious conclusion, both uplifting and subtly ominous. This reissued novel, originally published in 1941, should bring renewed attention to Hanley's work. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Paul Lester, London magazine
"Given justice, Hanley would be placed among the giants of twentieth-century literature."
