The Oxford Book of Sea Stories

by Tony Tanner

Overview

Malevolent, mysterious, vast, the ocean has always sparked our fascination and sense of adventure, giving rise to a remarkable vein of narrative deftly mined here by editor Tony Tanner. In the twenty-seven tales of The Oxford Book of the Sea, masters of the art tell of men on ships, grappling with themselves, their fellow sailors, and the trials of the sea: from hurricane winds to the frustrating calm, from swirling currents to rampaging whales.
Here is the work of Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, Stephen Crane, C.S. Forester, Ernest Hemingway, and of course Conrad. Along with the essential stories come unexpected gems by writers not known for their seafaring bent such as William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E.M. Forster, and Edgar Allan Poe.
Some of the finest writers in the English language have been drawn to the subject of life at sea, with its dangers, loneliness, and triumphs. The Oxford Book of the Sea gathers together some of the best examples of the form, offering moving prose, fascinating insight into the human condition, and the simple pleasure of tales of high adventure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780192803702
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	12/28/2002
Series:	Oxford Books of Prose Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 5.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Tony Tanner was Professor of English at Cambridge University and Fellow of King's College until his death in 1998. His books include The Reign of Wonder and Scenes of Nature, Signs of Men, and he edited Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, The Confidence-Man, and White-Jacket for the Oxford World's Classics series.

Table of Contents

1. Initiation, Joseph Conrad
2. The Voyage, Washington Irving
3. A Descent into the Maelstrom, Edgar Allan Poe
4. I Have Been Drowned, Tom Hopkinson
5. Mocha Dick, J. N. Reynolds
6. The Chase, Herman Melville
7. A Tragedy of Error, Henry James
8. High-Water Mark, Francis Bret Harte
9. The Open Boat, Stephen Crane
10. Make Westing, Jack London
11. A Matter of Fact, Rudyard Kipling
12. In the Abyss, H. G. Wells
13. The Cruise of the Willing Mind, A. E. W. Mason
14. The Terror of the Sea Caves, Charles G. D. Roberts
15. False Colours, W. W. Jacobs
16. The Secret Sharer, Joseph Conrad
17. The Ghost Ship, Richard Middleton
18. Ambitious Jimmy Hicks, John Masefield
19. The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck, C. S. Forester
20. Poor Old man!, A. E. Dingle
21. Easting Down, Shalimar
22. The Story of the Siren, E. M. Forster
23. The Rough Crossing, F. Scott Fitzgerald
24. After the Storm, Earnest Hemingway
25. The Bravest Boat, Malcolm Lowry
26. Turnabout, William Falkner
27. The Frontiers of the Sea, Peter Ustinov

Editorial Reviews

"Striking, and significant."—Studies in Short Fiction

"A most entertaining collection....Tony Tanner....has selected an enjoyable and nostalgic assortment of tales. He offers us a refreshing collection of authors....Tony Tanner has used the medium brilliantly. He has managed to tap a wide variety of resources in order to bring us the best in this kind of maritime writing."—Sir Edward Heath, Daily Mail

From the Publisher