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Safe from the Sea

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 235 ratings · 96 reviews

Set against the powerful lakeshore landscape of northern Minnesota, Safe from the Sea is a heartfelt novel in which a son returns home to reconnect with his estranged and dying father thirty-five years after the tragic wreck of a Great Lakes ore boat that the father only partially survived and that has divided them emotionally ever since. When his father for the first time...more

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published November 5th 2010 by Unbridled Books (first published May 21st 2009)

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Mar 20, 2013 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Noah Torr is summoned by his dying father to said father’s cabin in the woods near Duluth Wisconsin. Olaf was an officer on the great freighters that ply mighty Lake Superior and in 1967 was one of only three survivors when his ship went down – comparisons to the Edmund Fitzgerald were, of course, inevitable in my mind. Noah is bitterly resentful of his father’s drinking problem and his ‘absence’ from his young life.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find this the “tautly written gem” that Joseph Boyden, o...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Bill Krieger rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well, the first 50 pages of this book are boffo. The beginning is really funny and entertaining. The last 200 pages comprise a very ordinary tale of redemption with a sugar sweet happy ending. Argh.

This is a story of a father (Olaf) and a son (Noah). The father is an old, retired sailor living in rural Minnesota. The son is pretty much a Prius-fueled yuppie living in Boston. In the early parts of the book, the father's salty rants are very funny. There's a lot of outdoor living and hard drinking...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Bdalton rated it 3 of 5 stars

Many of the women in my book club are from Minnesota which is why I imagine we choose the book. Thankful, this book is not the women's fiction that we typically read, but has strong guy-appeal as well! It's nice to read a book that I could reoommend to my husband and brothers!

This is the story of Olaf and Noah, a father and son, who have been estranged. Olaf calls Noah out of the blue telling him that he needs him. Noah, surprised that his self-sufficient father asks for help hurries home to fin...more

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Nov 11, 2011 Julia Reed rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Safe from the Sea" was a great read. Heartfelt, well written, engaging from start to finish, I found myself sneaking extra pages even at the office. Which is funny, because it's not at all a page turner in the usual sense. There's no whodunit, no strange and mysterious world to explore. It's just a very compelling human tale about a son and his estranged father, brought together at the end of the father's life. Noah's father Olaf is famous in Duluth, Minnesota for being one of three survivors o...more "Safe from the Sea" was a great read. Heartfelt, well written, engaging from start to finish, I found myself sneaking extra pages even at the office. Which is funny, because it's not at all a page turner in the usual sense. There's no whodunit, no strange and mysterious world to explore. It's just a very compelling human tale about a son and his estranged father, brought together at the end of the father's life. Noah's father Olaf is famous in Duluth, Minnesota for being one of three survivors of a horrible shipwreck. He spent a lifetime on Lake Superior, working the huge freighters that ferried taconite (a kind of iron ore) across the Great Lakes to be processed into steel. A respected crewman and captain, Olaf spent a lifetime on the lake, one that is sharply divided into the years before and after his shipwreck experience, not just for him, but also for his family on land, and particularly for his son Noah. Noah hasn't seen his father in many years, they stopped really speaking after his father failed to arrive at the hospital on time for his mother's passing. Like a lot of times in his life, Noah watched his mother alone, waiting for the father that was too busy drinking or working on a freighter to be there for his family. And that's the way it was, until Noah gets a call from his dad out of the blue asking him to come back to Minnesota. Olaf is dying.

So begins a journey of redemption, as Olaf and Noah try to bridge the gap between them before Olaf succumbs to cancer. Stubbornly refusing to die in a hospital, Noah keeps Olaf company in their remote family cabin on the shores of Lake Superior. It's there that they finally walk over the ground that they've both left untouched for so long. Noah finally learns what really happened to his father in the shipwreck, they finally talk about the subject of his lonely mother and her infidelities, of childhood and loss and regret. Geye's prose is without varnish or weeping pathos. It's straightforward dialogue, clean and authentic, and it makes you want to keep reading as father and son spar, but eventually reconcile. And it is up to Noah to decide if he will carry out his father's final, characteristically controversial wish.

I'm starting to reach that stage in life where some of my friends are losing their parents, all of them tragically too soon. I'm also old enough where my parents and their friends are losing their parents, and though those losses more often come at the end of long and full lives, they're nonetheless hard to take. There was something in "Safe from the Sea" that spoke to me from all of these experiences, touched without handwringing on the sad and terrifying truth that someday, we all have to let our parents go. We can only hope that when the time comes, we've had the chance to say what we wanted, and needed, to say. Even if that's just "Goodbye." (less)

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Aug 10, 2011 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

"Olaf nodded up at the sky. 'He taught me some things about navigating. Just basic stuff, but I was hooked. He said that a true seaman could sail around the world without anything more than a watch and a sextant and the sky to guide him. I didn't even know what a sextant was, just figured you knew where to go if you were in charge of one of those boats. I never reckoned there was any science to it. Wolf taught me how to take sun sights, how to chart our course, how to estimate our position using...more "Olaf nodded up at the sky. 'He taught me some things about navigating. Just basic stuff, but I was hooked. He said that a true seaman could sail around the world without anything more than a watch and a sextant and the sky to guide him. I didn't even know what a sextant was, just figured you knew where to go if you were in charge of one of those boats. I never reckoned there was any science to it. Wolf taught me how to take sun sights, how to chart our course, how to estimate our position using dead reckoning when the sky was cloudy and the shore out of sight.' He paused, cleared his throat. 'Now it's just a bunch of satellites telling you where you are and where to go. Back then it was still something beautiful to steer a ship." (pg. 62)

Noah Torr's relationship with his father Olaf has always been a tricky one to navigate. In this novel, Olaf's a crusty, weathered former sailor who is somewhat of a local legend along the remote northern Minnesota shoreline where he lives, haunted by his surviving a devastasting 1967 shipwreck that killed all 27 of his 30-member crew.

It's a story that Olaf has been reluctant to tell, but now that he's dying and his son Noah has returned home (ostensibly to "help him prepare the cabin for winter"), he unburdens himself of the secrets and guilt that he has carried for nearly four decades since the accident. In the process, father and son begin the rocky process of trying to understand and accept one another before its too late.

Yeah, the troubled-father-and-son-making-amends-on-one's-deathbed story has been done before, but it's a theme universal enough that it doesn't flounder in Peter Geye's hands as an author. For starters, Geye apparently knows his stuff (or has done a tremendous amount of research) regarding several key areas of the book. The descriptions of the northern Minnesota coast and its waters, as well as of boats and shipping and the shipping industry, are incredibly well done - not to mention the characters' hardy Norwegian heritage and Noah and his wife's Natalie's infertility struggles. I'd be surprised if much of this did not originate from Geye's own life - which is more than perfectly fine, particularly since Safe from the Sea is Geye's debut novel.

Moreso than the story and the writing (which seemed to me to be perfunctory and matter of fact, but is perhaps designed to be such to reflect the characters' personalities), Safe from the Sea is a story with a strong sense of place. As the reader, you absolutely feel as if you are right there in the fierce winter storm with the ill-fated sailors, even if you (like me) have barely set foot on a boat. Like Per Petterson's I Curse the River of Time (which I didn't care for much at all), you physically feel cold reading this novel.

(Our air-conditioner broke a few hours after I finished this and the temperature was a toasty 83 degrees inside our house. This would have been the perfect book to read under such conditions, believe you me.)

Safe from the Sea is one that many bloggers love, many calling it "stunning" and "gorgeous." I'm in the minority here and am not going quite that far (it's not going to be one of my absolute favorites of the year, as it is for many of my blogging peers), but it was a satisfying enough read for me, one that I appreciated, and definitely one that will make me seek out Peter Geye's work in the future.
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Apr 06, 2011 Matthew added it

Set against the dramatic, sometimes turbulent Northern Minnesota lakeshore, Safe from the Sea examines the effects of a person vanishing from his loved ones’ lives and the ripples it causes in their character. Out of filial obligation, Noah returns home to reconnect with and take care of his estranged, dying father, Olaf. Time is bad since his wife, Natalie, is overwhelmed by sadness of infertility and its complications. For thirty years, Noah has accepted his (now deceased) mother’s indiscretio...more Set against the dramatic, sometimes turbulent Northern Minnesota lakeshore, Safe from the Sea examines the effects of a person vanishing from his loved ones’ lives and the ripples it causes in their character. Out of filial obligation, Noah returns home to reconnect with and take care of his estranged, dying father, Olaf. Time is bad since his wife, Natalie, is overwhelmed by sadness of infertility and its complications. For thirty years, Noah has accepted his (now deceased) mother’s indiscretion as the solace in her lonely days, when his father is out captaining ore boats. When Olaf finally tells the full story of the night his ship went under, with all the tragic nuances, Noah’s deception of his mother is replaced with the shameful recognition that there exists another side of the story.

As he ate he realized that his unease was easily enough explained. The anger and resentment and sadness that had colored the years of their estrangement were absent now. Not just absent but erroneous. What he’d mistaken for feelings of guilt at being in town were actually feelings of longing. [10:193]

Geye has written a story suffused with a son’s love and by the rough storms of a sailing father’s affection and absence. Olaf, out of pure luck, was one of the few survivors of the wreck. So shorts of odds that he was, he survived the inferno blaze in the engine room below the deck, the snow squall, and the turbulent sea, but he has been walloped in his scruple for not capable of saving his crewmates. Olaf’s story, to Noah’s utter consternation, as he has maintained such intense resentment toward his father, is much more than that of the sinking. It’s about how surviving can affect a man in ways he never anticipated or knows how to explain.

When you get to be as old as me, and when you look back on your life, it’s impossible not to regret every other step you took. I do anyway. But you also get to see the wonderful things. [8:166]

Small in scope but substantial in meaning, Safe from the Sea is not an action-driven plot but a slow realization. A slow realization on how he fails to be better, on the part of the father; and a slow realization on how the son has misunderstood his father’s love. The book is an intimate and believable account of a reconciliation between father and son, tender and deeply moving but not sentimental. The restrained dialogue between the two uneasy men renders the magnitudes of their despair and endurance. Most importantly, Noah’s own struggle to establish life as an adult has found its real meaning in his relationship with his wife, whose struggle with infertility can only be overcome, emotionally, as Noah reconciles with his father. This is a well-crafted novel redolent with the idea of redemption and forgiving. (less)

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Oct 03, 2010 Mandy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-reviewed-for-wellreadwife-com

For the full review go to WellReadWife.com.
Safe From The Sea is Peter Geye’s debut novel. Notice I say novel because you can’t refer to this one as merely a book or a story. Geye’s creation is a novel, and he is a skillful story teller. Geye tells of a son coming to grips with the imminent death of his father while at the same time trying to understand why his father emotionally abandoned his family in favor of alcohol years ago. It is a novel ripe with revelations and family secrets. Noah’s str...more

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Sep 30, 2010 Alayne Bushey rated it 3 of 5 stars

When Noah and his sister were young children their lives were forever changed when their father’s ore ship burned and sunk in the tormented waters of Lake Superior. Though their father survived, much of him was left behind when the ship went down, and Noah’s relationship with his father would never be the same. Decades later, when Noah is grown man with a wife living in Boston, his father becomes ill and Noah faces a tough choice: should he go to his father’s side? The man who shut him out and a...more When Noah and his sister were young children their lives were forever changed when their father’s ore ship burned and sunk in the tormented waters of Lake Superior. Though their father survived, much of him was left behind when the ship went down, and Noah’s relationship with his father would never be the same. Decades later, when Noah is grown man with a wife living in Boston, his father becomes ill and Noah faces a tough choice: should he go to his father’s side? The man who shut him out and all but left him so many years ago? Journeying to the northern Minnesota town of his youth, Noah faces more than just his father when he arrives. History comes back as Noah confronts the man who changed so many years ago.

Safe from the Sea is heartbreaking and sad, but also cathartic. Noah must deal with many issues by choosing to face his father again: guilt, blame, and a deeply rooted anger. The bond of family, for better or worse, makes us who we are, and Noah is the man he is today because of his relationship with his father. This is the story of a man facing his past, for both Noah and his father.

It’s hard for me to review this novel because I’m torn in two directions. First is my loyalty to my own past, which also came from Minnesota. Geye’s writing of the north and the harsh winters carries true emotional weight. Likewise, my whole family is also in Minnesota, while I am also in Boston, much like Noah and his family are parted. Though I didn’t leave under the same circumstances and return often, the bond Noah has to Minnesota touched my heart.

The other direction I am pulled in is that of a reviewer analyzing a novel. It’s not because this is Geye’s first novel that I feel why I do, because I read many first novels, but the writing of Safe from the Sea didn’t grab me the way I wish it had. The topics did, the scenes and places, but the dialogue felt forced, and parts of Noah’s relationship with his father and wife seemed contrived. Here is a situation where a man is facing the person who destroyed him and tore him apart. I see the word “anger” but I do not feel it. I see a scene of “longing” and “regret” but do not feel those sensations. There was more true emotion in the description of snow and ice than in the setup of Noah and his relationships, and that’s the one fallback of the book.
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Jul 24, 2010 Joni rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, arc, not-yet-published

Peter Geye brings to life images of maritime history from a time when the ore ships plied the waters of the Great Lakes feeding the great industrial heart of America.

But this debut novel is so much more. Classic themes of redemption,reconciliation, and family ties, are set against the awesome power, magnitude and beauty of the north shore of Lake Superior. "Safe from the Sea" is also a riveting adventure tale and a heart-rending love story.

One of 3 survivors of the tragic wreck of the ore boat R...more

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Jun 30, 2010 Chelsea rated it 4 of 5 stars

When Noah travels to Misquah, Minnessota, to see his aging father Olaf, he is not sure what to expect. He certainly didn't expect to see the sick and frail man Olaf has become. But it has been many years since Noah and Olaf have seen each other, and even more years filled with tension between the two. Olaf is one of the few survivors of a horrific shipwreck on Lake Superior, and the ghosts still haunt his every footstep. Knowing the end is near, Olaf wants to finally share with Noah the events o...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Amy Meyer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye

from Unbridled Books

Book summary: Set against the powerful lakeshore landscape of northern Minnesota, Safe from the Sea is a heartfelt novel in which a son returns home to reconnect with his estranged and dying father thirty-five years after the tragic wreck of a Great Lakes ore boat that the father only partially survived and that has divided them emotionally ever since. When his father for the first time finally tells the story of the horrific disaster he has car...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Jayme rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-lit

Safe from the Sea takes place on a small lake north of Lake Superior near Duluth, Minnesota. It is the story of an estranged son and father who reunite when Olaf, the father, calls Noah, the son, to say that he is sick and needs his help. Noah goes home, a place he hasn’t been to in years, and together father and son try to put the pieces of their memories together in the little time they have left.

Geye has painted a visual masterpiece in this quiet and dignified book. Place is a key element in...more

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Oct 14, 2010 Holly Weiss rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Minneapolis born Peter Geye paints a clear picture of the Great Lakes shipping industry on the cold Minnesota north shore in his debut novel, Safe from the Sea. You will feel the frigid sea air whip around your ears, taste the smoked salmon, smell the wood smoke as a father and son reunite after thirty-five years of estrangement. Norwegian immigrant, Olaf, doles out his bitterness and guilt about surviving a shipwreck to his son in small doses as they share everyday tasks like splitting wood and...more

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Dec 29, 2010 Laura (booksnob) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, literature

Northern Minnesota in November can be a perilous place with unforeseen snow storms, rattling winds, monster size waves on Lake Superior, with a chill that resides in your bones. It is enough to make you stoke up the fire and stay indoors until Spring. Peter Geye's novel "Safe from the Sea" evokes the unpredictable Minnesota landscape amidst a powerful survival story that will make you want to pack your bags and move to a cabin in the Northwoods.

Safe from the Sea is a story about a father and son...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Sandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Heartfelt, well written, engaging from start to finish, not at all a page turner in the usual sense. There's no whodunit, no strange and mysterious world to explore. It's just a very compelling human tale about a son and his estranged father, brought together at the end of the father's life. Noah's father Olaf is famous in Duluth, Minnesota for being one of three survivors of a horrible shipwreck who spent a lifetime on Lake Superior, working the ore boats. His long absences created problems wit...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Tess Mertens-Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was a well written story of a family's struggle with love and acceptance.
Set in northern MN (my home state), it could have been set anywhere and still told a great story.
Noah come back to see his father after his has been isolated from him since his wedding. His father is ill and has found it to repair the relationship with his son before he dies.
Noah is dealing with infertility in his marriage, a new business, yet goes to see the father he hasn't seen in years. During his stay stories...more

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Jan 18, 2011 Ti rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

The Short of It:

A quiet, simple story about a father and a son. Told in simple, but beautiful prose, Safe from the Sea reminds you what it feels like to read a really good book.

The Rest of It:

Noah returns home to take care of his dying father, Olaf. The two have not been close for several years, so Noah is surprised at his father’s request. Although the decision to return home is not an easy one and is not a decision his wife Natalie is happy about, he decides to make the trip back to the lakesh...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Lynn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-expert-pick, debut-novel

I read this before its release as part of the fiction expert program at Borders. Olaf is dying and calls his son for help; nothing about this sounds unusual, except that these two men have been estranged for many years! Geye's treatment of this situation is genuine and graceful. I admire the way Noah handled some of his father's last requests, and I particularly admire Olaf's ultimate courage. I thought this was a solidly written story, especially appreciating how Geye used the setting to emphas...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Leah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Beautiful and compelling story about the reconciliation between a dying father and his estranged son. Set in northern Minnesota, the language author Peter Geye uses evokes the mysterious beauty and solitude of the landscape. The story within the story is the tale of the father's survival of a November shipwreck on one of lake Superior's iron ore freighters. The characters Geye creates for his debut novel are so genuine that it almost seems impossible that this is a work of fiction. As a native M...more

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Jul 15, 2010 Kristin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Peter Geye describes an incredible tale of life on the Great Lakes and lives regretted with his debut novel, Safe from the Sea. Lake Superior describes itself. Imagine a father-son estrangement, a major tragedy on the water and terminal illness. Patriarch Olaf Torr has a secret he’s been holding since the terrible night the Ragnarol caught fire. With a quick call, his son, Noah, is headed to a father he has had little contact with since the ship went down. Although son, Noah, doesn’t realize it,...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Jill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Safe from the Sea is small in scope – a mere 241 pages – but it is gripping in its messages and intensity.

It begins simply: Olaf Torr, an officer and one of three survivors of a Lake Superior ore ship dubbed the Ragnarok that was lost in 1967, is dying. He reaches out to his estranged son Noah, who travels to Olaf’s Northern Minnesota cabin – not to reconcile but through a sense of duty. Noah has long held resentments about his father’s drinking and his inability to hold the family together afte...more Safe from the Sea is small in scope – a mere 241 pages – but it is gripping in its messages and intensity.

It begins simply: Olaf Torr, an officer and one of three survivors of a Lake Superior ore ship dubbed the Ragnarok that was lost in 1967, is dying. He reaches out to his estranged son Noah, who travels to Olaf’s Northern Minnesota cabin – not to reconcile but through a sense of duty. Noah has long held resentments about his father’s drinking and his inability to hold the family together after the tragedy.

Peter Geye might have turned this into a cover-up saga, where long-time secrets of what happened on that tragic night are suddenly unveiled. But thankfully, Safe from the Sea is not that kind of book. As Olaf begins to narrate that horrific story (“We had the inferno blazing beneath us, the snow squall suffocating us, seas still washing the deck”), it becomes evident that people can do everything right and life can still go wrong. Sometimes, there just aren’t any answers.

“The crew? They were just a bunch of anybodies,” Olaf tells his son. Noah counters: “Isn’t it more fantastic to think of the guys who died as little bit heroic, as swashbuckling sailors? As something more than a bunch of yokels from Great Lakes port towns?” Olaf answers, “It’s real life. In real lie, there’re boys from port towns.”

As Noah comes to grip that “the old man’s crew of nobodies could take precedence over his mother and sister and himself” – how surviving can often mean “going under” again and again – he and Olaf begin to understand and appreciate each other for the first time.

Peter Geye obviously knows the Northern Minnesota landscape, which comes alive every bit as much as his characters. Olaf’s dialogue and characteristics ring authentic. And Noah – a name associated with the biblical pre-flood patriarch who survived the flood – has spent his adult life procuring and selling ancient maps as a career. The one map he has always needed – a blueprint to who he is and where he stands as a son and potential future father – is explored with subtlety and insight here.
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Jan 25, 2011 Meg rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: indie-lit-awards, literary-fiction, read-in-2011, favorites

Moody. Atmospheric. Unforgettable. In this stunning debut from author Peter Geye, a father and son are reconciled -- and laid open, bare, along the frozen shores of Lake Superior in Minnesota.

Peter Geye’s Safe From The Sea offers just what its lovely, cold cover suggests: a turbulent tale of a father’s love; a depiction of the emotional and physical landscapes that divide us from one another, then reunite us once more. Though emotionally difficult, it’s a book I savored and found over all too qu...more Moody. Atmospheric. Unforgettable. In this stunning debut from author Peter Geye, a father and son are reconciled -- and laid open, bare, along the frozen shores of Lake Superior in Minnesota.

Peter Geye’s Safe From The Sea offers just what its lovely, cold cover suggests: a turbulent tale of a father’s love; a depiction of the emotional and physical landscapes that divide us from one another, then reunite us once more. Though emotionally difficult, it’s a book I savored and found over all too quickly.

From the moment I was introduced to Noah, I felt a strong affinity for him. It was obvious the years had taken their toll -- just as they had on his father, a man I was determined to dislike but ultimately could not. Olaf -- reticent; headstrong; self-sufficient -- isn’t accustomed to asking anyone for anything. But in reaching his hand out to Noah, and doing it on his own terms, I felt I could accept and love him. Just like his children do.

In telling the story of the Torr family, Geye chooses each word carefully. Never once did the pacing falter; never once was I weighed down with detail, with too much superfluous information. We’re told what it is we need to know. Often, this irks me — I mean, how soft was a pillow? How bright was the light? How warm was a kiss, or comforting an embrace? But you know, in reading Safe From The Sea, it never occurred to me to think about what was missing. All I could do was feel grateful for all I was given.

It’s been a long time since I found a book that so moved me -- a book I couldn’t help talking about with friends and coworkers. I didn’t expect to fall so in love with a novel set in a freezing landscape about a disjointed family -- but that’s precisely what happened. I loved that it was so different from anything else I’ve read in recent months. I loved that I fell in love with the characters . . . even the difficult ones.

For readers interested in family sagas, maritime histories (boats! high seas!) or profound looks at fatherhood and love, look no further than Safe From The Sea. My heart won’t be the same again.

For my full review, visit write meg!(less)

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Oct 21, 2010 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-favorite

One of the best books I've read in years. You can read my review here

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Jul 04, 2012 Marge rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am impressed with this MN author. I felt like I had stepped into Noah's shoes as he reconnected with his father at the end of his father's life. I recall many of the same emotions and physical deterioration issues at the end of my own father's life. Peter (the author) does an excellent job of putting us right smack dab in the middle of the tiny cabin and immersing us in the final portrayal of Noah's father, Olaf's recollection, of the sinking of the ship that he was on and Olaf's feelings and...more

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Nov 11, 2010 Serena rated it 5 of 5 stars

Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye is steeped in rough seas, relationships, and a break in the weather. From water imagery to isolated wilderness, Geye takes readers on a descriptive and detailed journey of Noah and Olaf Torr’s strained father-son relationship and the past that comes between them. Set in the northern regions of Minnesota near Lake Superior, Noah must confront his father when time is running out. While there is doubt about whether his father is truly ill and dying, Noah drops everyt...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Midge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wow! I would recommend this book to anyone who has a heart! Noah's father calls him -- after many years of isolation from his family -- to say that he is sick. Of course, the dutiful son decides to travel to Minnesota to help his father and in an attempt to resolve the bad feelings he has had in his heart for many years. Olaf was a crewman on an ill-fated Great Lakes ore boat, the Ragnarok out of Duluth, when it burned and sank in a horrendous early-winter storm 35 years before. He and two othe...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Teresa Lukey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-stars, audiobook, fiction, made-me-cry, made-me-feel-good, my-absolute-fav-s

This is an extremely touching novel, very much like Crossing to Safety. I kept thinking it was like Angle of Repose, but that is a Wallace Stegner novel on my to-read list, not my read list. My bad!

At the start of this book, Noah is contacted by his father, Olaf. Olaf informs Noah that he needs help getting his remote cabin ready for winter and although Noah and his father have been estranged for several years, Noah immediately commits. When Noah arrives at the cabin, he can see that his father...more

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Jul 14, 2011 Todd rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nautical, great-lakes, favorites

This book is incredibly intimate and well-written; Peter Geye writes some of the most beautiful passages about loneliness, nature, and emotion. I admit, I knew nothing of this book prior to reading it, and I have never been interested in anything nautical, but within a few pages I knew that this would be one of my all-time favorites. I actually found myself curious about ships in Lake Superior, etc; I know that some people have complained because of the nautical jargon, but it didn't hinder my i...more

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Sep 29, 2010 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is so much more than a story describing the reconciliation of a relationship between a dying father & his son. Noah Torr returns to his hometown in Minnesota at the bequest of his estranged father who is dying. It is there that Noah really learns the facts of the one defining moment in his father's life that effected their family forever after, especially his father's, Olaf. I think it is the writing that makes this story so compelling & the characters are beautifully drawn. I...more

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Oct 01, 2010 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary, fiction

From my book review blog Rundpinne....[return]...An astonishingly moving debut novel, Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye explores the relationship between father and son. Geye describes Lake Superior as well as the surrounding areas in astonishingly beautiful and vivid detail. Geye writes of Norwegian immigrant Olaf Torr, one of only a few survivors of the sinking of the Ragnarok, an iron ore boat off the shores of Lake Superior. This event was a catalyst forever altering the lives of Olaf and his...more

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About Peter Geye

Peter Geye received his MFA from the University of New Orleans and his PHD from Western Michigan University, where he was editor of Third Coast. He was born and raised in Minneapolis and continues to live there with his wife and three children. This is his first novel. "

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avg rating	preview: Safe from the Sea Goodreads rating: 3.92 (235 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8192444-safe-from-the-sea?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347985029l/8192444.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8192444-safe-from-the-sea?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye[/url]

Safe from the Sea

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