Tom Barnes's Blog: Tom's 'RocktheTower' Blog - Posts Tagged "great-gatsby"
Tungee's Gold, Rescue Abby and The Great Gatsby
This Week
Abby Sunderland and the Indian Ocean
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
Writers Notebook: The Great Gatsby
Sixteen year old Abby Sunderland attempting to become the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe solo was feared missing for several hours on Thursday in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
There was a period from around 6 a.m. Thursday, PDT, until around 11:30 p.m. PDT when Abby Sunderland was feared missing. However, she activated two distress signals on her boat and a search plane from Australia spotted her boat in an upright position. After the search crew made contact they reported that the young sailor was very much alive and well. Once the girl was reported alive and her position was confirmed a French fishing vessel sailed toward her location to attempt a rescue in rough seas
If you've been following Abby's story you are aware that she has been rescued and the fishing boat is heading for Reunion Island where Abby Sunderland's parents are expected to meet her there.
I am adding an excerpt of 'Tungee's Gold' where Tungee and an American Clipper Ship find themselves in a part of the world and in circumstances not unlike that of Abby Sunderland.
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing -- Excerpt.
Tungee walked back to cabin C and as he reached for the door handle, a force reeled him backwards and slammed his body against the bulkhead. He braced himself upright and with a strong effort lunged for the door. He grabbed the handle and turned it only to find himself being hurled across the cabin. He grabbed the edge of the porthole and looked outside. The sea was running through mounting swells and the ship dove and rolled in her attempt to stay upright.
Jeff hung onto his bunk for dear life. "What in hell is going on, Tungee?"
"Thunder Parker said a squall was working up just before he died." Then Tungee grinned, "Looks like it's here. You just hang on, Jeff, I have to go topside."
He pulled himself through the cabin and scrambled up the ladder and onto the deck. Thank God, he thought, the sea is giving us a warning. The winds had yet to hit the ship with gale force. He moved along the deck holding onto the side rails and finally saw Foster and Cheny standing beside the binnacle.
Fritz Cheny called out above the noise of the sea. "The barometer's moving up and. down like a sea saw." The captain remarked. "The squall may have missed us, but let's play it safe and pull the canvas."
Cheny gave the order. "Ahoy, you men in the mizzen, get all the sail in save the jibs, stays and spanker. Pass the word."
The MFC was off her tack and she was bobbing and weaving like a punch-drunk fighter. The good part was that her sticks were still pointing toward the sky.
Tungee moved along the deck, holding onto anything he could get his hands on. He finally worked his way to the base of the foremast and laughed at what he saw. While the crew hurried onto the deck and began to climb into the rigging the capricious winds quit. And within a couple of minutes the waters flattened out to a gentle rise and fall.
The squall had reached out and grabbed and shook the MFC for a moment, then drifted off to the northeast.
Tungee stood near the foremast for a while and thought about that sharp encounter. Nature could be giving us an idea of what to expect from the waters around Cape Horn.
The captain threw up his hands and said, "Belay that last order" tie the sails back to the yards and, helmsman get ready to ware ship to starboard."
Tungee grinned as he entered Cabin C. "Congratulations, Jeff."
"For what?"
"You're out of the galley, that is if you still want to work up top."
Jeff hesitated. "What did Herman think about it?"
"Hated the idea and Cheny wasn't too thrilled either."
"Then what makes you think they'll let me out of the galley?"
"Overruled by Captain Foster."
"Cheny could make it tough on me."
"Hell that'll add character, Jeff," Tungee declared. "And besides, Cheny will come around."
Jeff took a long moment and said guardedly, "When do I make the change?"
"Next watch, so I suggest you gets some sleep. You've got work ahead of you, Mr. Randolph."
Then Tungee rolled into his own bunk and closed his eyes. But as he tried to go to sleep, he kept hearing the captain's voice repeating the word Liverpool.
Captain Foster figured the squall that had just missed them was a warning and he began preparing for the Cape. All hands were ordered to turn to and work and make the ship watertight. They would add extra tar, caulk every crack and put on a fresh coat of paint. The young sailors who had never had to weather Cape Horn found it hard to understand and grumbled about the extra duty. By the time they strung up lifelines around the deck and Walter Greenleaf issued foul weather gear, sou'westers, oilskins and boots they began to get the idea.
(To be continued)
Writers Notebook:
This story is not exactly on the same level of a rejection letter, in this case it's not an agent or publisher rejecting a manuscript it is a public reaction to a famous author's work.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby received mixed reviews when it was published in April 1925. H.L. Mencken found the form 'no more than a glorified anecdote and a far inferior story at bottom.' But he recognized the novel was plainly the product of a sound and stable talent, conjured into being by hard work.'
As to positive reviews, the writers seem to trip over their own words in an effort to praise. '...There are pages so artfully contrived that one can no more emagine improvising them than one can emagine improvising a fugue.' Contrived is just the opposite of what a novel reader is searching for when they sit down to escape into that other world.
Commercially, the novel was a disappointment to Fitzgerald. He had expressed a hope for a sale of 75, 000 copies. The first printing of 20, 000 copies sold slowly. A second printing of 3, 000 was put through in August, but sales never caught up. And when Fitgerald died fifteen years later there were still unsold copies of that August printing in the Scribner warehouse.
The novel was never declared out of print; it had simply stopped selling. Of course the 1929 Stock Market crash and the depression years were no help. However The Great Gatsby managed to hang around in certain circles and eventually found life after a new printing in 1945 and another in 1953. The novel found a core readership and today it is widely regarded as a great American novel. The book has become a literary classic and a standard text in high school and university courses on American literature.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
www.tombarnes39.com
Abby Sunderland and the Indian Ocean
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
Writers Notebook: The Great Gatsby
Sixteen year old Abby Sunderland attempting to become the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe solo was feared missing for several hours on Thursday in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
There was a period from around 6 a.m. Thursday, PDT, until around 11:30 p.m. PDT when Abby Sunderland was feared missing. However, she activated two distress signals on her boat and a search plane from Australia spotted her boat in an upright position. After the search crew made contact they reported that the young sailor was very much alive and well. Once the girl was reported alive and her position was confirmed a French fishing vessel sailed toward her location to attempt a rescue in rough seas
If you've been following Abby's story you are aware that she has been rescued and the fishing boat is heading for Reunion Island where Abby Sunderland's parents are expected to meet her there.
I am adding an excerpt of 'Tungee's Gold' where Tungee and an American Clipper Ship find themselves in a part of the world and in circumstances not unlike that of Abby Sunderland.
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing -- Excerpt.
Tungee walked back to cabin C and as he reached for the door handle, a force reeled him backwards and slammed his body against the bulkhead. He braced himself upright and with a strong effort lunged for the door. He grabbed the handle and turned it only to find himself being hurled across the cabin. He grabbed the edge of the porthole and looked outside. The sea was running through mounting swells and the ship dove and rolled in her attempt to stay upright.
Jeff hung onto his bunk for dear life. "What in hell is going on, Tungee?"
"Thunder Parker said a squall was working up just before he died." Then Tungee grinned, "Looks like it's here. You just hang on, Jeff, I have to go topside."
He pulled himself through the cabin and scrambled up the ladder and onto the deck. Thank God, he thought, the sea is giving us a warning. The winds had yet to hit the ship with gale force. He moved along the deck holding onto the side rails and finally saw Foster and Cheny standing beside the binnacle.
Fritz Cheny called out above the noise of the sea. "The barometer's moving up and. down like a sea saw." The captain remarked. "The squall may have missed us, but let's play it safe and pull the canvas."
Cheny gave the order. "Ahoy, you men in the mizzen, get all the sail in save the jibs, stays and spanker. Pass the word."
The MFC was off her tack and she was bobbing and weaving like a punch-drunk fighter. The good part was that her sticks were still pointing toward the sky.
Tungee moved along the deck, holding onto anything he could get his hands on. He finally worked his way to the base of the foremast and laughed at what he saw. While the crew hurried onto the deck and began to climb into the rigging the capricious winds quit. And within a couple of minutes the waters flattened out to a gentle rise and fall.
The squall had reached out and grabbed and shook the MFC for a moment, then drifted off to the northeast.
Tungee stood near the foremast for a while and thought about that sharp encounter. Nature could be giving us an idea of what to expect from the waters around Cape Horn.
The captain threw up his hands and said, "Belay that last order" tie the sails back to the yards and, helmsman get ready to ware ship to starboard."
Tungee grinned as he entered Cabin C. "Congratulations, Jeff."
"For what?"
"You're out of the galley, that is if you still want to work up top."
Jeff hesitated. "What did Herman think about it?"
"Hated the idea and Cheny wasn't too thrilled either."
"Then what makes you think they'll let me out of the galley?"
"Overruled by Captain Foster."
"Cheny could make it tough on me."
"Hell that'll add character, Jeff," Tungee declared. "And besides, Cheny will come around."
Jeff took a long moment and said guardedly, "When do I make the change?"
"Next watch, so I suggest you gets some sleep. You've got work ahead of you, Mr. Randolph."
Then Tungee rolled into his own bunk and closed his eyes. But as he tried to go to sleep, he kept hearing the captain's voice repeating the word Liverpool.
Captain Foster figured the squall that had just missed them was a warning and he began preparing for the Cape. All hands were ordered to turn to and work and make the ship watertight. They would add extra tar, caulk every crack and put on a fresh coat of paint. The young sailors who had never had to weather Cape Horn found it hard to understand and grumbled about the extra duty. By the time they strung up lifelines around the deck and Walter Greenleaf issued foul weather gear, sou'westers, oilskins and boots they began to get the idea.
(To be continued)
Writers Notebook:
This story is not exactly on the same level of a rejection letter, in this case it's not an agent or publisher rejecting a manuscript it is a public reaction to a famous author's work.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby received mixed reviews when it was published in April 1925. H.L. Mencken found the form 'no more than a glorified anecdote and a far inferior story at bottom.' But he recognized the novel was plainly the product of a sound and stable talent, conjured into being by hard work.'
As to positive reviews, the writers seem to trip over their own words in an effort to praise. '...There are pages so artfully contrived that one can no more emagine improvising them than one can emagine improvising a fugue.' Contrived is just the opposite of what a novel reader is searching for when they sit down to escape into that other world.
Commercially, the novel was a disappointment to Fitzgerald. He had expressed a hope for a sale of 75, 000 copies. The first printing of 20, 000 copies sold slowly. A second printing of 3, 000 was put through in August, but sales never caught up. And when Fitgerald died fifteen years later there were still unsold copies of that August printing in the Scribner warehouse.
The novel was never declared out of print; it had simply stopped selling. Of course the 1929 Stock Market crash and the depression years were no help. However The Great Gatsby managed to hang around in certain circles and eventually found life after a new printing in 1945 and another in 1953. The novel found a core readership and today it is widely regarded as a great American novel. The book has become a literary classic and a standard text in high school and university courses on American literature.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
www.tombarnes39.com
Tom's 'RocktheTower' Blog
I do a variety blog and post every Wednesday. I am an actor, writer and hurricane hunter and my subjects are generally written about those fields. During Hurricane Season I do at least one story every
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