# The last good book you read (and a mini description) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-good-book-you-read-and-a-mini-description/560347 "2010-11-11T19:57:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-good-book-you-read-and-a-mini-description/560347/41 "2010-11-15T23:33:53Z")
I thought since this is a book suggestion thread I should maybe mention some of the other sea stories, fiction and nonfiction, I’ve felt were exceptionally compelling: _In Harm’s Way_ - Emotionally devastating nonfiction book on the sinking of the USS Indianapolis - went down in twelve minutes, nobody knew it was missing, and then the sharks came. \*Sailors to the End - \* - Another sad nonfiction book on the fire on the USS Forestal in Vietnam - I guess I’m a sucker for punishment _Two Years Before the Mast_ - A nonfiction account from a Harvard guy who shipped aboard a merchanter bound for the pre-Gold rush California coast. He wrote it to draw attention to the awful conditions on board the sailing ships of the day, but accidentally convinced a bunch of young men to run away to sea because even though it really is awful it _also_ kind of sounds like a great adventure. (Probably available in the public domain.) _In the Heart of the Sea_ - a nonfiction account of the whale attack that inspired _Moby Dick_, and a great look at the whaling culture in general. _Also_ really sad. Are there sea stories that aren’t? For fiction, Forester’s Hornblower books and O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin stories are indispensable. I’d start with _Beat to Quarters_ for Hornblower, first written but not first in the chronology, and _Master and Commander_ for Aubrey (first written and first in the timeline.) Those are just the first few that come to mind, for the interested. Which there probably aren’t any, but oh well. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-good-book-you-read-and-a-mini-description/560347/42 "2010-11-16T02:10:40Z")
A Mad Life, a biography of Al Jaffe. Gripping, about his difficult upbringing in America, then transplanted to Lithuania, back to America. Ya gotta read it. with cartoons ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-good-book-you-read-and-a-mini-description/560347/43 "2010-11-16T05:06:02Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I thought since this is a book suggestion thread I should maybe mention some of the other sea stories, fiction and nonfiction, I’ve felt were exceptionally compelling: > > _In Harm’s Way_ - Emotionally devastating nonfiction book on the sinking of the USS Indianapolis - went down in twelve minutes, nobody knew it was missing, and then the sharks came. Just wanted to chime in to agree wholeheartedly with this. It’s an incredibly affecting story. I’d picked it up upon hearing it served as the basis for the story Quint tells in the movie _Jaws_ (the story, that is, not the book, which was more recently published), and chilling as that scene is, the book is much more disquieting (all the more so for being true, of course). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-good-book-you-read-and-a-mini-description/560347/44 "2010-11-16T05:56:31Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I’ll pick it up! Of course, the last WWII sea story I read (_In Harm’s Way_) left emotional scars, so I may pick it up _gingerly._ There are certainly some sad parts in _The Cruel Sea_, and one character suffers a particularly terrible loss, but it’s a wonderful story, wonderfully told. I don’t think you’ll regret reading it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-good-book-you-read-and-a-mini-description/560347.md?page=2)