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 enlarge | Author: Linda Greenlaw
Publisher: Hyperion
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $13.99 (100%)
New (68) Used (419) Collectible (9) from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  214 reviews
Sales Rank: 271660
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0786885416
Dewey Decimal Number: 639.2778
EAN: 9780786885411
ASIN: 0786885416
Publication Date: June 7, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Some slight wear on book from reading, binding and pages are in very good shape.
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| Customer Reviews:
The book embodies what is right and wrong with our culture and civilization July 28, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Did my slugline suck you into this review of *The Hungry Ocean*? It is not meant to be misleading, even if what I refer to is more subtle reading into things on my part. Linda Greenlaw is a swordboat captain in a definitively man's world of commercial ocean fishing. But, she isn't just any captain, but a good one at that. She turns up in Sebastian Junger's *The Perfect Storm*. But this book isn't about that, nor is it an attempt to capitalize on that book's success; this book is about the essence of commercial fishing - commercial swordfish fishing to be specific - and it's about what it is like for a woman to succeed in a male dominated enterprise. It is also about life in general as well as one's journey to find a meaning and place in life.
That is a lot to place on one book. But intentionally or not, that what Greenlaw takes on. This book is specifically about one fishing trip for Greenlaw's swordboat, the Hannah Boden; but along the way she talks about life in general in her neck of the woods and corner of world - both physically and psychologically. At times Greenlaw paints the picture of a lonely woman searching for something; but I think that is much more than the cliche at its heart. She is searching for meaning and place, not a man to make her complete. And, in the end, she seems to find a new direction to life.
Beyond the personal story of Linda Greenlaw, this book is about the commercial fishing industry. Maybe it doesn't dig deeply into what is right or wrong with it, nor does it over-analyze it on the micro or macro scale, but what we see on this one fishing trip is enough to open the reader's eyes to an industry that is both a way of life on the micro scale for many of the fisherman and also another over consumptive practice on the macro scale. The story is both engrossing and romantic.
But at times the shine is lost and the underbelly exposed. The best single example I can give is waste and litter that is produced when commercial fishing is practiced on this scale. When they let the line out, they place chemical lights - the type that you bend and shake to activate - at regular intervals along the line as an additional lure; these lights are single-use, disposable, and left to sink to the bottom of the world's oceans. This is one single, indicative example of waste on a large scale practiced by our civilization.
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A Guide to my Book Rating System:
1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.
 Linda Hits A Home Run June 23, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
What a great book. I am not a huge book reader and she makes me feel like I am on the boat with her and the crew. I highly suggest this book!!!!!
Great Reading
Great book May 13, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a great book. Linda does an excellent job making you feel like you are there. You want to reach out and help as she is challenged day after day. What she has accomplished is amazing. This is a must have for every boat library
This book was a blast. Much better than "A perfect storm" May 12, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Written by a fisherperson for fisherpeople!
She captures the life & passion of the events in her 1st hand dialogue.
The Thrill of Open Water February 20, 2007
"In an instant, the jaws of a Mako shark can latch onto the calf of one whose back is turned. Rows of razor-sharp teeth puncture oil pants, boots, skin, and flesh, and sink into solid bone like nails into balsa wood." This is just one of the dangers faced by the fishermen on the Hannah Boden.
Real life thrills and danger. Not the narcissitic thrill seeker, who bungie jumps or the mountain climber who ascends Mt. Hood knowing a storm is coming, yet tries to beat the squalls to the summit. This is the real life story of Linda Greenlaw, Captain of the Hannah Boden, the 100 ft. swordfishing boat. The story unfolds with the preparation and expectation of returning from a month at sea with 70,000 lbs of fish. All the while trying to maintain a mutually respectfull relationship with her crew and their no where near minor idosyncracies while at sea. Bob Brown, the crusty, pushy owner of the boat goads Ms. Greenlaw into making demands on herself and crew that are akin to miraculous.
Nine to five does not exist. When the lines are cast the crew is punched in for 24 hour days adding up to approximately 700 hours. No benefits, no sick days, no salary. 700 hours of physical labor, in poor conditions, that you might not get paid for. No fish, no pay.
20,000 gallons of fuel, 280 miles of open sea before the fishing even begins, sickness, competition, engine trouble and danger all managed with finesse, firmness, nerves of steel, stamina most men can't comprehend, and motherly love. Linda Greenlaw tells a story you can't put down, from her heart, in a down to earth fashion, making even a land lubber long for the high seas and salty air.
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