The Raven - Softcover

Landesman, Peter

3.2

120 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140263454 ISBN 13: 9780140263459

Publisher: Penguin, 1997

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On a foggy summer day in 1941, 36 people set out in a boat for a pleasure cruise off the coast of Maine. They are never seen alive again, and their vessel, "The Raven", is never found. Landesman uses this true story as a basis for his eerie, intriguing first novel, telling the tale of a community torn apart by mistrust and tragedy.

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Review:

‘Ever since Melville’s assault on the great white whale (and with it the Great American novel) the sea off the New England Coast has proved as fruitful to writers as to fishermen. The latest to launch into it is Peter Landesman, whose immensely accomplished first novel offers a fictional account of a real life disaster, the sinking of the pleasure boat, the Raven, in 1941.
Out of the bare bones of this story, Landesman has fashioned a fascinating fiction. Narrative is skilfully handled across four decades as the tragedy take its long-term toll and the sea gradually reveals its secrets.
This is a magnificent debut. Landesman is the equal of E. Annie Proulx in his handling of the fishermen’s hard lives and tangy dialogue. The Raven displays the allegorical power of the best sea stories wedded to the thematic richness and psycholgical depth of the finest fiction.’
Michael Arditti, The Times

From the Back Cover:

Winner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Prize for Best First Fiction

”Ever since Melville’s assault on the great white whale (and with it the great American novel), the sea off the New England Coast has proved as fruitful to writers as to fishermen. The latest to launch into it is Peter Landesman, whose immensely accomplished first novel offers a fictional account of a real-life disaster, the sinking of the pleasure boat, the Raven in 1941.

To muddy the waters still further, of the thirty-six people on board, only the bodies of the captain (naked and strapped to a keg) and the fourteen women are discovered, leading to wild rumours that the men had been captured and enslaved by the Germans. Out of the bare bones of this story, Landesman has fashioned a fascinating fiction, which is part historical mystery, part a psychological study in survivor guilt, and part an exploration of disappearing values in a changing world. Narrative is skilfully handled across four decades as the tragedy takes its long-term toll and the sea gradually reveals its secrets.

Landesman is the equal of E. Annie Proulx in his handling of the fishermen’s hard lives and tangy dialogue. 'The Raven' displays the allegorical power of the best sea stories wedded to the thematic richness and psychological depth of the finest fiction.”
MICHAEL ARDITTI, 'The Times'

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