The Captain

Six weeks ago I came across this quote: "Do not commit the error, common among the young, of assuming that if you cannot save the whole of mankind, you have failed." -Jan de Hartog, playwright and novelist (1914-2002) Jan de Hartog was born in Holland. He escaped Nazi occupied Germany, lived in the UK during the war, and then settled in the United States. Because of the quote I decided to read one of his books. I read The Captain. Jan wrote many books about the Dutch on the sea. Most of this story takes place during World War II. The hero, Martinus Harinxma, is a tugboat captain. We learn how he had gone off to sea at age 18. He worked his way up in the tugboat industry. Then Germany invaded Holland in 1940. All the Dutch ships which could escaped, many off to the United Kingdom. Martinus is part of a group which helps the English on the ocean. Martinus captains a tugboat which is part of a convoy. The story is rich with background. There is much history, general history about the world, and detailed history about Holland. We learn about various facets of the Dutch shipping world. I hadn't realized that tugboats towed platforms across the ocean. Jan builds a very rich and detailed world. The characters came alive and the plot was interesting. The reality of war on the high sea was vivid. This book had a similar feel as Tom Clancy novels. The scope was more limited, all of the story is focused around Martinus Harinxma. Jan, the author, is still well known today in Holland. A Dutch friend of mine has read several books by Jan de Hartog. If you like novels about war, especially navel World War II novels, read The Captain. I'm glad I did, and I'll probably read more by Jan de Hartog.

Engrossing story with exceptional emotional detail of the North Atlantic in WWII. A courageous mix of seafaring and philosophy about war. Seems to explain passivism to the warrior and war to the pacifist with equal empathy.

Superficially, The Captain is a very well written novel about life aboard a sea-going tugboat pressed into service as an escort vessel for convoys to Brtitain in the early days of World War II. Read at this level, The Captain is a rousing, highly-readable adventure story with interesting, well-developed characters. But there is much more than rousing adventure to this book which skillfully probes many deeply-fundamental matters, including the horrors of war and the true nature of human courage. In my opinion, this is one of the most greatest novels ever written.

This book is simply excellent. The protagonist is not some matinee-idol Navy captain, but a chubby Dutch tugboat master who is pressed into service, along with his huge tug and green crew, as a rescue ship in the Atlantic convoy routes. De Hartog's characters are some of the most believeable I have ever encountered, and the emotional impact of the book hits at gut-level. It is a complex but easily readable story. Anyone who loves books about men and the sea will be right at home with this one, and war buffs will be fully satisfied. I've read the book four times, and writing this review makes me want to read it again!