The Commodore: A Novel of the Sea

This is an excellent and engaging story of men, ships, and old age by one of the masters of the genre, Jan de Hartog. The story is fairly straightforward -- the protagonist is a retired Dutch sea captain (technically a "Commodore") who is comfortably retired and out to pasture living quietly in the South of France. His old shipping company coaxes him out of retirement to supervise a voyage of a modern oceangoing tug from Holland to its new owners in Taiwan. But of course it is not as straightforward as all that, and in reality this becomes a contest to see who is more tricky and unscrupulous: the ruthless Dutch shipping master, who has long been the reigning king of deep-ocean salvage, or the equally ruthless Taiwanese mandarin who has ambitions of his own. The protagonist, a man of old-school integrity, is caught in the middle of a pitiless struggle for money and power. Jan de Hartog writes with authenticity, as he was a Dutch tugboat sailor himself. This novel features his usual clear writing, and deliberately-paced storyline. This is an engaging story that captures and retains the reader's interest. Although the story gets a little slow in parts, and takes its time building to its real point, the entire trip is one worth taking, and the patient reader will appreciate this fine novel.