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Coasting: A Private Voyage
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 914.10485
EAN: 9780375725937
ISBN: 0375725938
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: February 04, 2003
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: February 04, 2003
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Review:
Put Jonathan Raban on a boat and the results will be fascinating, and never more so than when he’s sailing around the serpentine, 2,000-mile coast of his native England. In this acutely perceived and beautifully written book, the bestselling author of Bad Land turns that voyage–which coincided with the Falklands war of 1982-into an occasion for meditations on his country, his childhood, and the elusive notion of home. Whether he’s chatting with bored tax exiles on the Isle of Man, wrestling down a mainsail during a titanic gale, or crashing a Scottish house party where the kilted guests turn out to be Americans, Raban is alert to the slightest nuance of meaning. One can read Coasting for his precise naturalistic descriptions or his mordant comments on the new England, where the principal industry seems to be the marketing of Englishness. But one always reads it with pleasure.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A Bit Grim, but a well written and readable book
I like Jonathan Raban for his willingness to wander places in small boats. First I read his book about going down the Mississippi in a large rowboat, Old Glory, and now coasting. Both are a bit bleak due to the author's general unhappiness. Raban is an unhappy guy plain and simple but he does have an ability to find and describe wonderful places and characters. The reader just has to look past Raban's negative outlook on everything, I really mean everything. I thought he only hated the United States ... Read More
Rating:  - An excellent read - for an 80's anglophile....
I read this when it was first published and it is probably the least American of Raban's books. It is thoughtful, incisive and pretty much spot on with how the country was split during the Falklands conflict and for me it gives a wonderful, if now a little dated insight into my own country and people, I love Raban's eclectic style of collecting up a whole series of people, books and charts and then introducing them to the reader as 'characters' along the way. Probably also the most autobiographical of ... Read More
Rating: - Great view of England during the Thatcher years
Raban, to move himself from his own country, goes offshore in a small boat to look back towards the land and his own past. This book is beautifully written and full of humor and insights. It is a few years since I last read it (it is a good investment because you can enjoy reading it several times). When I saw the low ratings it got from people who don't like his politics I felt inspired to give it a little boost. I do not agree with many of Raban's views, but I cannot imagine letting that spoil this wonderful ... Read More
Rating:  - Great premise foiled by political agenda
The idea of sailing aroung the British Isles in a small boat sounds appealing and will be a dream for all but a few. Unfortunately Raban will lose many reader's beyond the first few chapters as he weaves his leftist anti-establishment banter in with the said theme of the book. I got the feeling he used the book a vehicle for threshing out his politcal bias. Come on, please! I suggest he re-write the book and let it take it's place as a modern nautical classic. He can write so well but this reader had trouble with ... Read More
Rating: - An early memoir by one of our best contemporary writers
Hearing Raban read an excerpt from this book at Seattle's Folklife Festival last year, I "took the bait". At nearby bookstore, I bought copy, read it on the plane-ride back home, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
For years I've been hooked (sorry) on Raban's books, such as "Old Glory", "Bad Land", and "Voyage to Juneau". "Coasting", is apparently a recently-published version of an early work by the author.
It is a memoir of a literal voyage, of a more personal introspective voyage, and of a voyage in the turbulent ... Read More
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