Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Close to Shore

For Christmas 2007 Tyler gave me the movie "12 Days of Terror," which depicted the events of the New Jersey shark attacks in July 1916. While perusing Barnes & Noble on a sibling-date with Ty this past September, I happened to find a copy of "Close to Shore," a book about the attacks, which I had been looking for since I watched the movie. When I got home from school a few weeks ago, I finally got around to reading it.

I had mixed feelings about "Close to Shore." It was extremely educational and written well. I liked finding out more about the shark attacks, enjoyed the historical context written into the story, and especially found people's 1916 views on sharks very interesting to learn. But, sometimes I felt the author, Michael Capuzzo, went too far into details that weren't exactly pertinent to the story or told one victim's story much too in-depth. And that slowed me down some. But, according to the small-print, two-and-a-half-pages of reviews at the front of the book, many others disagree with me.

So, here's my humble opinion: the research put into the book was intense and I was thoroughly convinced that the author knew his topic inside and out. I just think he could have left out some of the less-needed details to shorten the story and keep me totally captivated. All in all, I liked the book and my favourite chapters were the ones about the actual attacks. They were the most engaging and appropriately-detailed. But, don't trust me. Read the excerpt below – and the whole book, if you wish – for yourself.

"A great dorsal fin sliced the middle of the brown creek as the shark swam along prairies of sedge grass and wound slowly past deserted banks, undetected by anyone. The air was warm and ripe with the sulfuric rot of the marsh.  The water was rising under the shark, and it was attuning itself to new atmospheres.  It passed easily through changing water temperatures, and the rising tide was protecting its salt balance." p. 226.

2 comments:

  1. I remember you reading us an excerpt from this book. It was fascinating (and terrifying).

    I definitely have to check this out. Ahem, I mean, check out this. Right?

    ReplyDelete