The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

This is the discussion thread for the Spring 2024 Group Read The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder in the category Non-Fiction: Extreme Survival. Please post your comments here. This thread is not restricted to those choosing this book for task 20.10, feel free to join in the discussion. Warning- spoilers ahead!

The requirement for task 20.10: You must participate in the book's discussion thread below with at least one post about the contents of the book or your reaction to the book after you have read the book.

Amy B

Wow, what a surprise of a book! I'd planned to read it already, given it is on NYT 100 Notable Books of 2023. I hadn't realized that is was written by the same author who wrote Killers of the Flower Moon, which I also enjoyed. If non-fiction is not usually your thing, and you're mulling over whether to tackle it, it is actually a shorter read than it appears. My version was 370 pages but the last 140 pages are notes and illustrations. And similar to "Killers," it is very engaging, reading almost like unbelievable fiction.
My key takeaways:
1. People are jerks.
2. If I were a castaway, I most definitely would have been one of the first two die and thankfully so.
3. Eat plenty of vitamin C to prevent scurvy

1. People are jerks.
2. If I were a castaway, I most definitely would have been one of the first two die and thankfully so.
3. Eat plenty of vitamin C to prevent scurvy

Couldn't agree more. It's almost unbelievable any of them survived, especially considering how some of them were practically abducted to serve on the ship.

I'm not a big non-fiction reader - especially when it comes to sailing/shipwreck narratives like this - so I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Grann does a great job of maintaining the narrative tension without resorting to annoying tropes, and he struck the perfect balance of interspersing the narrative itself with useful background information. I also appreciate the fact that he addresses the inevitable social biases of these 18th century sailors without minimizing, excusing, or belaboring them.

I agree with points 1&3 that you make but I always read books like this grateful that I have a skillset that could be useful in a survival situation (my Girl Guide training!)

I hadn't heard of The Wager before this, but I do love history and especially books that have evidence of excellent historical research. I liked the use of narrative to fill in the gaps in the historical evidence, which makes the book very readable and I was particularly interested to read the story of John Byron.
It was interesting at the end that the author told both stories, describes the court marshal/trial and leaves it to the reader to draw their own conclusions.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator does a good job but I believe that the print copy has additional maps, drawings & pictures and I feel that this would have enhanced my reading experience

Kristen IA

I was looking forward to reading this book as it sounded like a fascinating bit of history that I didn't know anything about and I had previously enjoyed the little known history Grann shared in Killers of the Flower Moon. Grann did thorough research and shared this story in a way that read like fiction, yet with the framework of truth and history to hold it all together.

I honestly have no idea how anyone survived this, nor do I really understand why so many would be willing to be part of such an ill-advised venture. I realize colonization and empire-building was a primary motivation (under the guise of some contrived war), but I can't fathom why anyone willingly would choose this seafaring way of life. I'm sure it seemed adventurous and for the benefit of the King and country, but I am still at a loss, and maybe this is why so many had to be pressed into service.

The description of scurvy certainly had me making sure I had a few extra servings of citrus this week!

I'm glad this option for the Group Reads gave me an excuse to read this one sooner rather than later.

SUSAN A

I was so excited today when I got a notice from LIbby that I had a "skip the line" pass for this book. I put a hold on it in February and I still had 7 more weeks to wait.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Dion Graham. The narration was excellent.

Author David Grann writes an enthralling account of the story of The Wager. It was captivating. I listened to it straight through. I've read other non-fiction shipwreck stories and what I think was better about this book was that the author did not overwhelm the reader with details. I think he got the ratio right.

If you enjoyed this and are looking for other stories like it, I recommend: Batavia's Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny

I listened to the audiobook of this text, which made it very hard to remember that it was a non-fiction text as it was told in such a dramatic and engaging way, and the twists and turns really made you feel like it could not be something that was true.

Whilst the focus of the story is the various tragedy that befell The Wager, it also includes the broader story of broader campaign it was involved in. From this, the reader can infer that the whole expedition was ill-planned, poorly resourced, and really didn't have much of chance. In this way, we realise, that what was to befall The Wager was fated to occur to at least one of the vessels involved.

Through the logs of various crew members, the Captain, the Gunner, and the young midshipman Byron, grandfather of that Lord Byron, we are presented with various persepectives of evidence of what unfolded, the reasons why the ship wrecked, the conditions of the castaways, the competing groups seeking control and a way to get home, the mutiny that left some of the crew, including the tied up captain, on the island whilst others made their journey home.

Eventually, 3 groups of people eventually return to England, and their conflicting stories must be reconciled to determine who is responsible, and for what.

I gave this 3 stars, not because of the story being poorly written, not at all, it's just not my kind of read.

I had a very similar experience to Susan A - lucking out on a Skip-the-Line audio while my spot on the library hold was still weeks away. I really enjoyed the audio performance, although it would have been nice to have the illustrations. I ended up googling a lot of images to make sense of things.

I like a popular history book, and Grann is a masterful storyteller. I liked that he brought a more humanitarian-based perspective to the story - pointing out the inherent injustices of colonialism and the prejudices of some of the survivors looking down on the indigenous people who were actively saving their lives.

I also echo Susan's recommendation of Batavia's Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny if you like shipwreck survival stories and how quickly "civilized" men fall into absolute chaos. Another well-written mutiny, shipwreck, survival account is The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty.

Last year I read Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, which I didn't think I would like, but I found it fascinating. And this book is also terrific. The author makes historical events come alive. It's especially challenging in the case of this story of shipwreck, because the survivors gave different and conflicting accounts of actions and motives.

I like seafaring adventures, having gone through the whole series by Patrick O'Brian. This whole story would be unbelievable if it weren't true. It graphically depicts the dangers of trying to sail around the southern tip of South America, the effect of storms on large ships and small boats, and the depredations of scurvy, typhus, and accidents.

Under the most extreme hardships, what do humans do? Do they pull together or splinter into warring groups? Who should be in charge, the nominal head or the natural leader? In a relatively short book (250 p not counting footnotes & other material), the author presents these questions. And toward the end there is a very short but devastating condemnation of the imperialist system that supported this voyage.

I read mostly fiction, but this in the category of nonfiction that reads like fiction, along with The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, Seabiscuit: An American Legend, and The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo. This author has a couple of other books, and I plan to read them!

seems like a bunch of us hit the jackpot with a skip the line - mine came in last week while I was in New York and I was madly doing math to see if i would have the listening ability to get it done in 7 days (since I didn't have my normal commute) - and I didn't want to wait the 3 months that my library currently had on the wait list.

like others, I found it really engaging, especially being that I spent 8 years active duty in the Navy (and am still a reservist) - a lot of the rules/discussion struck home. I really liked the part in the epilogue where he talked about how this event inspired many books (including the Master and Commander series).

I wish the court martial had been more definitive on who was right/wrong - it seems like ultimately everyone just kind of escaped with no punishment except for the one guy who got a warning...

anyways, solid narration by Dion graham and glad that I got to listen to this

I did not skip the line, but was able to use the library! I also found this engaging and really enjoyed learning where some common phrases originated.

The overall story itself is really incredible to think about. Imagining myself in those circumstances and how I would have reacted or which side I would have found myself on. I spent quite a bit of time when not reading the book, pondering the circumstances faced by the crew.

I also found it quite interesting how members of the crew were selling their story for money. That seems like such a modern concept, but obviously it occurred then too. I don't know why that jumped out at me, but it did.

Overall I really did enjoy this, This is my 2nd book by the author and I would definitely read something else by him.

In that synchronicity that sometimes happens, this was my second shipwreck audiobook of the season. The first was a fictional account of the Batavia, which others have already mentioned, in The Night Ship. I'd heard of neither the Batavia or the Wager before, and suddenly they're everywhere!

I could certainly see many parallels between how things progressed for the castaways, and I do recommend the audio of The Night Ship. I can't comment on how realistic the accents of the narrators were, but to my English ears the Dutch and Australian accents were authentic, and really added to the experience.

I agree that the narrator of this audio was very good, and I liked how the author kept the pace up while also including wider social aspects.

One of the saddest things was the fate of the free black sailor, John Duck, who survived so much to end up enslaved.

I may now take a peek at the ebook - they are both on Everand - to look at the illustrations.

I saw this on the New Books shelf at the library, and since I hadn't chosen a book yet for the Group Reads task I decided to take it out. Based on the description I expected a lot more about the court-martial and the legal outcomes. I understand that the author couldn't give much more because there wasn't a big trial, but I was disappointed in that. Fictional trials (such as The Caine Mutiny and the JAG in Space books) are more interesting. I think the author did a good job of describing what happened, but it wasn't my type.

Having been fascinated by Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, I knew I had to read this book. Much like Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, it tales a harrowing story of survival at sea. It makes you think about how you would act in similar circumstances.