Mutiny on the Bounty (Hardcover)

H.M.S. Bounty was under assignment to go to Tahiti to secure breadfruit trees. It was hoped that these trees would grow well in the West Indies and could become a cheap source of food for slaves working there on the sugar plantations. Breadfruit trees do not have seeds, so had to be transported and transplanted to perform this experiment.

On the way to Tahiti, Captain Bligh turns out to have several weaknesses as a leader. First, he seems to have stolen food from his men in order to increase his personal income. Second, he chose to think the worst of people rather than the best, so he favored the stick over the carrot. Third, he was incautious in his speech and constantly humiliated the men under his command. No one who reads this book would want to have served under Captain Bligh. In fact, many would rename him as Captain Blight.

The weakness of the Bligh characterization is that we are given no comparison to what other British naval captains did at the same time. Was Bligh just a little worse, or twice as worse? I still don't know, and I have read a lot about this era. My impression is that what most of us would condemn was pretty typical except for the stealing from the crew's stores.

The best part of the book contains a look at Tahitian culture during this time, and the psychological experience of being falsely accused of a capital crime. Fans of trials will also enjoy the way that the court martial is portrayed. You are given even detail to appreciate the nuances of what the issues were that the various accused were dealing with.

I found that the book could have used more editing. Much of the novel could have been eliminated with no significant loss to the story. As a result, many modern readers will find that the book is very slow to get started. In a sense, the real appeal of the book begins with the mutiny about a third of the way through the book. In fact, a better structure might have been to have told most of the story of the voyage through flashback interspersed within the trip back to England and the court martial.

The sailing descriptions assume a level of knowledge about masts, sails, and wind that are well beyond my awareness of sailing. The novel would have benefited from either explaining more about these points, or eliminating most of them.

The book's final weakness is that the authors chose to use a fictional character with a unique role and no experience at sea as the narrator, rather than taking on the voice and perspective of one of the actual sailors. That choice caused the story to have a bit of a "fairy tale" quality that reduced its appeal to me.

After you have read and enjoyed this well-known book, think about where your words could wound as much or more than a whipping. Learn to measure those words carefully before you release them. In many cases, you would be better not to say them at all.

Appeal to the best in all you meet!

H.M.S. Bounty was under assignment to go to Tahiti to secure breadfruit trees. It was hoped that these trees would grow well in the West Indies and could become a cheap source of food for slaves working there on the sugar plantations. Breadfruit trees do not have seeds, so had to be transported and transplanted to perform this experiment.

On the way to Tahiti, Captain Bligh turns out to have several weaknesses as a leader. First, he seems to have stolen food from his men in order to increase his personal income. Second, he chose to think the worst of people rather than the best, so he favored the stick over the carrot. Third, he was incautious in his speech and constantly humiliated the men under his command. No one who reads this book would want to have served under Captain Bligh. In fact, many would rename him as Captain Blight.

The weakness of the Bligh characterization is that we are given no comparison to what other British naval captains did at the same time. Was Bligh just a little worse, or twice as worse? I still don't know, and I have read a lot about this era. My impression is that what most of us would condemn was pretty typical except for the stealing from the crew's stores.

The best part of the book contains a look at Tahitian culture during this time, and the psychological experience of being falsely accused of a capital crime. Fans of trials will also enjoy the way that the court martial is portrayed. You are given even detail to appreciate the nuances of what the issues were that the various accused were dealing with.

I found that the book could have used more editing. Much of the novel could have been eliminated with no significant loss to the story. As a result, many modern readers will find that the book is very slow to get started. In a sense, the real appeal of the book begins with the mutiny about a third of the way through the book. In fact, a better structure might have been to have told most of the story of the voyage through flashback interspersed within the trip back to England and the court martial.

The sailing descriptions assume a level of knowledge about masts, sails, and wind that are well beyond my awareness of sailing. The novel would have benefited from either explaining more about these points, or eliminating most of them.

The book's final weakness is that the authors chose to use a fictional character with a unique role and no experience at sea as the narrator, rather than taking on the voice and perspective of one of the actual sailors. That choice caused the story to have a bit of a "fairy tale" quality that reduced its appeal to me.

After you have read and enjoyed this well-known book, think about where your words could wound as much or more than a whipping. Learn to measure those words carefully before you release them. In many cases, you would be better not to say them at all.

Appeal to the best in all you meet!

H.M.S. Bounty was under assignment to go to Tahiti to secure breadfruit trees. It was hoped that these trees would grow well in the West Indies and could become a cheap source of food for slaves working there on the sugar plantations. Breadfruit trees do not have seeds, so had to be transported and transplanted to perform this experiment.

On the way to Tahiti, Captain Bligh turns out to have several weaknesses as a leader. First, he seems to have stolen food from his men in order to increase his personal income. Second, he chose to think the worst of people rather than the best, so he favored the stick over the carrot. Third, he was incautious in his speech and constantly humiliated the men under his command. No one who reads this book would want to have served under Captain Bligh. In fact, many would rename him as Captain Blight.

The weakness of the Bligh characterization is that we are given no comparison to what other British naval captains did at the same time. Was Bligh just a little worse, or twice as worse? I still don't know, and I have read a lot about this era. My impression is that what most of us would condemn was pretty typical except for the stealing from the crew's stores.

The best part of the book contains a look at Tahitian culture during this time, and the psychological experience of being falsely accused of a capital crime. Fans of trials will also enjoy the way that the court martial is portrayed. You are given even detail to appreciate the nuances of what the issues were that the various accused were dealing with.

I found that the book could have used more editing. Much of the novel could have been eliminated with no significant loss to the story. As a result, many modern readers will find that the book is very slow to get started. In a sense, the real appeal of the book begins with the mutiny about a third of the way through the book. In fact, a better structure might have been to have told most of the story of the voyage through flashback interspersed within the trip back to England and the court martial.

The sailing descriptions assume a level of knowledge about masts, sails, and wind that are well beyond my awareness of sailing. The novel would have benefited from either explaining more about these points, or eliminating most of them.

The book's final weakness is that the authors chose to use a fictional character with a unique role and no experience at sea as the narrator, rather than taking on the voice and perspective of one of the actual sailors. That choice caused the story to have a bit of a "fairy tale" quality that reduced its appeal to me.

After you have read and enjoyed this well-known book, think about where your words could wound as much or more than a whipping. Learn to measure those words carefully before you release them. In many cases, you would be better not to say them at all.

Appeal to the best in all you meet!

Donald Mitchell, co-author of The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The 2,000 Percent Solution