- Paperback: 222 pages
- Publisher: University of Chicago Press; 2nd edition (30 May 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0226855856
- ISBN-13: 978-0226855851
- Product Dimensions: 2 x 1.8 x 0.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,006,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
A gripping tale of men struggling against nature and themselves, "Williwaw" was Gore Vidal's first novel, written at 19 when he was first mate of a US Army freight supply ship stationed in the Aleutian Islands. Here he writes of a ship caught plying the lethal, frigid Arctic waters during storm season. Tensions run high among the edgy crew and uneasy passengers even before the cruel wind that gives the book its title suddenly sweeps down from the mountains. Vividly drawn characters and a compelling murder plot combine to make "Williwaw" a classic war novel.
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First Sentence
SOMEONE turned on the radio in the wheelhouse. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
SOMEONE turned on the radio in the wheelhouse. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I felt somewhat flat when I finished this rather short story. I understand that this was one of Gore Vidal's earlier works, and therefore the skills that made him the successful author he is clearly have not been honed yet.
A strange, disjointed sort of a book, Williwaw follows the voyage of a ship carrying two military officers and a chaplain from the Aluetian Islands to Arunga. On the voyage, however, they hit a terrible storm.
Even the descriptions of the storm couldn't get me excited. I didn't feel that Vidal created enough tension or excitement. I just felt rather indifferent about the whole thing. The characters are rather good though, and in a more developed novel they could have been really interesting. Unfortunately this just falls a little short.
A strange, disjointed sort of a book, Williwaw follows the voyage of a ship carrying two military officers and a chaplain from the Aluetian Islands to Arunga. On the voyage, however, they hit a terrible storm.
Even the descriptions of the storm couldn't get me excited. I didn't feel that Vidal created enough tension or excitement. I just felt rather indifferent about the whole thing. The characters are rather good though, and in a more developed novel they could have been really interesting. Unfortunately this just falls a little short.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've read many of Gore Vidal's essays, much of which is literary criticism, and on that front he is usually very witty and amusing, often with very scathing comments about his fellow contemporary writers.
I was therefore expecting something more on this basis, as well as the fact that this book was critically acclaimed at the time. It must however be pointed out that Gore Vidal was very young when he wrote this book.
Despite this, the book is very engaging and is well worth the read for pure entertainment. I did feel strangely unfulfilled at the end of the book, and in terms of evoking thought or ambivalence, this book failed abjectly in comparison to one of his other early books "The City and The Pillar".
If Mr Vidal were reading this, as an artist he would probably agree with me, feeling that this early (and very commercially successful) effort represents the ramblings (albeit highly proficient) of an adolescent.
It's not very surprising that this book is hard to get hold of, compared to his other novels. In the end, it must be said that although I found this book worth reading, don't expect it to match Gore Vidal's current intellectual credentials.
I was therefore expecting something more on this basis, as well as the fact that this book was critically acclaimed at the time. It must however be pointed out that Gore Vidal was very young when he wrote this book.
Despite this, the book is very engaging and is well worth the read for pure entertainment. I did feel strangely unfulfilled at the end of the book, and in terms of evoking thought or ambivalence, this book failed abjectly in comparison to one of his other early books "The City and The Pillar".
If Mr Vidal were reading this, as an artist he would probably agree with me, feeling that this early (and very commercially successful) effort represents the ramblings (albeit highly proficient) of an adolescent.
It's not very surprising that this book is hard to get hold of, compared to his other novels. In the end, it must be said that although I found this book worth reading, don't expect it to match Gore Vidal's current intellectual credentials.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
World War II Novel With Joseph Conrad Feel
1 July 2002
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Williwaw takes place in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska during World War II. The main action takes place during a freak, intense wind storm the eskimos call a "williwaw," it whips down off the coastal mountains and causes havoc, freak seas, etc. Gore Vidal, in this, his first novel (1946), creates a wonderful Joseph Conradian feel as tensions mount aboard a army transport ship making a weekly run. I don't want to spoil the ending. There is (I thought) a very CLIMACTIC moment when the tensions among the crew rise to their heights just as the williwaw hits, and - something happens. The serious tone and cool style of this book I found admirable. As a war novel I liked it as much as the ver different Joseph Heller's "Catch-22," and the lyrical, Tennessee Williams-like John Horne Burns' novel "The Gallery," while I liked it more so than Mailer's "Naked and the Dead" - which I liked for its themes and observations, I just wish Mailer could have (in my opinion) skipped the repetition and saved about 400 pages.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Men against the sea, and against each other
20 Jan 2006
Format:Paperback
The copyright page of Gore Vidal's "Williwaw" notes that the novel was first published in 1946. In a preface Vidal describes the background of this novel. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and, at age 19, became first mate of an army freight-supply ship based in the Aleutian Islands. He worked on this book while on night watch in port. "Williwaw" is similarly set in the Aleutian Islands during that war, and focuses on the passengers and crew of an army freight-passenger ship that is skippered by a warrant officer. The story follows the ship's perilous passage between islands. Vidal sheds light on the book's title in his preface: he defines williwaws as "sudden devastating winds that come without warning down from the island mountains."
Vidal has crafted a gripping wartime adventure. He masterfully charts the crew's struggle against the harsh, and potentially deadly, Aleutian environment. Equally compelling is the tension and conflict that build among the crew members. As the story develops, Vidal creates vivid portraits of the Aleutian Islands and the sea around them. The story is rich in details of the crew's daily life and routine on board the ship, as well as of their recreation in a seedy port town.
Overall, Vidal's prose style in the book is very clean and matter-of-fact; I found it a very effective mode for this particular story. His portrait of the wartime Army is full of satiric touches that are sometimes subtle, sometimes funny. Ultimately "Williwaw" struck me as having a dark, almost nihilistic vision of the human condition. But it's a darkness that I found thought-provoking, and not repellent. Through his plot and characters Vidal takes such basic concepts as love, religion, heroism, and justice and seems to strip them bare. "Williwaw" is, in my judgment, not only a solid adventure tale, but also a unique and compelling contribution to the canon of American war fiction.
Vidal has crafted a gripping wartime adventure. He masterfully charts the crew's struggle against the harsh, and potentially deadly, Aleutian environment. Equally compelling is the tension and conflict that build among the crew members. As the story develops, Vidal creates vivid portraits of the Aleutian Islands and the sea around them. The story is rich in details of the crew's daily life and routine on board the ship, as well as of their recreation in a seedy port town.
Overall, Vidal's prose style in the book is very clean and matter-of-fact; I found it a very effective mode for this particular story. His portrait of the wartime Army is full of satiric touches that are sometimes subtle, sometimes funny. Ultimately "Williwaw" struck me as having a dark, almost nihilistic vision of the human condition. But it's a darkness that I found thought-provoking, and not repellent. Through his plot and characters Vidal takes such basic concepts as love, religion, heroism, and justice and seems to strip them bare. "Williwaw" is, in my judgment, not only a solid adventure tale, but also a unique and compelling contribution to the canon of American war fiction.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A spare tale of how tensions build
1 Jan 2011
Format:Kindle Edition
Gore Vidal's first novel is a spare tale of tensions building among a group of men thrown together by random forces, in this case, the U.S. army and a freak storm in the seas off Alaska. Vidal has a keen sense for the hypocrisies of military men trying to get ahead, and that makes for some comic moments. There are some vivid scenes of tawdry bar-life in an Alaskan port town, doubtless based on Vidal's own experience in these waters during World War Two.
Interesting to read side by side with Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead. Vidal's novel feels more like a traditional story of the sea, Mailer's more an existential yelp.
In summary: A tight, short novel with elements of both adventure and literary fiction that can be read in one sitting.
Interesting to read side by side with Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead. Vidal's novel feels more like a traditional story of the sea, Mailer's more an existential yelp.
In summary: A tight, short novel with elements of both adventure and literary fiction that can be read in one sitting.
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