tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post8887049703898705340..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: On First Looking into The Cruel Sea by Julia JonesKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-45623629734561228522019-07-09T21:44:57.078+01:002019-07-09T21:44:57.078+01:00Great piece as ever Julia, a reminder too that mor...Great piece as ever Julia, a reminder too that more sailors die/have died in fires at sea than by drowning. Also the powerful love/hate relationship sailors have with the sea. I also love the Keats sonnet you end with, the force of 'swims'... I often think of it when I see the moon in daylight like a jellyfish swimming. And of course, the end of the sonnet takes us to Swallows and Amazons and their 'peak of Darien'! My father grew up in a Northumbrian fishing village, out in fishing cobles all his childhood, and would have joined the navy like many other local lads did, but became air crew in the RAF instead because they would take him a year earlier! Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-49944346766767990352019-07-09T21:39:52.470+01:002019-07-09T21:39:52.470+01:00Will be fascinated to know what you thinkWill be fascinated to know what you thinkjulia joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773900100240758504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-38150088607145645232019-07-09T17:09:42.985+01:002019-07-09T17:09:42.985+01:00I'm putting this on my reading list! Haven'...I'm putting this on my reading list! Haven't read any Monsarrat as yet. Thank you.Umberto Tosihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04939504157464234443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-181594885859897542019-07-09T14:18:50.430+01:002019-07-09T14:18:50.430+01:00Thank you for helpful comments -- there is some SE...Thank you for helpful comments -- there is some SEX in the book (fantasy-beautiful Wren officer, Virginia McKenna in film) + prostitutes for the bad guy and VD for the innocent. But none of that in film. Am getting more and more absorbed by all of this (the war at sea not the sex!) Which bit of navy was your father in Bill? Am collecting RNVRs (might even Write A Book, one day) Thanks for U-boat image Janjulia joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773900100240758504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-47693517795060812602019-07-09T12:54:15.993+01:002019-07-09T12:54:15.993+01:00Me too, Julia. I've seen the film (as a youth)...Me too, Julia. I've seen the film (as a youth) and now I'll read the book. Growing up in Portsmouth after the war, sailing by the wrecks up harbour, my uncles, my aunties in the Wrens - all of it. The most poignant relic was an entirely derelict and rotting U-boat, lying on the Portchester mud. Nie wieder Krieg... (some hopes).Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-82050040073698792722019-07-09T12:19:54.466+01:002019-07-09T12:19:54.466+01:00I haven't read any Monsarrat - always thought ...I haven't read any Monsarrat - always thought it wasn't for me - so I had missed the humanity of the man and how deeply he felt about the horrors of war. Thank you for sharing this.Sandra Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01761260568729338471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-29606461771828309202019-07-09T11:05:19.197+01:002019-07-09T11:05:19.197+01:00Powerful, Julia, especially to those of us of even...Powerful, Julia, especially to those of us of even more advanced years (I'm a child of that August you mention). My dad was in the navy throughout the war. He was an avid reader and encouraged us to be the same. The one exception I remember, though, was 'The Cruel Sea'. He had a copy but it was forbidden - Not,(we knew), because of its horrors, etc. but (thanks to reading about it in the newspapers) because it had 'rude bits' (or maybe just 'swearing') in it. That meant, of course, that we read it (discreetly) as soon as we could - and you're right, it had a powerful impact (and I don't remember any 'rude bits'). What a charmed life I've been able to lead in comparison with (and thanks to) Dad's generation.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.com