‘Life of Pi’ hits the big screen

There are a whole lot of shipwreck books out there, fiction and nonfiction. A select few have been read by “everyone” — think: Ship of Gold. Another is Life of Pi. I’ll admit to not having read Yann Martel’s 2001 novel, but it might be time to crack it open. Next month, Ang Lee’s adaptation of the book hits the theaters next month. Early reviews have been quite favorable. Here’s a bit from one:

Based on the best-selling book by Yann Martel, “Pi” has become a critic and Oscar favorite since its premiere at the New York Film Festival last month. “‘Life of Pi’ is gorgeous and engaging and often thrilling. Ending is a whiff, just like the book, but when it works… Wow,” tweeted CinemaBlend’s Katey Rich. “‘Life of Pi’ is an unusual example of anything-is-possible technology put at the service of a humanistic and intimate story rather than something that smacks of a manufactured product,” wrote the Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy.

Looks like this flick might actually be worth watching in the theater.

We’re Back!

Well that sabbatical lasted a few months longer than expected but it comes to an end today. It’s been a productive period–two chapters cleared by my dissertation adviser, the last chapter drafted and an article published in Wreck & Rescue, the journal of the U.S. Life-Saving Heritage Association. With luck the next few months will be just as productive. I’ve got a hell of a bucket list: get last three chapters cleared, put together and defend the entire dissertation, find a job (know of any?), and, of course, maintain Ships on the Shore. Wish me luck! (And if you come across any good shipwreck “stuff” please pass it along.)

I thought posting a new shipwreck tune would be an appropriate way to get things rolling again. Sent by good a good friend of Ships on the Shore, smallerandsmaller, this track reminds us that shipwrecks remain resonate metaphors, even in our digital age. Enjoy~

New Shipwreck Song: ‘Shipwreck’ by Your Memorial

Shipwreck-themed songs pop up in every genre of music. Unsurprising becuase shipwrecks are timeless metaphors that artists have deployed for as long as there’s been art. This new tune by Your Memorial, a Twin Cities-based metal act, will appear on their new album Redirect, which is due out later this month. I love this video because it includes all the lyrics. You’ll note the timeless themes of hubris, struggle and fear characteristic of shipwreck narratives–themes that date to the earliest shipwreck tales. Enjoy.

Best Shipwreck Book Ever: ‘The Mariner’s Chronicle’

Just about everyone loves a good shipwreck book. For the time period I’m researching–the long nineteenth century–there were many shipwreck books. By 1806, Americans could choose from over 200 shipwreck book-length shipwreck narratives, including Archibald Duncan’s seminal anthology The Mariner’s Chronicle. Thanks to the wonders of Google Books (which never ceases to amaze me) you can read an 1835 edition here. The first edition, published in six volumes between 1804 and 1808 by James Cundee in London, is arguably the first important English-language shipwreck anthology. It’s the ur document for the countless shipwreck narratives that have inundated the Anglo-American world ever since. It also has some fantastic engravings, like the two below. Enjoy!

Recent Shipwreck News

Truth be told, I’ve been pretty distracted the past couple of weeks. But ships continue to wreck and shipwrecks continue to inundate our daily lives. So here’s some of the shipwreck material that’s been piling up in my inbox.

The Huffington Post ran an article about the possibilities and problems facing the approximately 10,000 wrecks scattered around Indonesia. The age-old debate over salvage rights and cultural heritage is playing as the Indonesian government “wrangles over a new policy on underwater heritage.” The archipelago is one of the world’s great wreck traps and the nation allows for-profit excavations, to the pleasure of treasure hunters and the horror of historians and archaeologists. I for one hope the government begins to treat shipwrecks as the finite cultural resources they are rather than just “another resource to exploit.” It’s a fascinating article and well worth a read.

On a lighter note, it appears Alexandra Roach, a “rising Welsh star,” will be playing a shipwreck survivor washed ashore near a small English town in the new historical series Hunderby.