Captains Courageous • Rudyard Kipling

Captains Courageous is the second book by Rudyard Kipling that I have read so far. After reading his travel reports, I was curious to see what one of his stories would be like. From Sea to Sea was certainly not a bad book, but it didn’t completely captivate me throughout. I had already planned to read more by the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature to date, and especially to pick up a coming-of-age novel written after The Jungle Book, but Kipling hadn’t been very high on my reading list so far. What immediately convinced me, though, was this beautiful edition of Captains Courageous, which was published last September by the Büchergilde Gutenberg. I discovered it on Charlotte’s blog besonders buch, which I really love because of her focus on bibliophile books, and I simply had to get it right away.

The blurb also won me over instantly: an adventure, the sea, and seafaring. A mix that just appeals to me. I’ve read too many books of this kind to simply pass this one by. Harvey, a young, spoiled son of a millionaire, falls overboard from a luxurious passenger ship. A small fishing boat, the We’re Here, takes the little snob on board, and it’s clear that among the simple but honest fishermen, he’ll have to prove himself. No one believes his story about his rich daddy, so he has to obey orders and work hard as a cabin boy.

When Kipling wrote Captains Courageous, he was already famous for The Jungle Book and his numerous stories and poems. A friendship developed between him and Dr. James Conland, the physician who had attended to Kipling’s wife after the birth of their daughter, and Conland told him about his experiences on cod-fishing trips. Several short summer visits to the fishing port of Gloucester, Massachusetts, also served as inspiration for this book. You can tell that Kipling himself had traveled extensively by the vivid depictions of daily life aboard the We’re Here, the schooner on which Harvey finds himself. With his keen eye for observation, he manages to portray ordinary people remarkably well. What I particularly liked was the sense of a tight-knit community that this small crew represents—a feeling conveyed on both a romantic and emotional level. The rough sailors sit in their bunks during storms, telling stories and making music, and everyone is accepted as they are. Bit by bit, you learn about the pasts and peculiarities of the crew members and experience the highs and lows of simple fishermen’s lives alongside Harvey. The sailors’ dialects are rendered wonderfully, with each man’s speech reflecting his background. A Portuguese fisherman or a gruff seaman doesn’t speak in perfectly grammatical sentences—and this detail makes the story even more authentic.

At times, I was reminded of Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure by Arthur Conan Doyle. Together with Harvey, you dive into a simple life shaped by the sea and fishing—but also by the rough manners of the sailors whose entire existence revolves around the ocean. The moral of the story isn’t extraordinary, but overall the book is a real pleasure to read, and the realistic sea episodes make it thoroughly entertaining.

What really elevates this beautiful story are the excellent illustrations by Christian Schneider. Until now, I hadn’t been particularly impressed by the design of Büchergilde books—the illustrations were often too abstract and unappealing. This one is completely different: both the cover design and the interior illustrations won me over. Schneider has contributed several truly lovely illustrations that enhance the book’s atmosphere wonderfully.

The typography and thick paper also make this book a real delight. I found the footnotes particularly inventive—printed in a lighter gray directly beside the text, they are much less disruptive to the reading flow. A small map tucked into the front cover isn’t essential for understanding the story but still makes my bibliophile heart beat faster. I’ll definitely be keeping a closer eye on both Kipling and the Büchergilde in the future. The Hanser Verlag also has a beautiful edition of Kim in its catalog, which I’ve already had my eye on. That one might now move quite a bit higher on my wishlist.

I also found the afterword remarkable—it provides a brief overview of Kipling’s life and addresses the accusations of racism against him. I thought this was fascinating, as it paints a very interesting picture of the author in just a few pages and reveals quite a bit about him. For instance, that he lost his beloved daughter and that his son was killed in the war. It also mentions that after the journeys described in From Sea to Sea, he traveled to South Africa and lived in the United States with his wife Caroline.

Conclusion: With Captains Courageous, Kipling convinced me as a storyteller, and the Büchergilde impressed me with their new edition. The book is an enjoyable read, beautifully conveying the everyday life of fishermen and allowing the reader to experience the crew’s camaraderie and Harvey’s transformation on an emotional level. A story about the sea, about fishing, and about very different characters who share an adventure on a small ship—it’s a joy to read. The lovely illustrations, carefully chosen typography, and high-quality craftsmanship make it a true pleasure.

Book information: Captains Courageous • Rudyard Kipling • Büchergilde Gutenberg • 312 pages