{"id":2059,"date":"2016-01-22T15:10:32","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T14:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=2059"},"modified":"2025-09-07T00:06:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T22:06:42","slug":"ueber-bord-rudyard-kipling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2016\/01\/captains-courageous-rudyard-kipling\/","title":{"rendered":"Captains Courageous \u2022 Rudyard Kipling"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Captains Courageous<\/em> is the second book by Rudyard Kipling that I have read so far. After reading his travel reports<\/a>, I was curious to see what one of his stories would be like. From Sea to Sea<\/a> was certainly not a bad book, but it didn\u2019t 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<\/em>, but Kipling hadn\u2019t been very high on my reading list so far. What immediately convinced me, though, was this beautiful edition of Captains Courageous<\/em>, which was published last September by the B\u00fcchergilde Gutenberg<\/a>. I discovered it on Charlotte\u2019s blog besonders buch<\/a>, which I really love because of her focus on bibliophile books, and I simply had to get it right away.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The blurb also won me over instantly: an adventure, the sea, and seafaring. A mix that just appeals to me. I\u2019ve 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<\/em>, takes the little snob on board, and it\u2019s clear that among the simple but honest fishermen, he\u2019ll 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Captains<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When Kipling wrote Captains Courageous<\/em>, he was already famous for The Jungle Book<\/em> and his numerous stories and poems. A friendship developed between him and Dr. James Conland, the physician who had attended to Kipling\u2019s 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<\/em>, 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\u2014a 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\u2019s lives alongside Harvey. The sailors\u2019 dialects are rendered wonderfully, with each man\u2019s speech reflecting his background. A Portuguese fisherman or a gruff seaman doesn\u2019t speak in perfectly grammatical sentences\u2014and this detail makes the story even more authentic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At times, I was reminded of Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure by Arthur Conan Doyle<\/a>. Together with Harvey, you dive into a simple life shaped by the sea and fishing\u2014but also by the rough manners of the sailors whose entire existence revolves around the ocean. The moral of the story isn\u2019t extraordinary, but overall the book is a real pleasure to read, and the realistic sea episodes make it thoroughly entertaining.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Captains<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What really elevates this beautiful story are the excellent illustrations by Christian Schneider. Until now, I hadn\u2019t been particularly impressed by the design of B\u00fcchergilde books\u2014the 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\u2019s atmosphere wonderfully.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Captains<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The typography and thick paper also make this book a real delight. I found the footnotes particularly inventive\u2014printed 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\u2019t essential for understanding the story but still makes my bibliophile heart beat faster. I\u2019ll definitely be keeping a closer eye on both Kipling and the B\u00fcchergilde in the future. The Hanser Verlag also has a beautiful edition of Kim<\/em> in its catalog, which I\u2019ve already had my eye on. That one might now move quite a bit higher on my wishlist.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I also found the afterword remarkable\u2014it provides a brief overview of Kipling\u2019s 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<\/a>, he traveled to South Africa and lived in the United States with his wife Caroline.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Captains<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Conclusion:<\/strong> With Captains Courageous<\/em>, Kipling convinced me as a storyteller, and the B\u00fcchergilde 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\u2019s camaraderie and Harvey\u2019s 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\u2014it\u2019s a joy to read. The lovely illustrations, carefully chosen typography, and high-quality craftsmanship make it a true pleasure.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Book information:<\/strong> Captains Courageous \u2022 Rudyard Kipling \u2022 B\u00fcchergilde Gutenberg \u2022 312 pages<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019t completely captivate me throughout. I had already planned to … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Captains Courageous \u2022 Rudyard Kipling”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"\u00dcber Bord \u2022 Rudyard Kipling - lesestunden","description":"\u00dcber Bord ist das zweite Buch von Rudyard Kipling, das ich bisher gelesen habe. Nach der Lekt\u00fcre seiner Reiseberichte war ich neugierig, wie sich denn eine Gesc"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10,20],"tags":[79,65],"class_list":["post-2059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classics","category-reviews","tag-christian-schneider","tag-rudyard-kipling"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ueber_bord_beitrag.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}