Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #369622 in Books
• Published on: 1992-05-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Customer Reviews

Deserving of all the critical acclaim
Quite simply the best you are probably going to find as far as books go in describing what life onboard a Navy ship is like. What I found amazing is that this book was written about the WW2 Navy and I served in the Desert Storm era navy and there was basically no detectable change other than some of the technology described.

But all that aside I think that people who have no interest whatsoever in Sea stories will find that Mr. Wouk understood human nature very well and the characters in this fine book transcend the situation they are described in. Meaning that there are Queegs, Maryks, Keefers, and Keiths running around all over the place (I've worked for a couple of Queegs myself as a matter of fact, I kid you not) and the reading of this book will help them to better understand what motivates people at the core.

I found this book fascinating on many levels and nearly impossiblile to put down after I became drawn in. I think there is a little something for everybody in this one, even if you aren't into the whole military setting.

Highly reccomended - give it a chance and you won't regret it. Mr. Wouk has made the list of my favorite authors with one attempt, which doesn't happen very often.

A gripping drama about the trials of war and command.
The Caine Mutiny is not merely another war novel. What makes this book special is the way in which Herman Wouk develops complex characters and relationships within the setting of World War II. He places emphasis on the depth of the characters, rather than the war itself. Because of his attention to the complex attitudes and relationships on board the Caine, it is not necessary for the reader to have a strong naval background in order to understand the situations at hand. Wouk's main character focus is on Willie Keith. The reader is able to understand his character more than the others because of extensive expository information in the first several chapters. At times the information seemed long-winded and irrelevant, but it achieved its main purpose of establishing the main character, the protagonist for the reader to follow throughout the novel. Because of this personalized insight, the reader receives a biased, yet deeper understanding of the events. Wouk provides some very intriguing twists and turns throughout the novel, the most poignant of these being the court martial trial. Because of the way Wouk chooses to slant the proceedings, the reader has almost every reason to believe that Maryck will be found guilty. Such elements of irony and surprise make for some suspenseful and highly engaging reading. Wouk achieves a high level of success with this novel. His use of locus, attention to complexities of character and relationships, and his ability to twist situations create a highly dramatic, touching coming-of-age story centered around the trials of war and command.

the story is based partially on the U.S. Grayson during WWII
This story is not just fiction. Many of the incidents that took place in the book also took place on the U.S. Grayson during WWII. The outcome was different from the book, but the officer was finally removed from the ship.