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Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea
- Narrated by: Hal Saunders
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: History, Americas
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Publisher's Summary
Two Years Before the Mast is an 1840 memoir by the author Richard Henry Dana. A Harvard graduate, he spent the years 1834 to 1836 as a sailor on a merchant ship on a voyage from Boston to California. The journey took them past Cape Horn on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago where the Pacific and Atlantic oceans meet.
Dana provides detailed descriptions of ship life and the technical aspects of sailing. A chapter on California and its inhabitants offers valuable historical insights on the state which was then a foreign land.
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What listeners say about Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
- Michael A
- 06-11-21
Narrator killed it for me
I seriously questioned whether the narrator was a robot sometimes. I was really expecting to enjoy this and couldn't bear to listen to more than the first few chapters.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 02-08-21
2yrs b4 mast
seemed a little too fast and needing pauses, inflection, changes of pace, modulation otherwisr, enjoyable
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 01-20-21
reality beats fiction
I loved this book. is a real and accurate glimpse into an other time and life. It has started me looking for more historical journals to read
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David Newsham
- 12-29-21
Excellent Story poor Narration
I have read this book and love it. I was, however disappointed with the narration to start with.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Captain T. Storeboe
- 09-26-21
Great depiction of a forgotten time
This story is captivating and very fascinating. It shares the thought of a common sailor as the author mentions, rarely described. It goes into great details of hardship and life aboard the old square riggers in their last few years of competitive service. The timescale in the book is very clear and it is humbling to read as the years go by the people vanish along with the trade. Only one critique is the narrator does not know how to pronounce "mizen".
