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Two Years Before the Mast
- Narrated by: Pat Bottino
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Two Years Before the Mast, written by Richard Henry Dana, provides a vivid account of "the life of a common sailor at sea". Dana sails from Boston, around Cape Horn, stopping in several ports along the California coast, including San Diego, San Pedro, Santa Barbara, and San Francisco. On the return trip around Cape Horn in the middle of the Antarctic winter, Dana describes terrifying storms and incredible beauty, giving vivid descriptions of icebergs and the scurvy that afflicts members of the crew.
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What listeners say about Two Years Before the Mast
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- E. W. Littlefield, Jr.
- 05-08-17
Nautical Mispronunciations
It is unfortunate that reader did not consult a nautical dictionary as to the pronunciation of certain often used words. 'Forecastle" is pronounced fo'c's'l and never as spelled. To measure the depth of water the sailor tosses the "lead" (rhymes with head and is a lead (mine is made of bronze) weight attached to a line. "Victualing" is not pronounced as written, but as "vittles".
4 people found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Harry Peterson
- 02-16-16
Reader robotic and monotonous
What would have made Two Years Before the Mast better?
The reader of this book made listening very difficult. I quickly abandoned the audio book and went directly to the text. I found the book quite book.
What didn’t you like about Pat Bottino’s performance?
Robotic and monotonous. It almost sounded as though it was a computerized voice.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- JB
- 09-03-12
New Reader please
Would you consider the audio edition of Two Years Before the Mast to be better than the print version?
No, the reader was a very poor choice for this recording.
What didn’t you like about Pat Bottino’s performance?
He sounded too old. Not just his voice, but his manner of reading. The adventures of a young man are read by a stuffy sounding museum tour guide voice. I'd prefer better talent or at least someone who engages the text when they read instead of this reader.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Charles
- 08-13-12
Wrong reader
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
Yes, relearned a lot of early
california histery
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
I would not change the story because that is the way it was for sailors in that time.
What three words best describe Pat Bottino’s voice?
His voice was okay, his naiutical pronunciation was all off.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
It was a movie, several years ago. Yes, I would go and see it again..
Any additional comments?
Biggest comment was that Bottino should have had a real seaman go over his reading with him. I don't know how many times I cringed when I heard him refer to the forecastle. The word is pronounced "Folk-sul." Also when nearing Boston on the return trip he spoke of a man "being in the chains" and taking soundings by swinging the lead. The sounding lead is pronounced lead as in bed or dead. Not as 'you lead and I'll follow" While not mentioned in the book, life for a common sailor didnt' really improve much until welll into the 20th century. Even up to the 1930's seamen were not treated much better than slaves. My thanks to my seamen brothers who helped to change that. I went to sea from 1946 until 1994 when I retired. ,
3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- texan
- 06-26-11
worst ever
I listen to alot of stuff, this is the worst read thing I have EVER listened to. DO NOT PURCHASE this. Audible.com ought to be embarrassed to be selling this recording
2 people found this helpful
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Story
- llopezlaw
- 03-29-21
Reader is robotic
Excellent sea sailing story. Horrible narration. Sounded like a robot. I have to order another version. Sad I had to spend a credit on another version of the same story.
1 person found this helpful
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- Kenneth O. Garrett
- 05-03-15
California
Excellent! A must for residents of California and those who so aspire. Great descriptions of California ports and cities in the 1830s and 1850s
1 person found this helpful
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- jerome m.
- 08-30-20
Excellent Story
I enjoyed it a lot. Would be so much more interesting to those of you who have knowledge of sailing and navigation at sea.
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Performance
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Best-selling author Patrick O'Brian turns to Commodore Anson's famous 1740 voyage for this rich tale of exploration and adventure. In The Unknown Shore, the inspiration for and immediate precursor to the acclaimed and immensely popular Aubrey/Maturin series, O'Brian's splendid prose and enthralling attention to detail launches listeners, spellbound, into the Age of Discovery.
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As Good as the Series
- By Robert Goldston on 08-09-06
By: Patrick O'Brian
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James Cook
- The Story Behind the Man Who Mapped the World
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 21 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The name Captain James Cook is one of the most recognisable in Australian history - an almost mythic figure who is often discussed, celebrated, reviled and debated. But who was the real James Cook? This Yorkshire farm boy would go on to become the foremost mariner, scientist, navigator and cartographer of his era, and to personally map a third of the globe. His great voyages of discovery were incredible feats of seamanship and navigation.
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Great. But...
- By Virgil on 05-01-21
By: Peter FitzSimons
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Ocean Life in the Old Sailing Ship Days
- From Forecastle to Quarter-Deck
- By: John D. Whidden
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Orphaned at five, nothing held Whidden back from embarking on sea life seven years later. Serving as an apprentice, he quickly proved his worth and earned himself a mate's position by his early 20s. Graduating to third, second, and first office, he ended his career in command of, and having part-ownership of, his own vessel. Ocean Life in the Old Sailing Ship Days records a series of real events from his childhood impressions of rough and ready seamen to his thrilling and brutal experiences of war.Â
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Good salty story
- By Donald L. on 07-17-18
By: John D. Whidden
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In the Wake of Madness
- The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon
- By: Joan Druett
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Commanded by Captain Howes Norris, the Sharon headed for the whaling grounds of the northwestern Pacific. At Pohnpei Island, 12 men from the Sharon deserted the ship, leaving her critically shorthanded. After steering for New Zealand to recruit more crew, the men on lookout raised a school of sperm whales. Two boats gave chase, each with a crew of six. Five men were left on board the Sharon: Norris, three pacific Islanders, and a Portuguese boy named Manuel.
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Love this author.
- By David H. on 07-15-17
By: Joan Druett
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Mutiny on the Bounty
- By: Charles Nordhoff, James Norman Hall
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1789 HMS Bounty under the command of Lieutenant William Bligh sailed off on a voyage to Tahiti in the South Pacific to obtain breadfruit trees for transplanting in the Caribbean. After a long, difficult voyage, in which a passage of Cape Horn had to be abandoned, the ship finally reached its destination. Within a few months, the Bounty was loaded with breadfruit plants and fresh provisions. But the return voyage never materialized.
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Excellent narration of a classic sea adventure!
- By Homeschooling Mom of 4 on 01-19-15
By: Charles Nordhoff, and others
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Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex
- Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex (Original News Stories of Whale Attacks & Cannibals)
- By: Owen Chase, Thomas Nickerson
- Narrated by: Paul J. McSorley
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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In one of the most spellbinding accounts of men who go down to the sea in ships, the modern listener is given a seat in the whale boat of Owen Chase as he and his fellow crew and their captain make way in three boats after the wreckage of the Whaleship Essex. The account of how the Essex was wrecked inspired the infamous book Moby Dick and countless movies, including In the Heart of the Sea.
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Excellent telling of the true story
- By Vicki Goodwin on 03-03-16
By: Owen Chase, and others
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Mr Midshipman Hornblower
- By: C. S. Forester
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Shaking off this label, a shy and lonely 17-year-old, Horatio Hornblower, embarks on a memorable career in Nelson's navy on HMS Justinian. In action, adventure, and battle he is forged into one of the most formidable junior officers in the service.
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First rate historical fiction
- By Jason on 04-30-17
By: C. S. Forester
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Adrift
- A True Story of Tragedy on the Icy Atlantic and the One Who Lived to Tell About It
- By: Brian Murphy, Toula Vlahou
- Narrated by: Dan Warren
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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The small ship making the Liverpool-to-New York trip in the early months of 1856 carried mail, crates of dry goods, and more than 100 passengers, mostly Irish emigrants. Suddenly, an iceberg tore the ship asunder, and five lifeboats were lowered. As four lifeboats drifted into the fog and icy water, never to be heard from again, the last boat wrenched away from the sinking ship with a few blankets, some water and biscuits, and 13 souls. Only one would survive. This is his story.Â
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Engrossing
- By Trish on 04-20-22
By: Brian Murphy, and others
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Mutiny on the Bounty
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 22 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The mutiny on HMS Bounty, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789, is one of history's truly great stories - a tale of human drama, intrigue and adventure of the highest order - and in the hands of Peter FitzSimons it comes to life as never before. Commissioned by the Royal Navy to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and take them to the West Indies, the Bounty's crew found themselves in a tropical paradise. Five months later, they did not want to leave.
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You don't know the whole story.
- By Justin Sluyter on 05-01-19
By: Peter FitzSimons
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The Riddle of the Sands
- By: Erskine Childers
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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While on a sailing trip in the Baltic Sea, two young adventurers-turned-spies uncover a secret German plot to invade England. Widely recognized as the first modern spy thriller, this 1902 lone masterpiece by World War I Royal Navy officer Erskine Childers was written as a wake-up call to the British government to attend to its North Sea defenses. It accomplished that task and has been considered a classic of espionage literature ever since.
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A great perspective on the threat of war
- By ollie on 04-16-15
By: Erskine Childers
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Last Flag Down
- The Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship
- By: John Baldwin, Ron Powers
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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As the Confederacy felt itself slipping beneath the Union juggernaut in late 1864, the South launched a desperate counteroffensive to force a standoff. Its secret weapon? A state-of-the-art raiding ship whose mission was to sink the U.S. merchant fleet. The raider's name was Shenandoah, and her executive officer was Conway Whittle, a 24-year-old warrior.
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Good all around
- By Rob on 01-19-08
By: John Baldwin, and others