Two Years Before the Mast (Richard Henry Dana Jr.)

Your captain regrets to say that after two weeks at sea with Mr. Dana, she has decided to quit reading Two Years Before the Mast.  It's not a decision that I come to lightly, as I hate quitting books, but I'm just not getting into it, and it's been two weeks of on-and-off reading and I've barely made any headway.

Now, the story itself is actually a memoir by a young Harvard student who starts losing his sight.  In an effort to fix what the doctors could not, he decides that working as a sailor will be just the cure he's looking for (a strange conclusion, but okay...).  Anyway, he goes on to spend two years as a sailor and recounts the experience.

The book had the potential to be really interesting, but it also had the potential to be very boring.  And it fell somewhere in the middle, but closer to the boring side.  Still, I enjoyed some of the passages, but had to stop about 20-30% in.  I would, however, be curious to learn if Dana ever went back to school, or if he chose to pursue the life of a sailor full-time.  I'm guessing, since he wrote this book, that he went back to continue his studies. 

If you are looking for a true story of life at sea, then this is certainly the book for you.  However, if you are looking for more of a high-seas, swashbuckling adventure, than I would advise you to choose a different book.