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Set To Sea (2010)

by Drew Weing(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1606993682 (ISBN13: 9781606993682)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Fantagraphics

review 1: Drew Weing’s debut graphic novel, Set to Sea, is a phenomenal graphic novel about a man’s nautical adventures. Drew Weing tells an amazing story about this misfit of a man and his unusual life. At the start, the character has no direction in life, drinks all day in bars on the waterfront and writes poetry about the life of sailors. This wannabe sailor doesn’t know anything about the maritime life, and this poses the central problem in the story. “Luckily," he gets shanghaied by a couple of thugs and is forced onto a clipper ship and sets sail to sea. Weing’s drawings of the ship and the ropes are meticulous and detailed and move the story along flawlessly. However, his drawings of the characters are a bit whimsical and clunky. The main character is depicted three... more times taller than other characters and appears to be a large, scary oaf. Ironically, he turns out to be a shy poet with a good heart. On the other hand, the captain is drawn as a small egg shaped man who appears harmless, yet turns out to run his ship with an iron fist. I really enjoyed how the writer and illustrator depicted characters in a way that did not reveal thier true nature. The first time the main character appeares on the ship he said, “This is a mistake, I don't belong here.” In response, the captain gave him a punch in the stomach and bellowes “get to work!” The man was treated like an indentured servant because he had no say coming on the boat, and his has no say in leaving. This book shows how he grows and changes on the journey he was forced on. Towards the middle, an opposing ship attacks and our character is shot in the eye. I think that is the climax of the book because at that moment something clicks and he gets up and starts fighting . He fought like he has been doing this his whole life, knocking people out by the second. After the fight, the captain's right hand man was killed so they appoint the man who was once a misfit, now a brave fighting machine, to be his right hand man. Throughout the story he doesn't forget about poetry and keeps on writing about a sailor’s life on the high seas, and his poetry improves.I loved the book, and I recommend it to anyone. Firstly, this is the author’s first graphic novel. This tells me how gifted the author is because most of the pages don't have words. He was able to convey a compelling story and didn’t use too many words. That takes talent! Secondly, unlike other graphic novels, this book only has one picture per page. I like this format because it is not overwhelming to the eye. Finally, you can really see how the main character develops throughout the story. When the author shows the fight scene, you can picture yourself there observing this huge lug of a man taking down people with ease. In conclusion, I recommend this book to any kind of reader, because you will get lost in this crazy nautical adventure.
review 2: A short, simple story that both is delightfully illustrated and excellently illustrates an essential piece of wisdom.The nameless protagonist is a penniless, giant young man who yearns to write great poetry about the sea, but he can never manage to quite capture with words the magic he feels. What he doesn't realize is that it's because he has a romantic idea of ocean life, but no actual experience of it. That all changes one night when he falls asleep on the docks and wakes the next morning to find he has been "recruited" to work aboard a ship. He's forced to join the crew, work the boat, help defend it from pirates, and travel to all kinds of exotic ports. Eventually he becomes a worn, wise, and grizzled sailor of much experience, and finds he can finally write the book he always dreamed of. He's learned it's not grand ideas that create great writers but the hard experience of life, and though able to become a celebrity author he finds himself content with the life he's lived.A most satisfying tale. less

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