The Ordinary Seaman Review

The Ordinary Seaman by Francisco Goldman (400 pages)

Date Read: 24 October 2015

My Rating: 2 Stars

Synopsis:

The Ordinary Seaman, the second novel from acclaimed writer Francisco Goldman is a lyrical and spellbinding story of hope, despair, and the promise of love. The ordinary seaman is Esteban, a 19-year-old veteran of the war in Nicaragua, who has come to America with 14 other men to form the crew of the Urus. Docked on a desolate Brooklyn pier, the Urus is a wreck, and the men, without the means to return home, become its prisoners. Esteban, haunted by the loss of his first love in the war, gradually works up the courage to escape the ship and start a new life in the city. His story and those of his shipmates come to life, illuminating the conflicts and triumphs of the human heart.

My Review:

I did not enjoy this novel. I felt like it dwelt too long on the little aspects that didn't really mean much in the whole of the story.

The temporality of the story was confusing at times. It would jump back and forth between some past and the present and even the future at points. Yes, it added to the confusion of time that the crew would have been feeling on the boat, but it just didn't do anything for me.

It was pretty predictable, for me, as to what was going to happen during the novel. I felt very underwhelmed, especially when my teacher told me this was going to be such an amazing novel.

The pacing was either too slow or rushed through things that were important to the plot. There was no real in between for it.

Even the characters started getting on my nerves throughout the novel. The way that everyone treated Bernardo and the way they looked up to Elias and Mark felt too forced for me to really be able to enjoy the novel.

I don't give out low stars like this often, but I felt like this one was necessary. For me, personally, I did not enjoy this novel at all. I didn't feel any take-away from it which was really disappointing.