This month’s discussion of The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder was remarkably agreeable. Our first responder was concerned to be first because she didn’t really like the book; it was depressing and she kept thinking, “give up already!” But she had finished it, appreciated the depth of research, and was glad to have read it. She wasn’t alone. Many of us found the hardships depressing and much of the nautical details and number of characters overwhelming. Despite this, we easily filled the hour discussing particulars with only minor asides for personal anecdotes.
Our next responder said she “almost liked it” and called out the first third of the book as a textbook. She felt that this story from the eighteenth century highlights how society and politics have not changed. She was particularly impressed with the common phrases that originated in shipping, reading off “cut and run; learn the ropes; under the weather; pipe down; piping hot; scuttle butt; three sheets to the wind; and turn a blind eye.”
One of us was amazed at how many men it takes to staff the ship and how vulnerable they were. He questioned why, after the wreck, the majority would even consider going back so far rather than forward. He felt that this entire book was about war. Another member was outraged by the British imperialism, arrogance, and condescension revealed in this story. Everyone agreed, bringing up politics, Charles Dickens, and how “human life was cheap.” Still, we were amazed at the sailors’ ingenuity in building another ship from the wreckage. We were also impressed by the Kawésqar people, who were so well adapted to their environment and could have been more help if only the shipwrecked sailors had been better behaved. One member, as a minister, was particularly moved that the sailors were concerned about decent funerals. And another of us thought that the title of the book should have been “Screwed.”
A new member had joined us because he particularly likes nautical fiction, which is usually more heroic and adventurous. However risky and uncomfortable life on the seas seemed, people’s lives are sometimes worse at home and the desire for adventure and discovery continues even today. Just this last month, on June 5th, the Boeing Starliner successfully completed its first crewed launch to the International Space Station. And Elon Musk’s Space X is still striving for Mars. None of us could see ourselves hurtling into space.
I asked if we believed this nonfiction book was “truer” than the historical fiction we read – especially since we discussed Crow Mary last month, which was also well researched but fiction. Can anything that is being remembered in hindsight, even in journals, be reliable? One of us even wondered how, with all the loss of supplies, the journal writers had ink? Most of us seem to agree that the journals and the dry details make The Wager more real, especially since there are multiple written, first-hand accounts to compare and draw forth the likely truth, pictures, maps, and endnotes.
Other comments during the discussion: In this story, as in current events, how do people keep surviving under such unimaginable hardships, bombings and destruction? Our problems seem minor compared to the hardships of war. We noted that people near death can have an amazing burst of energy just before the end or hang on until a holiday. The memoir of The Wager wreck written by the chaplain notably had no mention of God, which brought to mind that one book of the bible, Esther, also has no mention of God. It is interesting that charcoal keeps away rats and cockroaches. Did the sailors realize at the time that the wild celery kept away scurvy? Probably not.
We watched some images from the film Master and Commander, which shows sailors climbing up the ropes and bailing out water. The film takes place in 1805, but an absent member wrote me that she found the film “so similar to The Wager descriptions.” I also showed part of a YouTube video that gives a nice layer by layer description of “How an Eighteenth Century Sailing Warship Works” – using an Animagraff 3D model created by Jake O’Neal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nr1AgIfajI.
Please add to the discussion – things I have forgotten or new things to share. Check the comments, too!
Other works discussed:
• Cinnamon and Gunpower (2013) by Eli Brown
• Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding
• The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession (2010) by David Grann
• Killers of the Flower Moon (2017) by David Grann
• The Wager (pre-production) film directed by Martin Scorsese
• Billy Budd (1924) Herman Melville
• Master and Commander (1969) by Patrick O’Brian
• Master and Commander: the Farside of the World (2003) Film based on Patrick O’Brian novel
• Unknown Shore (1959) by Patrick O’Brian
• Amistad (1997) film by Steven Spielberg
• Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) film starring Marlon Brando
• Wreck of the Batavia (author/title uncertain)
• Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex: The Extraordinary and Distressing Memoir That Inspired Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (various versions) by Owen Chase
•Author Charles Dickens
WhitneyBookBistro 
From CB: When I started reading The Wager, it immediately reminded me of books by Erik Larson and David McCullough, other authors who meticulously research a subject and create works of nonfiction which read almost like novels. I am really blown away by Grann’s painstaking deep dive into his story. In a 1/10/2024 interview for Nieman Storyboard by Katia Savchuck, he talked about his writing process. He said that seven years ago, out of personal interest, he was researching mutinies; what were their causes, were they justified, etc. He came across the journal of John Byron and this was his inspiration, the spark that led him to investigate further into the story of The Wager’s mutiny. When I was reading the book, I felt that Grann was more sympathetic with Byron, and maybe this is the reason.
Grann is a reporter, not a historian knowledgeable about the era. He spent a year just reading diverse sources before he felt comfortable with the maritime world he was writing about. In all, it took over five years to complete the book.
It always interests me to hear about an author’s writing process. Grann reads extensively , then types all of his research into a database that he creates. This enables him to easily retrieve information. He makes chapter outlines and imports items from his database along the way.
I’ve always thought that the notion of heading out to sea in a wooden boat was crazy and could never understand the reason people would do it. The idea of being so far from land with water as far as the eye can see is very unnerving. After reading Grann’s vivid and detailed account of conditions aboard ship, I am doubly sure that I would never willingly endure an 18th century voyage. Many doubtless felt this way, but were given no choice. They were snatched off streets and even carried on litters from hospitals. Among those who went willingly, some were fleeing creditors or other adverse conditions on land. Some, like 16 year old John Byron, had romantic dreams of adventure, fanned by popular nautical fiction, like Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719. Others were lured by visions of financial gain that were insidiously promoted in order to extend the empire.
Grann tells his story from three points of view; those of John Byron, David Cheap, and John Buckeley. Grann calls the survivors’ stories a “real life ‘Lord of the Flies’ “. The three conflicting stories remind me of the movie Rashomon, where the same incident is told from three differing points of view and the truth seems to be unknowable. It is left to the viewer/reader to decide which version is true.
All of the years of conflicting narratives created a lot of drama leading up to the court martial. I was so deflated with the result, which seemed both anticlimactic and puzzling to me. The scope of the court martial was limited to the cause of the wrecking of the Wager, with no mention of murder,
mutiny or desertion. It’s what we might refer to today as a “cover up.” Grann’s point seems to be that the British authorities wanted to maintain the idea that Britain was a superior and civilized power that deserved to extend its empire. Accounts of mutiny, murder, and cannibalism would taint imperial ambitions.
Indigenous people showed such human kindness toward the survivors, but they were referred to as savages and were even mistreated by some of the very people they were rescuing. I felt like this was another sinister part of imperial expansion. Also, what gave England the right to steal the plunder that Spain had stolen from the colonies?
Again, not a book I would have been drawn to, but I’m happy I read it.
From WH: An excellent story of danger, appalling conditions, desperation, grandeur, triumph and betrayal. A secret mission to go around the world, attack one ship, bring back the loot, embarrass the enemy, brag to the world, build an empire to last forever. Political leaders can be downright ridiculous sometimes. War is insane and gives opportunity to fools.
Even after the failures of leadership and daily deaths, he wanted to go north and continue the mission. I am a naval captain, who will fulfill the wishes of my country, no matter what it costs. Sail forward into probable drowning, lose control and crash the ship, minimal respect from sailors, sicknesses everywhere, deserters onland, murder of innocent man, chasing off actual help, mutiny and abandonment, starvation and freezing, sailing back into the sea on a crowded raft, kicking the marines off of the boat, ending up back at camp death, walking to freedom only to become a prisoner.
And that is only half of the story. The rescue scenarios are worse than the ship sinking on the rocks. The hubris of officers and the disregard to death, shows how bad it was back home, when you have no money or connections. Getting dragged into this mess and then never coming back home alive. The beautiful majestic ships, which in reality were falling apart from day one. Living on board with cramped and filthy quarters. Working under impossible conditions dealing with cruel and unusual punishments. David Grann takes us on a journey to hell and back. The descriptions are like being there, which makes it hard to understand that this really happened. I hope the movie does this story justice. So many side notes of decisions and despair. Send over some food. Maybe they will live. Maybe we will also.