June in the library: Oceans!

Plus, two questions for mystery fans

by Anne Newins

Part I
Many residents love to go to the coast to enjoy the beauty, the weather, and a change of scenery.  But why do we enjoy reading about it?  According to author Natalie Hart, “The extreme vastness of the waterscape creates a simultaneous liberation and isolation so intense that man….must confront not only nature, but the depths of himself….the ocean is a perfect setting for increasing threat, stakes, and tension.”

Thus, few stories about the ocean are cozies.  Both nonfiction and fiction usually involve life-challenging situations, both at sea as well as far into the depths themselves.  Some examples include:

The Sea Wolf, by Jack London
Considered one of the greatest sea stories ever written, this is a “classic American tale of peril and adventure, good and evil.”   The book’s narrator is a gentleman who is swept overboard in San Francisco Bay and rescued by a seal hunting vessel commanded by a brutal captain.  The book influenced writers such as Hemingway, Orwell, and Kerouac.

Pirate Latitudes, by Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton was famous for his highly imaginative novels and this is no exception.  In 1665, a pirate captain decides to take on a Spanish galleon in the Caribbean.  The action is non-stop.

In the Heart of the Sea:  the Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, by Nathaniel Philbrick
This is a true tale of adventure and survival.  The Essex, a whaler from Nantucket, was rammed and sunk by a sperm whale, leaving a small crew to try and reach South America, about 3,000 miles away.  The story inspired Herman Melville’s classic Moby Dick, also available at the RVM library.

The Deepest Map:  The High-stakes Race to Chart the World’s Oceans, by Laura Trethewey
This also is an attention grabbing non-fiction book. It is hard to believe that less than 25% of the ocean floor had been mapped by the early 2020s.  A group of scientists, investors, militaries, and private explorers are competing and cooperating to get the mapping done by 2030.  Their accomplishments will result in scientific discoveries, but also threaten the pelagic environment and political power structures.

Thanks to Janice Williams for compiling a compelling bibliography for your reading pleasure.

Part II

Questions for mystery fans:

1. Who left the totally empty bottle of Scotch (pictured below) in the library late one evening during mid-May ?  Why weren’t the volunteers invited?

2.  Who returned a weighty book titled Printing Types: Their History, Forms, and Use, Volume I, by Daniel Berkeley Updike, which had been missing since at least 2015?

If you have any clues, please pass them on to the library investigators.