Wow, I read Mink River by this author, and while it is not a conventional story there did exist a story. I really struggled to get more than 100 pages into this book. Endless mindless ramblings from the narrator than don't go anywhere. Obviously this book was not for me. ( )

Lots of people love this book. I read a few pages, gave up, and then toughed it out. For me, Brian Doyle's chaotic, stream of conscious writing style overshadowed some memorable characters. One reader summarized by saying "seemingly-mismatched puzzle pieces slowly aligning themselves to form a powerful tapestry ... [but it] never feels as complete. It's a modern art approach to writing where the goal isn't always a specific image but rather a mood." Declan decides to set off on an adventure across the Pacific Ocean in a small boat, and picks up stragglers along the way. There were two unforgettable characters: one who wanted to create a country called Pacifica to create a country integrating all of the hundreds of islands, cultures and resources of the Pacific Ocean, and the Pipster, a young girl who suffered a horrific accident, but seems to understand more of the world around her than her shipmates. ( )

It has taken me close to forever to read this book. Not because it especially long but because I kept putting it down to do or read something more interesting. I'd heard good things about this novel, so when I found a copy in my local dollar store for (surprise!) a dollar, I snapped it up.

Declan decides to sail west on his small powerboat he rigged with a sail. Alone and intending to stay that way. But the best laid plans.... The book is very descriptive and too often decides that sentences need to be long. Really, really long. (Any typos and mistakes are mine.)

"Let's think of this as an expedition of inquiry, during which a man, let us say a former dairyman and sometimes fisherman, sails west and then west, curious about seamounts and fracture zones, and vast epic valleys into which light has never penetrated since the dawn of time, and caves and intricate wildernesses in which reside creatures never seen by the eye of man or gull, and soaring mountains on which live ancient eels and squid the size of ships, and he conducts experiments into fauna and flora as such opportunities present themselves, and earns his protein with his longlines, dipping into ship's stores only for the occasional lime, doing his best to avoid demon alcohol which has never served him well, and keeping an eye on the shape of his sanity, such as it is, or was, and leery of such things as talking freely to gulls, for example, which may be a sign of incipient something or other."

Whew. Fortunately. Most sentences are not like this. The sentence that follows the one above is, “You with me here, bird?”

The boat gets crowded when Declan picks up an old friend and his damaged daughter who can no longer walk or speak. And it goes downhill from there. Pirates (or more accurately, pirate), magic realism, birds, and characters that because increasingly interesting. It took half the book before I really became engaged, but at that point, I started loving it.

So if you can handle a slow start, this book is worth the initial slog. ( )

Brian Doyle's writing is delightful. The story is charming and heartwarming, but really the reason to read this is that Doyle's writing has this amazing energy and soothing rhythm to it.

Declan sets out to see because he wants to be alone on his boat, but he keeps picking up passengers and ultimately developing loving relationships with all of them. It's refreshing that the book explores love in many forms other than romantic love. ( )

This was just a wonderful, unusual story with great characters and a lot of humor and heart. I truly enjoyed it. ( )