Reviews for The Wreck of Sv. Nikolai

The average rating for The Wreck of Sv. Nikolai based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-01-05 00:00:00 Evelyn Burnside My last book of the year! The Wreck of the Sv. Nikolai was found by me at the library after searching for something like russian explorers on the libraries computer. The minute I saw the cover I knew it would prove to be an intriguing read and in a certain way it was. Bizarre, authentic and a great sense of true history, the book follows two tales, one of a Russian ship sent on an exploratory mission to the Oregon coast from the southern tip of Alaska and that of the Indians who witnessed the crash and then became engaged with the crew. Much of the account puzzled me, and in this way I knew it had to be true. There was no reasonable plot to follow, no sense in the actions and brutal twists that I could have never seen coming. It would be a perfect story for Quentin Tarrintino to turn into a movie! Hearing the story from both sides also was fun. The translation from Russian is excellent and well written but more amazing is the survival of the oral history of the interaction that was finally penned down from the natives tongue to English. Their telling is much more brief but also strange and mystifying at times.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-12-20 00:00:00 Andre Ebeling I remember this book from when I was a kid and all its references to rain and dislike of Californians who were moving north en masse back then. Nowadays we've got even more extreme weather and we're trying to build a wall. Guess that whole scene just isn't quite as funny anymore.