Reviews for The Blue Road (Summersdale travel)

1. Brillinat & True

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, June 12th, 2008

   Having been through a few similar escapades at sea as the author I can safely say that it is the best and funniest book I have read in a long time. The descriptions of events that happen are superb especially the crossing the line ceremonies.
   
   I heartliy recommend this book even if you haven't been to sea. It is well written, easy to read and above all else thoroughly enjoyable.

2. How come this isn't a famous book?!

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, December 12th, 2005

   I read a lot of humorous literature and I have to say without exaggeration that this has got to be the funniest new writer of the century and the first writer for a long time to show genuine ability to rival a Clive James or a Jerome K Jerome (clearly an influence).

   If this book doesn't make you laugh out loud, you need a humour transplant!

3. I couldn't put it down.

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, October 12th, 2004

   What a fantastic read! I really couldn't put it down, and - like all the other reviewers - often laughed out loud. One hilarious episode follows another, right up to the strangely moving ending.

   Windy writes very clearly. He has a superb eye for characterisation, and an ability to bring out the humour in any situation. Mind you, the situations he describes are so inherently side-splitting that all he has to do is describe them. It's just as well that he starts the book with a discourse on the malleable nature of The Truth.

   There is some strong language (don't let your children read it), but on the whole it helps to build up the atmosphere.

   Some of his characters and sentences will live on in your memory. My own favorite is "NotNorman was definitely NotHimself."

   It's well worth buying - you'll read it many times.

4. Even girls can enjoy this one.

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, October 12th, 2003

   I thoroughly enjoyed this book even though it might be considered a little blokey in its theme. I had heard some of the stories before as I knew the author sometime ago but they were even funnier, sadder and more terrifying (swimming in the tunnel) on the page. A good but very quick read!

5. This is the real thing!

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, June 12th, 2003

   I'd always thought there must be a great book to be written about life as a merchant seaman. And here it is. And written by a guy who really knows how to write!
   It's a marvellous and hilarious read that never flags for a minute. It's all here. The awful (and dangerous) jobs, the claustrophobia, the camaraderie, the humour. And some terrific and mercifully unsanitised stories of life ashore. (Let's just say that trips to museums and cultural sites were rare.)
   I read this book in two days and was genuinely sorry when I came to the end. Highly recommended.
   Buy it, and you too can be transported with Windy and his mates to adventures just over the horizon.