The Open Boat

By Stephen Crane,

Book cover of The Open Boat: A tale intended to be after the fact. Being the experience of four men from the sunk steamer “Commodore”

Book description

A seat in this boat was not unlike a seat upon a bucking broncho, and by the same token, a broncho is not much smaller. The craft pranced and reared, and plunged like an animal. As each wave came, and she rose for it, she seemed like a horse making…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Open Boat as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I’ve read, taught, and loved Stephen Crane’s stories for years. Harried out of the United States because of “immoral” behavior, Crane moved to England, where he died from tuberculosis at the age of 29.  Henry James wept when he heard of Crane’s death.

The Open Boat is based on an actual event. On his way to Cuba as a correspondent during the Spanish-American war, Crane and three companions spent thirty hours in a small dinghy after their ship sank, with only three surviving the ordeal.

Crane transforms these circumstances into a great short story. In a tone at times whimsical,…

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