THE CAPTAIN

Reportedly they have cadets at West Point read Once an Eagle. Midshipmen should read The Captain. This novel loitered on the NYT bestseller list for about four years when I was a teenager. The story is set in the North Atlantic as a young Dutch tugboat captain learns his craft and how to shoulder the burden of command in the face of the U-boats and the horrific weather. In this first-person yarn, the captain charms us with his candor and vulnerability. We taste the food, make allowances for the idiosyncrasies of the small and close-knit crew, stand watches, haul torpedo victims out of the water, assert our national autonomy against the British convoy leaders... We feel the rage when a novice captain exposes us to death by bad rescue procedure. The narrative is constantly captivating. I re-read this book every two years or more often.