Member Reviews

Two men tied by blood and history search the world for meaning. Rob, the dentist, the alcoholic, the whaler, left a written record of his tribulations compelling enough to inspire his descendant to travel the world in his footsteps.

Alexander R. Brash and the reader are taken on a journey through family history and personal triumph through Rob's words. Although not sharing Rob's faith, Brash identifies with many parts of his ancestor’s story. These men share surprising connections of space and time, and even employment. And in poignant moments separated by generations, they gaze upon the same stars in the same distant skies, far from the places they call home.

The structure of the book is unique; the interweaving of experience and research Brash uses illuminates as much about himself as it does about Rob's life. His inability to understand his ancestor’s relationship with God is at times frustrating and sad, but he does his best to connect the dots through nature and the physical world.

Despite a disjointed structure during the second part of this "duet" and Brash's ambivalence toward his forebear's beliefs, this is a highly interesting book. Remarkably, it features one of the clearest descriptions of processing a whale I've ever read. And it's so compelling to watch someone discover personal connections between their own experiences and the life of a long-dead relative.

Thank you to NetGalley for my review copy of this remarkable work.

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What a gift the author’s mother gave her son when she encouraged him to read a manuscript written by his great-great-grandfather that described his experiences on several whaling ships and cutting kauri timber in New Zealand. How I would treasure the opportunity to see the written word of my ancestors. I was amused by Alex’s admission that for decades he was reluctant to examine the manuscript. I think we sometimes have to reach a certain age before knowledge of our ancestors becomes relevant; perhaps it is when we finally acknowledge our own mortality. He was fortunate that in addition to the manuscript, there were multiple resources available that gave him a pretty clear picture of the extraordinary life of Robert W. Armstrong. So many of us live with the regret that we did not ask questions or know the questions to ask when there were still people around who might have been able to answer them - why didn’t I ask my parents/grandparents more questions is the cry of amateur genealogists everywhere!
It was a brilliant idea for Alex Brash to “co-author” this book with his ancestor. To read Robert Armstrong’s own words and have them complemented by those of his great-great-grandson makes for compelling reading. Alex Brash’s background in life sciences and experience as a conservationist add to the authenticity of the book, but it is his writing style that for me made this a such wonderful read. There are many good writers who can provide the reader with historical or scientific facts, but it takes a Writer with a capital W to enable us to feel those things being described. I was captivated from the first paragraphs; his description of the sighting of a whale that was close enough to touch made me feel like I was there on the boat with him and the other passengers. The same was true of his accounts of the birds he saw on his trip around Cape Horn. I understood his emotion when he visited the area in New Zealand where his great-great-grandfather had once lived and worked. I had a similar feeling earlier this year when I visited my great-grandfather’s birthplace in Ireland. The book is enhanced by some beautiful photographs, both contemporary and historical, in black/white and color. Before reading A Whaler at Twilight I knew very little about whaling other than it is a good thing it is now banned. Besides the details of whaling and the dangers of the job, Robert Armstrong also described the emotional hardships; whaling crews spent years, not weeks or months, between trips home.
I have done a lot of reading in recent years that has given me a completely different perspective on the history I learned growing up in the UK. Alex Brash also provides a different perspective on some historical events when he discusses the frequent misrepresentation of the Pacific Islanders and their interactions with whaling crews. The whaling ship Charles W. Morgan was mentioned in the book. I have seen this ship twice at Mystic Seaport Museum; I do not remember any mention of the dark chapter in this ship’s history. It is the kind of omission that has been all too common in the past, one that needs to be addressed in the way this author does so.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I am grateful to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this wonderful work. I have to be honest and say it was probably not a book I would have otherwise read, but I am so glad I was given the opportunity to do so. It not only made me appreciate the history described but also the challenge to actively address the future of our planet. It is a book I will definitely read again and recommend it without reservation.

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This was an interesting read in the history of whaling and how it has impacted the Pacific. I would highly recommend it to those interested in this field.

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What a cool premise for this book! The author found a manuscript from his great great grandfather detailing his time in the mid-1800s when he was on whaling ships in the Pacific region. The author does his own research to add other perspectives to this story from ship logs and other personal accounts. He even takes his own trip to the waters around Cape Horn to begin to experience the rugged conditions of this part of the world. What results is a fascinating book about Robert W. Armstrong from his early days in Baltimore to going on a whaling ship from New Bedford and traveling around Cape Horn through numerous Pacific Ocean island chains and New Zealand and back home again. To begin to imagine going on an ocean voyage in the mid-1800s on wooden ships with only sails and a compass for navigation is mind-boggling. Then you read about all of the islands that the ships visit, it is truly hard to wrap your head around, but luckily, there is a map that shows you the routes Armstrong took on the two vessels he was on. There are 16 pages of black and white as well as color photos that help give depth to the story. If you have an iPad with the Kindle app, the color photos show up. If you have a Kindle, all photos are black white.
This book is about more than just whalers and whaling. It is Armstrong's journey to find himself and figure out his relationship with God. It is about the different cultures on the many islands he visited as part of the whaling crew. The author, as a birder, made his voyage to Cape Horn about the biodiversity of birds in the inhospitable region as well as trying to get a sense of the journey his relative made, twice.
This book is so well researched and I learned so much about whaling, the ships, the islands and peoples as well as the early days of dentistry and Baltimore. In the 1800s, there really wasn't a dental degree or schools but one was developed and Armstrong was supposed to be a dentist until alcohol addiction ended that career before ending up on a whaling ship. I live near Baltimore and loved reading about all the locations throughout the city where Armstrong or his family lived or worked or attended church or were buried. I may have to take a tour of those locations.
The only thing that I struggled with in this book was the exception detail of dates and names. There were times it became a little difficult to keep it all straight, but in the end it was worth the effort.
If you are looking for a non-fiction book during the 1800s, I would recommend this one. You will learn quite a bit and it will make you think about it and its themes for quite a while.
Thank you Net Galley and Alexander R. Brash for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

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My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Globe Pequot for an advance copy of this biography of a man who went to see to escape his life on shore and found adventures, skills and self- worth.

People go to sea for many reasons. Sure some were pressed, but some went for fortune. Some were feeling something on land that made the sea seem safer, a changes in attitude, changes in latitude kind of deal. Some because of shame. When all hope on land is gone, fleeing to the sea might be a chance to renew one's hopes and interests, or maybe aid in that hope to disappear on unknown shores, or to the deep briny depths. Decades after running to sea to escape his demons, a mariner wrote of his exploits, a story left in an old trunk, found by a descendent who passed it on to her son. A memoir about life at sea, whales, exotic locales and places that have long faded from memories. A Whaler at Twilight: A True Account of Whaling and Redemption in the South Pacific edited with commentary by Alexander R. Brash and written Robert W. Armstrong tells of how this manuscript was discovered and brought to life, and the story of a sailor who fell from grace with himself who took to the waves to find reason, purpose, and atonement.

Robert Armstrong lost his parents early and was raised by his father's two brothers, one a wealthy shop owner in the Baltimore area. A sip of wine as a child introduced young Armstrong to demon alcohol, something that dogged him through his young life. Entering dental school, Armstrong was lucky to find a fellow dentist who wished to partner with him in a shared business. Everything seemed good until a birthday party with birthday bourbon reintroduced Armstrong's old foe into his life, and soon he was seen drunk in public and the partnership ended. Not wanting to admit his shame, Armstrong sold first his dental tools, his watch, and finally himself to a whaleing agent, and took to the sea a land lubber with little skills to offer. Armstrong spent almost a decade at see, whaling, traveling to different countries, watching sea companions die, and dealing with both danger and boredom as they came. Alexander Brash's was introduced to Armstrong's story by his mother a descendent, who thought his tale would be interesting to Brash who had spent many years in occupations involving nature. Brash soon was fascinated and began to do more research, filling in gaps, and explaining more about the times that Armstrong lived in and what the whaling world was like.

A very good look at life for sailors in the midpoint of the nineteenth century, where the doldrums could end in terror from weather, whale, rocks, or ice or even a minor cut. Armstrong was a very good writer capturing his own disgust with himself, the occupation he found himself in, and the beauty of nature, and the lands he found himself in. A descriptive writer, Armstrong was very good at conveying life at sea, especially in one scene where he describes a storm striking the boat he was on, while whales frolic around them, knowing somehow that they are safe from the creatures who hunt them. Brash is also good, writing about whaling, the cost to the environment, and expanding on what Armstrong does not mention, Baltimore, more about his family, and of course what happened next.

Recommended for readers of nautical tales of course. Readers of the history on the whaleship Essex will quite enjoy this. A story that is new with a lot of very good writing, and history. This would also be a good reference for those who write historical books, as there are many details that really make it of its time, and writers could learn quite a lot from this for their own books.

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“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.”

Herman Melville

Currently, I am working through Henry Melville’s Moby Dick, so the opportunity to read A Whaler At Twilight was difficult for me to pass by, especially since I appreciated the opportunity to gain personal insight into a whaler’s life. Broken down into three sections focusing first on the manuscript discovery, the whalers tale in his own words, an analytical breakdown of the whaler, followed by part Iv, a contemplative discussion of the philosophical, and physical reality of the whaler, Rob Armstrong’s life, and the role going into whaling, changed Rob Armstrong’s life, the personal writings, helped bring into perspective Ishmael’s own spiritual and philosophical journey he experienced in the book, Moby Dick.

Based on actual events pulled from the manuscript, and coupled with the contributing author, Alexander Brash, A Whaler At Twilight, is a spiritual journey into the human soul. Humans as Alex writes in the opening chapter, are a complicated species. Our lives are singular and in many cases seem to rush through life like a quick burning candle. The book is both a soft, and yet candid exploration of American history, the role of historical preservation, and especially what we can learn about ourselves as humans by listening to the voices of the past.

Opening up the book with pieces from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Alexander Brash sets a powerful, soul-rendering tour of the human spirit, our place in life as a whole, and our intertwining roles on a spinning marble we collectively call Earth.

There’s always a slight oddness to reading someone's else journal, especially when it’s centuries before one's own. There is a sudden invasion of capture moments of time, of emotions, and reading Rob’s work also reminds one of how much has changed in the chronicling of life. The writing isn’t based on fads or catchy captions, but a deep contemplation of life, and insight into the inner thoughts and emotions of another human being.

In Part 2 of A Whaler At Twilight, Rob turns twenty-one, his writings capturing a life much different from a modern-day understanding of what it means to turn twenty-one, in a long-passed profession that no longer exists. All of this makes reading the book more intriguing, because reading alongside Moby Dick and on occasion Melville’s focus on the smallest details, Rob's writing encapsulates the impact of simply being at sea for even given time can have on the human soul, and the different perspective it gives humanity, when we move from land which is for the most part, conquered and comfortable, to the still wildness of the water, and nature.

Any academic would connect with Brash account of pursuing research, and it brought this reader, a nerdy chuckle and relating to the work and focus which entails doing research but moving first from the finding of the manuscript, the research, to the manuscript itself, to the latter contemplation of what is learned from Rob’s experience, there is a subtle reminder in the writing of the disconnection sometimes between humanity and nature, especially in a world quickly evolving with technological advances and comfort.

The notes and consulted work detailed the hard work which went into understanding the world Rob Armstrong lived in, and the history behind whaling, but putting the tangible elements of Rob’s journey (Brash, Chapter 25) aside, is an interesting exploration of Rob Armstrong's religious beliefs. There is a mix of both academic reverence and personal inquiry, which makes the book a powerful one, regardless of where one stands when it comes to religion or spiritual beliefs, and embodies the book as a whole, of one of a journey of the human soul. There is something about the act of traveling itself, that changes a person. As a result, A Whaler At Twilight is an interesting read, and especially when combined with a book like Moby Dick.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 5
Plot/Movement: 4
Character Development: 4
Overall: 4.5

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