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James
Fenimore Cooper
NED MYERS; or, A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST 1843 Publisher: ReadHowYouWant; 18pt Edition edition 2007. Paperback: 436 pages. ISBN-10: 1554803799 reviewed by Patrick Killough (1) biblio.com 12/29/2010 Would you recommend this book to other readers? Yes. * * * * * review: James Fenimore Cooper's 1843 nautical biography, NED MYERS, at some level is a response to Richard Henry Dana, Jr's TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST (1840). Twenty years earlier in reacting against technical errors in Sir Walter Scott's THE PIRATE (1821), Scott had, in THE PILOT, invented the sea adventure romance. THE PILOT is a tale of John Paul Jones raiding in English waters. Cooper penned ten sea adventure tales. But Dana's TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST had tapped into a new, sober-sided sea genre: popular but realistic depiction of harsh, always perilous life of ordinary seamen aboard sailing vessels. In NED MYERS Fenimore Cooper also explored the new "sea realism." In 1806 - 1807 two youngsters, James Cooper and Ned Myers, aged 16 and 13 respectively, worked their way across the Atlantic to England and back to America as shipmates aboard the merchant sailing ship Stirling (spelled Sterling in the book). As the youngest crewmen, though of different social strata, they became friends and saw England together. They rarely encountered each other again until 1843 when disabled ex-seaman Myers wrote to Cooper. They spent five months together at Cooper's home in Otsego, New York and NED MYERS resulted, the old sailor's first person narrative as told by Fenimore Cooper. Myers sailed in or was imprisoned (during the War of 1812 on Lake Ontario) on around 100 ships and ended his sailing days when he was disabled and nearly 50 years old. The book tells his story, born in Quebec of German parents in 1793, but a runaway to Boston and New York as soon as he could get there. Literate but not well educated, Ned Myers rose several times to the rank of mate (third, second, even first) but was never able to master enough of the mathematics and literature of navigation to merit command. The biography tells of his many voyages to China, South America, the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, mainly as a merchant seaman "before the mast," i.e. quartered with the non-officers in the bow of a ship. But he also did several stints in the U. S. Navy, which he relished above all else. Ned is frank in dealing with his restlessness, dissipation in liquor and easy going through of his wages in giving parties. NED MYERS became a special literary source for the rediscovery on Lake Ontario of a US Navy ship that sank out from under Myers, the Scourge. If you care to follow up, you can start with NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC for March of 1983, Daniel A. Nelson, "Ghost Ships of the War of 1812," pp. 289 - 313. The biography is also striking for Cooper's new writing style: less labored and complex than in his romances, more in anticipation of Ernest Hemingway. -OOO- http://www.biblio.com/books/151225953.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= (2) lunch.com 12/30/2010 name of review: "Such is the life of a sailor!" rating: * * * * * review: In THE PIRATE (1821) Sir Walter Scott had written of larger than life, almost mythical heroes in and around Scotland's Orkney and Shetland Islands. Judging landsman Scott not precise enough in navigational technicalities, the "American Scott," former naval officer James Fenimore Cooper had riposted Scott with THE PILOT (1823) a tale of American naval hero John Paul Jones. In nine more maritime romances, Cooper continued to take his lead from Sir Walter, focusing on world-historical figures like Columbus, or outsized, daredevil heroes who were ship's captains or he-men taking passage from one adventure to another. Suddenly readers' taste changed: enough of epic heroes at sea! In 1840 Richard Henry Dana, Jr. published TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST. Suddenly readers clamored for more insights into lives and miseries of the simple sailors who bunked toward the bow of a ship, "before the mast." What were their vices? Did they find religion? Were they mistreated? Underfed? Flogged? Keelhauled? Once again Fenimore Cooper responded: with NED MYERS (1843). In 1806-07, 16-year old Yale dropout Cooper had been shipmate with 13-year old Ned Myers. They became chums during a trading voyage to and from England but lost touch with one another until 1843. Then injured, pensioned Myers, from his charity home for retired sailors, wrote to world-famous author Fenimore Cooper. Cooper was overjoyed to renew acquaintance with this simple sailor, brought him to his home in Cooperstown, New York, for five months and produced Myers's biography. It reads like autobiography, as author Cooper had Myers narrate his life in the first person. In March 1983 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Magazine told how the Cooper-Myers biography had played a role in the recent discovery of two American warships that went down in a sudden storm on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Myers had survived the sinking of USN Scourge, a tale vividly retold in the book. Ned Myers, Cooper calculated, in his sailor career, had been aboard at least 100 ships, some more than once. This also includes various British warships on which he was prisoner of war. Myers sailed around the world, into the Mediterranean, in and out of Europe and Africa. His recollections gushed out to his biographer, including important insights into signs of Cooper's future leadership during their voyage together in 1806-7. These were years when Napoleon terrified Britain and Europe, when slave trading was still legal, when there were still Barbary pirates and a Seminole War in Florida. Also years when a desperate Britain "impressed" (shanghaied? kidnapped?) non-British subjects, including Americans, to serve on warships until they could prove their claim to immunity -- a process typically taking four years! All this James Fenimore Cooper, using Ned's words, tells simply and directly, sounding more like a future Ernest Hemingway than the sometimes convoluted, long-winded, clumsy stylist of THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS or MERCEDES OF CASTILE. NED MYERS is not overly long, never pauses for breath for long, probes the evolution of a sailor's conscience as he battles drink, and is the tale of a remarkable friendship between two men of very different social status and global outlooks. The reader freezes with Ned in Antarctic waters, hungers with him as a British prisoner of war and rolls through service on innumerable private merchantmen and a few U.S. Naval vessels. The biography's goals are simple and elegantly met. Let me end with a typical passage, showing how laconically Cooper could write when he chose to. Midway through his nearly 40 years on sailing vessels, Ned Myers was made First Mate of a small Buford coasting vessel often in and out of Charleston, South Carolina. It was the Gov. Russel. The owner/captain rarely made the typical 150 - 200 miles trading runs, leaving Myers alone to captain a crew of two Negro slaves. The Gov. Russel was driven aground in a violent storm. With the one surviving slave, Myers floated for two days on bits of wreckage until saved by a passing schooner and carried into Charleson. What happened next? "The
Gov. Russel was found, towed into port, was repaired, and went about
her business, as usual in the Buford trade. I never saw her or her
captain again, however, I parted with the negro that saved me, on the
wharf, and never heard anything about him afterwards either.
Such is the life of a sailor!"
(Ch. XIII)
-OOO- http://www.lunch.com/Reviews/d/James_Fenimore_Cooper_NED_MYERS -1683267.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= (3) bn.com 12/30/2010 title of review: "I am your old shipmate, Ned" rating: * * * * * review: Posted 12/30/2010: In November 1842 disabled, pensioned sailor Ned Myers was about 47 years old. In his 1843 biography as told to famed novelist, historian and biographer James Fenimore Cooper, Myers thought that he had been born in Quebec in 1793. "My real names are Edward Robert Meyers" (Ch. I). Both parents were German, Hanoverians probably. His father was an officer serving in the 23rd regiment of foot. Father's father had been a clergyman in Germany. It is possible (end note 7) that Ned actually found his own father, Lt. Col. Meyers, dead on the 1813 battlefield at Fort George. Residing off and on since 1840 in New York's Sailors' Snug Harbour, a retirement community for old sea dogs, Ned decided to write to James Fenimore Cooper at his home in Cooperstown, western New York. Perhaps they had been teenage shipmates on the merchantman Sterling to and from Europe in 1806 - 7. "I got an answer, beginning in these words -- 'I am your old shipmate, Ned'" (Ch. XIX). Cooper's early work THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1826) had vaulted him to the first ranks and the level of Sir Walter Scott as a writer of romantic historical novels. By 1842 Cooper had already written several of his sea adventure novels and a pioneering history of the United States Navy. In 1840 Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s book TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST had created readers avid for tales of simple sailors, not officers, ship owners or leading figures such as captains and mates. A life of Ned Myers would give Cooper entree to these new readers of realistic maritime adventure. The two old shipmates, reunited after 35 years, spent five months together at Cooperstown working on the first-person biography NED MYERS. In a 1997 article in THE AMERICAN NEPTUNE, William S. Dudley, of the Naval Historical Center, sketched out the few years left to Myers after his narrative broke off. Cooper shared book royalties with Myers. He helped him find a navy-related land job in Brooklyn. Cooper also hired one of Ned's stepdaughters as a house servant. Unfortunately, in a few years born-again Christian Ned resumed his sworn off absorption in alcohol. He died in 1849. Cooper had written Myer's will for him and continued to help his widow financially. I read NED MYERS as a remarkable tale of male bonding, of a friendship of two teenagers rekindled three decades later. It is, of course, much more: the social life of a common sailor, history of America's wars, including the near civil war with South Carolina over "Nullification" and the Seminole Indian war in Florida. The longest part of the narrative goes to Myers's service with the U.S. Navy on Lake Ontario in 1813, his capture, escapes, recaptures and imprisonment in Canada until peace was restored in 1815. Great events are seen from a little man's perspective, the Barbary Coast incursions, pirate encounters at sea, mammoth storms, sinkings, rescues, several long voyages to Canton, China and trade in opium from Calcutta. NED MYERS is a treasure trove of American history. -OOO- http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ned-Myers/James-Fenimore -Cooper/e/9781406555882/?itm=5&USRI=james+fenimore+ cooper+-+ned+myers =-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= (4) amazon.com 12/31/2010 title of review: "When my foot touched the wharf, my whole estate was under my hat" rating: * * * * * review: One promotional review of Fenimore Cooper's 1843 book NED MYERS calls it both "engrossing biography of Ned Myers, a sailor and Cooper’s companion at sea" as well as "this nautical novel." NED MYERS is, however, simply biography. It is not a novel. It is not a work of fiction. Admittedly, NED MYERS does display recurring elements of Cooper's 32 novels. These include chases, captures, escapes, storms and even a bit of romance. Other features found in some Cooper novels include encounters with pirates, struggles of conscience against drink, growth in personal religion and a handful of speculations on politics and morals. But all these elements were historical fact: part of the life story of one "Edward Robert Meyers" (Ch. I), born in Quebec c. 1793. In 1806-7 Meyers, who had changed his German name to Myers after slipping off as a lad to New York, shipped out on the merchantman the Sterling as a cabin boy on a trading voyage to England and back. Also aboard, but not lodging "before the mast" with the common seaman, was 16-year old James Cooper, the future novelist, historian and biographer who would add "Fenimore" to his name. The two boys became friends, and took in the sights of England together. They then went their separate ways for decades, as sailors do. In late 1842 Ned took the initiative to reconnect with his old shipmate. And they then spent five months at Cooper's home in Cooperstown, New York, putting together the manuscript of NED MYERS. This is a perfect little book, modest in its goals, sure in execution. Author Cooper assumes the persona of his subject and collaborator (they shared sales royalties later). He writes short, punchy sentences unlike the often contorted, clumsy ramblings of THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS or THE DEERSLAYER. Myers is made to tell his tale chronologically and there is something in it for every reader: was a royal prince Ned's godfather? How many ships did Ned sail on? Answer: at least 72 and closer to a hundred by another reckoning, which includes his transports while a British prisoner of war after capture on Lake Ontario in 1813. Ned spent most of his years sailing with the private merchant marine but also did three stints with the U.S. Navy. He learned Bengalee in Calcutta, traded opium from India for metals in Canton, China. He knew the Mediterranean, Antarctic waters, crused off South Carolina during the "nullification" threats and saw action in Florida during the Seminole War. One thing that strikes me in this biography is the economics of being a simple sailor. Ned told his story as a lesson to sailors everywhere on evils to avoid and good things to do. One lesson was that a sailor could easily save $100/year above his expenses for clothes, food and modest entertainment. And that, unless squandered, would be enough when added to down the decades to assure a comfortable old age in retirement. Often enough, Ned would leave behind a fairly tidy sum with a trustworthy landlord before shipping out again. But normally he would return to his home base (usually New York City) and within a month or two have blown his savings on giving parties and carousing. He early gave in to excessive drinking. Let me conclude this review with a passage underlining Ned's prevailing poverty between voyages. It also shows the laconic narrative style Cooper displayed in this biography. During an otherwise pleasant voyage to the Caribbean, Ned Myers's passenger-carrying merchantman the Belle Savage was struck by a storm a day's sail south of Bermuda, took on water and sank. Lifeboats were successfully launched. And a nearby brig the Mary picked up all survivors. Six days later, Ned and others were unloaded in New York City "at no
great distance from Fulton Market. When my foot touched the wharf, my
whole estate was under my hat, and my pockets were as empty as a vessel
with a swept hold. ... I
began to think I was born to bad luck, and being almost naked, was in
nowise particular what became of me. ... but at no period of my life
did I run in debt" (Ch. XII).
-OOO- tags: james fenimore cooper, war of 1812, seminole war, south carolina nullification, life of ordinary seaman http://www.amazon.com/Ned-Myers-James-Fenimore-Cooper/ dp/1554803799/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid= 1292855847&sr=1-16 =-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= (5) epinions.com 12/31/2010 REVIEW TITLE: "Good food produces good work" by aohcapablanca, Dec 31 '10 Here are four good reasons to read and enjoy NED MYERS: -- (1) Male bonding surviving a break of 36 years. In 1806-07, 16-year old James Cooper, fresh from being expelled from Yale for a serious prank (blowing in a fellow student's door), shipped aboard the American merchantman, the Sterling, on a trading cruise from New York to England and back. On that same cruise a 13-year old cabin boy, Ned Myers, sailed "before the mast," i. e. among the crew members in the forward part of the Sterling. By contrast, well-connected Cooper, soon to be a U.S. Naval Ensign, was treated as a very junior officer and secretary to the Captain. Despite differences in age and social standing, the two youngsters became friends and spent weeks touring England together. They then went their separate ways, "as sailors do." In late 1842 Myers wrote to Cooper who then invited him to spend five months in Cooperstown collaborating on Ned's biography. Cooper shared royalties of his first-person narrative with Myers, wrote his last will and testament for him, hired a step-daughter as a servant and provided material aid to Myers's widow when Ned died in 1849. --(2) NED MYERS is part of a second phase of the 19th Century "sea tale," a genre invented in 1823 with Fenimore Cooper's novel of American hero, Captain John Paul Jones, THE PILOT. Cooper and imitators soon poured out dozens of highly popular sea adventure novels, very "romantic" in composition. Then came in 1840 Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST. And readers were suddenly clamoring for realistic, down and dirty tales of simple sailors, toilers of the sea -- not pirates and captains and dashing heroes of romance. In 1843 Cooper gave them the realism that readers craved in the biographic NED MYERS -- (3) The life of seaman Ned Myers is fascinating in itself. He shipped out as a mate or crewman on 72 vessels, both private and U.S. Navy. Myers traded Calcutta opium for Canton metals. He fought in the Seminole War in Florida. Myers sailed around the world. He knew South America, the Mediterranean and coastal North America, sailing, for instance, in one of his Navy tours, for months off the coast of South Carolina when that State was threatening to secede on the basis of its "nullification" doctrine. -- (4) Sociology of a common sailor. Allow me, please, to compress and share some thoughts about NED MYERS published in the 1997 Fall issue (pp. 323 - 329) of The American Neptune by Dr. William S. Dudley director of the Naval Historical Center: NED MYERS opens up to today's readers life
"on the lower deck ... the
social history of seafaring. We need to know why men went to sea, how
they looked at their captains and mates, what they thought about their
treatment, when and why they got sick, who took care of them when they
did, and what happened to them in their old age." Sailing was
dangerous business. Ships sprang leaks, capsized in storms, ran
aground. "For men like Ned Myers,
the possibilities of piracy, dismasting, shipwreck, impressment,
punishment by flogging, insanity at sea, alcoholism, unfaithful
landlords, and penury ashore were altogether real. (We crave to
know) his reading habits, his
concerns for his shipmates, his legal rights and responsibilities, and
his thoughts on religion."
Let me conclude this, my final review of 2010, with a passage from the biography about sailors and food. The topic comes up a lot in NED MYERS, starting with the "four for six" rations allotted American prisoners of war in Canada in 1813- 1815. That meant four rations meted out to six prisoners. I also allow this passage to show Cooper at his uncharacteristically laconic, most "Ernest Hemingway," straight from the shoulder best as a stylist. Would that he had cast THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS as succinctly! In May 1839 Ned Myers and five others signed on at Rotterdam to sail to Java in "a
heavy Dutch Indiaman ... the Stadtdeel --so pronounced; how spelt, I
have no idea." On this voyage Myers would be severely injured
and laid up in a hospital in Batavia (today's Djakarta) for months. But
here are a simple sailor's reflections on food before he set sail. It
strikes me as evidence that American taste in food was already being
corrupted in 1839 away from the healthy dark breads of northern Europe
for American white flour predecessors of Wonder Bread:
"The bread in this ship was wholesome, I do suppose, but it was nearly black and such as I was altogether unused to. Inferior as it was we got but five pounds each, per week. In our navy, a man gets, per week, seven pounds of such bread as might be put on a gentleman's table. The meat was little better than the bread in quality, and quite as scant in quanity. We got one good dish in the Stadtdeel, and that we got every morning. It was a dish of boiled barley, of which I became very fond, and which, indeed, supplied me with the strength necessary for my duty. It was one of the best dishes I ever fell in with at sea; and I think it might be introduced, to advantage, in our service. Good food produces good work" (Ch. XVIII). -OOO- Happy New Year 2011 to epinionators one and all and especially to Books Category leads Pestyside and Dramastef! Pestyside Patsy made NED MYERS reviewable for me. Pros: Unpadded narration in sailor's language. Voyages to China, Europe, Mediterranean and around the Horn. Cons: Important history (War of 1812, South Carolina "nullification," Seminole War) dimly understood by a seaman. The Bottom Line: Like Dana's 1840 TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST, Cooper's 1843 NED MYERS moves away from romantic sea adventure tales. It is a simple sailor's narrative of alcoholism, heroism and patriotism. Overall Product Rating: * * * * * Recommend to a Friend? Yes. http://www99.epinions.com/review/James_Fenimore_Cooper _Ned_Myers_A_Life_Before_the_Mast_epi/content_536202350212 Mast_epi =-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= http://www.patrickkillough.com/books/cooper_nedmyers.html |