In 1940 John Steinbeck and his great friend Edward Ricketts, director of the Pacific Biological Laboratories and the original of Doc in "Cannery Row", joined forces for a six-weeks' fishing trip to collect marine specimens in the Gulf of California, once known as the Sea of Cortez. In 1948 Ricketts was killed in an accident, and Steinbeck was moved to write down everything he could remember about his extraordinary friend - scientist, philosopher, eccentric and womanizer. This affectionate profile is published alongside the day-to-day account of their maritime expedition, a blend of scientific research and riotous adventure.
Late, late in the night we recalled that Horace says fried shrimps and African snails will cure a hangover. Neither was available.
I called a stop to this @ 63%. I skim read to the end to see if the log ever changes into something that has a structure - or a point.
It may be that I am not in the right mood for this book, but from everything I have read, I get the impression that to be in the right frame of mind to read this book I would have to be on that boat, with a beer (not the first of the day), and develop a sudden liking for pointless meandering, unsubstantiated general philosophising, and killing things just to collect them.
