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Masterman Ready, or the Wreck of the Pacific is a robinsonade children's novel published in 1841 by Frederick Marryat. The book follows the adventures of the Seagrave family who are shipwrecked at sea, and survive on a desert island with the assistance of veteran sailor Masterman Ready.
Masterman Ready was one of the first historical adventures written for young readers. It was written in response to the 1812 book The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss. As a sailor of long experience, Marryat was annoyed that Wyss had portrayed being shipwrecked as a romantic adventure and he disapproved of the ignorance regarding flora and fauna displayed by Wyss. The Seagrave family in Marryat's novel have to overcome many hazards, beginning with the initial storm which wrecks the ship and injures the passengers.
The book throughout has a strong moral and pious tone. It contains many long reminiscences of Ready's life at sea, in which thanks is given to God, and of the comfort to be found in the Bible. Likewise the family learn lessons on natural history and discover evidence for God's benevolence everywhere.
For many years Masterman Ready was one of the most popular adventure stories for children. It was ranked alongside The Children of the New Forest as the best of Marryat's books for children and it was at one time thought Masterman Ready would "always be the more popular of the two, from the neverceasing attractiveness of its subject matter." The book is now less popular than it once was, partly because moral lessons constantly intrude on the action. (wikipedia.org)
About the Author
Captain Frederick Marryat CB FRS (10 July 1792 - 9 August 1848) was a Royal Navy officer and novelist. He is noted today as an early pioneer of nautical fiction, particularly for his semi-autobiographical novel Mr Midshipman Easy (1836). He is remembered also for his children's novel The Children of the New Forest (1847). In addition, he developed a widely used system of maritime flag signalling, known as Marryat's Code.
From 1832 to 1835, Marryat edited The Metropolitan Magazine. Additionally, he kept writing novels; his biggest success came with Mr Midshipman Easy in 1836. He lived in Brussels for a year, travelled in Canada and the United States, and moved to London in 1839, where he was in the literary circle of Charles Dickens and others. He was in North America in 1837 when rebellion broke out in Lower Canada, and served with the expeditionary force sent to suppress it.
Marryat's novels are typical of their time, with concerns of family connections and social status often overshadowing the naval action. He based much of his fiction on his 25 years' experience at sea. Among those who admired his works were Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad, and Ernest Hemingway. As the first nautical novels, they served as models for 20th century works by C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian. These also were set in the time of Nelson and told of young men rising through the ranks due to their successes as naval officers.
Marryat was also known for short writings on nautical subjects. These short stories, plays, pieces of travel journalism, and essays were published in The Metropolitan Magazine, and many were later collected in book form as Olla Podrida.
Marryat's 1839 Gothic novel The Phantom Ship contained "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains". This featured the first female werewolf to appear in a short story.
...(wikipedia.org)
