Reviews

The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania, and Mutiny in the South Pacific by Brandon Presser

joabroda's review

adventurous dark informative fast-paced

4.0

Brandon Presser is a Travel Journalist for The NYT.  He was offered a trip to Pitcairn Island, where the Bounty landed over 200 years ago. The trip entailed his staying on "paradise" for 3 months, as only 1 cargo ships visits there with supplies just 4 times a year, and that was how he would come and go to the island.  What Presser uncovered while there researching the ugly truth about some things came out.

Personally, I was amazed the descendants of the mutineers still called this home. Basically it is just a rock on the edge of the Pacific. Many modern conveniences just not available, a little world all of its own.

The story fluctuates  back and forth between Brandon's time there and the actually events of the mutiny.   Writing the book this way gives one a better insight into the frame of mind of those current living on the Island. I would love to tell you more, but I never spoil books for anyone. Just know that anything you know about the Bounty may be true, but there is so much that has been uncovered that I promise will have you shaking your head and perhaps being a bit shocked.

Presser spent 3 years researching and writing.  The effort shows and I would recommend this to all history fans or Bounty fanatics. An great read!

jmdeal's review

adventurous funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

letxpaiva's review

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

bluesleepy's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

illinibaby's review

adventurous dark emotional informative slow-paced

4.75

rtollett's review

This was fun

critter's review

2.0

I didn't enjoy the style or pacing of this book. It felt much too slow. I also wanted a lot more from this book as a lot of it just felt like speculation. This book follows a historical event where there weren't first-hand accounts of the events and a lot of the material had to come from other accounts. For many people this book contains content that is disturbing. This book was difficult to get through due to issues with pacing.

I would like to thank Public Affairs for providing me with an ARC.

iamsatan666's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

gl_cool's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Really interesting story about a bit of history I knew nothing about 

smokeyshouse's review

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A fascinating story, but the writing was not strong. Also, the style was not satisfying to me: a fictionalized historical narrative that was a large part due to the author's imagination.