 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Down at the Docks by Rory Nugent By Melissa J Wantuck  |
| |
Treading lightly in the shoes of a well-known American writer who meticulously chronicled the American whaling industry at its height in the nineteenth century, Rory Nugent is a modern-day Herman Melville. First published last year, Nugent’s book Down at the Docks (Anchor, 2010) was released in paperback this month and chronicles the modern-day fishing industry in the former whaling capital port of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Compared to Melville, Nugent is brief but he seeks to capture the spirit of American fishermen through their struggles and their weaknesses.
Down at the Docks is a collection of six short stories voiced by a common narrator referred to only as “Sailor.” Each story explores a different aspect of life in New Bedford’s aging harbor while all remain under the umbrella of a deteriorating way of life plagued by drugs and debilitating federal regulations. Sailor is the confidant of all characters involved without any reason given for his trustworthy trait except he’s been accepted as a true sailor of the seas.
This book is not portrayed as a work of fiction and the end Acknowledgements indicate the stories are true accounts with names changed to protect against federal indictment. Crimes range from insurance fraud to drug use and drug smuggling. These are land laws and the men of the sea portrayed throughout abide by an unwritten code that exists only on the open seas and characterized by one word: survival.
As Nugent portrays the lives of the struggling fisherman and citizens of present-day New Bedford, he delves back into the city’s history with each short story covering a different aspect. This is where he’s least like Melville because the book is so short. Nugent glosses over the city’s near four-hundred year history, providing brief historical narratives of key times: first explorers; rise of the whaling industry; rise of industry; decline of fishing thanks to big corporations and government regulations. Finally, in the last story, he shows how desperate the remaining small-time fishermen have become and what they’re willing to do to make and/or save some money in order to survive.
The book starts out slow with some confusion about its direction. Then it begins to pick up a little but the constant back story telling stifles any climax each story might have. The one exception to this is the story about the secret society that could easily be part of a Dan Brown novel with its secret agendas and eyebrow-raising rituals; rumored only, of course.
When analyzed as one, all of the stories seemed to have been picked for their clandestine plots. All have some kind of remembrance of better times that has been ruined by bureaucrats who are so called “experts” but are experts in theory only. The plots are over dramatic and leave the impression the remaining fishermen bringing home the bounty of the seas are plagued by drug use and wasting their efforts smuggling the drugs that feed their habit because their sector of American food production is slowly being outsourced to international fisherman.
Despite its flair for the dramatics, Down at the Docks is an interesting exploration of New Bedford’s rise and fall, landing itself a unique position in the history genre as a composition of folklore passed down through generations of New Bedford fisherman. In the end there isn’t a great white whale to seek revenge on, just a ship to be sunk.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|