Close To Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks Of 1916 (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
Since this doesn't rise to the level of Sherman's collected wisdom, I can really only offer up 2 1/2 stars. This was a breeze to read (once getting past the author's tendency toward hyperbole and nonfictional purple prose), but is a bit tricky to review in light of how derivative it is. There's no way to shake the sense that this entire book has been done before, and better.Desperately seeking a riveting nonfiction adventure that will teach you a little something about great white sharks and a shark-watcher's obsession? That's Susan Casey's The Devil's Teeth. Want to read the fictional account of this history that perfectly hits all the proper dramatic marks? That's Peter Benchley's brilliant Jaws, of course. More interested in the Edwardian/Progressive era details that are this book's saving grace? Well, then you really want to read E. L. Doctorow's smart, sprawling Ragtime.Capuzzo offers up a fine recap of the three attacks off the New Jersey coast in 1916 that presumably inspired Benchley's novel. However, it's a doggoned shame that Capuzzo chose to borrow so many of Benchley's narrative devices -- the shark-monster P.O.V., the "close-the-beaches" economic subconflict, italicized foreshadowing, etc. The smell of the sea pulled him east. The Atlantic spread before him like a pool of diamonds, liquefied, tossing gently in gleaming tips and shards of changeable, fading bronze light. The sun climbed down toward dusk behind mountains of clouds swollen with moisture. The young man couldn't wait to get in the water. (page 1)This comes about as close to literary theft as a nonfiction work can manage, distinguished only by the author's pilferings of Doctorow:The ocean was the realm of men. The masculine ideal was Richard Harding Davis, the Philadelphia and New York war correspondent and icon of Anglo-Saxon dash and derring-do, the young Ernest Hemingway's hero. It was the custom for a man to take a dip in the ocean every day of his vacation. Many made a hardy show of heading down to the beach during a strong rain or big storm to challenge the waves. It was de rigueur for young men, upon checking into their hotel, to take an immediate dip in the ocean -- morning, afternoon, or evening, no matter how cold the water or how rough the weather. It was a test of mettle. To shy away from the ocean was to break the masculine code of a strenuous life set by ex-President Roosevelt. (page 80) Maybe there was just no other way to treat this material effectively, but I strongly doubt it. Doctorow has more comprehensively captured the conflicts of the Progressive era that arise out of being trapped halfway between rustic Romanticism and mechanical modernity -- the clapboard-paved urban streets serving neither drayhorse-drawn milk and ice block carriages nor the new, reckless driving motorcars (already a greater menace to public safety than any ancient fish). Capuzzo tantalizes with glimpses of such tensions, and for many that may be enough.Still, Benchley and Casey provided far more satisfying endings, the former ringing up literary closure (in a manner much more satisfying than that of Spielberg's marvelous movie, if less cinematic), the latter nonetheless managing to summarize and find meaning in all that has gone before. Since Capuzzo criminally fails to accomplish either, I can only damn his book with faint praise. Whether or not you have read the other books I've mentioned, you could do worse than to read Close to Shore. I can't leave this review without mentioning what Capuzzo succeeds in revealing of fin de siecle American attitudes. These are brash know-it-alls willing to publish a 1915 New York Times editorial declaiming sharks harmless to humans, because no one had taken up a tycoon's bet proving otherwise... never mind the pages of evidence to the contrary provided by US consular staff posted in South Africa, Australia, and Indonesia. Thank heavens upstanding citizens had the good sense to panic after the second attack took place in US territorial waters the following year. It's just such a relief to see that some things -- like defiant ignorance -- never change.
"The most frightening animal on earth"Michael Capuzzo has the soul of a novelist; this is not only evident in the dramatic episode which forms the prologue of CLOSE TO SHORE, but also in the flowery and descriptive narrative which occurs in abundance throughout the rest of the book. Based around (and one might be tempted at times to add "loosely" here) a series of shark attacks which plagued the New Jersey shoreline in the summer of 1916, CLOSE TO SHORE is as much a history of the Edwardian Era in America as it is a recounting of the shark attacks themselves. Taken as a broad history, it can be an enjoyable and rewarding reading experience.That being said, I can certainly understand the complaints of some that Capuzzo is excessive in his "period history." In particular, at times he delves deeply into the biography and genealogy of characters that are, at best, only tangentially connected to the events surrounding the actual shark attacks. In addition, the author takes considerable license in ascribing thoughts, emotions, and motivations to his characters in a novelistic fashion. My criticism, however, remained mild through the opening chapters despite several warning signs. Again, if you allow yourself the explanation that you are truly witnessing the history of a place and a time, then the book actually works quite well.The history, after all, has a purpose. Americans, in 1916, felt that they were on the cusp of a truly modern age where man had finally obtained physical and moral dominance over his environment. Yet, it was also an age of innocence or even naiveté. In subsequent decades, humankind would gain a greater recognition of their insignificance and powerlessness in the face of greater forces. The Great Depression, the World Wars, the Spanish Flu epidemic, and other events would soon strip this innocence violently away, but in the summer of 1916, Americans were blissfully unaware of what the century ahead would hold for them. The shark of 1916 would be one of the first agents of the changes to come in our national psychology.However, when the chapter which, by its title, suggested the shark's long awaited appearance turned out to be merely an account of the courtship between of the shark's parents, the thoughts of Aristotle on the topic of shark mating, and the water temperatures of Long Island Sound, Capuzzo began to lose me a bit. And when the following chapter returned to the languid and fanciful descriptions of various Edwardians filled with their noble thoughts as they strolled along the boardwalks of their seaside towns, I realized (with some genuine terror), that I was approaching a quarter of the way through the book and had yet to see any blood. I am a huge fan of works exploring broad historical contexts, but enough is enough! I was ready for some shark attacks.And, as long as we were taking our slow walks down the boardwalk, I would at least have expected the history to be accurate. Some of the facts splashed around exposed a shocking carelessness of the author, even to my unpracticed mind. To give just one small example, Capuzzo casually refers to the Winston Churchill of 1916 as "a young war correspondent," when, in fact, by that time Churchill's career had already included his serving as First Lord of the Admiralty for several years (1911-1915) while 1916 saw him commanding a battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front (he once had been a young war correspondent, but that had been during the Boer War of 1899. Furthermore, the quote attributed to the "young correspondent" was not actually written until 1923). These are minor facts to the story, but are numerous enough to disturb me even on my first unconscious reading.In short, there is much to be enjoyed in CLOSE TO SHORE, but the book is flawed through its lack of direction and the loose fact-checking of the author. I would warn lovers of history or of natural history, that it is entirely possible that this book will be a disappointment to them, unless they also have a healthy love of the novel and a forgiveness of bending the truth for dramatic purposes.
What do You think about Close To Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks Of 1916 (2002)?
Very interesting. I picked it up because of the recent shark attacks in the news. The author sets the book squarely in its time with the new freedom of people to go to the seashore for the day and the new popularity of actually swimming.It starts off rather slowly setting up the attitudes and customs of the times. But then begins the attacks. This was a "rogue" shark about 8 to 10 feet long, not full grown, who for some reason abandoned his normal diet and began to attack and eat people. At that time there was a firm belief by the experts that sharks did not attack people and their jaws were too weak to do any real damage - although sailors, Australians and others said differently. And they did in answer to inquiries. Also the experts did not realize that sharks attack in shallow water and will come up on the beach or rocks after their prey. This one traveled up a small inlet and up a tidewater creek in 10 feet of water and attacked three people.Most experts began to change their minds after talking to witnesses. And they believed it was just one shark making his way up the coast. Eventually two men out fishing in a small boat (not looking for shark as many others were) were attacked in their boat by a shark who came over the stern of the boat after them. The only thing they could find to defend themselves was a broken oar they had picked up on the beach before they set out.I was disappointed in the ending. Although this shark had human remains in its stomach, there was nothing that identified this as the shark. Several shark catches had been mentioned before as coming to nothing, but the book just ended after this. I presume there were no more attacks, but y,the book doesn't say.I also found it interesting when the author mentioned there are always large schools of young sharks off the Jersey New York shores, but the feed on smaller fish and stay out in deeper water, not coming close to the shore.
—Susan Ferguson
I like era stories; when the spirit of a times is observed in relation to an overwhelming and seemingly daunting struggle (whether it be terror, technology or societal growing pains...). That said, when I checked out this audiobook from the library, I returned it within two days. Someone else I know said they loved this book and thought I was crazy for not giving it more of a chance, but what a disappointment. Not quite to the level where it is 1 star trash (that is a place where Clive Cussler and few other commercial novelists get to venture to...), but certainly bad on a level that I don't commit myself long to. I highly suggest avoiding this trite and meaningless "shark story." It is disappointing, dwells on era devices that try to transport you and ultimately lose you to superfluous detail, and...the greatest crime, methinks...the author obviously sees himself as some great master and tries to, as I would put it, "show off how great he is." He is not great. He is not even good. And the story would be great and fascinating if not told by such a stinker of a storyteller.Avoid at all costs.
—Bryce Holt
This historical account of the 1916 shark attacks off the New Jersey coast was so enthraling and filled with suspense. I have heard of these shark attacks in brief references to Peter Benchley's best-selling novel "Jaws". As it was the inspiration for his story about a rogue man-eating great white shark. As a person who has always loved sharks and never understood why people fear them so much, this book reopens (but does not prove the theory) of a rogue man-eater. I mostly appreciated the author's study of modern shark biology as a way to connect the reader with the ways of the shark. Great whites will continue to thrill and fascinate me, but I know better than to swim alone, swim near dogs, swim during the phase of the full moon, and swim wearing dark bathing suits close to shore. According to the International Study on Shark Attacks, these are all patterns that repeat among the over 400 shark attack cases in recorded history. This book was fascinating and I couldn't put it down! Added bonus: I read this during the Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" which made it even more fun to read.
—Cori Holmberg
