Reddit reviews Two Years Before the Mast (Signet Classics)

Two Years Before the Mast

Tracing an awe-inspiring oceanic route from Boston, around Cape Horn, to the California coast, Two Years Before the Mast is both a riveting story of adventure and the most eloquent, insightful account we have of life at sea in the early nineteenth century. Richard Henry Dana is only nineteen when he abandons the patrician world of Boston and Harvard for an arduous voyage among real sailors, amid genuine danger. The result is an astonishing read, replete with vivid descriptions of storms, whales, and the ship's mad captain, terrible hardship and magical beauty, and fascinating historical detail, including an intriguing portrait of California before the gold rush. As D. H. Lawrence proclaimed, "Dana's small book is a very great book."

I'm guessing you're just here for the insults, but in case that is a sincere questions there are many studies showing that myopia is the result of environment:
http://www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-64201400364-9/fulltext

http://sydney.edu.au/health-sciences/staff/first_lastname.shtml

http://oup.silverchair-cdn.com/oup/backfile/Content_public/Journal/epirev/18/2/10.1093_oxfordjournals.epirev.a017924/3/18-2-175.pdf?Expires=1486467160&Signature=BH5~puQMx7IcbEhbqdNLRy6cn9z75NKTwhIiALi~Er8lB5tAd2y1G4kSA59yEz3XCdBZPARQRuiSmEc75r-7lByjmhO18cnXW5300LFcFsqQEIO7O2TncGT93AIyzo64OpLBvIQc56neHFyhQIAf6ojgY35fmXdnrTyhb9PJb33YAo4CPCCQ-A3-H5zt0WvOtaeJob9pmoQjyHz8jbMHm20HKERXC8BCeh~V6e86pG5ZCGJnQjDwE-gKjWJJPrSHdBtnEHFL11WSYoZuzwHZoYnzYc6F~nJtPSdg44TeNgtUZIE6hKhzSu6U0uzsiwcIXJD-rVkvF-aRynj-acFliQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAIUCZBIA4LVPAVW3Q

If you want to check out Richard Henry Dana's story:

https://www.amazon.com/Years-Before-Mast-Signet-Classics/dp/0451531256

That's great - glad you had a good time

If you or your buddies are book types, I would suggest you introduce them to a couple of books

The first "Two Years Before The Mast" - by Richard Henry Dana - there is a passage in that book that ends with an eloquent statement about sails and sailing...

https://www.reddit.com/r/Tallships/comments/9kacom/star_of_india_all_sails_set_sept_30_2018_we_sail/

It's about the sails ... ``How quietly they do their work!''

The scene - 1834 - Student at Harvard basically says: Screw this college stuff, I'm going to be a sailor - he walks down to the ship yards and signs a 2 year contract, sails around the horn visits southern California, and returns to Boston. Along the way, he keeps a journal and it becomes a master piece.

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Years_Before_the_Mast

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Years-Before-Mast-Signet-Classics/dp/0451531256

Book #2 - Is about an old captain - his life story before the book is amazing by it self

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_Alone_Around_the_World

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sailing-Alone-Around-Joshua-Slocum/dp/0486203263

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This is one of my favorite periods. Read the following:

Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the West by Dale Morgan

The Course of Empire by Bernard DeVoto

Across the Wide Missouri by Bernard DeVoto

1846 the Year of Decision by Bernard DeVoto

The above are all great books written in the early 20th Century

Three source material must-reads are

The Oregon Trail by Francis Parkman

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana

I can't remember any contemporary books that stand out right now but I'll look through my books at home.

You're exactly right but you say that like it's a path to enlightenment, and not a peer reviewed journal. if you want to check out Richard Henry Dana's story:. https://www.amazon.com/Years-Before-Mast-Signet-Classics/dp/0451531256.