22 dec 14, monday evening#12 from macdonald for me.(1967) the last one leftstory begins:at the small bon voyage party at the delmar bay yacht clud kip and selma had given howard and junie prowt a little brass plaque to affix to one of the bulkheads of the hojun. it read, "oh lord, thy sea is so vast and my boat is so small!"okee-dokee, then...as the good doctor said (surf city, 1958)...onward and upward. a note on the narrationthe telling is 3rd-person multiple character p.o.v. many of the other macdonald stories i've read were written before this one...and first impression is that this story has a tad more style...elegance...complexity. we'll see. he captures the sea. time, place, scene, settings*the atlantic between pier 66 lauderdale and bimini*south joulter cay...a small island*the gulf stream*corpus christi, texas...a roadside restaurant on the outskirts*aboard a 34' owens cruiser, in may...howard/junie prowt*nassau, bahamas*#10, mooney bungelow courts...cabins...or a kind of cabin near coarl cables/miami*harlingen, texas...where sam hails from*sergeant's island...where corpo hangs his hat characters, major minor peripheral name only*kip and selma*howard & junie prowt: howard is a retired wholesale grocer from moline...captain of his own vessel now...junie is his wife. she is 58...he must be that age or older. heron bayou is home to them*horatio hornblower*captain bligh*captain garry staniker: washes up on south joulter key...off the muneca...that was towing the munequita...he and six others were on a boat trip...the boat burned...he survived...howard and junie saw the smaller boat, still afloat...junie saw a hand w/the binoculars..they did not render aid...they continued on...in swells...howard did not want to change it. staniker and cristen are an item.*sam boylston: a rich, 30-year-old, demanding man...estranged from his wife who tries to communicate her concerns...in one ear, out the other...although she knows he is...clueless...she understands him. they have one child, a five-year-old. attorney in the firm boylston & worth*lydia jean: sam's estranged wife*boy-sam: their 5-year-old son*crissy...w/staniker on the boat the burned*mary jane...same...on the boat*barth, a vacationing dentist on board a chriscraft owned by his plumbing contractor friend...and their wives*bert hilger: the plumbing contractor friend of barth, owner of the chris craft...they rescue staniker...bring him to nassau*bix...mr. kayd...on the boat that burned*miss steila...on the boat that burnedleila: sam's sister...nineteen-year-old, going with jonathan dye, 21...and they want to live the altruistic life...and sam wants her to open her eyes...doesn't believe she will be happy with jonathan. they parents were killed in an accident.*carolyn, bix kayd's second wife*roger kayd...i think a son of the kayd's*seddon & garvey...architects who designed a house for sam boylston*bern wallader...knows sam...sam smacked him in the mouth*shugg...a texas highwway patrol cop...stops sam...knows sam...gives sam the news about his sister leila*little chippy in her short tight skirt...at a stoplight..sam watched*son of a county judge...same gave testimony when the son had been killed on a stretch of highway shugg stops him on*tom insley*taylor worth: sam's partner*old judge billy alwerd in brosnville*tom dorra...owns groves...home near mcallen*bud wing: jonathan has been working for him...and wing reported back to samcristen harkinson: a mover & shaker...of her body...is getting older...36-year-old...and for some she passes herself as 28-year-old...to oliver, "the boy"....fair&balanced...she has used been used by men and is looking to score big so she is set...what with no 401k plan...call girl/hooker...been around the block*francisca...cuban housemaid to cristen...from cuba of course...has this great line sotch a crock of sheet!...daughter of don esteban torceo...under batista...her brother enrique*raoul kelly...only child of a shopkeeper...bay of pigs, isle of pines...reporter. his story, w/francisca or "'cisca" is a separate (almost) storyline...*rosita, friend of francisca*ferris tontaine,state senator...diddling cristen, set her up in house...she wanted security...he died in her place...they deposited him downtown miami in his car running, typical politician...although if this story were written today the writer would have labelled his party. i have read stories, stories that come immediately to mind...and those writers are juvenile. macdonald does not do that here...and the story reads oh so much better because you know...i do...that some asshat writer of today can't write without getting in his/her jibe at the other party. boolsheet of the purest ray serene. refreshing not to read that.*angus squires, wheeler dealer...canadian*oliver "olly" akard: lover boy of cristen...she is using him, setting him up...he has been teaching her how to sail*betty, his steady girlfriend for the last three years*sir willis willard, chairman of the board, ventures corporation*seargeant walter corpo: but just "corpo" for the most, in the story, that or "sergeant"...and this character is a hoot...he is a joy to read. he is a kind of hermit there on some small patch of island...where he built his shack and where he wants to be left alone...wounded in the war...a friend, "the lieutenant" looks after him. corpo finds leila adrift in a boat, nurses her back to health, and then some. the time w/corpo and leila is a story itself.*stanely moree: this man has a homemade boat...catamaran...and jonathan enlists that boat and his help in finding leila...and this is another storyline within the main. he is from nicholl's town at the north end of andros*jake lord: is a pilot of a seaplane that puts down and gives jonathan/morlee the news.*femay the boosh: french slang for shut the mouth*mrs. mooney: mrs. michael mooney...a dwarf...a midget...can one say that today in the climate of change? w/o being labelled a hater? probably not. bunch of pikers. that she is a dwarf from a circus, now running some cabins, is not clear...the dwarf part of it or i missed it one. she alsso has a bad habit. husband dead. she is an instrument of comedic relief in the story...and an instrument to help move the story along.*gordeon dale...lawyer*detective sergeants lamarr and dickinson*cops/detectives bert kindler and barney scheff*lobwohl...a captain on the force i think*chief cooley...did i spell that right?*special nurse thelma chappie...instrumental in the tape recorder bizness*raas...attorney represents christenthere's a pile more...i think the above includes all of the 'main' characters...though i don't know if the lieutenant had a name...must...not in my notes. update, 24 dec 14, finished...wednesday morninggood story. i like sergeant corpo and his time with missy. cristen is another story...although reading her character provided me with some ideas about endings. her ending here was a tad...something...i'm feeling benevolent, so the willing suspension went along with it, but i wonder if macdonald had a manuscript of growing length and needed to ends things and this is what we have. you decide. still, a good story...and since we're on the subject, the logistics do not jive...ballistics i guess they call it, angles, this that the other...but...the willing suspension went along with it...honestly, it was only after the fact that i began to question the how of it. and...i liked how we returned to the good captain and crew at the end there...those characters from the beginning who failed to render aid. the lists above are not complete...it is the day before christmas and i may not get back to them. glory, hey? all that work for those happy campers in utah? here and elsewhere?
