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| Plot Summary of King Crab Fishing on Alaska's High Seas |
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"This book is a semi-autobiographical tale of the dangers and rewards of fishing in both the Gulf of Alaska and the Bearing Sea. Spike Walker recounts his 8 years of fishing for crab, as well a touches on some of the cod and other fish caught in these cold waters. Walker talks about both the highs (the ability to earn $100,000 in four months, in the early 80's) and the lows (stories of death, missing fishermen, and rampant drug usage).
The book starts when Walker is between jobs and is broke. He calls a former classmate from College who encourages him to travel up to Alaska and “pound the docks” to look for work as a “greenhorn”. The work is hard and he must be able to go without sleep for a numbers of hours, days. Spike talks about the reality of getting hired. Many Captains do not like to take out “Greenhorns” as they are not sure what will happen if the person can't take the mental stress that goes with days at sea, while sleep deprived. He mentions one story where someone got into a fight in a galley because they didn't' like the way a guy chewed. As the Captain he is responsible for the safety of all on your boat. He is also responsible for getting the best price for your catch.
Walker goes into details on some of the more prominent accidents during the era of his fishing. He spent time interviewing survivors and coast guard personnel to try and determine what was happening and how things went wrong. These stories are portrayed to the reader as some of the ways that make this job one of the most dangerous in the world. He mentions frigid seas, rogue waves, mechanical malfunctions that are all working against your success as well as mother nature which may cause more than a foot of ice to form on a boat, or hit the boat with a more than 60' wave.
Walker breaks the stories down by the time he spends on different boats, fishing for different types of King Crab (red, blue as well as Tanner Crab).
"
Tanya, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of King Crab Fishing on Alaska's High Seas |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
job/profession:
- farmer/fisherman
Job/profession/poverty story
Yes
Period of greatest activity?
- 1950+
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity
- White
Nationality
- American (!)
How sensitive is this person?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 6 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- Alaska
Ice Caps/Sea?
Yes
Where?
- Ocean
Water?
Yes
Century:
- 1980's-Present
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to deaths
Book makes you feel?
- thoughtful
Is book humorous?
Yes
Commentary on society?
Yes
Commentary on
- capitalism
Writer's slant towards subject:
- favorable
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of set of events during life
Is this a biography of several people?
Yes
If this is a kid's book:
- Age 16-Adult
Autobiography?
Yes
Pictures/Illustrations?
- More 6-10 B&W
How much dialogue in bio?
- significantly more descript than dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life?
- 76%-100% of book
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Click here for more information about this book
Spike Walker Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Tanya
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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