Mutiny: A Novel of the Bounty

This is always a great story, but the author does an amazing job of retelling it. Best book I have read in a long time!

Although this isn’t my favorite book of Boyne’s, I always enjoy his style and quality of writing. His words paint a picture so clearly of what is transpiring in each adventure. I would read any thing he writes and enjoy it immensely.

Through the narrative of our young hero, John Jacob Turnstile, we get a new perspective of the mutiny on the ill-fated HMS Bounty in 1789. It is not only a stormy sea voyage across continents, but it is a tale of volatile relationships between Lt. William Bligh, his sailing master, John Fryer and acting Lt. Fletcher christian. But beyond that, it is first and foremost a singular journey for the 14 year old Turnstile, a victim of years long child abuse suddenly finding himself in a new role as Lt. Bligh's cabin boy. Having been found as a street urchin by the exploitive Mr. Lewis, John has spent years in his care satisfying the erotic needs of his affluent customers as well as learning how to pickpocket unsuspecting victims. As Bligh's cabin boy, he will have an unusual father/son relationship which he never had with Mr. Lewis. By the end of the turmoil on the Bounty and the horrific voyage in an open boat, we will see the maturing of the vulnerable 14 year old and his transformation into a 16 year old who is now able to function as an adult.The exact cause of the rebellion, apparently instigated by Christian who had a previous nurturing relationship with Bligh, is difficult to pinpoint with multiple dynamics at play. The uprising involved slightly more than half of the crew who disarmed the remaining seamen by confiscating their weaponry. It remains a mystery that Bounty did not have a contingent of Royal Marines on board as was usual procedure on the King's ships effectively discouraging rebellion. The crew had spent months of planting and tending breadfruit plants while enjoying the pleasures of the native women and decided to remain in Tahiti, setting Bligh and his loyal followers in an open boat with only a compass for guidance. It was Bligh's extraordinary seamanship which helped sail the craft over 3,000 miles to Timor and safety, but not without the loss of several seamen.Even though Fryer's relationship with Bligh had always been explosive, he was one of the loyalists who chose the boat. At Bligh's court-martial, he gave an accurate account of events on the Bounty dispelling Bligh's character assassination by members of Christian's family and other parties.It is interesting to note that Peter Heywood, a junior officer, (known as "the scut" by Turnstile) and a mutineer was captured later in Tahiti and sentenced to hang. He was later pardoned through influence of family connections and subsequently enjoyed a long naval career. Unfortunately, this was not to happen for the mutineers without privilege or the means to afford legal counsel; they were all hanged.

Mutiny on the Bounty is a story told many times. Boyne not only tells it with historical accuracy but through the eyes of a young boy pressed onto the ship. Bligh is not the villian made out by movies, not perfect either. But a dedicated, skilled, and loyal leader. The narrator’s life shows the impact of his affiliation with Bligh in a personal and touching way.

Hilarious and sad and always engaging. I’m becoming a great fan of this talented author. His characters stay with me long after reading.

Note that John Boyne openly calls his book "A NOVEL of the Bounty," and with this tells us that he's not writing a serious history, but having fun with an oft-told tale. Yet in doing so, he often comes closer to the truth about the Bounty Mutiny than many would-be serious "court historians." He also writes a very funny book. Somehow his minor errors about the eighteenth-century British Navy just add to the entertainment. His single narrator, "Turnip" sometimes is indistinguishable from the author. Neither one knows that ship's bread does not come in slices, or that sailors' dances do not include the waltz or the fox trot. While solemn "experts" indulge in the ridiculous idea that Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian were filled with lust for each other, Mr. Boyne gives us Fletcher Christian and Peter Heywood as a dismal rather than "gay" couple.His picture of William Bligh is actually closer to the truth in some respect than the portrayals in many 'serious' books. He shows Bligh's kindness toward his crew, his sense of humor, and his deep love for his wife. Poignantly, Boyne gives Bligh the son he never had. The real Bligh, however, was much more sure of himself than Boyne makes his hero, and much less class-conscious, though the real Bligh would never have let his former servant call him by his first name.The trip in the launch is made touching as well as funny, and the picture of Turnip's nemesis, the pedophile, is all the more horrible in this book filled with humor.

John Boyne's version of the familiar story is told through the eyes of a 14-year old London boy by the name of John Jacob Turnstile, who is given the chance to go to a prison hulk for his thieving ways or to be pressed into the crew of the HMS Bounty, bound for Tahiti.Once on board he becomes the personal servant to the ship's captain, Mr. Bligh. Captain Bligh is usually the villain in this story, but in Boyne's retelling Bligh is a man of high principles and learning. He's a stern taskmaster but not the sadist we've come to know through the movies. Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutiny, is shown to be treacherous, duplicitous, and disloyal to his profession. When Captain Bligh is put to sea with his loyal followers in a small open boat, John Jacob goes with him. The story then becomes a tale of heroic survival and daring seamanship that eventually brings Bligh and his loyalists to a friendly port in the Dutch Indies - a 3000 mile voyage. And that's a true story!The book chronicles a span of a year or more, and in that time we follow our engaging narrator through danger and heartbreak -- and growing from a boy to a man. The scenes set in Tahiti are particularly enjoyable. It's a paradise that the reader can almost smell and feel. Highly recommended.

John Boyne is a great writer!

A great read!

Una aventura marítima hacia Tahiti, un motín, y unos personajes entrañables, contado con un gran ritmo que te atrapa y no puedes soltar hasta el final. Gran libro

John Jacob Turnstile earns his living on the streets of Portsmouth as a petty thief. He has no real life, no real friends, employed in the services of Mr Lewis and used periodically to feed the sexual desires of propertied gentlemen. When the theft of a pocket watch leads to the arrest of young Master Turnstile it seems he is destined to spend a year incarcerated until an unexpected opportunity results in a change of fortune. John Turnstile is informed that if he joins the crew of the Bounty, on her mission to Otaheite, better known as Tahiti, he will on his return be a free man. On the Bounty he is of little importance his main role attending to the whims and desires of none other than Captain William Bligh.What follows is a rollicking adventure as we sail the high seas in the company of a motley crew including the infamous Christian Fletcher. It of course comes as no surprise for me to tell you that a mutiny takes place and young Turnstile together with 18 crew members are set adrift in the Pacific ocean. Every page of John Boyne's extraordinary novel bristles with the taste and feel of what it was like to sail the high seas at the end of the 18th century. The crew faces the constant battering of inclement weather, the fear of pillaging pirates, and the threat of Scurvy, the disease of discovery, which ravaged both body and mind, and was caused by chronic vitamin C deficiency, brought on by lack of fresh fruit and vegetables. In the second part of the book when the mutiny takes places our survivors, under the remarkable leadership of Bligh, cling to life on a minuscule diet in the hope that they can replenish and refuel at the numerous Polynesian islands in the vicinity of Tahiti. This in turn leads to further turmoil when hostile inhabitants seem content on killing our brave sailors and cannibalizing their remains.From the opening paragraph to the very satisfactory, poignant and just conclusion once again John Boyne has proved himself a master storyteller. Every page of his fictional account (but based on the known facts) sparkles with energy and a vibrancy that is so often missing in writing today. It is not only a boys own adventure but a beautiful coming of age story as John Turnstile uses opportunity offered to turn himself from a worthless street urchin into a man of some standing. Readers and admirers of Boyne will be delighted at this change in direction, if the art of a storyteller can be measured in his ability to create a narrative and compose a picture out of any situation then surely John Boyne has no equal. Wonderful colourful writing by one of my favourite authors and oh so highly recommended.

Personalmente llegue a Mutiny on the Bounty por un viaje que hice a Tahití en el año 2015.Este libro tiene momentos en los que no puedes soltarlo. Seguir la trayectoria de John Jacob Turnstile es fascinante.Sorprende como hasta nuestros días, 200 años después de los acontecimientos en el Bounty, sigue siendo una aventura ir a esas islas del Pacífico sur, que aún conservan ese estatus de paraíso misterioso al que poca gente se aventura.

Feeling the pressure at this time of year, I really need a book to escape into. Mutiny on the Bounty has me scudding over the waves in this well-told tale. You experience the subtly shifting sands that result in the mutiny against William Bligh, through the eyes of the captain's cabin boy, who is both wily but strangely innocent. You experience his utter shock at what happens when the crew assault him. You feel what it's like to sleep outside the captain's cabin where any passing office can deliver a kick to get him out of bed or regard him with predatory eyes. And you visit the lush beauty of Tahiti where the boy experiences the wonder and pain of first love. Most interestingly you get insights into the character of William Bligh who Australians caricature as the man who hid under the bed when he was Governor of Australia. The cabin boy comes to admire the captain and see the strength that saves lives in the horrific second journey that some of them are forced to take.