The Navigator

By Morris West

One man's search for an uncharted, legendary island to which all navigators are said to go on the eve of their deaths. A tale of high adventure, ancient mystery and modern men and women rediscovering love, comradeship and tribal life, in the face of primal terrors.

Son of a Norwegian master-mariner and grandson of Kaloni, the last of the great Polynesian navigators, Gunnar Thorkild is a man consumed by a dream. Convinced that the Polynesians' legendary Island of the Dead is real, he risks his career, his life-and those of his fellow adventurers-to find it.

Shipwrecked on the very island they seek, the castaways are forced to leave behind everything they know and rely upon. To survive in this lush tropical paradise, they must make new laws of power and property, of sex and marriage.

The Navigator is a gripping tale of sea lore, shipwreck and moral courage.

'This is a great read and . . . will make you think.' Amazon review

'Hypnotic from start to finish.' Chicago Sun-Times

• Language: English
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin
• Release date: Aug 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781760638474

Morris West

Morris West nació en Melbourne, Australia, en 1916. Fue miembro de los Hermanos Cristianos, pero tras doce años dejó la orden. En 1955 marchó de Australia, a la que regresó en 1980 tras haber vivido en Austria, Italia, Inglaterra y Estados Unidos. Escribió más de treinta novelas, varias de ellas llevadas al cine. Entre las más conocidas se cuentan Las sandalias del pescador , El abogado del diablo, Los bufones de Dios, La salamandra y Eminencia. Murió en 1999.

[elizabethcromb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Reread 27/12/2021 as part of the Covid reread of all books on my shelves. Good to reread with a fresh attitude. Great weaving of relationships and the problems arising when a small group is shipwrecked. The thread of Polynesian culture and history was very well presented and obviously researched. The final outcome was also a credible way to finish.

[Enrique86368 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The conflicts that arise between the characters reflect any community very well. (Translated from Spanish)

[JosRD · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The description that West gives about how the character navigates life is excellent. (Translated from Spanish)

[Almirante52 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another one of my favorites.
It has a phrase that marked me for everything in life.
"No one will return to show us the way that we must travel to discover it." (Translated from Spanish)

[GythanoBonfak · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Venturing into the sea beyond mere pleasure becomes an adventure to overcome fears, discover ancestral magic, and uphold morality. Thorkild will not only embark on an academic journey alongside Carl Magnusson on the Frigate Bird, but he must also find the courage to become kapu, to lead a people where hope must endure through common efforts. Morris West narrates a great work of fiction, rich in the adventure of life. Our omniscient narrator has done a good job throughout the story. The stripping away of a city civilization that becomes crew members in search of Thorkild's Island, which will change their lives and not just theirs but also the reader's of that moment. A university post, an adventure, a crew, an island, a set of feelings in the struggle to continue seeing the sunlight. Each element becomes important against the different themes presented in each of the eleven chapters plus the postscript with which the work concludes. The struggle to find and prove the existence of the mysterious island where the great chiefs of the Polynesian tribe confront death; to master internal demons and find inner peace; to make decisions without considering one's own good but that of others. The most important thing, and what I liked the most, is that West manages to capture the reader and turns them into one of the crew. Making them feel each of the actions, words, and silences that sail across each page, in every dialogue, and in every wave of the sea. (Translated from Spanish)

[weaverladyllj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is about a professor who handpicks a crew to seek an uncharted island. He hopes to prove that it exists and to possibly settle on this island. This is a very good book.

[mramos_710291 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a good read. The book is based in the Pacific. Our adventure starts in Hawaii, a University Prof. is turned down for tenure, though he has brilliant publications of the Pacific Ocean, it Navigation and trade routes. He list in an appendix a mystical island of the navigators from legend. And writes it as if it is a fact. An island no one has ever seen.