Review: THE WAGER

I come away from this extraordinarily detailed, intensely researched, nonfiction narrative with a couple of overarching thoughts: one positive, one negative. Negatively: 18th century Lord of the Flies, gone to South America (specifically, an island off the coast of Chile). In conjunction with this thought is the realization that any disaster will invariably divide survivors according to their characters. [An Act of God variant of the adage "Water will find its own level." (The term "Act of God" I am applying here as Insurance corporation actuaries apply it.)]

The positive conclusion is that somehow, some individuals will rise above even incredible adversity and not only survive but exhibit compassion [while others devolve].

THE WAGER commences and concludes, tis true, in Great Britain, but the heart of the tale, like the historic events it relates, is solidly grounded in South America, from the journey of seven British warships South along the Atlantic Coast of South America, in pursuit (it was hoped) of a Spanish galleon possessed of immense treasure; the long terrifying weeks attempting to pass Cape Horn and the Tierra del Fuego Islands at the tip of South America; the disappearance of six of the seven ships; finally reaching the Pacific Ocean and attempting to sail North along the coast of Chile, only for the ship H.M.S. Wager to founder upon subsurface rocks. The subsequent collapse of Ship Culture, potential cannibalism, and Mutiny occurred on an island in the Pacific, eventually termed "Wager Island." Later one party of survivors land on the Brazilian coast, and another group in Peru. From my viewpoint, the conclusion much later in Great Britain is almost like a mop-up, as the important events all occurred around and in the South American Continent, coastlines, and oceanic islands.