Single-Handed by C.S. Forester

C.S. Forester is famous for his Hornblower series (eleven books in the series starting with Mr. Midshipman Hornblower) and The African Queen. He wrote much else though, fiction and non-fiction.

Sometime ago, I came across Single-Handed, originally published in 1929. The copy I found was a used paperback printed in 1953 and has fragile yellow pages and a brittle spine. Because of its condition, I set it aside for reading at home, it not being robust enough to be carried around in a briefcase.

Finally got to it yesterday. It is, like much of Forester's writing, a good solid read, a naval adventure story. It would be appropriate for an eighth grader on up.

It is an interestingly constructed story in that it is written in the third person and does not so much have a human but rather the British Navy and Duty as the protagonist. It is quite an interesting and unusual structure, and despite misgivings as I was reading it, I think it actually works pretty well.