5 h 34 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
On these small ships, a sailor’s cleverest scheme can cause more trouble than the sea.
Sea Urchins brings together W. W. Jacobs’s comic short stories of sailors, skippers and dockside life. Deckhands, mates and cooks earn little and spend fast. A proud skipper wants obedience. A mate has plans of his own. Small schemes, quarrels and bad luck give these ordinary men plenty to contend with.
The trouble follows them ashore, into taverns, cheap lodgings and riverside streets. A shrewd landlady watches every penny, while an old hand feels sure he can outwit anyone. Jacobs keeps the humour dry and quiet. These are tales of cramped cabins and bruised dignity, not storms to conquer or far horizons to reach.
What you’ll discover
- Ordinary sailors, ambitious schemes Meet working men whose confidence in their own cleverness leads them straight into trouble.
- Skippers and crews clash Step aboard small trading vessels where orders and pride keep the arguments alive.
- Trouble follows sailors ashore Visit quays, taverns and lodging houses where life offers no escape from petty troubles.
- The quiet comic touch Enjoy Jacobs’s understatement, which makes room for humour without shouting the joke.
- Small tales, everyday troubles Settle into short stories built around a scheme, a quarrel or a little bad luck.
Who will love it
For readers who love dry, gentle humor, short tales and the feel of Victorian working life. It also suits anyone who enjoys a light read in small pieces, with sailors, skippers and dockside schemers.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Ordinary sailors with ambitious schemes
- Skippers and crews wage petty wars
- Life ashore is as risky as life afloat
- How Jacobs tells a comic tale
Who’s who
- The skipperA proud master of a small trading vessel who wants his orders followed and his dignity left alone.
- The mateA second-in-command who knows the ship's trouble spots and often has plans of his own.
- The old handA seasoned sailor who is sure he can outwit anyone and gets into trouble because of it.
- The landladyA shrewd keeper of dockside lodgings who watches every penny a sailor spends.
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- Audiobook
- 5 h 34 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 4 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Seeigel
by W. W. Jacobs· 1898
In cramped cabins and busy ports, sailors and skippers stake their dignity on schemes undone by pride and bad luck.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
Ordinary sailors with ambitious schemes
The people in Jacobs's sea tales are not heroes. They are deckhands, mates, cooks and skippers of small trading vessels, men who earn little and spend it fast. Most of them have a plan. It may be a way to get a drink without paying, a way to dodge work, or a way to get one over on a rival.
The fun comes from the gap between the plan and the result. A sailor explains his scheme with great confidence, and the reader can already see where it will fail. Jacobs lets these men talk themselves into trouble.
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What is Sea Urchins by W. W. Jacobs about?
It is a collection of comic short stories about sailors, skippers and dockside people. Each tale follows a small scheme or quarrel and shows how pride, cunning and bad luck make working men look ridiculous.
When was Sea Urchins written?
It was published in 1898, during the period when Jacobs was winning readers with humorous magazine stories about life on small ships and around the London docks.
Is Sea Urchins hard to read?
No. The tales are short and the language is plain. You can read one story at a time and follow it easily.
The author
W. W. Jacobs
1863–1943 · English humorist and fiction writer
William Wymark Jacobs (1863–1943) was an English writer of short stories and novels. He was born in London and lived in England. His books include the story collection Sea Urchins (1898) and the novels A Master of Craft (1900) and Salthaven (1909). He died in London.
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