5 h 34 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 34 minPaperback · 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 enjoy dry humor, schemes that backfire, salty dialogue and a good laugh at human pride. Fans of short stories, ships and harbors, and comic confidence tricks will feel at home.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A pirate-mad boy meets a crew of schemers
- A tobacco pouch starts a courtship scheme
- Two wives on one small schooner cause storms
- Skippers face false alarms and a ship's drill
- Hungry sailors hide a boy in the hold
- Old trust meets new paperwork and a smooth talker
- Crews outwitted by girls and by a dog
- Lies grow when someone else tells them better
- Beneath the jokes lies a steady view of people
Who’s who
- RalphA fourteen-year-old who wants to be a pirate and boards the schooner Susan Jane, though the crew look too cheerful to be desperadoes.
- Kate BoomA quick-witted daughter whose father and his friend Raggett try to push her toward the fisherman Dick Tarrell.
- Dick TarrellA shy young fisherman who finds it hard to talk to Kate while her father schemes on his behalf.
- Mr. RaggettAn old friend of Mr. Boom, aged sixty-seven, who is talked into a pretend courtship he soon regrets.
- Bill SmithA bold seaman on the Sunbeam who plans a fake suicide to force the skipper to serve better food.
- Captain FazackerlyAn old coastal skipper who dislikes the new owner's demand for a disbursement sheet and goes to a friend for help.
- Captain TweedieA deep-sea captain with a cigar and a plan, who dictates an expense sheet full of costs that never happened.
- Jenny EvansThe biggest of three young women taken to sea on the Harebell, who answers the skipper's trick with a mop and paint.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 5 h 34 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 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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Read and hear Ricci di mare in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Ricci di mare
by W. W. Jacobs · 1898
A boy who longs to be a pirate boards a gunpowder schooner and leaves the crew a very alarming letter.
Easy read5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What happens when a boy dreams of piracy, a retired seaman schemes for his clever daughter, or a husband claims his foul-mouthed parrot is magic? Fifteen tales carry you from a gunpowder schooner to a dockside courtship.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A pirate-mad boy meets a crew of schemers
The opening tale, Smoked Skipper, begins with Ralph, a fourteen-year-old whose head is stuffed with penny dreadfuls. His father cannot manage him, so a skipper agrees to take him to sea and tells him the schooner Susan Jane is a pirate ship. The skipper's real plan is to knock the nonsense out of him with hard work.
The crew play their parts badly, because they look far too cheerful for desperadoes. Ralph picks a fight in the forecastle, ends up in tears, and is comforted by the fat, kind cook. Ten tons of gunpowder come aboard at Longreach, and the skipper and mate lock away the boy's story papers. Peeling potatoes and cleaning brass soon replace sword fights.
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What is Sea Urchins by W. W. Jacobs about?
It is a collection of fifteen tales about sailors, skippers, mates, cooks and their wives. Many follow comic schemes, from a father's courtship plans to a husband's claim that his parrot is magic. An Intervention explores violence and compassion, while The Lost Ship brings a tragic change of mood.
Who is who in Sea Urchins?
The book has no single cast. Each tale has its own people, such as Ralph the pirate-mad boy, Kate Boom and her father, the two Georges in A Rash Experiment, Bill Smith in Choice Spirits, and Captain Tweedie.
Is Sea Urchins one story or many?
It is many. The fifteen tales are separate and can be read in any order, though each one is short and complete, so you can enjoy one at a time. The last, The Lost Ship, has a quieter mood.
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.
More by W. W. Jacobs
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