A Logbook of Waves and Wonder
Kamalika_Reads 47
How I came to know about this book:
What the book is about :
Just an Old Sea Dog and Other Poems sails with the steady heartbeat of the ocean and the seasoned eyes of a man who has lived nearly half a century at sea. In 52 poems, Capt. Beetashok Chatterjee charts not just maritime landscapes but the inner tides of a seaman’s life: the longing, the grit, the humour, the myths that salt the waves, and the memories that rise and sink like buoys in shifting waters.
Every poem carries the authentic scent of the deck, the shudder of engines below, and horizons that never end. This is not a romanticized postcard-version of the sea. The poet has served 45-plus years afloat, and his words have the authority of weathered ropes and sun-browned logbooks. He writes what he knows, and the sea speaks through him.
What I have loved about the book :
There is a beautiful old-school charm in the rhythm and rhyme woven through these verses. It’s a quiet rebellion against the free-verse-dominated contemporary scene, and a wholesome return to poetry that rings in the ear like a well-loved shanty. The nostalgia is strong. It reminds one of school days filled with Wordsworth’s calm and Tennyson’s daring, when oceans and nature felt like vast metaphors waiting to be memorized before recess.
As someone who calls herself a water baby, I found this book especially endearing. My own relationship with the sea is mostly limited to its edges. Shores, sand, and watching waves arrive like unkept promises. These poems take me out beyond that limit, toward the wild stories that films try to capture sometimes and I loved every bit of the journey.
What I felt could have been better :
There are a few imperfections that sometimes ripple across the surface. Some typos could easily have been corrected with one more editing pass, and in a handful of poems the use of italics feels unnecessary. But these minor hiccups do not overshadow the depth and delight of the collection.
Why one should read or not read this book:
One of the joys of the book is its wide narrative net. From mermaids and pirates to ports, decks, and deep-sea legends, the poems include everything that feels like sea-story DNA. Readers will almost certainly find lines they’d love to recite aloud, tasting the salt of their syllables.
Capt. Chatterjee has done a remarkable job of offering the world not just poems but experiences: waves of memory, adventure, humor, and humanity. If you ever enjoyed reading seafaring poetry in your school days, be prepared for a tide of nostalgia. And if you’ve only known the sea from solid land, this collection might finally give you your first real voyage.
Dive into the book at https://amzn.in/d/26du6zN
For me, anyday it is the sea over the mountains for sure that calls me up. What do you prefer more?Let me know
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