Captains Courageous

(2 of 2)

While Chaplin and Atkinson are anchored at Wotho, an obscure spot in the Marshall Islands, Typhoon Gay roars in. There is sanctuary ashore in the island's church, which is strong enough to withstand the wind. The couple decide to stay onboard to try to ride out the storm at anchor. Not smart. The typhoon makes directly for Wotho Island, rips loose Lord Jim and its middle-aged lovers (who have not even got their life jackets inflated and strapped on properly). The typhoon beats the boat to pieces on the coral. It tears Susan from the feckless Gordon's arms. She goes under. He lives somehow.

Dark Wind, a heartbreaking, infuriating book, draws its narrative power from the reader's ambivalence about whether to weep with Chaplin or break his neck.