I'm often surprised to learn that I've read that book too, or that I've heard about the sailor but didn't know they had a book. It would be interesting if one could do a study of all the early boat related reading that the addicted/afflicted boaters had done to extrapolate out which books had all contributed to the continuation of the sport. Which books had the most effect? Which books were most common? Who's story was the most inspiring? The list would need to distinguish which books were read before one got into boats, as opposed to the reading one has done after acquiring the affliction.
I'm guessing that three of my top pre-boating influences would have been:
- Wind in the Willows - Grahame - Read as children's literature way before I had any idea it was a 'boat book'.
- Sailing Alone Around the World - Slocum - I only remember this one as the guy that poured carpet tacks on deck at night to keep the locals off his boat.
- Dove - Graham (Actually found the National Geographic articles first)
If we had this information, we could buy these books for our nieces and nephews, donate them to schools and the such. We'd have more boaters in the future then. <grin>