Review: The Enduring Shore by Paul Schneider.

This is a book on the history of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket which I have visited many times over the years. The book is narrated by the author taking the reader on a tour of history while he travels around these coastal shores in a kayak remembering generations of people passing down varieties of events, adventures, culture, and expressing more on the economy aspect of this area which was whale hunting. There isn’t any part of the whales that was thrown away, not even the head. I thought it was interesting and fascinating. Schneider has written about the Adirondack wilderness as vast and striking times of human dramas from the romantic to the terrifying ever changing information in detail starting around the late 1600’s to the early 1800’s.

Most of the information and storytelling was written in a chronological dense style to extremes of to much data. This made the book slow pace and at times overbearing. However, I still enjoyed what I read. After I got past the early 1700’s I started acknowledging some of the places that has not changed dramatically over the years. Schneider used some humor in some of his storytelling about the encounters with the Indians, misguided settlers, whaling adventures, sinking ships, even as far back as the Pilgrim’s and the Mayflower which these types of stories kept my interest immensely. He described in detail how the coastal shores had deteriorated or the land altered its shape within the years and how people changed over time, some for the better and some just getting by, day by day. Fishing has never been at the top for an annuity high paying job….

This area of New England is tourist attraction and many people came across the ocean in the 1600’s and this is where they settled and called home. In the book Schneider stimulates stories of the region with tidal rhythm describing the cycles of marshlands, estuaries, bays, and ocean beaches. While kayaking he takes the reader along stretches of the Great Beach, around the ever-changing Pleasant Bay, and through passages of the Cape, the Elizabeth Islands, and Martha’s Vineyard detailing both history and landscape. I did enjoy the storytelling, landmark information , and I remembered the feeling of the serene atmosphere of the people, the ocean scent, the slapping of the waves, and watching ships drift into the harbors and flowing with the breeze as ships sailed out to the vast ocean ahead…
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This is a fun book to read on a beach - preferably one on Cape Cod. A kind of throw away popular history "novel" as opposed to a well developed history. The section on whaling were particularly enjoyable. A little to much personal type stuff for a book with history in the title. ( )