A terrific book on waves written by a professional reporter, Barbarian Days smashes the stereotype of the inarticulate surfer. The watery descriptions are so vivid you can taste the salt, even when the going gets so tough, its hard to understand why the hell anything but a fish would be out in such major surf. While many tails about summiting mountains, distance swimming in open oceans or surfing waves "three refrigerators high" seem rather tall, Barbarian Days stays grounded in factual detail. The in-depth descriptions approach meditations on ocean currents, winds, reefs, surfing technique and surf board models, and yet fails to explain the question why. Certainly not the pursuit of glory, the author makes clear. Despite popular misconceptions, in the early days, the original surf culture downplayed heroics; boasts were bad form and showing off on a wave was as uncool as scoring points in a contest. In a sort of "right stuff" tone, Barbarian Days captures the authentic experience, without romance or glamour and portrays surfing as a cold, solitary test of courage. Though the author tells all, starting with his teenage addiction to waves, a mystery hangs over the book. Why freeze in stormy waters for eight hours, or summit peaks or struggle with a terminal disease against insurmountable odds? Is it human or superhuman to push the limits of tolerance when agony seems prevalent and ecstasy elusive? I once asked a three-time channel swimmer what kept him going in the cold dark ocean for 13 hours and he said "Beatle songs mostly, they just run though my head. I could almost hear the author humming in Barbarian Days, pretending the adventures are normal, though some accounts include an implicit "don't try this at home" caveat cause maybe it wasn't so smart to take such risks. In some instances, he confesses that he can't believe he came out alive. This is not a dull memoir.
The childhood sections were so touching I wished my teenage son would read the book. On the other hand, I am relieved that my son doesn't read because he is growing up in a very different world. Though the quest to discover unknown waves in remote corners of the globe took knocking about to extremes, in the 1960's -1980's, traveling around was a coming of age ritual. Sadly, in this day and age, the world is not nearly as safe and faced with school and career pressures most kids won't have the luxury of an extended time out. One theme of the book concerns change. The author returned some early haunts later in life to find a remote island transformed into a luxury resort, or a coastal fishing village overrun by tourists. Lives and places change. The author aged, married, became a war correspondent, but chasing big surf remained a constant. The interplay took on a rhythmic symmetry, the more things changed the more the waves stayed the same. Like climbers with their mountains, and swimmers with their channels, for surfers the waves serve as a measure, a proving grounds, a retreat, a source of friends and a challenge that never stops calling.
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
4.5 | 10,173 ratings
Price: 26.21
Last update: 01-11-2025
Top reviews from the United States
adel
The More Things Change, the More the Waves Stay the Same
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2015
Kaui
Read this book; you will enjoy it.
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2015
M Dodds
An Interesting Life
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2023