My goal with this series is simply to collect and post sentences from the readings that struck me.

Sure, Chuck Dugan is AWOL: A Novel – With Maps isn’t Shakespeare. But who doesn’t enjoy a thrilling maritime adventure tale? It’s an underrated book, complete with illustrations. Certainly worth your time.

It was hurricane hair.

pg 63

The image this renders in your mind. That swirl on the crown on a young man’s head. Hurricane hair.

His kicks popped off the bone,

pg 64

This adds a bit of sound to the text. You can hear the “pop” of the kick coming off the bone. It’s both audible and visible.

He was not a defeatist. But the air was poison.

pg 127

Chuck keeps a positive attitude in a hostile situation. Respect.

He was a resilient person, not given over to negativity. But at a certain point, sooner or later, he was going to either:

a) freeze to death, or

b) drown.

Whichever came first.

pg.164

So much of this book is about Midshipman’s Chuck Dugan’s resilience. Floating at sea, stuck on Emergency Rescue Buoy No. 49, falling into a coma, no matter the obstacle Chuck Dugan carries on.

He passed under a wave and came up reciting the Midshipman’s Table of Priorities.

“Midshipmen –” he began, his voice cracked and faint. He spat out some water. ” – – will use the Table of Priorities when determining the precedence of one activity over another. ONE. Orders to report to the Superintendent, Commandant, Deputy Commandant.”

He went under. Slowly, he returned.

“TWO. Emergency calls for immediate medical and dental care. THREE . . .”

He disappeared.

“ELEVEN. Appointment with academic advisor

during pre-registration each semester . . . TWENTY – FOUR.

Liberty. “

pg 173

More notes on the benefits of committing ideas and rules to memory. Reciting poetry, your alphabet, or the Midshipman’s Table of Priorites can help one detach in a stressful situation. Also, the Table of Priorites is another detail that Eric Chase Anderson uses to construct the world of this maritime tale.

Chuck tried to consider the situation carefully,

but his thoughts were muddled. He didn’t want to

co-operate if he was a POW. There were rules to that:

strict Geneva Convention. Don’t co-operate, don’t give out more than your Name, Rank, and Serial Number.

Since this was his first experience as a captive – –

which he assumed he was, though he couldn’t remember

whose or which war – – he wanted to get it right.

pg 179

The benefits of committing rules and ideas to memory. They’ll help you handle yourself in threatening scenarios.

Chuck sat quietly for a moment. He took a sip of the coffee — Navy-style black and boiling hot. For an instant, he felt faint, his head reeling from the on-rush of heat.

pg 180

What’s the recipe for Navy coffee? Brew it black and boiling hot. Keep it that way post pour. Serve it in a hand-less mug. Boom Navy Coffee. Sip and smile.

More wonderful details Eric Chase Anderson uses to ground the story.

He longed – – briefly but intensely — for a tuna-fish sandwich and a cold glass of milk. Then decided coffee was very much all right. Mainly he felt curious.

pg. 183

We’ve all had those moments after a hard run, a long hike, or maybe after changing a tire, where being physically spent brings on intense hunger.

Perhaps this paid for the sin he had just committed. The sin of condemning those three boys to their deaths.

pg 195

This story, while filled with quips and diagrams and illustrations, is heavy. It has weight. Death lurks throughout the pages.

Anderson, Eric Chase. Chuck Dugan is AWOL: A Novel – With Maps. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2004.