Unbelievable Tabarly! Fifty-five years after his first victory in the Transat (1964), there are still people writing and describing his life. This is the case of Pierre Bazantay, a university professor of literature, who wants to give us some keys to try to understand the character.
Let it be said straight out, this author never met the sailor. Everything he tells, he draws from the (exuberant) literature made around and by this navigator. For the rest, it makes assumptions, opens boxes, asks questions, but does not provide answers.
If you've already read everything about the sailor, if your Tabarly culture is already complete, you can only smile as you read the book, seeing where the author leads you on paths seen and seen again. The complete chapter (included in almost half of the book) on the polemic between Alain Colas, pupil of Éric Tabarly, and the teacher is in no way substantiated. Pierre Bazantay subodorizes, imagines, worries... from what he has already read.
For others, those who hope to discover the sailor, this book only provides a few answers without brushing up on all his work and research. For Tabarly was a sailor who loves the sea, but who is passionate about everything that goes on the water. This incredible nautical culture, his taste for technology and boats are rather poorly illustrated in this little book.
More than a true portrait of a sailor in his time, the book simply titled "Tabarly" by Pierre Bazantay is written like a thesis (very well written by the way), a school subject of literature. The author often takes pleasure in quoting famous authors, using these literary quotations to support his or her statements. It offers the advantage of plunging us back into the history of this sailor with his victories and defeats.
Tabarly - Pierre Bazantay
- Editions François Bourin Icônes
- 12 x 19.2 cm
- 144 pages
- 16.00 euros
