The Riddle of the Sands, by Erskine Childers

'Where am I to steer for?' I asked, wildly. 
'Oh, don't trouble, I'll take her now,' he replied. I felt it was time to make my position clear. 
'I'm an utter duffer at sailing,' I began. 'You'll have a lot to teach me, or one of these days I shall be wrecking you. You see, there's always been a crew'—
'Crew!'—with sovereign contempt—'why, the whole fun of the thing is to do everything oneself.' 
'Well, I've felt in the way the whole morning.' 
'I'm awfully sorry!' His dismay and repentance were comical. 
'Why, it's just the other way; you may be all the use in the world.' He became absent.

I read a positive comment on this adventure book (it read something like 'the first and inspiration of all spies stories'), and started to read it in a moment in which my mood matched the protagonist's. It did contain some additional elements which attracted me, like the British stereotypes, the sea adventure and the mystery factor. But it surprised me in its capability to slowly and surely transport the reader to the feeling and smell and toil of cruising in a small sailboat in the North Sea.

Carruthers is the reader's mirror here, or at least he was my own, but all of the main players in the story are carefully crafted –the work of an artisan. Classical music is an excellent companion to this book, Die Moldau by Smetana being a perfect chioce. Besides, you can get it at the Gutemberg Project and it's an exciting adventure book.

By Scanned by uploader from The Riddle of Erskine Childers ISBN 0-09-128490-2. Original from Hulton Press Library cuttings agency., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43948202