Hanley, James The Ocean

Set on the North Atlantic during the early days of World War 2, Hanley’s complex novel is highly impressionistic and told in a stream-of-consciousness rich with symbols. After the sinking of the fictitious liner AURORA by a German torpedo, five men (one sailor and four passengers) occupy a lifeboat for many days while awaiting rescue, with only each other and their own inner longings to keep them company. As the men gradually grow weaker, their struggle to stay alive grows more and more turbulent. The novel comes to a mysterious conclusion when the men appear to be rescued by a fisherman, who may himself be either a hallucination or Christ himself.