BKMT READING GUIDES
The Starboard Sea: A Novel
by Amber Dermont
Paperback : 336 pages
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1 member has read this book
“A rich, quietly artful novel that is bound for deep water, with questions of beauty, power and spiritual navigation as its main concerns. The title refers not to the right side of a boat but to the right course through life, and the immense difficulty of finding and following ...
Introduction
“A rich, quietly artful novel that is bound for deep water, with questions of beauty, power and spiritual navigation as its main concerns. The title refers not to the right side of a boat but to the right course through life, and the immense difficulty of finding and following it.”--Janet Maslin, The New York Times
A powerful first novel about life and death, friendship and love, as one young man must navigate the depths of his emotions.
JASON PROSPER grew up in the elite world of Manhattan penthouses, Maine summer estates, old-boy prep schools, and exclusive sailing clubs. A smart, athletic teenager, Jason maintains a healthy, humorous disdain for the trappings of affluence, preferring to spend afternoons sailing with Cal, his best friend and boarding-school roommate. When Cal commits suicide during their junior year at Kensington Prep, Jason is devastated by the loss and transfers to Bellingham Academy. There, he meets Aidan, a fellow student with her own troubled past. They embark on a tender, awkward, deeply emotional relationship.
Set against the backdrop of the 1987 stock market collapse, The Starboard Sea Amber Dermont is an examination of the abuses of class privilege, the mutability of sexual desire, the thrill and risk of competitive sailing, and the adult cost of teenage recklessness. It is a powerful and provocative novel about a young man finding his moral center, trying to forgive himself, and accepting the gift of love.
Excerpt
ONEOn the morning I turned eighteen, instead of a birthday present, my father tossed me the keys to his car and informed me I was finally man enough to captain his Cadillac. It was early August. I was doomed to trade the final blaze of summer for the first days of school. Dad kept the engine running while I half-assed my way through packing, racing around our apartment stuffing boxer shorts and sport coats into duffel bags. Instead of helping me, Dad ordered our ancient doorman, Max, to ferry my luggage to the car. In his navy wool uniform, all epaulets, gold tassels, and brass stars, his kind face glistening with sweat, Max looked like the commander of a sinking ship. I told him not to worry, but Max was adamant. “Okay,” I said, “but leave the heavy stuff to me.” More than anything, I hated being waited on, but I didn’t want to cause trouble for Max. We rode the elevator to the lobby and I told him, “For wearing that get-up in this heat, you deserve hazard pay.” ...
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Discussion Questions
1. From The Catcher in the Rye to A Separate Peace,Prep, and Skippy Dies, writers have often been
drawn to the world of prep schools. What do you
think attracts writers to the prep school setting?
What attracts you as a reader? How is Bellingham
Academy different from any other prep school you
may have read about? Why do you think the author
chose to set the novel in a school that caters to
troubled teenagers?
2. Sailing plays a major role in the novel. Whether you
are familiar or unfamiliar with the sailing terms how
does Jason’s sailing partnership with Cal help you to
understand the closeness of their relationship? How
do the language and nomenclature of sailing and
celestial navigation serve as metaphors throughout
the book?
3. T he novel begins with a quotation from Captain
John Paul Jones, “I wish to have no connection with
any ship that does not sail fast for I intend to go in
harm’s way,” and another quotation from a poem by
Dan Chiasson, “You know/what you did. You know
you know/what you did./No one is hearing your
ornate confession.” After reading the novel, how do
these two epigraphs inform your understanding of
the character of Jason Kilian Prosper? Why does
Jason put himself in harm’s way? Is the novel Jason’s
attempt at a confession and if so, how do you feel
about his confession?
4. Aidan, Cal, and Jason all have questions about their
own sense of attraction, their sexuality and desire.
What do you think the author is attempting to say
about the nature of human sexuality, especially
among teenagers?
5. The characters in The Starboard Sea come from
tremendous privilege and often squander or take
for granted their privilege. Do you know people
who are similar to the characters in this novel?
Was it challenging for you to empathize with their
troubles or did you recognize their teenaged vulnerability?
6. The novel is set in 1987 and there are important
references to the Black Monday Stock Market
Crash, Baby Jessica, and the Robert Chambers
Preppie Murder Trial. Why do you think the author
chose to set her novel in the past? Those of you
who are familiar with this time period, how well
did the author capture the late 1980s? Whether
you are familiar or unfamiliar with this time period,
how might this setting mirror the current cultural
and economic landscape?
7. Throughout the novel, the author references several
literary works, O Pioneers!, The Awakening, The
Scarlet Letter, Moby Dick, The Sun Also Rises, and
The Motion of Light In Water. Many of these books
are often read in high school. Why do you think
the author references these works in particular?
How do these books resonate within the lives of the
characters?
8. What did you think of the adults in the novel? Are
any of them suitable role models for their children
or their students?
9. Both Chester Baldwin and Yazid Yazid face different
forms of prejudice. How does the novel handle
issues of race, racism, and bullying?
Notes From the Author to the Bookclub
"Engrossing. . .Captivating and inspired. Jason is a fiercely likeable first-person narrator and romantic hero. The steady, restrained unmasking of Jason's history. . .is one of the novel's many achievements. But perhaps its greatest pleasure is the delight its characters take in the sea. Dermont's prose glides across the ocean. . .The language of sailing is lovely, both simple and elaborate, unexpectedly sexy and inexhaustibly metaphorical. Dermont writes about sailing with such precision and authority it's hard to believe she's not a salty old sea captain. She's as assured a writer as Jason is a sailor, coasting through the story with agility and grace. . .Dermont adeptly charts the fine calibrations of teenage love and shame and belonging." —Eleanor Henderson, The New York Times Sunday Book Review "The Starboard Sea has permanently parted ways with the predictable. This is not a strictly prep school story. Its secrets are not tacked on or contrived. It is a rich, quietly artful novel that is bound for deep water, with questions of beauty, power and spiritual navigation as its main concerns. The title refers not to the right side of a boat but to the right course through life, and the immense difficulty of finding and following it." —Janet Maslin, The New York Times "Dermont draws the tony campus life in The Starboard Sea with an insider’s hand. Dermont is a seasoned sailor, and readers in Annapolis will get a charge out of her exact, salty depictions of nautical rigging, knots, and gear. She also writes vividly about the strategy of sailing. One of the most refreshing aspects of the novel is Dermont’s candid treatment of race. Jason has been compared to Nick Carraway for his sober narration and keen sensitivity to the decadence of his peers, and in more than a few instances The Starboard Sea feels like a distant cousin of The Great Gatsby." —The Washington PostBook Club Recommendations
Recommended to book clubs by 0 of 1 members.
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