Author David Grann’s new book covers an 18th-century shipwreck that devolves into a Lord of the Flies meets Rashomon tale of mayhem, death — and surviving sailors who wage “a war on the truth'
It’s really a Rashomon-like story. When you’re dealing with competing narratives, as a journalist and a historian, how do you weigh the differing accounts?
I’ll just give the most vivid example in the competing accounts: You have one senior officer say, “I was forced to proceed to extremities on the island.” And that’s all he says. There’s never been a greater bureaucratic phrase. And then you pick up John Byron’s version and he says, “The captain shot a guy in the head, and I had to cradle my friend bleeding out in front of me.” Right there you learn about each person, from what they leave out and what they choose to emphasize.
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