Main characters
- Thomas Harvey is a young man. Romantic, strives for ideal, decisive and courageous.
- William Guez is the captain of the ship. A vile, selfish type, capable of any meanness.
- Frezi Grant is a girl who disappeared many years ago. A mythical vision that saves dying sailors.
- Biche Seniel is a young 19-year-old girl. The daughter of the creator of the ship “Running on the Waves,” she is a beauty and has a practical mind.
- Phineas Proctor is the skipper. A truthful and honest person who does not tolerate injustice.
- Desi is Proctor's relative. Romantic, emotional, sincere.
- Butler is Gez's assistant. Loves money, secretive.
Running on the waves guides ships on the right course
Thesis retelling
Thomas Harvey is delayed in the port city due to illness. There he sees a girl getting out of the ship and falls in love with her. Finds out that her name is Biche Seniel. One evening, Thomas visits a friend for a card game and hears a voice saying the phrase “Running on the Waves.” What this could mean and why only he heard that voice, Harvey does not know, but he thinks that all these events are not accidental.
In the port, he finds a ship called “Running on the Waves” and decides to set sail on it as a passenger. The commander of the ship, Gez, is initially against his presence, but at the request of the ship’s owner, he agrees. At sea, a conflict occurs on board, as a result of which Thomas is forced to hit Gez. The captain forces him into a boat and sends him out to the open sea to fend for himself. An unknown girl, calling herself Frezi Grant, suddenly appears with the young man. She shows Harvey the way, asks him to hurry up so as not to miss the oncoming ship that can save him. After that, it goes along the waves into the distance, as if on land. Following Frezi's instructions, the young man swims to the ship "Nyrok", whose crew rescues him.
On the “Dive” he meets Desi and learns the mystical story about Frezi Grant, a girl who saves sailors and can run on the waves. The “dive” stops at the port of Gel-Gyu. There Thomas sees a statue of Frezi, one half of the city wants to destroy it, and the other believes in the girl’s protection of those going to sea and does not allow this. Thomas is called to the theater by a stranger, he believes that it is Biche. In fact, he was invited to the meeting by Desi, who is not happy about being confused with someone else. Beach ends up in the same theater, they talk with Thomas, and he finds out that the girl wants to buy out “Running on the Waves,” since it is the brainchild of her father.
It turns out that Geza was killed; Biche, who was seen near the scene of the tragedy, is the first to come under suspicion. During interrogation, assistant captain Butler admits to murder for money reasons and the girl is released. She examines the Wave Runner, but realizes that she no longer needs the ship, deciding to sell it at auction. Harvey tells her the story of his miraculous salvation, but Beach does not believe in mysticism.
Later they meet Desi and declare their love. Thomas understands that this is the person who understands him best. It was Frezi who guided him to Desi, and not just saved him. Soon the young people get married.
A. Green, “Running on the Waves.” Summary
The novel “Running on the Waves” was written by A. Green in the romantic genre. Modern critics would classify it as fantasy, although the author himself did not admit this. This is a work about the unfulfilled. The action takes place, as in most of Greene's works, in a fictional country.
“Running on the Waves”: summary of chapters 1-6
In the evening, everyone gathered at Steers’s to play cards. Among the other guests was Thomas Harvey. This young man stayed in Lissa due to a serious illness. While playing, he clearly heard a woman’s voice say: “Running on the waves.” And yesterday Thomas watched from the window of the tavern a girl who had just gotten off the ship. She behaved as if she could subjugate both people and circumstances. In the morning, Harvey learned that the stranger who amazed him was called Biche Seniel. For some reason, it seemed to him that the girl and yesterday’s voice were somehow connected. When he saw a ship in the port with the inscription “Running on the Waves,” his guess only grew stronger. Captain Ghez, a harsh and not very friendly person, agreed to take Harvey as a passenger only with the permission of the owner of the ship, a certain Brown.
“Running on the Waves”: summary of chapters 7-12
When Thomas returned with a note, the captain became friendlier. He introduced Harvey to Butler and Sinkwright, his assistants. The rest of the crew did not resemble sailors, but different rabble.
“Running on the Waves”: summary of chapters 13-18
Already during the voyage, Thomas learns that this ship was once built by Ned Seniel. On the captain's desk was a portrait of his daughter. When Ned went bankrupt, Gez bought the ship. At Dagon, the captain took three women on board for entertainment. But soon Harvey heard one of them screaming, and Ghez threatening her. While defending the woman, Thomas hit the captain in the jaw so hard that he fell down. The enraged Gez ordered Harvey to be put in a boat and put into the sea. When the ship was about to set sail, a woman, wrapped from head to toe, jumped into it. The girl’s voice was the same as the one who uttered the mysterious phrase at Steers’s party. She said her name was Frezi Grant and told her to sail south. There he will meet a ship heading to Gel-Gyu, which will pick him up. At the girl’s request, Harvey promised not to tell anyone, not even Beach Seniel, about her. Then Frezi Grant stepped onto the water and was carried away by the waves. By lunchtime, Thomas actually met the ship “Nyrok”, which was heading to Gel-Gyu and picked him up. There Harvey once again heard about Frezi Grant. Her father had a frigate. One day, a wave in a completely calm sea dropped him next to an unusually beautiful island, to which it was not possible to land. Frezi, however, insisted on this. Then the young lieutenant noticed that she was so light and thin that she could run straight across the water on her own. The girl actually jumped off the ship and easily walked across the waves. The fog immediately fell, and when it cleared, there was no longer either Frezi or the island. The fact that Thomas listened to the legend especially attentively was noticed only by Proctor’s niece, Daisy.
“Running on the Waves”: summary of chapters 19-24
Soon the ship arrived in Gel-Gyu. There was a carnival in the city. Thomas found himself next to a marble figure, on its pedestal was carved the familiar inscription: “Running on the waves.” It turned out that Frezi Grant also saved Williams Hobbes (the founder of the city) a hundred years ago when he was shipwrecked. The course indicated by the girl led him to this shore, which was then still deserted. Harvey was informed that a woman would be waiting for him at the theater. He hoped to see Seniel, but it turned out to be Daisy. Thomas called her Beeche, the girl was offended and left. And a minute later he actually met Seniel: she was looking for Geza to redeem the ship.
“Running on the Waves”: summary of chapters 25-29
In the morning, Thomas and Butler went to the hotel where the captain was staying. Gez was lying in his room, he was killed. They said that everyone heard the shot immediately after Bice’s visit to the captain. She was detained as a suspect, but then Butler admitted that he was the killer. He and Gez had their own scores to settle: the captain did not give him most of the income received for transporting opium. Butler went into his room, there was no one there. But he had to hide in the closet, as the captain appeared with a lady. Unable to withstand Geza's advances, Biche jumped out of the window of the room onto the landing. The captain attacked Butler, who had crawled out of the closet, and he, in self-defense, killed him.
Summary of “Running on the Waves”: chapters 30-35
Beach decided to sell the ship at auction. Harvey told her about Frezi Grant. She insisted that it was just a legend. Thomas thought with regret that Daisy would have believed him, but she was already engaged. However, he was soon destined to meet her again. Daisy said that she and her fiance broke up. After a while, the heroes got married and lived in a house on the seashore. Doctor Filatr visited them. He said that he saw the broken hull of the ship “Running on the Waves” off the coast of a deserted island. Nothing is known about the fate of its crew. The doctor saw Biche. She was already married and gave Harvey a small letter wishing him a happy life. On behalf of everyone, Daisy said that Harvey was right - Frezi Grant really exists.
Summary by chapter
Chapters 1 to 6 A young man stops in Lissa. Thomas became seriously ill and decided to stay to recover in the hospital. After being discharged, he stays a little longer and rents an apartment.
One day, while having lunch in the city on the embankment, Thomas sees a girl. She walks down the ship's ladder, and time seems to stand still. The girl personifies calm and beauty, while around her there is the daily bustle typical of a port environment. Harvey later learns that the girl's name is Biche Seniel.
The attending physician Filatr introduces the young man to the local residents. He begins to make acquaintances and meets local gambling enthusiasts. During the game, Thomas clearly hears a voice saying “Running on the Waves.” Oddly enough, only a young man heard this phrase, deciding that it was not just like that. He believes that the phrase must be associated with that beautiful girl from the port.
In his search, he returns to the embankment, where he finds a board called “Running on the Waves.” The young man feels that this is fate and he needs to be on this ship. But the transport is cargo, and the captain is unfriendly. William Ghez rudely opposes, he does not need the presence of strangers, as this always leads to trouble. He sharply refuses Thomas, who is forced to turn to the owner of the ship for permission.
Chapters 7 to 12 Thomas comes to the owner of the ship, Brown. He is in the premises of his own office “Armator and Cargo”, where the young man hears conversations between the sailors and Gese. One speaks of him as “a real devil”, another praises him, considering him a true professional in his field and a person of the kindest soul.
Brown gives Thomas a note for Ghez. The latter, having received instructions from his superiors, changes his attitude towards the unexpected passenger, behaving more affably. He says that Harvey will have more traveling companions. The crew on the ship consists of strange people who look like rabble. A couple of decent people are captain's mates Sinkwright and Butler. Gez introduces him to Thomas.
Chapters 13 to 17 The ship sets sail, and along the way Thomas hears the story of the ship. It was built by Ned Seniel, a court by name, a relative of Beach, which the young man accepts with enthusiasm.
It turns out that Ned himself lost his entire fortune and the ship was sold to Gezu. After him, Brown became the full owner of the ship. A painting of Ned's daughter, Beach, still hangs on the cabin wall.
The Wave Runner arrives at the port of Dagon. Three ladies come on board, and Thomas gradually realizes that these are not just passengers, but entertainment for the sailors. The young man decides that he does not want to witness this and retires to his cabin.
Closer to night, Thomas hears a woman crying, then an incomprehensible fuss. After a terrible hysterical scream, the young man leaves his cabin and sees a drunken Gez making dirty advances on one of the women. A fight ensues, the captain falls under Thomas' blow in front of the entire team.
Angry and humiliated, Gez sends Thomas into the open sea in a boat. In the last minutes before the boat ends up in the water, an unknown girl, whom Harvey had not previously seen on the ship, boards it. The girl is wrapped in a shawl, he cannot recognize her face, but he hears a familiar voice. It was this voice that he remembered after the card game. The girl's name is Frezi Grant. She strongly advises the young man to head south. You need to row as quickly as possible in order to meet the ship passing by by dawn. This is his salvation. Frezi predicts that Thomas will meet the beautiful Beach from the port, but asks him not to talk about their acquaintance. After the conversation, the girl steps over the side of the boat and walks away along the surface of the water, as if on land. She walks with light and quick steps, as if running on the sea.
Frezi Grant shows the way to Thomas
Chapters 18 to 20 The young man actively steers the course according to Frezi's words. Soon he meets the promised ship “Nyrok”, whose crew rescues him and takes him on board. The ship is heading to Gel-Gyu. On the Dive, skipper Proctor listens to the path of a young man found on the open sea. Extremely disheartened by Geza's disgusting actions. I am ready to speak in court if Thomas decides to take up the proceedings.
On board the Dive, a young man meets a brunette, the skipper’s niece. Her name is Daisy and they become close. The girl asks to tell Thomas the legend of Frezi Grant.
It turns out that more than 100 years have passed since one of the ships sailed to India. The general and his daughter were present on the ship. Waiting for them was the betrothed Frezi, the soldier whom she was destined to marry. The ship was covered by a huge wave and carried it to an unknown island. Frezi begged the captain to dock and explore the island, but he did not agree. After another request from the girl, he invited her to go down to the waves and run to land on her own, if she so wanted. Then Frezi went down to the water and stood on the surface of the water in front of everyone. Having said goodbye to her father, she started running towards the island and disappeared from sight. The water was covered with a foggy haze. When he sank into the sea, only one memory remained of the girl, and the island disappeared from sight.
Chapters 21 to 24 “Dive” moored at the port of Gel-Gyu. There is a celebration on the shore, fireworks are going off everywhere, and a carnival is going on. The crew goes ashore and joins the celebration. A cheerful crowd carries Thomas to the Frezi monument. The inscription on it read “Running on the waves,” the man freezes in admiration and admires the work of art for a long time, until the port residents call out to him. They say that many years ago, Frezi, running on the waves, helped the founder of the city, William Hobbes, avoid death. She led him to the right path after his ship was wrecked.
The young man is informed that a girl in a yellow dress is waiting for him at the theater. Thomas comes to the performance, sees a girl and thinks that it is Biche. He calls her name, but it turns out to be Daisy, who gets upset and leaves.
Here Harvey meets Beach herself. She plans to buy “Running on the Waves” from Gez. He took possession of the ship illegally and deceived her father. To make the deal work, she needs a proven captain.
Chapters 25 to 29 The next morning, on the way to the hotel where Gez lives, Harvey meets Butler, and they continue their journey together. There is commotion in the hotel: the captain was shot in the head in his room. Among the excited crowd is Biche, to whom the boy is pointing as a witness. He says that he saw how, after a characteristic clap, a beautiful girl appeared not far from Gez’s room.
The interrogation begins, but Butler himself confesses. He and Gez had an agreement on the opium trade. The captain's assistant invested a considerable amount in the business, but his partner did not return the required profit. After Butler entered the room, the captain was not there, he hid in the closet. Then Gez and Biche entered. The captain tried to force her into communication, and she escaped through the window. Butler came out of hiding, a fight broke out and a shot was fired.
Chapters 30 to 35 Beach is cleared of charges and meets with Thomas. The girl wants to immediately visit the “Running on the Waves”, because the ship stores her childhood memories. But the ship does not live up to expectations, and Biche decides to put it under the hammer. Harvey tells her about his mystical salvation, but the girl does not believe him.
After some time, Desi meets the young man and confesses her feelings to him. Thomas realizes that they understand each other well - this is true love. It was Frezi who led him to his true destiny. Young people get married and buy a house on the seashore. Ned Samuel's ship crashes.
Summary
Chapters 1-6
Thomas Harvey was forced to make a stop at Lisse due to a sudden illness that literally knocked him off his feet. After being discharged from the hospital, he rented a small apartment for himself to finally improve his health.
While having lunch at a port tavern, Thomas noticed a girl coming down the steamer's ladder. She was slender, pretty and regally calm amid the chaos of the seaport that surrounded her. The next morning, Thomas learned the name of the beautiful stranger - Biche Seniel.
In the port, the young man found a ship with the inscription “Running on the Waves.” He went on deck and, meeting the harsh captain of the ship, William Geza, asked to be taken on board the ship as a passenger.
Chapters 7-12
Having received a note from Brown with permission to travel on the sailing ship “Running on the Waves,” Thomas gave it to Gez, and he became more friendly with the young man. He said that besides him there would be other ladies on board.
The captain introduced the new passenger to his assistants, Sinkwright and Butler, who seemed to the young man to be quite decent people. The rest of the team looked more like a motley rabble.
Chapters 13-17
It turned out that several years ago Ned Seniel went bankrupt and was forced to sell the ship to Gezu, and then it passed to Brown. In the captain's cabin there was a portrait of Seniel's daughter, Biche.
Unable to endure such humiliation, the captain put Thomas Harvey in the boat and pushed it away from the side. At the last moment, he was joined by a girl who, in some unknown way, ended up on the ship. Her name was Frezi Grant, and her voice seemed very familiar to Thomas. Suddenly he remembered under what circumstances he heard it - it was the same voice that uttered the phrase “running on the waves” when the young man was playing cards.
Frezi Grant advised Thomas to head south and row as quickly as possible. At dawn he must meet a ship that will take him on board. The girl also said that he would definitely meet with Biche Seniel, but asked not to tell her about this meeting.
Then Frezi stepped over the side of the boat, and Thomas managed to notice “how quickly and easily she runs away” across the water surface.
Chapters 18-20
The next morning, Thomas was rescued by the crew of the ship "Nyrok", which was heading to the port of Gel-Gyu. “The skipper, who is also the owner of the ship, Phineas Proctor,” listened carefully to the young man’s story and complained about what a scoundrel Gez turned out to be. He even agreed to testify if Thomas decided to sue the captain.
On the ship, Thomas noticed a black-haired girl who turned out to be Proctor's niece, Daisy. It was she who told Harvey the story of the mysterious Frezi Grant.
Chapters 21-24
Gel-Gyu greeted the frigate "Nyrok" with loud music and enchanting illumination - a carnival was raging in the city. The crew members decided to join in the general fun.
The spontaneously moving crowd carried Thomas to a marble pedestal with a female figure, on which he read the inscription “Running on the Waves.” He “stood at the monument, as if on a date, without looking up and contemplating” for about an hour, until local residents called out to him. From them, the young man learned that about a hundred years ago, Frezi Grant saved the founder of Gel-Gyu, William Hobbes, from certain death. He was shipwrecked and only thanks to a girl running on the waves, who showed him the right path to salvation, he ended up on this shore.
Chapters 25-29
Chapters 30-35
The main idea of the novel
A. Green in the novel “Running on the Waves,” a summary of which you have read chapter by chapter, reveals the idea of how sometimes unexpectedly a person can get closer to his dream. On the way to happiness, Thomas makes mistakes, but strives for the ideal and does not betray himself, despite what is happening around him. Some characters are reasonable and strict and do not allow the existence of Frezi Grant. Others are romantics, driven through life by the power of faith in the best, excited anticipation of happiness. And the latter, thanks to the support of like-minded people, find their dream in reality.
