Billy Budd, Sailor review by Josh

Meh, not for me.

Billy Budd is a handsome sailor who is falsely accused, for reasons that are never entirely clear, of fomenting mutiny. When these charges are brought he stutters but can't get out a reply and finally punches his accuser, killing him. There's a trial and he is executed.

Budd's story is the type of that philosophers and legal scholars like to ponder over because the facts are not in dispute, only their interpretation and legal ramifications. At the same time the case has a veneer of complexity - is it relevant that Budd's accuser was in fact committing a capital crime by falsely accusing him, for which he might well have been legally executed?

That's the sort of question that a 22 year old me might have well have gotten baked and argued about for hours. At 41 though, I'm more mature. Now I prefer to just get baked and pass over in silence where I have nothing to say.