This is a sea story whose epic quality compares with the novels of Hemingway, Melville and Conrad in the way it treats the subject of a sea journey and near-shipwreck as a psychological voyage of self discovery. El rem de trenta quatre is a high point in Ruyra's narrative works, outstanding for his transformation of poetic rhythms into the music of his narrative prose. Through the masterly dialogues of his crew, Ruyra paints a linguistic map of the Catalan coast from Alacat to Rosas, with villages and physical features lovingly described and named in the rich Catala salat dialect of Blanes.