Acting on Jared's recommendation, (which I do often in the realm of movies and books) I read Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini. Now, this, to me, sounded like the kind of book a man likes to read to relive his little boyness (yes, Jared apparently was a little boy once). A swashbuckling tale of escaped slaves sailing the Caribbean at a time when pirating was at its peak. To quote Bernard Cornwell, who wrote the forward to the tale: To call a tale a swashbuckler is not to pay a compliment. The word was first recorded in the late sixteenth century and meant someone who made a great noise by beating a sword or spear against a shield.Though nowadays a swashbuckler is a term for an adventure with a great deal of action, this did not really seem like my kind of book. I really can't enjoy a book when I can't picture what is going on, and I know so little about sailing that terms like aft and port and main mast and bow make me skip paragraphs, or possibly even chapters. Likewise, I am not a huge fan of reading about planning of battles, battle strategies, or really the battles themselves.
Because it was my sister-in-law who recommended the book to Jared and, sadly, that one quality this book does have which peaked my interest enough, it is a love story- and I am a sucker for love stories.
And, low and behold, I loved it. Fantastic dialog. Witty and so well written. Plus, the whole battle planning/execution parts weren't lengthy or too detailed, and the sailing jargon was kept to a minimum.
The movie was cheesy as all get out, entirely fitting for this book. I really enjoyed the performances, and it is always fun to see how they adapt a book to the big screen. The movie was produced in 1935- a classic age for this classic tale of good versus evil, of beautiful damsels and gallant gentleman. Though this trailer boasts a new color-dipped version, I would highly recommend the original black and white, as I think when you read the book, you read it in black and white- it is just that classic.
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2 comments:
That is so funny you would write about this today. Just yesterday I was thinking "Where is my book?" Daniel read The Sea Hawk and I would like him to read Captain Blood. Perhaps it could be sent in the mail?
Annie
And who doesn't need a good swashbuckler for the summer. That is...if we ever get out of spring and into summer before school starts again.
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