The Very First Dis Book Club Discussion Thread - The Pirate Latitudes

[PinkBudgie]

I finished the book today and I enjoyed reading it! I can not wait for our next book. I have enjoyed reading the comments applicable to each section. My 2 cents: I loved Hunter and Lazue, I hated Hacklett and I want to visit the Caribbean even more now. Overall, I give this book a .

Happy Reading!

I hated him too, which is why I liked him! I wish we could have seen more him.

 

[sc9500]

Finished the book last night -- again Im struck by the story echoing a journey like "the odyssey". Overall would give it a 3 out 5 .. certainly not Crichton's best, and I still have my doubts he is the sole author.
Spoiler - I thought that he would leave it open to a sequel, the hero finding adventure thru the Caribbean seeking the rest of the treasure. Hunter's death was antclimatic.

 

[PinkBudgie]

Reply to the spoiler: I have to say that I do like when a book or movie tells you what happened to everyone involved because I don't like it just ending. But I was disappointed too in how he ended.

 

[Applemomma]

Parts of the last two sections of the book had me pulling my hair out so I'm going to be really interested to hear everyone's comments when we all finish. The epilogue actually had me running for the computer though...some of it sounded so plausible.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Hi All,

I'm sorry for being scare the past few days, but am having some personal/family problems right now. Keep the discussion going about your thoughts on the book. Feel free to include your ideas on the ending as well just use the spoiler tag so people are aware in case they are still reading.

 

[wishspirit]

I just wanted to pop in and apologise!

I really wanted to take part in this book, I even got it out of the library, but with all the Uni work on at the moment, and the 8000 word original research monstrosity at my door, I just don't have the time!

Do we have a set book for the next one so I can get an early start?

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Hi Kate - No need to apologize! I'm asking anyone who has suggestions for the next round's book to PM me. Once we finish this one, we're going to discuss the options for the next book and go from there.

 

[crazy4stitch]

I often wonder when I read books from those time periods, were people really that careless about human life or if that is just the author taking liberty to tell a story. Life was so short then, it would seem like that should make life even more valued.

 

[mainegal]

I often wonder when I read books from those time periods, were people really that careless about human life or if that is just the author taking liberty to tell a story. Life was so short then, it would seem like that should make life even more valued.

Oh, I love your comment!

I don't think the author was making up about how people valued life. I have already stated how comfortable I was reading the book.

Some thoughts...

Maybe, just perhaps, because life could be so short, people took greater risks?

Women had many children with the knowledge that some would not survive through childhood. Do you think, maybe, some women didn't get very attatched to children knowing that they could be snatched by disease. Could this lead to latter disregard of human life?

Just wondering, I really don't know.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I often wonder when I read books from those time periods, were people really that careless about human life or if that is just the author taking liberty to tell a story. Life was so short then, it would seem like that should make life even more valued.

I have found myself wondering this time and time again during our reading of this book. It seems as if human life (and animal, for that matter) is so devalued. Part of me wonders if it is just the author heightening the intensity of the pirate way of life or if it is truthful.

You made a great point at the end of your comment here. Because medicine and technology was so archaic back then, one would think that people would have placed even more value on it. That is certainly not the case from what we have seen in the novel. I wonder why that is so?

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Arrrrrrrrrr, mateys!!

Although we are still discussing Pirate Latitudes, I'm beginning to make plans for our second book choice. Please take a minute to fill out the survey below. If you have any questions, let me know!

Thanks!

Nikki

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22AF6Z83MRT

 

[Hankshouse]

I've just finished and without releasing any "spoilers", I'll try to answer Nikkibell's conversation starters. First though, I said it before...I enjoyed the read - and this really isn't something I would have typically picked up. I did find the story ran a bit long in some parts and thin in others. Some of the battle scenes lost me a bit, yet I found I really would have loved more info on who Hunter was and how he got to his place in that world. I was also intrigued by Ann Sharpe and feel like a Part II all about her post Port Royal life would make an excellent novel on its own. Horror and gore, was never my fave, though I can see how it helped to keep the pirate mood throughout the story. So, I'd say overall - this hits me like a pretty good "beach" book and for that I give it a

 

[katscradle]

Can you please give as much notice as possible on the next book that is chosen, so I can participate.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I'll do the best I can. Just keep checking here for more info.

 

[hmonkeyruns]

RE: Value of life human / animal


My take on the behavior is not so much that life was devalued but that death was just more real to these people. Most of us are lucky enough to live well into adulthood before we face death for the first time. In many ways it's just an abstract concept to us, not something that we have to deal with or accept even though we know that it exists. I think the remote nature of it lends drama to the way we all deal with death. It's so shocking when it actually happens that we're traumatized by it. In the era of the pirates death happened all the time, to people of all ages, so it was simply part of their everyday reality. It didn't necessarily mean less to them, it was just easier to for them to accept.

As for the animals, I think the pirates are more like people who grow up on farms. People who raise animals for food understand the system. Animals may be cute and cuddly and deserve good treatment while they are alive but they are also needed for food. It's just a fact of life for a lot of people.

In the modern era where we have such wide availability of food, it's easier to have more sympathy for animals. To think of them as living beings with rights rather than food sources.

All that said, pirates, like criminals of any era (mobsters, drug dealers, bank robbers, etc) are probably more violent than the average person. Killing people is just part of how they do business. I don't think anything has changed over the years for the people who choose to make their living on the fringe of society.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Finito!

Congratulations! We've hit the end of Pirate Latitudes!!! For all of you out there who have been hesitant to discuss the end of the novel, feel free to go full steam ahead. I'll post a few discussion starters here and there to keep the conversation going.

One of the things that I wanted to bring up was the recurring theme of superstition throughout the text. Most recently, there's a scene in Part IV where several members of Hunter's crew perform rituals out of fear due to the pending hurricane.

"Belowdecks, the Moor took his dagger and cut his own finger, then drew a triangle on the desk with his blood...Lazue threw a casket of salt pork over the side, and held three fingers in the air..." (236).

While this was taking place, Hunter employed more traditional methods of conjuring up good luck.

"Hunter himself professed to despise such superstition, yet he went to his cabin, locked the door, got down on his knees, and prayed." (236)

This showed a strong contrast between the two spiritual worlds --- one traditional, one not. I don't find it surprising that Hunter, the all-spirited captain, was selected to use prayer while his crew instead used more pagan methods. I think the author was trying to comment on their roles in the novel in this way.

What are your thoughts on rituals and superstitions? Do you believe that it is possible to change the future through the invocation of positive energy, spirit, prayer, etc?

One thing that I found particularly surprising near this scene was Lady Sarah's magic practice. I don't recall a scene earlier in the text where we received true confirmation of her knowing magic, regardless of how often she uses it, until then (238). Was this done on purpose to add extra shock value to the end of the novel?

 

[Applemomma]

I think we still use a lot of "superstition" in our lives in present day as a way of trying to control what we have no control over....knock wood, salt over the shoulder,etc. I don't think we can so much change the future so much as change our outlook on it. For example, prayer might not change what happens but you can find a certain peace with what does happen.

I'm so glad that we've reached the end only because now I can say what drove me nuts and not have to worry about spoilers (I'd be the one to forget to put it in white )

Starting from about the hurricane scene things started to unravel for me only because there seemed to be storylines that were started and not finished, or seemed to have no place there. Lady Sarah's black magic is one of them!

Another was the Kraken .... I could buy a creature trying to pull the ship over but busting through windows and grabbling at legs? And the whole scene on the island with the cannibals struck me as so out of place that I'm surprised the editor left it in. Apart from a little trauma for Lady Sarah, which didn't really follow through very well, it was pointless....in fact when I got to that point I actually said out loud "what was the point in THAT!" causing me to have to explain to others that I was reading and not seeing things.

I did love the ending though! The govenor and the Hacklett's storylines were some of my favorites and the epilogue sent me running for the computer looking stuff up.

 

[PinkBudgie]

That black magic thing struck me as odd too. Sort of out of the blue. The kracken scene was very descriptive but reminded me of the POTC. Like every myth and stereotype about pirates was here. The best part was finding out what Hacklett was u[ to while we were gone. I liked the "trial" and finding out who suddenly turned on him and what he did about.

 

[mainegal]

If I remember correctly - Hunter was from the colonies. Educated, Harvard? He would be more likely to have a strong religious background.

Seafaring folk were very superstitious.

I didn't think that Lady Sarah really knew magic. I think she saw women do it and maybe she saw it as a parlor game.

 

[dreamlinda]

Hello Book Group - I confess, I was not reading along with the group, but happened to be reading this book over the last week. I found it just "ok". It seemed to me to be a young adult novel in the sense that topics came and went in a few pages without sustaining danger or tension.

I have no idea what the author's writing style may have been, but this seemed like an outline that was gaining depth layer by layer, and ultimitely was unfinished. Like many of you, I would have enjoyed more depth to some of the characters and find myself wanting to know more.

Looking forward to the next selection!