Book Details
| Title: | Pirate Latitudes | |
| Author: | Michael Crichton | |
| Times Read: | 1 | |
| Last Read: | 10.10.10 |
Other Books Read By This Author (5)
- Dragon Teeth
- Five Patients
- Jurassic Park
- Next
- State of Fear
| Date Read | Note |
| 10.10.10 | I was initially pretty wary of this book since "finished manuscripts" discovered after the author's death rarely represent something he was probably comfortable releasing to the public (hence not publishing it whenever he wrote it, you know?) and the last two or three Crichton novels have been lackluster for me... BUT This book is a lot of fun. It's unapologetically straight-forward in it's popcorn intentions. There's enough of that Crichton research of what daily life was probably like back in circa-1665 New World but mostly it's a rolicking pirate adventured filled with shallow yet interesting characters, lots of tension and action, and real page-turning prose. About half-way through, the book becomes almost too much of what it is. it seems like every pirate cliche and trope is brought out in quick succession and dealt with quickly so by the end I had a feeling like maybe i had just read a sampler of a dozen longer pirate books rather than just one, but it ties together nicely and the first half is great. Crichton at his best is just like reading a movie. It's so cinematic and exhilarating... he really was a master of pacing and momentum and i could easily see this as a somewhat more intelligent take on Pirates of the Carribean (perhaps that franchise's success caused him to shelf this? who knows) and to be honest I'd rather see this movie than a fourth Johnny Depp film but whatever. Great fun to read. I couldn't put it down. And such a pleasant surprise from Crichton, who had some of the best books I read in high school. This is a great final novel for me... much better than Prey or Next. |
 |