About this title: A story which opens in the 1920s, telling of the idyllic Jamaican childhood enjoyed by four children, but their parents decide to send them to England for their education. En route, however, their ship is intercepted by pirates, and the children learn to survive at all costs. From the author of THE WOODEN SHEPHERDESS.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet Classics
Date Published: 1968
ISBN-13:9780451504227ISBN:0451504224
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Satisfaction Guaranteed, fast shipping, please feel free to ask any questions! Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Time Life Books, New York
Date Published: 1963
Description: Fair. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Wraps have light edgewear, spinecover reinforced with clear tape. The pages are bright, clean and unmarked. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Signet
Date Published: 1961
Description: Good. Good Mass Market Paperback, very minor cover wear, very minor spine creasing, pages crisp & clean with no writing or markings two of the forward pages are loose. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: NYRB Classics
Date Published: 1999-09-30
ISBN-13:9780940322158ISBN:0940322153
Description: Very Good. Previous owner's name on end paper, pages and covers are otherwise clean, crisp and unmarked.; 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! Free Delivery Confirmation! Ships same or next business day! read more
Description: Like New. 1999-Paperback-May contain minor shelf-wear. Otherwise, volume un-read and in "As-New" condition. -Used-Like New-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Signet Classic
Date Published: 1961
Description: Good. Standard used condition. May have light reading or storage wear. All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Edition: Time Reading Program Special Edition
Binding: Pictorial Softcover
Publisher: Time Incorporated, New York
Date Published: 1963
Description: As New. With a new introduction by the author.241 pages. a wonderful book that looks at children the way they really are not as parents see them and not as children see themselves.; 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. read more
Edition: Time Reading Program special ed.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Time, Inc., New York
Date Published: 1963
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Good reading condition, edge wear, pages clean to read, has decent appearance, "With a new introduction by the author. " Original ed. published as: The innocent voyage. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Time Inc
Date Published: 1963
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Great reading condition, spine crease, edge wear, dog ear, pages clean to read, discoloring. 241 p. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Time Inc.
Date Published: 1963
Description: Fine. This book is part of the Time Reading Program Special Edition series. This book is in fine to as new condition. The binding is tight and pages are clean. It appears to have not been read. The cover has some very minor bumps and scuffs. read more
Description: good+, pocket-sized paperback, wear near spine, nicked cover. 256 pgs, Smudged ink stamp front cover. Crease on front and across back cover. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: New York Review Books
Date Published: 1999
Description: ISBN: 0940322653. Paperback. Small octavo.279 pages. Very good. Bright, clean, tight. Minor cover wear. Introduction by Francine Prose. read more
"OK, I am enthralled with this book so far. It is an OLD book, written in 1929. I had heard some sort of pitch for it on NPR, and finally checked it out. I am on page 62. All I can say is, for my edition, when you get to page 61, you can only scream OMG, OMG, OMG.
Set in Jamaica, post-Civil War, post emancipation of people of color. There's the n-word, but used on purpose. The effects and attitudes of British colonialism are apparent and the writing makes a commentary on it. The writing itself is extremely poetic. You cannot but catch your breath after the description of a hurricane and its aftermath.
The introduction to this book says that it is often compared to Lord of the Flies, and I would have to agree. I would also have to agree that this book is much more complex than Lord of the Flies. It would make an interesting choice for upper high school English classes.
What happens on page 61 is not really what happens, but what really happens is even more complicated. As I read, I went back and forth between liking and disliking each character. Most behaved pretty creepily at certain points, and then would behave OK. I noticed a theme of reality vs fantasy running through it, along with reality vs denial. The children in the book were very isolated in Jamaica, and through the course of the story they must face new and rather interesting things, and mostly they do this not so well.
Signs of PTSD are very evident in many of the characters, but in a way (and this is not to make light of PTSD), the book shows that, well, just life itself may cause people to act that way.
The introduction also notes that when an animal appears in the story, get ready for some bad human nature stuff to happen. Of course I would have picked up on this as a college English major, but that flew right by me, and I appreciated it being pointed out to me (I usually read the intros after I read the book so that they don't spoil things for me).
Worth the read. I might actually read it again later in life to get the full effect. It's that complex."
"Apparently Modern Library named this one of the 100 best novels of the twentieth century. I'm not sure about that, but I can see why it might get consideration. Thankfully it is not, as Alice Sebald suggested, "a psychological deconstruction of childhood innocence," whatever that might mean. What it is is thoughtful, funny, sad and beautifully written. Hughes was clearly was a man who knew children, and more importantly, knew how stupid adults are around them, and are in general."
"One of the descriptions below says it all: "a crew of well-meaning pirates fall into the clutches of half a dozen children." I read this book after hearing a reviewer rave about it on NPR, and I'm very glad I did... it's disquieting and strange, written in this detached and disjointed way, with an oddly visible narrator that jumps in once every 50 pages or so. The author's casual racism is also disquieting, but somehow it heightens the sense of place and time as well.
I also keep going back to something the NPR reviewer said about the cruelty of Emily, the main child character -- and it's funny, I'm not sure I agree at all with his assessment. Maybe this book's morals, as well as the plot of the ending, are very much open to interpretation."
"I really enjoyed Richard Hughes, A High Wind in Jamaica. Best pirate book I've ever read. I can't believe I'd never heard of it before. I almost wonder if the pre-teen girl Briony in Atonement is modeled after the child Emily in High Wind. If so, I prefer Emily's character. Mostly because she isn't compelled to spend a lifetime undoing her misdeeds - which I don't believe was likely - to the extreme Briony did. (For the record, I also didn't believe McEwan's character would have been that unforgivable by her sister.) My favorite moment Atonement is when Briony notices her own hands. I tried to find it, but I couldn't so I might have made it up entirely. In High Wind, the mental and emotional states that Hughes describes are realistically rendered. "And then an event did occur, to Emily, of considerable importance. She suddenly realized who she was...Once settled on her perch, she began examining the skin of her hands with the utmost care: for it was hers."
Many similar scenes reminded me vividly of childhood - but he angles the lens weirdly enough- to make the reader recall what was once commonplace - as odd and savage. This savagery and gross misunderstandings about the nature of the world / self are always present in the child mind / reptilian brain before shame, manners, gratitude etc. arrive with time and experience.
And of course, savagery and the arrogance of our own perspectives is something we don't ever outgrow. (Although, a conscious person does their best to mitigate these aspects of our nature.) There is something soothing to me about a book written this beautifully that details with precision the dark beauty of human behavior. It validates my preference for "and/but" instead of "either/ or".
I don't I recall a whole lot about Lord of the Flies - but I think this book kicks its ass. I remember a certain morality implicit it that book - and this book won't offer that kind of consolation. There's something in LOTF that implies that if the adults were on the island - none of the disturbing bits would have happened. Maybe not - I'd have to look at it again. What's really great about Hughes' story is that while it would seem that the pirates have agency over the children - really - it's the other way around. The agency - and ultimately the villainy is with the wee ones. Isn't there something to all baby animals being somewhat cute so we're hesitant to kill them....?
High Wind satisfies my romantic predilections of a period drama in an exotic location- and yet offers something much more juicy than a sentimental romance: a good yarn, with surprising emotional layers that eerily resonate.
I spent the day thinking was it right, what happened to the pirates in the end, was Emily a "bad person"? And you just can't go there. It all makes sense - as he's described it - and the unfortunate repercussions are due to the fact that humans barge about with their own assumptions and tremendous needs blocking the view - and when folks aren't capable or won't put that aside, misunderstanding and confusion ensues. How lucky we are to have a narrator detail this particular story for us - or we would never have made out what *really* happened. Makes me wonder if some omniscient narrator would be so kind as to tell us our own stories..."
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