Okay, so aside from the wonderful of-the-Caribbean movies that I so thoroughly enjoy… I, like most people in this country, currently have an obsession with pirates. I always sort of liked them – I would read books about ocean voyages, etc. I think that if I were alive in that day and age I probably would have even tried to be one. I love the ocean so much, and I would love to sail the seven seas.
So when I was at the independent book store with Joe’s grandmother and I saw “The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists” you should know that it instantly struck my fancy. I thought at first that it was probably just one of those books that they give a strange title to, you know, to throw you off. But reading the description and then the first page of the book, I soon found that I was so very wrong.
It was two books in one – if you flipped it over it was “The Pirates! in an Adventure with Ahab” and the books are written by Gideon Defoe (you should visit his web site – it’s hilarious) and are completely and wonderfully absurd. I am currently reading “Ahab”, but finished “Scientists” and can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Defoe is english, so the humor is very english humor. Witty, quick, catches you off guard, and at times is just silly nonsense. He mixes a lot of things of today with things of pirate-times. For example, The Pirate Captain eating a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. Or them visiting Las Vegas in “Ahab”. You just have to read it to appreciate it.
Most of the main characters in the books don’t have names. Or rather, their names are “The Pirate Captain” “The Pirate who wears a scarf” “The Pirate who dresses in green” “The albino pirate”, etc. There is a female who joins the crew in “Scientists” who Defoe, rather than getting himself into trouble and naming “The pirate with boobs”, named Jennifer.
Another added bonus that I love about these books, is Defoe includes footnotes. There are words or actions he will comment on and actually give you a history on, or why he included it, or just a fun fact (”In ten years our Banana supply will be gone” “The tricorn hat came from the English Civil War when soldiers had to turn up one side of their hat to fire a gun”). I love when I learn something from books.
One of my favorite scenes in “Scientists” was when the pirates, bored of racing Sea Turtles on the boat deck, decide to make a bouncy castle out of jellyfish (they eventually give up, however, with their boots covered in jellyfish guts).
I will definitely continue reading these books as Defoe writes them. He also has “The Pirates! In an adventure with Communists” out. He is a very funny and intelligent man, and it is exactly my kind of humor. It doesn’t hurt that the subject matter are pirates, either.
If you want a story that will make you laugh out loud and throw in a little adventure, read “The Pirates!” books.
