The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon – Gideon Defoe

The various adventures of the Pirate Captain and his eccentric crew bring him into contact with an impressive range of historical figures and give some new (not necessarily accurate) perspectives on them. In this book the captain’s path crosses that of Napoleon Bonaparte.

This is the unlikely chain of events that bring it about: The Pirate Captain, humiliated at the Pirate of the Year Awards, decides to give up pirating and keep bees instead. His nemesis, Black Bellamy, takes the opportunity to get another one over on the naive Captain and ‘sells’ him the ‘tropical island’ of St Helena, which he assures, is perfect for beekeeping.

The island, of course, is neither perfect for bees nor available for purchase, being an outpost of the British Empire. However English hospitality ensures the Pirate Captain is made welcome, and he begins to revel in his celebrity status. Then the more famous figure of Napoleon Bonaparte turns up to serve his exile.

The two big egos clash in a range of nonsensical disputes that escalate and culminate in a duel at dawn.

It’s not so much the events as Defoe’s way of telling them that gives the Pirates books their charm and humour. This is my second and I found it amusing and entertaining, if not as laugh out loud as the first (the Adventure with Scientists). I suspect the first encounter with the pirates (and with Defoe) will always be the funniest due to the freshness of the style and the unfolding craziness of the buccaneers’ lifestyle, with subsequent books having declining impact.

So if you haven’t come across one yet, and like a laugh, I recommend you read one (any one) but not in public unless you are comfortable being regarded as a giggling idiot.

Lighthousekeeping – Jeanette Winterson

This is Silver’s story, or stories. Orphaned early and taken in by Pew, the blind keeper of Britain’s northernmost lighthouse at Cape Wrath, she is entranced by his storytelling and embraces it as part of her unofficial apprenticeship.

Pew’s view is that stories have no beginning or end but just connect an older tale to a newer one. Timeless themes recur of love and loss, longing and passion, hope and seeking, sometimes finding.

The key episodes of Silver’s own story are interspersed with those of Babel Dark; he’s a nineteenth century preacher who washed up at Cape Wrath about the time the lighthouse was being constructed, who is tormented by some competing components of his personality.

Real life figures pop in and out of the narrative: Robert Stevenson, engineer and designer of the lighthouse; Robert Louis Stevenson, Jekyll and Hyde author (more light and dark); and Charles Darwin, proponent of the ultimate never-ending story of evolution.

The imagery and echoing connectivity is handled with such delicacy as to be almost subliminal, unobtrusive to the well told tale, but working away in the background like the seasoning in a tasty casserole.

In this edition (Harper Perennial paperback) the accompanying interview and articles give an insight into how Winterson creates her novels – letting the central characters and events emerge unplanned, then piecing them together to produce, in this case, a polished gem.

The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion

Professor of genetics Don Tillman takes a scientific approach to life’s daily problems, eschewing variety and spontaneity in favour of systematic efficiency (epitomised by his seven day Standardised Meal System) and rejecting many social niceties as illogical.

This puts him on the autism spectrum somewhere to the right of Dr Sheldon Cooper (of The Big Bang Theory) whose voice I was unable to avoid attributing to Tillman as he narrates his story, despite the setting being Australia rather than the US.

At 39 years old Tillman deduces it is time to find a life partner so he initiates the Wife Project and pursues it with a scientific rigour that has predictably amusing results. However it does throw Rosie into his path, and though she is eminently unsuitable wife material, failing several key criteria, he does agree to use his professional expertise to help her establish her paternity – initiating the Father Project.

The Father Project leads him into even more scrapes than the Wife Project, but he is surprised to find enjoyment in the new experiences; or is it just the sharing of them with Rosie? There are twists and turns as she has issues of her own, and the outcome is uncertain right to the end.

Don Tillman’s character, though unconventional, is totally believable and quickly gets the reader on side. The humour, misunderstandings, and emotional highs and lows are all there and are handled well to produce a fine romantic comedy.