- Paperback: 414 pages
- Publisher: David R. Godine (May 1 1987)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0879236604
- ISBN-13: 978-0879236601
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 14.5 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 476 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #292,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
“He makes a tale of adventure a handbook to adventure.” –Observer
“There is plenty of excitement, a little danger, a quality of thinking, planning and fun which is delightful and stimulating.” –TLS --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
“There is plenty of excitement, a little danger, a quality of thinking, planning and fun which is delightful and stimulating.” –TLS --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Book Description
The third book in Arthur Ransome’s wonderful series for children, Peter Duck takes intrepid explorers John, Susan, Titty, and Roger Walker and fearless Amazon pirates Nancy and Peggy Blackett onto the high seas. Under the command of the infamous Captain Flint (Nancy and Peggy’s Uncle Jim), the children brave a real-life pirate and his cutthroat crew, fog, sharks, and the ravenous crabs of Crab Island in search of buried treasure. “In many ways, Peter Duck is the best of the series.” -The Guardian “This is the stuff of real imagination which might so easily happen ... all the details are true to life, the ship is a real ship, with all its sails and rigging made familiar, and the voyage which those happy children make to southern seas and coral islands is the beautiful possibility of daring and freedom become living and credible.” –Listener
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous series, less than fabulous book,
By
This review is from: Peter Duck (Paperback)
I love the Swallows and Amazons series.However, what I love about the series hinges partly on the believeability of it all, that these sorts of things really could have happened, under the right circumstances. In most of the books, the 'high adventure' comes partly from circumstances and partly from the imaginations of the protagonists themselves. This book (and Missee Lee, and to a lesser extent We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea) have so much actually happening that there isn't room for fun, for play, and for the strengths of the series to shine through. This book more than any other, in my opinion, loses the thread of what makes the series great. Read it if you want, but don't mistake it for characteristic of the series. Most of the rest are quite different.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best stories in the series,
By
This review is from: Peter Duck (Paperback)
I remember reading Peter Duck as a child and being a little disappointed. As a child the adventures of the Swallows & Amazons was best when they were as far away from adults as possible. Battling Uncle Jim / Captain Flint for his houseboat was one thing - going on a sea voyage with him in charge was quite another.Re-reading the series as an adult, however, I see this in a whole new perspective. Simply put the actual story, and the story-telling, racks amongst the highest in the series. The scope of the book, running from the mouth of the broads which we come to love later in the series, right down to Crab Island in the Caribbean is wonderful. The intrigue and adventure is at a higher level to match too. Arthur Ransome is one of the story tellers who believes in dealing with "bad people" head on - and in this tale, Black Jake and his crew are really some of the most despicable characters in children's literature. We always hope they will meet a sticky end. However, the writing is a little out of date now in terms of some derogatory words used for black people and Spaniards. I believe such language can be used as an important educational tool to explain why we no longer use these words (it should be noted that it is the rough characters that use these terms). The book never comments on this as being "fictional". Of course they are all fictional tales, but this is fiction within fiction because we find out in other books that this was a tale made up by everyone. However, it is still written very realisitically and anyone with a love for sailing will find the chapters about the setup of the boat or the sailing down the North Sea and the English Channel wonderful.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good fun,
By
This review is from: Peter Duck (Paperback)
This book is actually a fantasy within the context of the series. In the previous book, SWALLOWDALE, we encounter Peter Duck as a fictional character and how he was the star of a story made up by the children and Captain Flint during a winter stay in a boat.That aside, this is good adventure. The children assemble for a summer holiday sailing in the English Channel, and are joined by a crusty old seaman who's being pursued by some criminals, who know that he knows where a treasure is buried in the Caribbean. After some misadventures, the crew sets off across the Atlantic, along the way picking up a small boy who was part of the criminal's crew. In the Caribbean, they encounter some eerie crabs and some harrowing scenes that are the aftermath of a volcanic explosion at some distance. The treasure is found and the villains are dispatched in a rather overly convenient deus ex machina ending that I rather disliked; it's the only reason I chopped a star off this otherwise grand entertainment. This book has the usual S&A series messages about the joys of adventure and of being outdoors, and the importance of courage and self-reliance as well as teamwork. Next in the series: WINTER HOLIDAY.
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