Reviews

Howard Pyle S Book of Pirates by Howard Pyle

charlesc_n's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

3.5

gatorelgato's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective

5.0

dpmcalister's review against another edition

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2.0

A very dry read. In fact the historical overview of the pirates was almost boring!

nooker's review against another edition

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adventurous

3.0

selfwinding's review against another edition

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4.0

While it starts off a little dry, the later stories are much more engaging (and very interesting after having read Under the Black Flag). One of the things I most enjoyed about this was the folk tale quality to each of the stories. (This was even more effective listening to it as an audiobook.) I started reading it to keep me in the mood for writing about pirates, and it was a success on that front!

letitiaharmon's review against another edition

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1.0

I don't know how it's possible to turn anecdotes of the biggest names in piracy into a dry, uninteresting recitation of stories that are neither unique nor particularly scandalous, but this volume accomplished it.

sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition

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3.0

This was ... odd. I enjoyed the stories, but the beginning section was really long and rambling and confusing. Once it got into the more individual stories it was good, but I almost gave up because of the first third or half of the book.

agth's review against another edition

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2.0

I honestly don't know why I put myself through these things.
Listen I'm not sure what it was if it was the book being too much... hmmm a product of its time (yep, that's how gonna phrase it) if it was me just lowkey worrying about other stuff and at the same time wanting to read something or if I just don't like pirates as much I thought I did.
The thing is, this was hella boring, once in a while something like some nice line or a fun fact would grab my attention but mostly? I just kept thing about anything and everything else and could barely pay attention.
This was dry, bland, stale, flavorless and any other synonyms you think of to describe how absurdly uninteresting this was.
(and it was about pirates! how do you manage to make pirates tedious???)

mayastone's review against another edition

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4.0

A collection of pirate stories, with some embellishment and added"flesh" for the sake of entertainment. A good read, there were some pirates I had never heard of as well as some of the usual characters who appear whenever pirates are mentioned.

emmach's review against another edition

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3.0

here is your formula for (almost) every piece of swashbuckling fiction, namely scarred pirate captains, roguish and witty surogates, forced romance and the triumph of the just and lawful citizen whose virtue is rewarded with oh-so-fairly-gained and definitely-not-tainted-by-piracy wealth.
(curiously enough, those lawless captains rarely get to tell their own story)