Reviews

Orkan über Jamaika by Richard Hughes

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emilybryk's review against another edition

5.0

A confession: every now and then, when telling a story that took place some time ago, I find myself thinking "did that actually happen that way, or have I maybe changed it a little bit over time?" I'm not saying I'm a pathological liar, or even that I have an unusually shaky relationship with the truth. But it is (I think) not a unique situation.

Now. A High Wind in Jamaica isn't a story about an unreliable narrator. Actually, we have a merry, almost-childlike narrator who brings us and the Thorton children through an intentionally-capitalized Earthquake, abduction by pirates, various deaths and injuries, and the fairest trial anyone knows how to run. This isn't Lord of the Flies by any means -- the children aren't out to do harm and they're adapting to difficult circumstances as best they can. However. As we track the children's (and especially Emily's) reactions and behaviors, we see a gradual distortion of the truth taking place as clearly as in any book I can think of. And as innocently.

It's not an issue of the banality of evil or anything like that. It's an issue of small lies and small denials gradually building up and up and up in the most natural of ways. And it's possibly one of the best things I've read in ages.

gabo_rinaldi_33's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

matt_books's review against another edition

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5.0

The story of a bunch of weird little kids who out-psychopath the pirates that kidnapped them just by being themselves. The narration has a tone unlike any I’ve encountered, alternating between the blissfully ignorant, demented headspace of little kids and the bewildered adults who try to make sense of their indecipherable behavior. Also preoccupied with the fallibility of memory and how seemingly random moments morph into foundational experiences that embed in our psyche, which is always cool, to me.

eunicek82's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

Really twisted and dark. Think Lord of the Flies meets pirates. This is what happens when a group of children are under-supervised by a group of pirates and as you can imagine, things do not go well. I think it’s a pretty shocking meditation on the resilience and adaptability of children. I also thought it was probing at who exactly should be held accountable in this scenario, the parents, the pirates, the children?? I think this could be applied on a larger scale.