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A review by gremily
A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes
5.0
" When swimming under water, it is a very sobering thing suddenly to look a large octopus in the face."
A strange tale. I considered marking it down on this reread, as at times it didn't seem quite the marvel I remembered from ten years ago, and yet the ending floored me, again. This is a book whose genius is to be consistently be about something different than what it appears to be, and to do this while retaining an engaging, adventurous plot, an effortlessly ironic tone, and an ensemble cast of well-developed characters. The limited morality of pirates comes up against the amorality of children. The experience of growing up, from non-human babyhood to semi-human childhood to an adolescence that is godlike but very wicked is examined with cool remove. The last page gave me a creeping sense of horror that seemed unmerited by what actually occurred on it. A book to reread periodically.
A strange tale. I considered marking it down on this reread, as at times it didn't seem quite the marvel I remembered from ten years ago, and yet the ending floored me, again. This is a book whose genius is to be consistently be about something different than what it appears to be, and to do this while retaining an engaging, adventurous plot, an effortlessly ironic tone, and an ensemble cast of well-developed characters. The limited morality of pirates comes up against the amorality of children. The experience of growing up, from non-human babyhood to semi-human childhood to an adolescence that is godlike but very wicked is examined with cool remove. The last page gave me a creeping sense of horror that seemed unmerited by what actually occurred on it. A book to reread periodically.