The Pirates!: An Adventure with Scientists & An Adventure with Ahab

4/26/12 - Roughly seven chapters into this book at the moment and am finding it quite funny and clever, though wishing it were a bit "more" at times. The truly gut-bustingly funny moments seem to be fewer and further between than anticipated (i.e. Gary the Parrot's line about "Pieces of Ape" after the Pirates have massacred Darwin's monkey collection), but there is a gentle humor which is consistent throughout and which is very pleasant.

I like the tension the author is setting up between the Pirate Captain and Darwin - especially in the way that Darwin often points out "easy" things that the PC should have known and yet missed, followed by the PC giving Darwin a steely stare that causes him to sulk. It seems like Defoe is setting up a sort of sibling-like rivalry between them where they pester and annoy one another all the time, yet band together and get the job done in the end.

The animated film based on the book comes out in a couple of days and I'm hoping I will have all, or at least most, of the book done before I go to see the film.

Silly, clever and funny. I particularly enjoyed the dastardly Bishop subjecting the pirate with a scarf and Jennifer to psychometric tests to determine which one wasn't really female, but there are many laugh-out-loud/forehead-slapping funny bits. ( )

Another great book! A group of pirates encounter the Beagle and Darwin, and from there they deviate from history in a hilarious adventure. The characters are wonderfully odd, Defoe has a great sense of humor. This is a must read for anyone!! ( )

RUN, do not walk, to your local bookstore and Buy This Book. Whimsical, hilarious, utterly escapist. Plus, ham! What's not to love?!? ( )

This was one of those books where I wonder why I went so long without reading it. It was a light, fun read that literally made me laugh out loud over and over again. None of the pirates have names (other than the PIrate Captain, which is his name), I love that they are referred to as the pirate with a scarf, the pirate with an accordion, or the pirate with rickets. The plots are straightforward as they mingle with historical and fictional figures and probably have them rolling over in their graves in the real world. But it is glorious and I enjoyed it every step of the way. ( )