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"Long John Silver, the enigmatic, treacherous and yet strangely attractive pirate whose exploits have been recounted by Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure Island lived out his twilight years on Madagascar, rich, one-legged, attended by a handful of devoted slaves whose freedom he had purchased in the West Indies after inciting them to rebellion. That he had a price on his head and the Navy out looking to bring him to justice bothered him less than the threat of posthumous obscurity. So he set down his memoirs. These are they." "We read of his early years before the mast on board a merchantman, his shipwreck on the Irish coast, his life as a cross-Channel smuggler, and later his passage from West Africa to the Caribbean on a slave ship - John Silver himself a shackled slave in the hold, the price of insubordination. After escaping he took to piracy, first on his own account and eventually as Quartermaster to Captain Flint, a rum-soaked brute who was feared like the Devil himself. And why did a man as determined, brutal and, when the occasion served, devious as Long John Silver choose to go to sea as Quartermaster when he could perfectly well have been Captain? Because what he execrated above all else was established authority - he was always (so he liked to claim) with the crew and against the Captain. In no other way could he preserve his self-respect." "In Long John Silver Bjorn Larsson has produced a witty, shrewd and well meditated account of a pirate's life that, in this seamless Stevensonian translation by Tom Geddes, will earn its place on the bookshelf of every prospective corsair."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved… (more)
supersidvicious: 1493 offers a complete scientific overview about the world after Columbus whilst Long John Silver offers a credible picture about being a pirate that days
If you loved Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel, Treasure Island, you may like Swedish writer Larsson’s first US publication, a retelling of the life of the pirate Silver. Comfortably retired on Madagascar in 1742, Silver is nettled that all the literature written about his life has got it wrong. Amid his plundered riches and house staff, he opens his recollections during his youth back in Scotland, where he’s raised a motherless son by a drunken father. Having learned the knack of plucky self-reliance, he takes to the sea, is shipwrecked, and later is rescued by Dunn, a charitable soul of baffling kindness. Silver falls in love and has multiple adventures at sea, sailing on an unlikely variety of ships. As expected Captain Flint enters the story. The action scenes in these passages are what make the book, since Silver’s meditations on slavery, independence, honor, and human rights are something less than stirring. There is a cameo appearance by none other than Defoe, who discusses literature; but also plenty of rum, treasure, plundering and piratey misbehaviour. While it is likely that few of Stevenson’s Treasure Island readers have been terribly gripped by Silver’s inner life this exposition is worth a look. After all. the genial old salt is harmless enough and capable of telling a good yarn from his kit bag of memories. ( )
A Janne e Torben, ribelli che non si piegano davanti a niente, tranne l'amore
First words
Siamo nel 1742. Ho vissuto a lungo. Questo non me lo può togliere nessuno. Tutti quelli che no conosciuto sono morti. Alcuni li ho mandati io stessi all'altro mondo, se poi esiste. Ma perché dovrebbe? In ogni caso, spero con tutta l'anima che non esista, perché all'inferno ce li ritroverei tutti.
Quotations
Cosa resta da dire? Ho fatto del mio meglio dall'inizio alla fine. Sono stato me stesso, quello che sono diventato, e con ciò basta. Avevo un cappio intorno al collo, ma le spalle le ho sempre avute libere. Se vi interessa saperlo.
Last words
Da consegnare personalmente a Jim Hawkins
Jim, ti affido queste pagine. Sono, per così dire, il mio diario di bordo. Nei miei ultimi giorni mi sono divertito a ricordare, come fanno i vecchi, e a scrivere cos'è stato essere John Silver. Se ho un ultimo desiderio prima di morire, Jim, è che tu legga queste pagine. So di non essere stato un chierichetto, ai tuoi occhi, ma dopo tutto sono stato una specie di essere umano, e un buon compagno di bordo. Ti ho salvato la vita, lo ricorderai bene. Non ti chiedo, in cambio, di salvare la mia com'è raccontata in queste pagine. Ma ti chiedo di non porre fine alla sola esistenza che John Silver abbia mai avuto. Mettilo al sicuro. Un giorno, forse, qualcuno avrà bisogno di sapere che è davvero esistito e che, dopo tutto, era una specie di essere umano. In tal caso, non sarà vissuto invano, come tanti altri, che non sono serviti a nulla. Questo è il mio ultimo desiderio.
"Long John Silver, the enigmatic, treacherous and yet strangely attractive pirate whose exploits have been recounted by Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure Island lived out his twilight years on Madagascar, rich, one-legged, attended by a handful of devoted slaves whose freedom he had purchased in the West Indies after inciting them to rebellion. That he had a price on his head and the Navy out looking to bring him to justice bothered him less than the threat of posthumous obscurity. So he set down his memoirs. These are they." "We read of his early years before the mast on board a merchantman, his shipwreck on the Irish coast, his life as a cross-Channel smuggler, and later his passage from West Africa to the Caribbean on a slave ship - John Silver himself a shackled slave in the hold, the price of insubordination. After escaping he took to piracy, first on his own account and eventually as Quartermaster to Captain Flint, a rum-soaked brute who was feared like the Devil himself. And why did a man as determined, brutal and, when the occasion served, devious as Long John Silver choose to go to sea as Quartermaster when he could perfectly well have been Captain? Because what he execrated above all else was established authority - he was always (so he liked to claim) with the crew and against the Captain. In no other way could he preserve his self-respect." "In Long John Silver Bjorn Larsson has produced a witty, shrewd and well meditated account of a pirate's life that, in this seamless Stevensonian translation by Tom Geddes, will earn its place on the bookshelf of every prospective corsair."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Wikipedia in English
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Comfortably retired on Madagascar in 1742, Silver is nettled that all the literature written about his life has got it wrong. Amid his plundered riches and house staff, he opens his recollections during his youth back in Scotland, where he’s raised a motherless son by a drunken father. Having learned the knack of plucky self-reliance, he takes to the sea, is shipwrecked, and later is rescued by Dunn, a charitable soul of baffling kindness. Silver falls in love and has multiple adventures at sea, sailing on an unlikely variety of ships. As expected Captain Flint enters the story.
The action scenes in these passages are what make the book, since Silver’s meditations on slavery, independence, honor, and human rights are something less than stirring. There is a cameo appearance by none other than Defoe, who discusses literature; but also plenty of rum, treasure, plundering and piratey misbehaviour.
While it is likely that few of Stevenson’s Treasure Island readers have been terribly gripped by Silver’s inner life this exposition is worth a look. After all. the genial old salt is harmless enough and capable of telling a good yarn from his kit bag of memories. (