A High Wind in Jamaica

Whether or not you think that Richard Hughes' "A High Wind in Jamaica" works as a whole, you've got to give him this: like Bill Watterson and Roald Dahl, he recognized that children occupy an entirely different psychological space than their elders. Of course, occasionally a judgement or fact from the world of adults does make it through to this novel's youthful protagonists, but it usually bears little resemblance to the lesson that the adults intended to teach, and the adults themselves never seem to realize this disconnect. As others have mentioned, the novel's most interested in the moral dimensions of childhood: does the children's lack of knowledge about the world around them contribute to a naturally occurring amorality? I'll show more leave that for other readers to figure out, though, because "A High Wind in Jamaica" could also be read as a case study in the uncanny resilience of children. The Bas-Thorton and Fernandez children adapt without hesitation to just about any situation they're thrown into, and Hughes seems intrigued by the existence of a stage of human development where our preconceptions are almost infinitely malleable. Emily, for example, reacts to a minor earthquake, a pirate kidnapping, and a pet alligator with varying levels of interest, boredom, and quiet delight – someone who lacks experience, as she does, can't be expected to tell the difference between the extraordinary and the merely ordinary, or the difference between right and wrong, for that matter. Still, I was also charmed by the way that the boys started planning their own careers in piracy almost from the moment that they were kidnapped. Hughes seems to realize that for imaginative children, life holds an almost unlimited number of possibilities: why should a lifetime spent on the high seas be considered any more remarkable than a quiet life lived in England?

Hughes, unlike, say, Harper Lee or Roald Dahl, who wrote their child characters using a friendly, accessible indirect third person, draws a careful distinction between his own authorial voice and the lives of his young protagonists. Instead of using the children as narrators, he describes childhood in the same way that an anthropologist might describe a foreign culture: he makes incisive descriptions, draws comparisons, and makes inferences about their self-made social and moral structures, but he relates their story in a style that is complex, eloquent, and undeniably adult. In fact, there are places where I'm not sure that Hughes wasn't satirizing, or perhaps criticizing, the Victorian age's own well-formed ideas about a "separate space" for children and their concerns. With its seafaring narrative and "A High Wind in Jamaica" and its wild scenes of play and children's games, this might be the first novel influenced in equal measure by "Peter Pan" and "Heart of Darkness." Some readers, will, I think, find these extreme tendencies hard to accept; this is a novel that makes it difficult to believe in childhood innocence at all. Still, I came away from it think that it's pity that Hughes wrote only four novels, and only two aimed at adults; I suspect that he would have written superbly on any subject he chose. show less

I found this a rather difficult book to write about. At first I was a little disappointed as it wasn’t the straight forward adventure story that I expected. But as I read on it became clear that this was an absorbing psychological character study on the nature of children. A High Wind In Jamaica tells of a group of young children travelling from Jamaica to school in England that inadvertently are captured by pirates. The pirates have no idea of what to do with these children and after one half-hearted attempt to get rid of them, basically ignore them and let them run wild on their ship. I was very much reminded of The Lord of the Flies, in that the author appears fully convinced that children, once lacking in adult supervision, show more quickly deviate into savages, totally without empathy, kindness or morals.

This is a disturbing story of children, and in particular one young girl, Emily, who at the age of ten has the power to give one chills with her thoughts and inner conversations. The children lose one of their own through his own misadventure but actually give him very little thought, they seem much more concerned with the fate of their pet pig who is destined to become dinner. I don’t totally agree with the author’s point of view, I think most people, child or adult, are born with a compassionate, loving nature and it is life’s circumstances that can harden them.

A High Wind in Jamaica is also about the complex relationships that exist between children and adults. I would certainly not call this a YA or children’s book as it deals with very adult matters from murder, awakening sexuality to implied rape. Overall an interesting read but the author didn’t manage to change my viewpoint. show less

We had a snow storm that lasted 36 hours or so. While the wind howled outside, I sat by the fireplace with this book all day yesterday. I grabbed it again this morning and, funny thing, the storm let down about the time I finished it this afternoon. Now I don’t know if the storm was so bad as I recall it, or it was this disturbing story that made everything look so dark and disquieting for the past 2 days.

First things first, this is not a children’s story. It is not a young-adult story either. It is a very adult and distressing tale, where children happen to be the main protagonists. Hughes genius shows in how well he captures these children’s voices, in special the voice of Emily.

The most delightful passage in this story is when show more suddenly Emily realizes her own existence. She ponders further that maybe she was herself God. My son, now entering teenage years, also tells about the moment he became aware of his own existence. He was more precocious than Emily, but he does not verbalize the experience as she does either. The point is, we all must at one time come to the same conscious realization, and later forget it. Hughes brings it back in a way that is tender, but also rings with truth.

Most passages though carry a darkness that cannot be erased very easily by Emily’s existential questionings. There is death, murder, rape, lies, jealousy in every page.

The setting also deserves a comment: although I don’t deny that this story may be historically accurate – I would not doubt that newly freed slaves would not kill their previous masters, be it by starvation or more deliberately feeding them ground glass. Piracy was also probably still very common in the middle of the 19th century. Hangings certainly were, and the inefficiency of the judicial system still is. Hughes’ Jamaica and later London are not the Jamaica and London of this realm, but one from a parallel world, barely more colourful than reality, yet different, more comic or caricature.

It just occurred to me that Hughes might have wanted to tell a more real vision of childhood as opposed to Peter Pan – another English story about pirates. I should search this before writing about it, but I won’t. I am ready to let go of this tale, as much as I am ready for the Sun to start shining outside. I am giving it 5 stars because I think it defies genre and time, but I don’t think I will re-read it any time soon. I can only take bleakness on small doses. show less

This is one of the best books I have ever fucking read. Don't even read this review... Just go read the book already! Then you can come back and read the rest of this review.

First of all the subject matter cannot be better: pirates, kids, pigs, monkeys, goats, earthquakes, hurricanes, clue-less adults.

Secondly, it's the language, stupid! The language is so fucking great. Hughes sometimes forms the most un-intelligeable sentences with the weirdest fucking words, but string them up in a way that gets across something you wouldn't get with a sensible one.

Next, the narrator: he is so funny. He's always coming in at odd times to tell us his opinion, but rarely outright. He's subtle about it.

Also, the book is full of surprises. Every other show more chapter presents a weird twist. But it's not a plot-heavy book, by that I mean it doesn't rely on the plot or the twists to make it good. Considering the 500-pages worth of shit that happens in this 200-page book, it is surprisingly leisurely and pleasantly aimless in its plot, until closer to the end.

This book is brilliantly crafted to lull you into one state while shocking you constantly out of it.

This book resists to the very end in giving you the sentimentalism you want, in giving in to your pre-conceived ideas of how things should be. And for that it is pure genius.

This book is entertaining in that page-turning way, to the highest degree.

This book is often laugh out loud funny.

This book does not moralize. It is light reading, but also very heavy if you want to read into it. But most of all, it is light.

There is no lull in this book. It goes straight through. show less

A book about children and pirates? Sounds fun. And on the surface it is. The five Bas-Thorton children are being raised in a haphazard fashion on a dilapidated plantation in Jamaica in the mid-1800s. After an earthquake and a hurricane in quick succession, the parents decide to send their children, along with two other children, to England for safety. Not long after departing, the barque is overrun by pirates. In a comedy of errors, the pirates attempt to use the children as hostages and instead end up stuck with them on their ship. One almost feels sorry for the pirates. But throughout the entire book there is an undercurrent of darkness, which only gets more disturbing as the tale progresses.

Although the word trauma is never used, the show more children are exposed to a series of traumatic, life-threatening events, from natural disasters to kidnapping, and they must cope without any emotional support from adults. Left to make sense of the world on their own, they come to decisions that can be funny (are the sailors pirates or pilots?) or cold and deadly. By the end of the book, even the things that seemed funny earlier take on darker meaning. show less

This is a whimsical statement on what beastly things children are, or childhood innocence at any rate: rather than a moral good it's chaotic neutral, something best not forgotten or else you'll be liable to misconstrue all manner of things, overlook the real issues and be dealt some nasty surprises. Cling to that message and you'll understand what you're reading.

Children who don't act like children, pirates who don't act like pirates ... this book has a peculiar tone to it, like magical realism without the magic, that had me viewing it almost as a farce during the middle portion which I found difficult to weather. Making it out the other side, I felt my perseverance was rewarded. So much so, this might land on the re-read pile. I don't show more often experience a flip like that, so this one's going to stand out in memory. show less

Darkly comic seafaring adventure about a group of children on their way to England who end up captured by pirates. Hughes tone is wryly detached as he reveals in full detail the casual insanity and cruelty of his young protagonists. One of the most honest novels ever written about children.