Pirate Latitudes

I am about half way through Pirate Latitudes and I think it is a delightful book. It is a bit out of sequence, in this blog, since I have been trying to be somewhat chronological in my review of his work. But, it is also current and people are talking about it. So, I wanted to get some initial impressions recorded.

Most of the reviews I have read have damned the book with faint praise. It is good, they say, but not up to Crichton's level. Others have warned, somewhat ominously, that I wait till the end before making a judgement. The implication being that it will be disappointing.

I think they may be missing the point. If you read Pirate Latitudes expecting another Jurassic Park, you will be disappointed. If you read it as a novel that he polished and released rather than a work that was published postumously, you may be further disappointed. But if you look at it in the right context, I think you will enjoy it much more.

I mentioned earlier that with some of his mystery fiction, it felt like Crichton was trying to write in the style of some well known mystery authors. The more I read, the most I become convinced that this is a pattern in his work.

I am also about halfway through The Great Train Robbery which is very different from his other works. It feels, in this book, like he is trying to write in style of serious historical fiction, perhaps like Barbara Tuchman, but not quite that serious. Pirate Lattitudes feels like he is trying to write romantic historical fiction, perhaps in the tradition of Mary Stewart, Jane Auel, or an abreviated James Michner.

I don't want to overstate or over specify here because this idea needs a lot more work and a lot more investigation. However, if you view this book as an attempt to write in a style and genre outside of his normal fare, the book becomes much more impressive.