Pirate Lattitudes Revisited

I am a much better listener than I am a reader. That is to say that I read slowly but listening to a recorded book is completely effortless. I know people vary on this point because some I have talked to say that reading is effortless while listening is tedious. When I listen to a book I get a much better sense of story and am more likely to remember small details about the characters and the plot. However, when I read a book, I am much more likely to notice conceptual aspects such as the structure of the story and am more likely to relate the story to other stories I have read. I will notice deeper symbolism and philosophical issues when reading while missing character and plot development. I don't know why this is. But it is. Consequently, when studying a book I like to read it and listen to it often multiple times. If the book has been made into a movie, I like to see the movie as well.

The Andromeda Stain, which I need to post a bit more about, is a good example. I read the book, watched the movie, watched the mini-series remake, read the book again and watched the videos again. There is something in the back of my mind that has yet to coalesce about all this. So, I am holding off posting more until it does. In the meantime, I am trying to get a recording of it from the library and will probably watch the movies again. 

All this is to lead up to the point that when I read Pirate Latitudes, a while back, I suggested that the book may not have been finished. Characters were introduced somewhat heavyhandedly,  threads were dropped, and some of the action felt unmotivated. However, I just listened to a delightful recording from Recorded Books, narrated by John Bedford Lloyd that was free of these flaws. Or, at least, I didn't notice them. Perhaps because reading is more difficult for me I tend to be more critical. On the other hand, perhaps the fact that I am more critical makes reading more difficult. Who knows.

Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this recording and thought I should give both Crichton and the narrator their due.

Should Pirate Latitudes Have Been Published?

Should Pirate Latitudes have been published? Jane Julius Honchell raised this question last week in an interesting article on the perils of posthumous publishing. She makes some good points.
The heirs don't really need the money and we don't know if the author (Crichton) would have approved of releasing the book in its current form.

However, I am glad that it was published. There are three reason why this is the case. First, I enjoyed the book; perhaps not as much as Jurassic Park. But I enjoyed it. Second, I have been making the case that Crichton has attempted to write in a variety of styles, perhaps mimicking the styles of other authors. Pirate Latitudes provides us with yet another example of this.

But one of the things I found most interesting about Pirate Latitudes was the fact that it was clearly not ready for publication. There are endless amateurish mistakes that a master like Crichton would not have made in a final product. These mistakes give us insight into the writing process and help us understand why a master is a master.

The real question here is who really owns the work of an artist? Not from a legal perspective but from a moral perspective. Next time I will argue that once the writer is finished with a work, it is owned by the readers.

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.