Thursday, April 02, 2009

Ten of the best pirates in fiction

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best pirates in fiction.

One novel on the list:
Treasure Island, by RL Stevenson

The sound of Blind Pew tapping his way along with his stick outside the Admiral Benbow inn is one of the most spine-tingling in all children's fiction, but Stevenson knew that the best pirate combines terror with charm. Thus the horror at human perfidy when Jim Hawkins, hidden in the apple barrel, overhears Long John Silver's evil plans. A treasure map, Captain Flint, "pieces of eight": every element of Stevenson's yarn has entered the collective unconscious.
Read about another pirate on Mullan's list.

--Marshal Zeringue