L'extraordinaire aventure d'Achmet Pacha Djemaleddine, pirate, amiral, grand

Farrère, Claude, 1876-1957Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.4

Word count: 271K words
Chapters: 28

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.L'extraordinaire aventure d'Achmet Pacha Djemaleddine, pirate, amiral, grandAuthor: Farrère, Claude, 1876-1957,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Nov 25, 2016

Editor's review

Claude Farrère was a representative French writer of sea fiction and exotic adventure stories in the early twentieth century. This book centers on Achmet Pacha Djemaleddine, recounting his legendary career from pirate to admiral and then to even higher office. Farrère began his career in the navy and had firsthand observation of life at sea and of the Mediterranean and the East; such experience lends his adventure narratives a strong sense of scene and detail. The book may be read as an introduction to French popular adventure literature and colonial-era imagination, and also as a way to observe how European writers of the time wrote about the Ottoman world and the pirate theme. As a French-language ebook from Project Gutenberg, it is convenient to search and excerpt. Note that the work carries the perspectives of its time, and its depictions of the exotic and of power should be read critically; the French original also demands some language proficiency from readers.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy sea adventure and exotic fiction
Scholars and students of French popular literature and colonial-era imagination
Readers with French reading ability who wish to explore late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century fiction
History and literature enthusiasts interested in pirates and the Ottoman world

Not a good fit for

Readers with no French who do not intend to use a translation
Readers who prefer contemporary literary styles and have little patience for old-fashioned adventure narrative
Readers sensitive to colonial-era perspectives who are unwilling to read critically

Reading tips

Learn about Farrère's life and times before reading to better grasp the narrative perspective
Separate the pirate-rise plot from the historical background and distinguish literary imagination from historical fact
Excerpt the descriptions of the sea and exotic scenes to appreciate the author's observational skill
After reading, compare with other works on the same theme and consider how the era's perspective shapes characterization

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a historical work or a novel?

It is a literary work by Farrère, an adventure narrative built around a legendary figure's career, not a strict work of historical research. The characters and events involve literary embellishment and should not be used directly as historical sources.

Why is a critical perspective needed when reading?

The work dates from the early twentieth century, and its depictions of the exotic world, power, and colonial relations reflect the common perspective of European writers of the time. While enjoying the adventure story, readers may note its imagination of the East and its value judgments, and avoid accepting them uncritically.

How difficult is the French, and is it suitable for beginners?

Farrère's prose includes literary description and period vocabulary, making it fairly difficult for French beginners. It suits readers with intermediate or higher reading ability who can use a dictionary; beginners may first read a translation or choose simpler French reading material as a bridge.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Farrère, Claude, 1876-1957 Author

Claude Farrère (1876-1957) was a French novelist, born Frédéric-Charles Bargone. He served in the French Navy, and his long career at sea and abroad supplied rich material for his writing. His works often draw on exotic settings, seafaring life, and Eastern landscapes, blending adventure, romance, and political intrigue with tight plotting and a cool, vivid style. Notable novels such as L'homme qui assassina, La Bataille, and Les petites alliées are set overseas or in wartime and explore individual fates in unfamiliar environments. He also wrote Croquis d'Extrême-Orient and Dix-sept histoires de marins, dealing with naval, colonial, and foreign societies. Farrère was elected to the Académie française in 1935. Nine of his works are held in this collection.