The Pirate Island: A Story of the South Pacific

Collingwood, Harry, 1851-1922Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0
Word count
641K words
Chapters
65

Tags

English Originals Foreign Literature Suspense ThrillerVengeance and GratitudeOcean LegendSouth PacificExotic Culture

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.The Pirate Island: A Story of the South Pacific by Harry CollingwoodAuthor: Collingwood, Harry, 1851-1922,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Apr 13, 2007

Editor's review

This is a maritime adventure story set in the South Pacific, centered on pirates and an island—a typical Victorian boys' adventure novel. Its readability comes mainly from fast-moving adventure plotting and vivid sea settings: voyages, landings, clashes with pirates all move quickly, making it a light read in the English genre-fiction mode. At the same time, its depictions of Pacific islands and islanders carry an unmistakable period and colonial perspective; today's readers need to keep a critical distance, which also makes it a suitable sample for discussing how adventure literature shaped "exotic" imaginings. As a public-domain e-book, it is easy to obtain and reread, suitable for extensive reading, thematic reading, or comparison with other works by the same author—but not as a source of knowledge on South Pacific history or geography.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read the opening chapters first to judge whether the narrative pace suits your taste, then decide whether to read straight through or selectively.
  2. Mark passages describing the island and islanders while reading, then sort out the period imaginings they contain afterward.
  3. Compare it with the same author's The Congo Rovers to see how his maritime narrative formulas recur.
  4. For extensive reading, set a daily chapter goal and keep reading continuously rather than close-reading every sentence.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
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FAQ

How is this book different from the author's West African story? Both are Collingwood maritime adventure novels, but their settings differ: this one is mainly about the South Pacific and pirates, while the other focuses on anti-slavery patrols off West Africa. The narrative formulas, character setups, and period perspective are similar; reading them together reveals how the author handled different maritime settings in similar ways.
Are the island and pirate depictions historically accurate? As an adventure novel, its plot and characters mainly serve narrative effect and should not be taken as historical fact. Its depictions of the island and islanders also carry nineteenth-century colonial perspectives and stereotypes. If you are interested in real pirate history or South Pacific history, look for historical works instead.
What is the approximate English reading level? It is a late nineteenth-century English boys' adventure novel with long sentences and nautical and geographical vocabulary, so the overall level is moderately above average. Readers with basic English reading ability who are willing to handle longer sentences can try it; focus on understanding the plot rather than looking up every word.
Is it suitable for children? It depends on the child's age and how the reading is guided. The original was aimed at young readers of its time, and the adventure plot is appealing in itself, but the language is old-fashioned and includes stereotypes of islanders and scenes of violent conflict. For younger children, an adult should accompany the reading and discuss the period prejudices and conflict scenes.

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About the author

Collingwood, Harry, 1851-1922 Author

Harry Collingwood (1851-1922) was a British writer of maritime adventure fiction. Public information about him is limited, and many details of his life remain unknown. The library holds 34 of his works, mainly nautical and military adventure stories, commonly classified as inspirational coming-of-age reading. Representative titles include Across the Spanish Main, The Cruise of the Esmeralda, The Rover's Secret, Under the Ensign of the Rising Sun, The Voyage of the Aurora, Turned Adrift, A Pirate of the Caribbees, and A Middy of the King. Set largely at sea, these novels involve pirates, warships, and distant waters, with tightly plotted stories that focus on young protagonists maturing through danger. Some draw on historical warfare, such as the Russo-Japanese War. His style is popular adventure writing that emphasizes courage, discipline, and responsibility, and is suited to young readers.