Long John Silver is a blowhard, arrogant and devious, and his story is a highly entertaining one. The narrative jumps around as he recalls different personages and events that he wishes to recount. As the title states, there is a “goodly amount of murder” in here, told extremely matter-of-factly. Pirates do not labor under a burden of conscience: Silver is a deft hand at killing and he’s proud of it.
In between Silver’s narrative of his life are interludes during which his present captive condition breaks in. A fever has him in its grips and he rants and raves at the sea captain who is delivering him back to England; this captain was once a shipmate of his and Silver is quite resentful at the betrayal. It is during these interludes that the pirate sets forth the clues to the hidden treasure for his captor (and the reader) to decipher. DaVinci Code-like, there are passages from scripture, alphanumeric phrases and pictographs to be puzzled over.
Chupack makes it clear in the Author’s Note at the end of the book that while Silver was inspired by Treasure Island, his novel is not a retelling. Long John Silver was his favorite character in Treasure Island and he had fun expanding the role, “creat[ing] a monster in Silver.” In addition, Chupack surrounds Silver with a nasty cast of characters, some of whom will be recognizable to fans of Stevenson’s book, including Billy Bones, Ben Gunn, Smollet, and a version of Jim Hawkins, but most of whom are brand new to the tale and plenty sinister.
It isn’t necessary to have read Treasure Island to enjoy Silver: I’ve never attempted Stevenson’s classic and I found Chupack’s tale of piracy and duplicity to be easily accessible and great fun. Silver: My Own Tale As Written by Me with a Goodly Amount of Murder is rollicking good fare to be enjoyed by old salts and landlubbers alike.
Article comments