Public-domain ebook
The Buccaneer: A Tale
Language: en6,912 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Historical Novels·Adventure·Novels
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #28074.
About this book
The Buccaneer is an adventure tale set in the mid‑seventeenth century, opening with a philosophical preface that declares fiction’s broad appeal before plunging the reader into a moonlit night on the Isle of Shepey. The narrative begins in February 1656, where three men in a small skiff disembark onto a cliff‑lined bay, and the seasoned skipper immediately prepares his crew with pistols, a dagger and a silk sash. Detailed description of the harsh sea, the precarious climb, and the tense dialogue between the skipper and a youthful sailor establish a vivid, peril‑filled atmosphere that promises further exploits of buccaneers and seafaring intrigue.
Written in a richly descriptive, almost theatrical style, the prose reflects the Romantic‑Victorian sensibilities of an 1840 publication. Its elaborate language, frequent quotations, and focus on daring deeds will appeal to readers who enjoy historical swash‑buckling, period‑specific diction, and the immersive world‑building of early nautical fiction.
Opening lines
"No kind of literature is so generally attractive as Fiction. Pictures of life and manners, and Stories of adventure, are more eagerly received by the many than graver productions, however important these latter may be. Apuleius is better remembered by his fable of Cupid and Psyche than by his abstruser Platonic writings; and the Decameron of BOCCACCIO has outlived the Latin Treatises, and other learned works of that author." …
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