Hooked

As I mentioned in my last post, Peter Pan has been the front-runner amongst my obsessions, and I thought I'd share a lovely story I read recently. For those of you who know Peter Pan only through Disney, dash off to the bookstore and buy yourself a little paperback copy of J.M. Barrie's delightful story. I highly recommend it as it is my favorite story of all time, both conceptually and in the rambling, roundabout way in which it is narrated. Once you're done - or for those of you who have already read it - I can also highly recommend an unofficial prequel I recently read.

Captain James Hook and the Curse of Peter Pan is the story of Captain Hook's history, and how exactly he turned into the dreaded character he is in the time of Peter Pan. The two self-published authors do a wonderful job integrating Peter Pan canon with pirate lore and history (including characters such as Blackbeard and Long John Silver, whom Barrie mentions only in passing in Peter Pan) for a seamless and believable story. I haven't been this excited about a book in a long time. I couldn't put it down. While there are a few grammatical errors and things (and maybe I was only especially attuned to them as I am in the process of editing my own novel), they are quite easy to overlook for the sake of the overall story, which is brilliant.

The story starts when Hook is captured by an admiral in the Caribbean and is going to be hanged for piracy - but only after the admiral transcribes a written account of Hook's history. The rest of the story is told from Hook's point of view, beginning when he was a young boy. It's odd thinking of Hook as a child, but I suppose my favorite villain wasn't born an adult - or born evil. I also appreciate the way in which the authors portray Peter Pan himself. They truly capitalize on his ignorant and cocky demeanor. Overall, a great, quick read for anyone who wants to get their hands on anything Peter Pan related.