The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists

by Gideon Defoe

Paperback, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

823.92

Series

The Pirates! (1)

Genres

Publication

Phoenix Press (2005), Paperback

Description

Fiction. Literature. Thriller. Humor (Fiction.) HTML: Not since Moby-Dick...No, not since Treasure Island...Actually, not since Jonah and the Whale has there been a sea saga to rival The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, featuring the greatest sea-faring hero of all time, the immortal Pirate Captain, who, although he lives for months at a time at sea, somehow manages to keep his beard silky and in good condition. Worried that his pirates are growing bored with a life of winking at pretty native ladies and trying to stick enough jellyfish together to make a bouncy castle, the Pirate Captain decides it's high time to spearhead an adventure. While searching for some major pirate booty, he mistakenly attacks the young Charles Darwin's Beagle and then leads his ragtag crew from the exotic Galapagos Islands to the fog-filled streets of Victorian London. There they encounter grisly murder, vanishing ladies, radioactive elephants, and the Holy Ghost himself. And that's not even the half of it..… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member ablueidol

The pirates! : in an adventure with scientists by Gideon Defoe has a humour based on a mix of slapstick,( pirates trying to use Jellyfish as a bouncy castle)Monty Python( pirates disguised as scientists disguised as women), Carry on( peering down on ladies missus) and Blackadder. The book is not

aimed at children, as much of the humour relies on an adult appreciation of cliché and irony, though children may well enjoy it.

When they're not belting out a lusty sea shanty or arguing about the best way to prepare ham, there's nothing pirates like more than a rousing adventure. And this is what the Pirate Captain, (the best leader in the Pirate world because of his beard and rugged good looks but perhaps not the sharpest cutlass in the armoury) and his shipful of variously named pirates--the scarf-wearing pirate, the pirate with an accordion, the ill-fated balding archaeologist pirate are going get.

They are tricked by the dastardly Black Bellamy into scuttling the Beagle and so stop Charles Darwin from bringing a manpanzee back to defeat his evil rival the Bishop of Oxford. To make good their mistake the pirates decide to help further the cause of science, getting treasure and peering at girls from above and go to London where with a very loose historical accuracy the Pirates struggle to solve the mystery of the Circus Ladies nights.

It also only 130ish pages long in a hand size hardback so its not going to be a heavy long term read. Highly recommended first of series and according to Aardman Animations website, author Gideon Defoe is working with producer/director Peter Lord on the screenplay and with writers Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil Hyperdrive (TV series) to turn the first two books from the series into a movie.

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LibraryThing member Othemts

The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists (2004) by Gideon Defoe is a natural book for me to read. I like pirates! I like Charles Darwin! I like humor! This slim book brings them all together.

The gist of the story is that a ragtag bunch of pirates known only by their attributes (the Pirate

Captain, the pirate with the scarf, the pirate with the accordion) join Charles Darwin in adventure to take on the Bishop of Oxford with his trained ape, the Man-Panzee. And from their it gets rather absurd. I enjoy the silly adventures and the even more ridiculous footnotes. I suspect it very easily can be seen by someone with different tastes as stupid, but to each their own.

A lot of reviews compare The Pirates! with Monty Python and Douglas Adams. That's because Gideon Defoe is British and writes funny things. I would say instead that this book is reminiscent of Tom Holt, who is yes, British and yes, writes funny things like The Portable Door.

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LibraryThing member Osbaldistone

Monty Python meets VegeTales? Go ahead, buy it (it's cheap) and read it (it can't hurt you).

Os.

PS - go ahead. Flag this as "not a review". It'll just show that you don't get Python (or, perhaps, VegeTales)!

LibraryThing member annapanda

Just finished The Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe, which is basically a very light-hearted read about a group of not-too-bright pirates and their run in with Charles Darwin. In this book, however, Darwin is not the genius scientist we all learn about in class, but a clumsy,

shy kid who's trying to spread the word about his newest scientific discovery: The Manpanzee.

This book probably wouldn't be for people who don't like really cheesy, goofy humor. I wouldn't go so far as to call it "stupid" humor, but it does come awfully close. I really didn't mind, because sometimes I could do with a laugh that I don't have to think about. I thought that there were a lot of really funny lines, such as:
"Everybody froze. For a moment the only sound was the gentle roar of the ocean, and some wheezing from the pirate with asthma." (p 23)

"If the pirate with a scarf had been more poetically minded he'd have thought that her eyes were like a thousand emeralds, glittering in a far-off pirate treasure chest. But he wasn't, so he just thought that she had really really green eyes, a bit like seaweed." (p 56)

All in all, I found it to be a very entertaining read. A bit of a guilty pleasure between books that I'm having a hard time getting through. At 97 pages, it really didn't take all that long to breeze through, and the plot wasn't one that I had to give a lot of attention and energy too. Just a fun tale about pirates and Darwin.

I think I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars. I don't know if I'd reread it, but for the one time through, it served it's purpose, and I appreciated it.

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LibraryThing member Ti99er

As the story goes Mr. Defoe wrote this book in an effort to get a girl to leave her boyfriend; sadly for him, she did not. The sad ending to the author’s personal tale is not to be considered a negative reflection of his prose. This is a quick read which actually has more than a handful of

laugh-out-loud moments. Being a fan of the humor genre, I can attest to this being a rare event in most books; even if, or most likely especially if the front and back covers are plastered with reviews like "an outrageously humorous ride", "side-splittingly funny", or "I laughed so hard I fractured my funny bone."

The story follows the pursuit of the Pirate Captain and his crew as they embark upon a madcap adventure (I realize the irony, in my descriptor words) whence they meet up with the one and only Charles Darwin and his newly discovered Man-panzee, Mister Bobo. Mister Bobo ia a human-like chimpanzee that dresses in people clothes and speaks through the use of flashcards.

This is a funny adventure and is well worth the short amount of time it will take you to read.

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LibraryThing member MarkHurn

This is a very silly book, but it is, on purpose a very silly book, and so is quite clever. Some of the science cannot be relied upon, but who would rely on this book for science I wonder? I was delighted to find that one of the characters has a link with the place where I work. You will be

relieved, I am sure, that I am not a pirate myself! However, James Glaisher, the pioneering balloonist and real person (see page 68) worked at the Cambridge Observatory from 1833 to 1835 as Junior Assistant. The Institute of Astronomy Library where I work is located in the old Cambridge Observatory building. As I am probably one of the very few people to know of this connection, I thought I should tell someone.

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LibraryThing member paperloverevolution

Ridiculous footnotes! Smackdown wrestling! Talking monkeys! Singing pirates! Too many exclamation points! Ham! HILARIOUS.

LibraryThing member charlottejones952

This book is about a pirate crew seeking adventure when they come across Charles Darwin near the Galapagos Islands. The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists is an hilarious novel that deals with the weighty issue of science versus religion whilst also featuring lots of roaring, running people

through with cutlasses and other piratey things! I picked this one up in the library on a whim because I felt like I recognised the title and after looking it up online found that I'd seen the trailer for the Nick Park film adaptation!

This book is a very lighthearted action-adventure story and is hilarious to read. The author has written in hilarious characters and events, and this humour is also present in the presentation of the book itself; on the flap on the inside of the back cover it says that Gideon Defoe wrote this book about pirates "to impress a girl". This seems similar to what some of the characters in the book might do so I found this quite funny.

The plot did not need much detail and intensity as this is a very lighthearted novel. The pacing was great and easy to read, with just enough action to make it a believable pirate adventure.

The characters were my favourite aspect of this book. I liked how none of the pirates had names, and they were just referred to as aspects of their appearance, such as 'the pirate in green' or 'the pirate with the scarf'. Each one was funny in their own right and added to the overall humourous atmosphere of the plot. Even the antagonist would say something occasionally funny. I also liked that these pirates were unlike their usual stereotype in that they had manners and were slightly more educated than is expected.

The writing, as I have previously said, was paced beautifully so there was never a dull moment and the language itself was quite simple which lent itself well to such a quick read.

Overall I would give The Pirates! in and Adventure with Scientists, 5 out of 5 stars as I found it a very enjoyable read and I will definitely be looking to read the rest of this series by Gideon Defoe.

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LibraryThing member R0BIN

Oddly, I agree with Will that, aside from a few good pirate puns, this book is pretty lame. I say oddly, because Will is a young guy and I thought that might be who this book might appeal to.

There is a blurb from Eric Idle on the front cover and the book does probably contain enough material for a

Monte Python skit.

The back flap says that the author wrote the book to convince a girl to leave her boyfriend for him. It didn't work and I'm not surprised. What does surprise me is that Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, actually published this book. Clare Paterson must be one hell of an agent.

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LibraryThing member R0BIN

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LibraryThing member trinityofone

The story itself isn't as good as the title. But then, what *could* be?

LibraryThing member NancyNo5

A cute little book on pirates. I didn't find it hilarious but it kept me amused enough that I finished it in one sitting.

The story centers around the Pirate Captain (with the most amazing beard) and crew and their next adventure. What makes the story comical is the fact that none of the pirates,

including the Pirate Captain, have any names. They are usually referred to by some distinguishing character: the pirate with a scarf, the pirate in green, the pirate with a hook where his hand should be.

But, make no assumptions, although the names do evoke a chuckle from the reader, these are pirates. They do plunder, loot and kill.

No, you can't compare this to Moby Dick but if you like pirates and want a chuckle to start off your day this is the book to read.

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LibraryThing member stevejwales

There can't be many piratical comedies where a crew under the flag of the Jolly Roger end up in foggy Victorian London helping Charles Darwin with his Man-panzee Mister Bobo against the Bishop of Oxford, but this is just such a tale. It's silly and it involves lots of ham. Plus the Pirate Captain

has a luxuriant beard. On that basis, you can't go wrong, can you?

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LibraryThing member aputel

This is one of the silliest series of books I've ever read. A must read for pirate lovers (with a sense of humor) everywhere.

LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV

Just silly, with absolutely no thoughtfulness. At least Pratchett's Discworld books are satirical and clever. Oh well, at least it was as short as a children's book. (But it's not one.)

LibraryThing member libgirl69

Couldn't get into this. Too twee, tried to hard. Came across as a 8yr old read. Not a bad thing as I junior fiction can be a good read but this this just sucked.

LibraryThing member Tanuki.kun

Not. Quite. Sane.

LibraryThing member greeniezona

After enjoying the Adventure with Ahab, as well as the Pirates! movie, I collected a couple of Pirates! books and put them on the bedtime story shelf for Jefferson, a decision I was ultimately pretty disappointed with. Despite both this book and the movie involving The Pirates! running into Charles

Darwin, that is almost entirely what they have in common And largely to the detriment of this book.

This book is decidedly not family friendly. It was rife with a casual misogyny that was both uncalled for and seemed to come out of the blue, given my previous experience with the brand. It's especially irritating as the author's entire backstory is that he started writing books to impress a woman. This one was his first book, so maybe he learned and grew and moved past it? I'm still giving the other book I bought some serious stink-eye. It's quite likely to disappear off of the bedtime story shelf before we finish the book we are currently reading.

The rare, rare case of a movie being SO MUCH BETTER. Not sure I'll give Defoe another chance.

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LibraryThing member keristars

The Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists is incredibly familiar to me, like a book I've read many times or one that is part of the same reading categories as so many other books I've read so that I must have read it at least once - and yet, when I brought it home from the library with a touch

of nostalgia to reread something after 15 years, I discovered that it was completely new to me.

That nostalgia feeling, the familiarity, is an integral part of the book. (Also, I'm pretty sure I checked it out from the library at least once and simply never got around to reading it before it had to be returned.) Written in 2004 when Pirates vs Ninjas was just starting to be a pop cultural thing, it takes the ideas of pirates and piratical behaviors/settings and throws historicity and logic out the window. This isn't to say it's completely anachronistic or silly, but actual facts about the 1830s and piracy are sparse on the ground, thanks to the book being a loving homage or parody of serial adventure stories from the early 20th century. "An adventure with Scientists" purports to be a mid-series book, with callbacks to other adventures and character establishing traits from earlier books, and it uses similar dangerous-and-scary-yet-somehow-cozy plot devices and adventurous settings.

There is a level of absurdity in the book that I love. While the HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin appear, they bear very little resemblance to actuality (Darwin's big scientific theory is that dressing a chimpanzee up as a gentleman will indeed make him a gentleman). The pirates are known only by descriptors rather than names, and they're obsessed with ham, in addition to traditional piratical things like shanties, grog, treasure, etc. At one point, the pirates are in two levels of disguise, wearing all three sets of clothing at once: pirate garb, scientists' lab coats, and ladies' clothing. Why? because they're a little bit silly and it makes an amusing picture.

This story is amusing and brief and really I love in equal measures its silliness and its parody of adventure series books. It's definitely 2004-ish feeling, though, with a sort of casual misogyny that I noticed start to fall away in the years following as more people became aware of it, as well as the way pirates were such a big thing back then. I'm really glad I don't encounter the objectification of women in quite the same way or nearly as often in more recent media.

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LibraryThing member jamestomasino

These books are just adorable. Want a super fast afternoon read? Love pirates? Love ham? This is for you!

LibraryThing member books-n-pickles

Having finished watching Our Flag Means Death, I figured it was time to go for this slim little book promising amusingly anachronistic pirate adventures with Charles Darwin.

Unfortunately the book doesn't get much beyond amusing, and the reason why can be found in the Acknowledgements, where author

Defoe names only one general book about pirates that he found helpful in the writing--and nothing about Darwin. Look, it's a funny, anachronistic book, I'm not expecting spectacular research, but I just feel like there are so many ways that pirates and Darwin and scientists in general can be funny, but Defoe kind of shrugged and gave up that comedic potential. So, while there are plenty of jokes, most of them don't actually depend on the pirates-and-scientists theme. You could swap them out for just about anything--it probably wouldn't take more than a day to revise the text--and most of the jokes would still work: cowboys and teachers, bandits and politicians, you get the idea.

So, the plot, to remind me later:

Our nameless Pirate Captain, who sports a luxurious beard, has been vacationing with his pirate crew, which includes the pirate with the scarf, the pirate with the accordion, and the first mate, the pirate who wears green. (I found this lack of names funnier than I should, given my own tendency to read books so quickly that I forget the names of characters.) They're bored, so it's time for a new Adventure. After stocking up on roasted ham, they attack the Beagle hoping for gold, but instead find a young Charles Darwin and Bobo, the monkey that he's trained to be a human in almost every way. As it turns out the evil Bishop of Oxford has kidnapped Darwin's brother in protest against Darwin's scientific ideas--and the Pirate Captain makes the best of a bad situation by diverting attention from the lack of gold toward the potential for more adventure.

The pirates sail to Victorian England and we're done with the ship for good, sadly. To Darwin's dismay, the pirates lack hustle, spending some time at arcades and shopping for the latest in pirate fashion instead of focusing on search-and-rescue. While disguised as scientists so that they can stay at the exclusive Royal Society Gentleman's Club, they learn that the Bishop of Oxford has been hosting a circus with a suspicious number of ladies' nights, so the Pirate Captain sends two of his crew disguised as ladies to investigate, while he goes to a pirate convention masquerading as a ham convention.

As it turns out, the Bishop is capturing ladies and turning them into soap that will keep him looking young, so our pirates find themselves in a predicament. Meanwhile, the Pirate Captain meets up with some old friends and plans what OFMD's Stede Bonnet would call a f***ery: Darwin will present the amazing Bobo to the public and a sheet-draped pirate disguised as the "Holy Ghost" will interrupt the proceedings. When Bobo defeats him, the crowds will see how science triumphs and this will somehow make the Bishop confess where he's got Darwin's brother. As it turns out, the Bishop would rather chase the Pirate Captain around the Royal Society museum until Bobo steps in to save the day, the Bishop reveals his dastardly plans, and the Pirate Captain and Darwin engage in some piracy, stealing another scientist's experiment in order to save the day. Darwin's going to take toast-of-the-town Bobo on the road to earn his keep, and the pirates will go back to sea and their piratey ways.

That's it. This isn't a long book, so I didn't mind reading through to the end. If you want a very light bit of fun, there's no need to worry about overcommitting to this. And if you do like it more than I did, it looks like there's a whole series you can enjoy. Sadly, it does not include the Adventure with Cowboys to which the pirates allude--I'm on a bit of a western kick right now.

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LibraryThing member mlake

The Pirate Captain, the pirate with the scarf, Charles Darwin, and Mr. Bobo are all in for a great adventure involving The Bishop of Oxford, an evil plan, pirate's treasure, Big Ben and ham. This was short and silly and fun and I am looking forward to another Pirate adventure.

LibraryThing member wtgray

Wonderful, as much for adults as younger readers. Wacky, quirky, think Monty Python with a teal plot.

LibraryThing member nordie

a very silly small book about pirates and ham and scientists! Very silly, quick read when I finally rescued it from the back of MTBR.

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