On the menu tonight: ON STRANGER TIDESAmuse BoucheThis treasured bit of savory Pirate en Papillote will tantalize your taste buds: a choice cut of ole pirate lore and Caribbean history, spiced with traditional Creole seasonings, and glazed with a stringent sea salt reduction to further whet the appetite. Ahoy, diners, prepare yourself for a repast that is simultaneously light and fulfilling!AppetizerA tossed salad of varied delights: for the historian, we include historical greens as served during the actual time period on display – vignettes that are easily verified by a cursory search on Wikipedia; for the robust straight male, a hearty helping of derring-do, swordplay, vengeance, machismo, and chivalry; for those of the more faggy persuasion, we offer constant shirtlessness and the promise of much nocturnal shipmate “camaraderie”. Unfortunately for the gentler sex, this multi-course meal does not include the usual sampling of kick-ass female pirate; although this flavor is present (sparingly), we instead offer a blander side of helpless Rescue-Me-Please. Our regrets to our lady diners.EntréeAlthough the classic pirate bouillabaisse is often over-spiced to confusion, our delightful offering has been stripped down to allow the diner to discerningly inspect and consume the essence of each ingredient: the pure hero - a straightforward poached scallop; the pure heroine - a handful of simple white rice; the spicy villains - a vivid combination of Haitian crawfish, robust Andouille sausage, and most surprisingly, the traditionally bland English haddock, which we have flash-fried with – some may say – “sorcerous” spices, hitherto untasted by English gentry. Prepare your senses to be born again, and again, as each spoonful allows the diner to imagine how they may return to taste and re-taste this classic dish. Some have said that this meal inspires the rare individual to attempt to conquer Death, if only to return to this meal, forever and again. On this topic, our lips are sealed and our flavor profiles shall remain sacrosanct!DessertFor our last dish, we offer you this stunning and dramatic plate: a half-mad English sorcerer, reliving his days as a happily married man, furiously fucking the sand as he once again fulfills his wedding night duties, as all around him turn aside, aghast!Wine PairingThe vintage “Tim Powers” is a truly unique palate cleanser: it takes traditional historical figures and places them within the realm of the supernatural, all the while remaining true to their documented history. This fine wine takes the known and boldly combines it with the unknown: a marvelous feat!
If you are as nerdy about movies as you clearly are about books if you are visiting this here book website, you probably recognize "On Stranger Tides" as the name of the fourth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Belabored Franchise Subtitle series. This is wholly appropriate. After all, you can't read the book these days without thinking of the movie trilogy extended cash grab saga:* Both are about pirates, natch. * Both are set in the south seas. * Both combine seafaring lore and zombies, one dull taste and one stale taste that somehow still taste great together.In fact, I'd wager POTC actually does quite a disservice to On Stranger Tides as a novel, since even though the book was published around 15 years before the writers of the movies appropriated all of its ideas named it as an "inspiration," Tim Powers' work can't help but feel a little uninspired these days. And it's a shame, because it was never a huge success, even though aside from being original, at the time, probably, it apes the film franchise in another significant way, which is that you really enjoy about the first third and then the plot starts getting really complicated and difficult to follow and by the end you're basically reading voodoo action sequences with only a vague idea of what is happening.Unfortunately, the book stars Captain Jack Shandy instead of Johnny Depp Captain Jack Sparrow. And while Movie-Jack is boozy and entertaining and carries the movie along even when you'd otherwise be super bored at lame Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly's skeleton (very realistic creature, that), Book-Jack is just boozy; not funny, not compelling, barely a character. In fact, all of On Stranger Tides would probably work a lot better if it was funnier. Because let's face it: pirates? Hilarious. Especially when you are listening to Bronson Pinchot narrate an audiobook like it's Talk Like a Pirate Day.So it's probably fortunate that On Stranger Tides was optioned for the fourth movie in the series, because Powers will finally get the payday he deserves for clearly inspiring the whole supernatural take on the genre in the first place, and the story will benefit from a dose of the films' tiresome trademarked humor. And it already doesn't make any sense, which saves the screenwriters a whole bunch of time.
What do You think about On Stranger Tides (2006)?
This is one of Tim's older novels, but it's a doozy. I love the characters, the action, the whole magic, the use of nautical history... I love sailing ships, so this was a special treat. The underlying human story is about how John Chandagnac goes from proper, uninvolved and rather shallow gentleman to Jack Shandy, a pirate with the emotional depths of the seas he sails. This is a perfect storm of a book in many ways. I mean, it's got a virtuous yet flawed hero (who cooks!), towering evil for him to fight, ambiguous good guy/bad guys, magic, pirates (with magic), naval battles (with magic), cool voodoo mages, walking undead, spirits, the Fountain of Youth, a damsel in distress, implacable foes (with magic) and, of course, true love. Which, as we all know, is the greatest thing in the world-except for a nice mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich.I was reading this book, see, ahttp://www.goodreads.com/review/list... marveling at how well Tim puts you in the world with his physical descriptions and thinking "Somebody's got to make this into a movie" when I find out that someone wants to make this into a movie. That someone being the crew from Pirates of the Caribbean. Well, yeah, it won't be like this great book, but with Tim Powers' story at the center, it could still be a good movie.
—Maya Bohnhoff
Pirates, voodoo, the caribbean, black magic... stop me if you've heard this story.But OST is much more than a cobbled together version of a Disney ride. Powers has created a swashbuckling epic, and has enough ideas for any three other novels. There's epic sea battles, drunken sailors, some extremely nasty vilains, and a nightmarish trip to the Fountain of Youth that is worth a read all on its own.Powers has a fantastic imagination, and the skill to get it all onto the page. I'm in awe of his talent.
—William
I should start by saying that even though this novel is nearly 26 years old I wouldn't have heard of it had they not based the fourth film in my favourite series, Pirates of the Caribbean, off of it. Having said that, I should say that I didn't find too many similarities between the stories so I am reviewing the book, NOT the movie.Powers evidently put an awful lot of research into this novel. The nautical terms and historical technicalities all seemed to be in their proper place, with the allowance of the fantasy elements. I feel like this was a good story from the perspective of someone looking into those fantasy elements, but I didn't particularly enjoy it as someone who loves pirate stories. It was almost too romanticized, and too fantasy-oriented for my tastes. Also, I thought it had a weak ending.I did appreciate Powers' character building skills. Johnathan Chandagnac develops quite creatively into Cook Shandy, and eventually Captain Jack Shandy. I liked the mentioning of “Ann Bonny” though it took me until page 200 before I said “Oh, THAT Anne Bonny!” at the point where Calico Jack was also mentioned. I also liked the reference to Thomas Hobbes, and his writing on Leviathan, when Shandy is trying to sneak past the Navy to Jamaica and refers to himself as the philosopher and Woefully Fat as Leviathan. The original take on Blackbeard was also entertaining and his death and reincarnation were certainly not what I had expected when thinking of Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth. I was slightly confused when Hurwood was reincarnated though. I thought Blackbeard was Ulysse, not Benjamin.Overall, four stars for the writing and three for the story.
—Celise
