"You are," he said, "the niece of the man who owns me his slave."

[dangermousie]

His head-piece was gone, his breastplate dinted, his right sleeve a rag hanging from his shoulder about a naked arm. He was splashed from head to foot with blood, and there was blood from a scalp-wound that he had taken matting his hair and mixing with the grime of powder on his face to render him unrecognizable.

But from that horrible mask two vivid eyes looked out preternaturally bright, and from those eyes two tears had ploughed each a furrow through the filth of his cheeks.

Can you tell this book was written just for me?

You have no idea how pleasantly amused I was to see that people still make fanvids for Captain Blood. It brings back my childhood so vividly!

What is Captain Blood? It's the arguably ur-pirate novel (and certainly the most famous one), written by the British swashbuckler author Rafael Sabatini. Captain Blood was Sabatini's most famous novel but he was also responsible for Scaramouche and a number of other excellent adventure novels. My favorite of them all is relatively little-known and grim Fortune's Fool, set during the Great Plague - it's characters are a tired and broke soldier of fortune who is willing to compromise even his honor for a hope of a future and an ambitious and strong-willed actress who is someone from his past. The hurt/comfort in that book is out of this world. And that was the mother of all digressions.

Captain Blood follows the adventures of Peter Blood, a former mercenary who has decided to settle down and practice his initial profession - medicine. Unfortunately, it's the time of Monmouth's ill-fated rebellion against James II and while Blood has no interest in joining the rebels, he is true to his Hyppocratic oath and goes to attend an injured nobleman supporter of Monmouth when summoned.

It is enough to get him arrested, summarily tried by a court and sentenced to be executed (while ironically, and predictably, the nobleman he healed gets off entirely due to connections). Luckily for Blood and some of his fellow "rebels", James II decides his Carribean colonies need some new slaves and instead of execution, Blood and others are shipped as white slaves to the islands. There Blood is sold to a sadistic, brutish Colonel Bishop - as an act of pity, Bishop's niece Arabella persuaded her uncle to buy him. If Blood was not a rebel before, he certainly becomes one after all this and concocts a plan with some of his fellow slaves to escape. And then comes a pirate attack on the town and...Well, I can't recount the whole plot but suffice it to say the novel is called Captain Blood for a reason.



I read it when I was about 13 and fell ridiculously in love. I used to reread it religiously - it had everything I didn't even yet know I would like: strong, swashbuckling heroes with issues, UST through the roof, a spirited heroine, period setting, adventures and fights, hurt/comfort, duels at dawn...Did I mention the out-of-this-world levels of UST? It's not every day the OTP starts their relationship as (niece of) master and slave...



The movie is nowhere as good but it's good entertaining fun, and Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland are totally right for the parts.

Here is a MV that got me going on that tangent:

You can find the novel for free (as copyright has expired) here.

Apparently they are readapting the story - a new movie is slated to come out in 2011. I am going to be curious to see it even if I am afraid no movie version will live up to the one that's in my head.

Comments

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Ah yes ... I can still remember the first time I watched the movie. I was about 6 or 7 and it was on Sunday matinee on German TV (it was the first of a series of pirate movies at that time). My first swashbuckling movie and I fell deep and hard for pirates.

I really need a copy of this one as well as The Black Swan on DVD, my VHS tapes are sadly screwed :(

[timescout.livejournal.com]

Ah, the swashbuckling Capitain. Part of my childhood - we used to get nothing but Golden Oldies during the summer months when I was growing up, so I've seen most of the classics god knows how many times. Hope the re-make is halfway deacent. There's not enough films of sailing ships. :)

As for Sabatini, in my case it was Scaramouche that captured my heart. I used to read and re-read that one.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

As long as they don't get like Josh Hartnett to star in the new one we're good to go.

OT: That comment got me thinking that there are just some people who do NOT look right in period pieces and should never be cast in them.

[ulkis.livejournal.com]

I must go and read Captain Blood soon! I keep putting it off because I'm saving it for when I want a really good read, but at this rate I'll end up never reading it. (Also, I need to read it so I can finally watch the movie!)Meanwhile, I am enjoying the prettiness that is Olivia and Errol Flynn.

Meh, I don't want them to do a remake - if anything, they should remake Scaramouche, because I'd like an accurate version that's not silent and while the Stewart Granger movie seems good but it strays too far from the book for me

[ulkis.livejournal.com]

ETA: OK, nevermind, not many spoilers in your post. :) I'll have to get my hands on "Fortune's Fool" - I read "The Sea Hawk" after Scaramouche and I have to admit I was disappointed - it was fine, but it wouldn't've sent me looking for his other books.

[animeshon.livejournal.com]

Ahh I remember watching this movie a long time ago, but I didn't realise it was based on a book. I shall have to check it out. Thanks :)