<i>The Price of Freedom</i> (review)
2011; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 64; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2011.0355
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Media, Gender, and Advertising
ResumoReviewed by: The Price of Freedom April Spisak Crispin, A. C. The Price of Freedom. Disney, 2011. [480p]. (Pirates of the Caribbean). ISBN 978-1-4231-0704-0 $27.95 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 7–12. In this prequel to The Pirates of the Caribbeanthat’s set about a decade before the events of the films, Jack Sparrow is just a (secretly fantastic) guy in his mid-twenties, who’s trying to forget his pirate upbringing and work his way through the ranks until he makes captain. Stunning pirate women and the lack of bureaucracy make it hard to stay straight, but Jack is both cunning and motivated, and he seems to have quite the knack for getting the best of both worlds. Whether he can actually make off with the treasure sought by the corrupt official for whom he works while also gaining his own ship, balancing two incredible women, and sticking to his own sometimes skewed, sometimes impeccable moral code is far from certain, and this uncertainty adds needed depth to what would otherwise be merely a swashbuckling adventure that would, despite its brilliant pace, be forgotten not long after the last cannon fires. Jack himself, enormously complex and not always likable, is an intriguing protagonist for a young adult novel—completely on par emotionally with teen readers but holding far more power as an adult than they do. Jack is surrounded by ostensible good guys who are decidedly not so good and bad guys who are generous, kind, and upright; the supporting cast is largely as elegantly nuanced as Jack himself, and the occasional boringly “pure” good or evil individual will be forgiven as a necessary plot device. Fans of the films will eagerly dive into this rich and intricately detailed exploration of Jack’s earlier years, but even adventure and action fans who have no idea whether Johnny Depp’s gold teeth are real or not will find this well worth the length; all will hope for a sequel. Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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