A High Wind in Jamaica (Vintage Hughes)

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Harold Cohen: "The Drama Desk: Addenda,'" The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Tuesday, 23 October 1943), p. 24 Changes of all kinds fill the novel. In the first chapter we are introduced to the social and cultural changes that took place in Jamaica during the 19th century. Later we witness the accidental, split-second change from life to death on board the Clorinda, and also, when the ship lands, the apparently magical change of women into men. Then there is a most dramatic change that overtakes everyone at the bazaar on St Lucia after a few gallons of an enticing alcoholic drink called “Hangman’s Blood” has been passed around. To the children, the whole nature of the adults “seemed to be breaking up, like ice melting ... The tone of their voices changed, and they began to talk much slower, to move more slowly and elaborately. The expression of their faces became more candid, and yet more mask-like: hiding less, there was also less to hide.” But Deborah Baxter's role is important. And she's magnetic. It's worth speculating why this should be so, but the answer isn't too flattering to the gentlemen in the audience. She was nine years old when this film was released. She's not striking beautiful -- no porcelain doll like Brooke Shields in "Pretty Baby." There is nevertheless something extremely appealing about her appearance and demeanor. Please, I'm no pedophile. I find older women more likable, for all the reasons given by Benjamin Franklin.

A High Wind in Jamaica is a 1929 novel by the Welsh writer Richard Hughes, which was made into a film of the same name in 1965. The book was initially titled The Innocent Voyage and published by Harper & Brothers in the spring of that year. Several months later Hughes renamed his novel in time for its British publication, [1] and Harper followed suit. [2] The original title retained some currency, as evidenced by Paul Osborn's 1943 stage adaptation. [3] [4] There have since been two radio adaptations (one written in 1950 by Jane Speed for NBC University Theater; [5] the other in 2000 by Bryony Lavery for BBC Radio 4 [6]), with the title A High Wind in Jamaica. During one snowy day, I read the whole book in one gulp. It was remarkable, tiny, crazy. I felt just like I did as a kid.”— Andrew Sean Greer, All Things Considered, NPR I had watched this eons ago on Italian TV but had long forgotten it - the film does come across as somewhat unmemorable at the end of the day, but this offbeat pirate-adventure-with-child-interest has a beguiling charm all its own. That said, the film's very low-key nature might not win it much approval among action-film fans... Once, when she was eight, Mrs. Thornton had thought she was too big to bathe naked any more. The only bathing-dress she could rig up was an old cotton night-gown. Emily jumped in as usual: first the balloons of air tipped her upside down, and then the wet cotton wrapped itself round her head and arms and nearly drowned her. After that, decency was let go hang again: it is hardly worth being drowned for—at least, it does not at first sight appear to be.Decency go hang—how great for a child! You would not find such laissez-faire attitudes in genuine Victorian children's literature such as E. Nesbit's The Railway Children, and you certainly don't find it in C. S. Lewis' high-minded The Chronicles of Narnia a quarter century later. But what about that authorial aside, "at first sight"? A warning of more serious trespasses still to come? Contado así puede parecer un simple libro juvenil de aventuras, pero la novela por suerte no se queda en la superficie. Richard Hughes se dedicará durante diez capítulos a diseccionar y bucear en la mente de esos niños hasta dejarnos boquiabiertos. Su actitud, su comportamiento, el más pequeño de sus pensamientos, la frialdad con la que reaccionarán ante determinados hechos...nada escapa a la pluma de Hughes mientras nos cuenta la fascinante relación amor-odio-miedo que es establece entre los piratas y los niños.

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Next, the narrator: he is so funny. He's always coming in at odd times to tell us his opinion, but rarely outright. He's subtle about it. The eye of an alligator is large, protruding, and of a brilliant yellow, with a slit pupil like a cat’s. A cat’s eye, to the casual observer, is expressionless: though with attention one can distinguish in it many changes of emotion. But the eye of an alligator is infinitely more stony, and brilliant - reptilian. The book opens on the island of Jamaica, in the early to mid-1800s, introducing readers to the Bas-Thornton children - in particular John and Emily. The setting is Edenic, with the children often going about naked -- being quite comfortable in having gone “native.” They spend their days swimming, climbing trees, and capturing animals. At one point -- morally telling -- the children muse over the fact that “jiggers” (maggots) are “not absolutely unpleasant” and there is now a “sort of thrill” rubbing the skin (like the natives) where their eggs are laid. In late August 1929, five months after the US publication of his novel, A High Wind in Jamaica (US title The Innocent Voyage), the 29-year-old British author Richard Hughes, was crossing the Atlantic on the SS De Grasse in time for the British publication in September.

I first saw "A High Wind in Jamaica" in the late sixties one evening on late night TV. It's a compelling, realistic, well-filmed action movie with outstanding performances by Anthony Quinn and James Coburn and a fast-paced, exciting storyline. It even features a brief appearance by Gert Frobe, of "Goldfinger" fame. Published in 1928, the book received strong reactions due to its subject and characters. Nowadays, I am sure sensitive parents will react the same (that is, if they find the time to read). That’s why this is such a good book. It was fascinating to read how easily children adapt to something or the environment, the right and wrong concepts. Moreover, it was absurdly enlightening for me to see how “bad” a child could be in its most natural form. It has a significant impact on my decision not to have any children, and I love it a lot. In this novel Richard Hughes undertook a very special journey into the world of children’s consciousness therefore the book is unique. New York Guild Enters 3rd Play: 'Innocent Voyage' Follows on Heels of 'Oklahoma'; and 'Othello,'" The Gazette (Montreal) (Tuesday, 16 November 1943), p. 3 So this was an alligator! She was actually going to sleep with an alligator! She had thought that to anyone who had once been in an earthquake nothing really exciting could happen again: but then, she had not thought of this.

Others [ who?] lauded Hughes for contradicting the Victorian romances of childhood by portraying the children without emotional reduction. The book is often given credit for influencing and paving the way for novels such as Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Gossip of the Book World," Los Angeles Times (6 April 1930), p. B16. "'The Innocent Voyage' by Richard Hughes has just been republished by Harpers under the English title, 'A High Wind in Jamaica.' When it was published here last year it had only a small sale, while the English edition, brought out three months ago, achieved an im-..."