Fun book on POTC
I found the new POTC Visual Guide on sale today at Borders, so I picked it up. It doesn't talk about the actors and sets - it stays in the fictional universe, talking about pirate and sea life in general and about the characters, specifically.
On Jack: Born on a pirate ship in a typhoon (I think everyone's heard that). Jack is happiest at the helm of the Black Pearl ... though his crew mutinied, he will always be Captain Jack, and the Pearl will always be his. Jack learned swordfighting from an Italian fencing master in exchange for a captured cargo of Chinese silk. He trained himself to shoot by taking aim at empty wine bottles tossed from the Pearl's deck rail. His sword is longer than a conventional cutlass because he likes to keep his enemies at an extra distance.
On early Elizabeth: She took Will's medallion so the ship's crew would not guess that he associated with pirates.
On early Will: His master's name is John Brown. Will makes fancy swords for other people, but his is very plain - a cast-iron grip with half-basket hilt. However, it has a double-edged specially-folded blade to be light and flexible yet "immensely strong" by using methods of Spanish swordsmiths. When he hits Jack with the oar in the caves, he does so because Jack won't stop the ceremony involving Elizabeth and he figures Jack doesn't care what happens to her.
On Norrington: The commodore is sure that he loves Elizabeth, but there are other reasons for marrying her. She can introduce him to important London families, and when the Governor dies, she will inherit a small fortune. After Jack escapes Port Royal, recapturing him becomes a mission that overtakes Norrington. He chases the pirate all over the world, wrecking his ship in the hurricane along the way. The Royal Navy dismisses him for his foolishness and he becomes a penniless drunk. In Tortuga, when Elizabeth leaves him alone on the docks after boarding the Pearl with Jack and his crew, Norrington is approached by Mercer, who strikes a deal on Beckett's behalf. When he delivers the heart to Beckett (and there's some doubt cast here if he actually has the heart), it is so he can redeem himself and regain his place in society.
On Barbossa: He won his flintlock gun when a Spanish pirate challenged him to a duel, and the fellow lost both his pistol and his life. He is old enough to be the father of some members of his crew and nobody challenges him for long because of his "legendary skill with a sword."
On Barbossa's crew: Most were privateers who lose their jobs after wartime and were lured into piracy; some are escaped slaves from West Africa and Hispaniola. Pintel and Ragetti particularly were pressed into service by the Royal Navy, but jumped ship after a year of beatings, bad food, and boredom. (Random fact: Soaking their clothes in urine helps pirates remove most of the bloodstains after battle.)
On Gibbs: Jack's first mate was a pirate before serving in the Royal Navy briefly.
On the failed wedding and Beckett: Elizabeth is sitting in the rain on her wedding day because she believes Will stood her up at the altar. Beckett times his arrival to interrupt the wedding because he knows he can use Will and Elizabeth as bait to snare Jack. He does not want to take over as governor; instead, he wants Weatherby to send good reports to King George in exchange for Elizabeth's safety.
On the possible reason Beckett has command over the Royal Navy: The EITC has grown so large that a threat to it is a threat to Britain itself, so the government takes care to protect the company, supplying marines to guard its ships against pirates. Beckett himself is so desperate to find the pirates' hideaway, Shipwreck Island, that he's "prepared to trust Captain Jack Sparrow as his guide." (Whatever THAT means ...)
On Bill Turner: His sword is forged from the native iron of the seabed and barnacle-encrusted and covered in rust. However, in Bill's hands, it's a lethal weapon he swings "with truly terrifying power, cutting through heavy ships' beams as if they were seaweed."
On Tia Dalma: Her shack is made up of every kind of lumber, including planks from coffins and discarded canoes. Various vials contain spider venom, locks of sirens' hair, and preserved sea snakes. As soon as Will enters the shack, she is charmed "by his boyish good looks. Jack flatters himself the grin is for him, and is shocked when his old sweetheart ignores him."
On the compass: Jack lies about how he betrayed Will, then realizes that Elizabeth's desire to rescue her fiance will lead him to the chest. He hands her his compass after telling her about the chest, and the needle swings and holds steady in one direction, giving them their heading.
On the Flying Dutchman: The figurehead is a carved statue of the Grim Reaper with his scythe. The captain's cabin is lighted with glowing sea creatures and its ornate panels are carved from the wrecks of sunken ships. The stern's windows are outlined by wood in the shape of giant teeth, and the deck above is decorated with the intertwined skeletons of ferocious sea beasts. The gunports even appear to be alive, scowling faces whose mouths open to admit the cannons. Above the keyboard of Jones' organ is a carving of a woman with long flowing hair, surrounded by sea creatures.
On the Kraken: The monster is said to be the length of 10 ships, with immensely strong tentacles and a huge gaping mouth filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth. (There is a drawing that accompanies this, below.)
On Singapore: This is where Barbossa and his new makeshift crew hope to bargain with Sao Feng for a ship and crew to sail to World's End. Everyone is a spy for Sao Feng, and the women with whom he surrounds himself are deadly as well as beautiful - the ornamental fans they carry can also serve as weapons, with slashing, bladed ribs. The crew infiltrate his bathhouse, hoping to catch him off guard.
On Sao Feng: He is feared from Malaya to Macao. In return for a promise of safety from EITC, he would happily send his pirate brethern to the gallows - but when he learns the pirates have Calypso on their side, he decides to turn against Beckett, not wanting to be on the losing side. His interest in Elizabeth is piqued when she accuses him of cowering in his bathwater while his ships rot in harbor. When Barbossa and Elizabeth arrive to negotiate, they find he has captured Will, who was caught stealing charts (unusual, circular charts that rotate position and lead to many places) from Sao Feng's uncle's home. Will is kept at the bottom of a tub of ice water until Feng reveals him as prisoner and leverage (more below).
On later Will: Will actually has his own agenda for this meeting in the bath house. He has double-crossed Barbossa and is ready to cross Jack. Will explains to Feng that the others stand in the way of what he wants - to obtain his father's freedom from Jones - but Feng can help him and be helped in return.
On later Elizabeth: When Will as prisoner is revealed, she and Barbossa pretend they don't know him, but when Feng prepares to gut Will, Elizabeth can't help but betray her real feelings. (Apparently, she is in the green shorty robe because it was under her clothes and Feng's guards demand she removes her outergarments so they can see what weapons she is hiding.) When Feng demands that she join him in exchange for helping Barbossa and crew, Elizabeth agrees to help her friends by going with him. Feng tries to win Elizabeth's favor but hints that "he will be happy to accept her fury."
A word on the nine pirate lords: There's too much here to relate all of it, but each lord has his section of the globe, and Jack Sparrow is Pirate Lord of the Caribbean. (Barbossa is Lord of the Caspian Sea, if you wonder.) The nine lords once created the Pirate Code, and the first time they met, they captured sea goddess Calypso, bound her into human form and tamed the sea for their era of conquest. (Random bit of humorous trivia: The actor who portrayed Saladin in "Kingdom of Heaven" is a pirate lord in this movie as well - Ammand the Corsair.)
On Calypso: When the pirates release her from her earthly prison, she creates a storm and a whirlpool the ships have to contend with (in this case, the ships of the nine Lords and the 300-plus of the EITC they face).
And that's where the book ends ... *G*
On Jack: Born on a pirate ship in a typhoon (I think everyone's heard that). Jack is happiest at the helm of the Black Pearl ... though his crew mutinied, he will always be Captain Jack, and the Pearl will always be his. Jack learned swordfighting from an Italian fencing master in exchange for a captured cargo of Chinese silk. He trained himself to shoot by taking aim at empty wine bottles tossed from the Pearl's deck rail. His sword is longer than a conventional cutlass because he likes to keep his enemies at an extra distance.
On early Elizabeth: She took Will's medallion so the ship's crew would not guess that he associated with pirates.
On early Will: His master's name is John Brown. Will makes fancy swords for other people, but his is very plain - a cast-iron grip with half-basket hilt. However, it has a double-edged specially-folded blade to be light and flexible yet "immensely strong" by using methods of Spanish swordsmiths. When he hits Jack with the oar in the caves, he does so because Jack won't stop the ceremony involving Elizabeth and he figures Jack doesn't care what happens to her.
On Norrington: The commodore is sure that he loves Elizabeth, but there are other reasons for marrying her. She can introduce him to important London families, and when the Governor dies, she will inherit a small fortune. After Jack escapes Port Royal, recapturing him becomes a mission that overtakes Norrington. He chases the pirate all over the world, wrecking his ship in the hurricane along the way. The Royal Navy dismisses him for his foolishness and he becomes a penniless drunk. In Tortuga, when Elizabeth leaves him alone on the docks after boarding the Pearl with Jack and his crew, Norrington is approached by Mercer, who strikes a deal on Beckett's behalf. When he delivers the heart to Beckett (and there's some doubt cast here if he actually has the heart), it is so he can redeem himself and regain his place in society.
On Barbossa: He won his flintlock gun when a Spanish pirate challenged him to a duel, and the fellow lost both his pistol and his life. He is old enough to be the father of some members of his crew and nobody challenges him for long because of his "legendary skill with a sword."
On Barbossa's crew: Most were privateers who lose their jobs after wartime and were lured into piracy; some are escaped slaves from West Africa and Hispaniola. Pintel and Ragetti particularly were pressed into service by the Royal Navy, but jumped ship after a year of beatings, bad food, and boredom. (Random fact: Soaking their clothes in urine helps pirates remove most of the bloodstains after battle.)
On Gibbs: Jack's first mate was a pirate before serving in the Royal Navy briefly.
On the failed wedding and Beckett: Elizabeth is sitting in the rain on her wedding day because she believes Will stood her up at the altar. Beckett times his arrival to interrupt the wedding because he knows he can use Will and Elizabeth as bait to snare Jack. He does not want to take over as governor; instead, he wants Weatherby to send good reports to King George in exchange for Elizabeth's safety.
On the possible reason Beckett has command over the Royal Navy: The EITC has grown so large that a threat to it is a threat to Britain itself, so the government takes care to protect the company, supplying marines to guard its ships against pirates. Beckett himself is so desperate to find the pirates' hideaway, Shipwreck Island, that he's "prepared to trust Captain Jack Sparrow as his guide." (Whatever THAT means ...)
On Bill Turner: His sword is forged from the native iron of the seabed and barnacle-encrusted and covered in rust. However, in Bill's hands, it's a lethal weapon he swings "with truly terrifying power, cutting through heavy ships' beams as if they were seaweed."
On Tia Dalma: Her shack is made up of every kind of lumber, including planks from coffins and discarded canoes. Various vials contain spider venom, locks of sirens' hair, and preserved sea snakes. As soon as Will enters the shack, she is charmed "by his boyish good looks. Jack flatters himself the grin is for him, and is shocked when his old sweetheart ignores him."
On the compass: Jack lies about how he betrayed Will, then realizes that Elizabeth's desire to rescue her fiance will lead him to the chest. He hands her his compass after telling her about the chest, and the needle swings and holds steady in one direction, giving them their heading.
On the Flying Dutchman: The figurehead is a carved statue of the Grim Reaper with his scythe. The captain's cabin is lighted with glowing sea creatures and its ornate panels are carved from the wrecks of sunken ships. The stern's windows are outlined by wood in the shape of giant teeth, and the deck above is decorated with the intertwined skeletons of ferocious sea beasts. The gunports even appear to be alive, scowling faces whose mouths open to admit the cannons. Above the keyboard of Jones' organ is a carving of a woman with long flowing hair, surrounded by sea creatures.
On the Kraken: The monster is said to be the length of 10 ships, with immensely strong tentacles and a huge gaping mouth filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth. (There is a drawing that accompanies this, below.)
On Singapore: This is where Barbossa and his new makeshift crew hope to bargain with Sao Feng for a ship and crew to sail to World's End. Everyone is a spy for Sao Feng, and the women with whom he surrounds himself are deadly as well as beautiful - the ornamental fans they carry can also serve as weapons, with slashing, bladed ribs. The crew infiltrate his bathhouse, hoping to catch him off guard.
On Sao Feng: He is feared from Malaya to Macao. In return for a promise of safety from EITC, he would happily send his pirate brethern to the gallows - but when he learns the pirates have Calypso on their side, he decides to turn against Beckett, not wanting to be on the losing side. His interest in Elizabeth is piqued when she accuses him of cowering in his bathwater while his ships rot in harbor. When Barbossa and Elizabeth arrive to negotiate, they find he has captured Will, who was caught stealing charts (unusual, circular charts that rotate position and lead to many places) from Sao Feng's uncle's home. Will is kept at the bottom of a tub of ice water until Feng reveals him as prisoner and leverage (more below).
On later Will: Will actually has his own agenda for this meeting in the bath house. He has double-crossed Barbossa and is ready to cross Jack. Will explains to Feng that the others stand in the way of what he wants - to obtain his father's freedom from Jones - but Feng can help him and be helped in return.
On later Elizabeth: When Will as prisoner is revealed, she and Barbossa pretend they don't know him, but when Feng prepares to gut Will, Elizabeth can't help but betray her real feelings. (Apparently, she is in the green shorty robe because it was under her clothes and Feng's guards demand she removes her outergarments so they can see what weapons she is hiding.) When Feng demands that she join him in exchange for helping Barbossa and crew, Elizabeth agrees to help her friends by going with him. Feng tries to win Elizabeth's favor but hints that "he will be happy to accept her fury."
A word on the nine pirate lords: There's too much here to relate all of it, but each lord has his section of the globe, and Jack Sparrow is Pirate Lord of the Caribbean. (Barbossa is Lord of the Caspian Sea, if you wonder.) The nine lords once created the Pirate Code, and the first time they met, they captured sea goddess Calypso, bound her into human form and tamed the sea for their era of conquest. (Random bit of humorous trivia: The actor who portrayed Saladin in "Kingdom of Heaven" is a pirate lord in this movie as well - Ammand the Corsair.)
On Calypso: When the pirates release her from her earthly prison, she creates a storm and a whirlpool the ships have to contend with (in this case, the ships of the nine Lords and the 300-plus of the EITC they face).
And that's where the book ends ... *G*