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18th out of 248 books
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207 voters
The Sea-Hawk
Oliver Tressilian, a Cornish gentleman who helped defeat the Spanish Armada, is betrayed by his half-brother, throwing him into circumstances where he becomes a Barbary pirate and a follower of Islam.
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
July 17th 2002
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 1915)
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Great line:
"There's no call to go softly, Ralph Tressilian was a dishonour, a scandal to the countryside. Not a hamlet between here and Truro, or between here and Helston, but swarms with big Tressilian noses like your own, in memory of your debauched parent."
Sir Oliver's syes grew narrower; he smiled. "I wonder how you came by your own nose?" he wondered.
Master Godolphin got to his feet in a passion and his chair crashed over behind him. "Sir," he blazed, "you insult my mother's memory!"
The...more
"There's no call to go softly, Ralph Tressilian was a dishonour, a scandal to the countryside. Not a hamlet between here and Truro, or between here and Helston, but swarms with big Tressilian noses like your own, in memory of your debauched parent."
Sir Oliver's syes grew narrower; he smiled. "I wonder how you came by your own nose?" he wondered.
Master Godolphin got to his feet in a passion and his chair crashed over behind him. "Sir," he blazed, "you insult my mother's memory!"
The...more
Sabatini seems so far to have a pattern to his writing. His stories stop when the hero has his happy ending and justice has been delivered to his villains, i.e., actual scumbags for whom there is very little sympathy from the reader. In all three books, there is also the woman who misunderstands the hero, the side villain that redeems himself, and the fool of a side character that makes life hard for the hero. The hero is sardonic, honorable, stoic, steadfast, and faces adversity with a barbed t...more
I have a bit of a weakness for swashbuckling tales of adventure, and I think it’s fair to say that the greatest writer of such stories in the English language was Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950). And The Sea Hawk, originally published in 1915, is generally regarded as one of his finest works.
Sabatini was born in Italy. His mother was English and from the age of seventeen he made his home in England. All his books were written in English.
Like his even more famous Captain Blood which came out in 192...more
Sabatini was born in Italy. His mother was English and from the age of seventeen he made his home in England. All his books were written in English.
Like his even more famous Captain Blood which came out in 192...more
Rafael Sabatini! Oh, this generation doesn't even KNOW. This is a classic swashbuckling novel by the author of Captain Blood, and it is deliciously over the top. Handsome, powerful Oliver Tressilian, in love with the fair Rosamund, is working to overcome the opposition that Rosamund's sleazy brother and guardian are posing to their marriage. R's brother Peter provokes Oliver into public threats, but Oliver controls himself for love of his fair one; alas, Oliver's weasly brother Lionel kills Pete...more
First, let's get this out of the way: in real life, pirates are bad people--really bad.
But in literature and movies, you can take something as reprehensible as piracy and turn it into something more, well, swashbuckling.
As is so often the case, our hero in this melodrama is driven to extreme by the faithlessness of the woman he loves. Among other things. In fact, injustice just keeps piling on until you just can't believe anything worse can happen to Sir Oliver Tressilian. In this regard, the bo...more
But in literature and movies, you can take something as reprehensible as piracy and turn it into something more, well, swashbuckling.
As is so often the case, our hero in this melodrama is driven to extreme by the faithlessness of the woman he loves. Among other things. In fact, injustice just keeps piling on until you just can't believe anything worse can happen to Sir Oliver Tressilian. In this regard, the bo...more
Sir Oliver Tressilian is the elder son of a man remembered by people as a foul-tempered despot and some of that bias has passed on to his son. Sir Oliver has paid of his father's debts and made his fortune by privateering in the name of the Queen, piracy by a gentler name. Now he is in love with Lady Godolophin, who has had a gentling effect on his troubled soul. But all is not well, for Lady Godolophin's borther, Peter, intensely dislikes Oliver due to their Guardian's dislike of the man, a gru...more
**more like 3.5 stars
I didn't like this book as well as Captain Blood, mates. It had a completely different vibe, probably because it concerned Barbary pirates (Moorish ones), rather than those lovable pirates of the Caribbean.
The Barbary pirates stayed close to the Barbary coast, where they'd await their unsuspecting victim like a hawk (thus the name Sea-Hawk). They mostly relied on oar power, not wind power, to catch their victims. So there was no breathtaking unfurling of the sails, but inst...more
I didn't like this book as well as Captain Blood, mates. It had a completely different vibe, probably because it concerned Barbary pirates (Moorish ones), rather than those lovable pirates of the Caribbean.
The Barbary pirates stayed close to the Barbary coast, where they'd await their unsuspecting victim like a hawk (thus the name Sea-Hawk). They mostly relied on oar power, not wind power, to catch their victims. So there was no breathtaking unfurling of the sails, but inst...more
Another good adventure book by Sabatini. Sabatini is an excellent writer with a style very similar to Dumas, except a bit more focused and serious.
Rafael Sabatini was a very popular writer in the 1920s and 30s and many of his books were made into big budget movies (Sea-Hawk, Captain Blood, Scaramouche). Never critically recognized, his writing is entirely too smooth, his plots too twisting and interesting, and his dialogue too often littered with interesting turns of phrase such as "Words may b...more
Rafael Sabatini was a very popular writer in the 1920s and 30s and many of his books were made into big budget movies (Sea-Hawk, Captain Blood, Scaramouche). Never critically recognized, his writing is entirely too smooth, his plots too twisting and interesting, and his dialogue too often littered with interesting turns of phrase such as "Words may b...more
A couple of quotes from Rafael Sabatini's books—used as examples of great description—introduced me to his writing. Thanks to public domain and a Kindle, I downloaded two to read.
Being in the mood to be at sea, I chose to begin "The Sea-Hawk" as a light read for a busy time. The lack of much nautical action was disappointing, but that was about the only disappointment.
Sabatini keeps his readers guessing as to what will come next. The action moves one quickly along, yet the characters come to lif...more
Being in the mood to be at sea, I chose to begin "The Sea-Hawk" as a light read for a busy time. The lack of much nautical action was disappointing, but that was about the only disappointment.
Sabatini keeps his readers guessing as to what will come next. The action moves one quickly along, yet the characters come to lif...more
The Sea-Hawk by Rafael Sabatini is a tale of love and fights and fortunes upon the sea. Algerian pirates and the hatred shared by both Christians and Muslims play a big part of this story that was published in 1915. The story has all the color and attraction of England and the Mediterranean ports when the hero of the tale takes up the life of a Barbary corsair. This is a romance novel without the sex and lust that is so common in more contemporary works. This is, in a way, a fresh change from th...more
This was an enjoyable adventure, but not as engaging as the last Sabatini book I finished (Captain Blood). The pacing is a bit slow; there are long swaths of narrative where I felt like I was waiting too long for either character development, or action that was critical to the plot. Additionally, I didn't really connect with any of the characters. Their motivations were clear and believable -- Sabatini puts almost too much emphasis on the reasons they make the decisions they do -- but I didn't r...more
Okay. I discovered something about myself. Apparently I can overlook a hero who steals, and kills people (a pirate, as they're called), but I balk at one who captures people in order to enslave them. This book had a lot of the stuff I like in it, but I just couldn't forget that Sir Oliver was in the business of slavery. I could not forgive him that, could find no excuse for it - especially since he himself had been kidnapped and made into a galley slave at one point. (Wouldn't that make him angr...more
The right book to pick this time, to quest my thirst on pirate story.
Sir Oliver Tressilian, an English gentleman, who later betrayed by his step brother. His journey brought him to the world of Muslim pirates and warriors which later made him converted to the 'true believers' and later known as Sakr-El-Bahr or the 'Sea Hawk'. As Oliver Tressilian or as Sakr-El-Bahr, he surely was a good man but always captured in bad situation and surrounded by jealous people.
Sabatini amazed me on how he descri...more
Sir Oliver Tressilian, an English gentleman, who later betrayed by his step brother. His journey brought him to the world of Muslim pirates and warriors which later made him converted to the 'true believers' and later known as Sakr-El-Bahr or the 'Sea Hawk'. As Oliver Tressilian or as Sakr-El-Bahr, he surely was a good man but always captured in bad situation and surrounded by jealous people.
Sabatini amazed me on how he descri...more
"Sir Oliver Tressilian!" Killigrew gasped, and "Sir Oliver Tressilian!" echoed Lord Henry Goade, to add "By God!"
"Not Sir Oliver Tressilian", came the answer, "but Sakr-el-Bahr, the scourge of the sea, the terror of Christendom, the desperate corsair your lies, cupidity and false-heartedness have fashioned out of a sometime Cornish gentleman." He embraced them all in his denunciatory gesture. "Behold me here with my sea-hawks to present a reckoning long overdue."
****
I adored this book. Admittedl...more
"Not Sir Oliver Tressilian", came the answer, "but Sakr-el-Bahr, the scourge of the sea, the terror of Christendom, the desperate corsair your lies, cupidity and false-heartedness have fashioned out of a sometime Cornish gentleman." He embraced them all in his denunciatory gesture. "Behold me here with my sea-hawks to present a reckoning long overdue."
****
I adored this book. Admittedl...more
I first came to Rafael Sabatini through his excellent 1922 pirate novel Captain Blood, and then read his fine 1921 swashbuckling tale, Scaramouche. Continuing this journey through Sabatini's novels, I've just completed his 1915 pirate intrigue, The Sea-Hawk. The Sea-Hawk doesn't disappoint, living up exceedingly well to the high standards of Sabatini's other novels. It's got everything - adventure, drama, romance, and exotic locales. There are some elements that echo Sabatini's other stories, bu...more
Sir Oliver Tressilian is a wealthy landowner who plans to marry his beautiful neighbor, Rosamund. But after Rosamund's brother is murdered, not even she believes he's innocent of the crime. Before he can clear his name, his brother betrays him into slavery, where a chance encounter propels him into the ranks of the Barbary pirates. Five years later, he's Sakr-El-Bahr, the Sea Hawk, and he decides that it's time to use his new position to settle old scores.
Sir Oliver is more difficult to like tha...more
Sir Oliver is more difficult to like tha...more
Brilliantly written in deliciously old fashioned English, this is the story of a man wrongfully accused of murder. He is then abducted, sentenced as a galley slave, and then... escapes!! But when he reemerges as The Sea-Hawk, a Barbary corsair, the tale is far from over.
Sir Oliver Tressilian is superb - witty, passionate, headstrong, and complex. And then there's the fair Lady Rosamund - Sir Oliver's love. She very nearly drove me stark raving mad at one point, halfway through the book, with he...more
Sir Oliver Tressilian is superb - witty, passionate, headstrong, and complex. And then there's the fair Lady Rosamund - Sir Oliver's love. She very nearly drove me stark raving mad at one point, halfway through the book, with he...more
Before there was Errol Flynn there was Sabatini, who wrote swashbuckling best-sellers in the '20s. The Flynn classic we know and love bears little resemblance to the novel, which has the English hero betrayed into the clutches of Barbary pirates, whereupon he goes native and beats them at their own game. The theme of Islam versus the West is timely again, but forget all that and just read it for the swordplay and the revenge, which Sabatini did better than anyone.
My least favorite of Sabatini's so far.
I don't understand why this is one of the most popular of his works. If you are expecting much in the form of action and adventure you will be disappointed. The "Part One" of the novel kept my interest but after that first ship battle it really slowed down. The book was too long for how uneventful it was and yet the ending was too sudden. The setting is quite exotic and vivid and one chapter: "The Slave-Market" although it does seem to deviate from the mai...more
The Sea-Hawk is a tale of mighty ships and bloody battles, of strange places and exotic bazaars--it is a story of true love and a romance that rings through the ages. It is a tale that is more alive today than it was when Rafael Sabatini first published it nearly a century ago.
Listen to The Sea-Hawk on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.
Listen to The Sea-Hawk on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.
This book hooks you harder than a tranny prostitute in LA is hooked on meth.
When starting, I was a bit concerned that "The Sea-Hawk" wouldn't be able to live up to its predecessor, "Captain Blood," and it first, it seemed like my fears would be realized. I don't wish to spoil the surprise, so instead: There is an amazing series of events, and suddenly, the book is transformed into a gentlemanly epic of torture, suffering, law, murder, women, and corsairs. Captain Blood for Arabia, one might thin...more
When starting, I was a bit concerned that "The Sea-Hawk" wouldn't be able to live up to its predecessor, "Captain Blood," and it first, it seemed like my fears would be realized. I don't wish to spoil the surprise, so instead: There is an amazing series of events, and suddenly, the book is transformed into a gentlemanly epic of torture, suffering, law, murder, women, and corsairs. Captain Blood for Arabia, one might thin...more
I very much enjoyed this romantic adventure. I know, I know, it's totally sexist. But that needs to be forgiven, because it is just such good fun. I can't give a book like this 5 stars, because it's not much more than fun, and because of the imbalance between the strong, witty alpha male and the "faithless," easily manipulated, weak-minded but lovely and virtuous woman.
But it's just so fun, and pretty well-written.
But it's just so fun, and pretty well-written.
Sir Oliver Tressilian is wronged by his half-brother, Lionel. Kidnapped, Oliver survives slavery at the oar of a Spanish ship and becomes a Muslim pirate. Feared and respected, Oliver becomes Sakr-El-Bahr. When an unexpected chance comes along for him to wreak vengeance upon Lionel, he sets out for England. However, in seeking to settle the score, he puts his own life in grave danger.
Nov 27, 2011
Laura
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Hannahr, Misfit
Recommended to Laura by:
Old-Barbarossa
Buddy read with Bettie, Hayes (?) and Wanda.
Page 75:
Sakr-el-Bahr, the hawk of the sea, the scourge of the Mediterranean and the terror of Christian Spain lay prone on the heights of Cape Spartel.
This is the story of Oliver Tressilian who became a corsair since he was wrongly accused by this own brother of the murder of Master Peter Godolphin.
He then became a Barbary pirate after have spent a long time a galley slave.
Lady Rosamund Godolphin, his girlfriend, didn't trust him at the first time an...more
Page 75:
Sakr-el-Bahr, the hawk of the sea, the scourge of the Mediterranean and the terror of Christian Spain lay prone on the heights of Cape Spartel.
This is the story of Oliver Tressilian who became a corsair since he was wrongly accused by this own brother of the murder of Master Peter Godolphin.
He then became a Barbary pirate after have spent a long time a galley slave.
Lady Rosamund Godolphin, his girlfriend, didn't trust him at the first time an...more
Classic bit of swashbuckling, high seas adventure as a young nobleman is framed for a crime and, fleeing England, ends up as a corsair in a middle-eastern rulers fleet.
Fun, as it is not the typical pirate story setting and enough adventure that you can live with all the cliches of the genre.
The book was a surprise, because in the movie, the Sea Hawk is very typical english pirate. In the book he's more 'Lawrence of Arabia'.
Fun, as it is not the typical pirate story setting and enough adventure that you can live with all the cliches of the genre.
The book was a surprise, because in the movie, the Sea Hawk is very typical english pirate. In the book he's more 'Lawrence of Arabia'.
If you want a fun pirate adventure novel that is a little Count of Monte Cristo-esque, this is a great book for you. The language is a little more victorian than your usual adventure novel, but there's great detail that makes you feel as though you're standing on the boat right next to him.
'Tis a wonder that one so cunning could have a brother so stupid. Must be his mother.
In the end this book has an original star-point for Oliver's character - that is, for his wit, his intelligence and cunning, for I have never met his like.
One point for a natural-ish plot, it didn't seem forced to me, and there was no other way clear to me that could have spared the characters the grief.
One point for the other stupid characters that were there to compensate for Oliver. In faith, if not for that...more
In the end this book has an original star-point for Oliver's character - that is, for his wit, his intelligence and cunning, for I have never met his like.
One point for a natural-ish plot, it didn't seem forced to me, and there was no other way clear to me that could have spared the characters the grief.
One point for the other stupid characters that were there to compensate for Oliver. In faith, if not for that...more
I only wish Rafael Sabatini were still alive and still writing. I really can't get enough of his words and inspirational prose. I think I can picture Hugh Jackman in every single one of his leading character roles. Always an adventure and a romance involved in his tales!
The Sea Hawk first captured my imagination when I was a teenager, and now, years & countless other books later, it remains a cherished favorite. My copy is old & musty (printed 1924), the pages yellowed & fragile, but it's mine and I love it with crazy fierceness.
Having rapidly read "Captain Blood" I continued with "The Sea Hawk". Wonderful in its own right, "The Sea Hawk" retains the appeal and excitemtent of "Captain Blood" in a different tale of love, faith, loyalty and honor. Great read!
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Rafael Sabatini (1875 - 1950) was an Italian/British writer of novels of romance and adventure. At a young age, Rafael was exposed to many languages. By the time he was seventeen, he was the master of five languages. He quickly added a sixth language - English - to his linguistic collection. After a brief stint in the business world, Sabatini went to work as a writer. He wrote short stories in the...more
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“When all is said, a man's final judgment of his fellows must be based upon his knowledge of himself”
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Nov 27, 2011 01:35am
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