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70th out of 91 books
—
1,583 voters
The Dark Frigate
In seventeenth century England, a terrible accident forces orphaned Philip Marsham to flee London in fear for his life. Bred to the sea, he signs on with the "Rose of Devon," a dark frigate bound for the quiet shores of Newfoundland.
Philip's bold spirit and knowledge of the sea soon win him his captain's regard. But when the "Rose of Devon" is seized in midocean by a devio...more
Philip's bold spirit and knowledge of the sea soon win him his captain's regard. But when the "Rose of Devon" is seized in midocean by a devio...more
Paperback, 264 pages
Published
October 1st 1996
by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
(first published 1923)
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In seventeenth-century England, nineteen-year-old Philip Marsham’s mother had died when he was young, and his ship captain father Thomas raised him on the sea. Philip would have been with his father when Thomas’s ship went down and he was lost, but the son had become ill and was being nursed in London by his father’s hopeful fiancée Moll Stevens. But an unfortunate accident forces him to flee London. He meets up with a couple of sailors headed for a ship at Bideford, and Philip goes with them. A...more
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My biggest fear right now as I write about these books, is that I will maintain and perhaps expand my reputation as a whiner. I don’t WANT to whine, but I cannot praise this book. My kids can praise it, I think. I was so busy reading it (or trying to) that they got lots of extra computer time in order for me to bribe them into leaving me alone. Gotta watch that in the future. I’m trying to be a role model here.
The reviews I read were good and encouraging: a sea-faring yarn complete with pirates...more
The reviews I read were good and encouraging: a sea-faring yarn complete with pirates...more
The third Newbery winner, this is a pirate tale set in the days just before the English Civil Wars. Philip Marsham sets off to sea, and the ship is overtaken by pirates. Marsham must sail with them for a while, then escapes only to be captured and tried with the crew.
It's an interesting book for the historical detail (down to the rather hard to follow speech and arcane vocabulary) and for Hawes' unwillingness to be trite or shallow: some characters loom large and then fade away, as in life, and...more
It's an interesting book for the historical detail (down to the rather hard to follow speech and arcane vocabulary) and for Hawes' unwillingness to be trite or shallow: some characters loom large and then fade away, as in life, and...more
I made the mistake of thinking that because this was awarded a Newbery Medal it would be good for my middle school students. Big mistake. However, the mistake was mine, not the book's. I should have realized that a book written in 1924 wouldn't use the same writing style as books today.
Because of that, The Dark Frigate bombed in my book club. It is just downright hard to read. That being said, the book contains an excellent story as long as you are willing to dig for it. The writing is hard to u...more
Because of that, The Dark Frigate bombed in my book club. It is just downright hard to read. That being said, the book contains an excellent story as long as you are willing to dig for it. The writing is hard to u...more
I didn't read this as a kid. I had never even heard of it until I found it on Amazon on a list of Newberry winners. So I will have to look on this as an adult.
I love seafaring tales, a genre that I don't come across too often, so I was kind of excited about this one. Overall, I wasn't disappointed. It started out pretty slowly, and it took a while to get use to the language, but one on ship, it was very entertaining. I loved how the pirates were actually bad. There was no sugar coating, and I fe...more
I love seafaring tales, a genre that I don't come across too often, so I was kind of excited about this one. Overall, I wasn't disappointed. It started out pretty slowly, and it took a while to get use to the language, but one on ship, it was very entertaining. I loved how the pirates were actually bad. There was no sugar coating, and I fe...more
The story was OK, especially in the middle, but I can only assume the Committee was looking for something very different in its early years. Other reviewers seemed to find the prose clear and lyrical; I thought it was unnecessarily dense and convoluted.
Two stars is generous, and I only gave it that because it is a Newbery winner and I feel badly AND because the last 50 pages or so were decent. All I have to say about this book is I CAN'T BELIEVE IT IS FOR KIDS! Murder, piracy, swindling, shooting, and old English just don't seem to be appropriate for young audiences. This book was a labor to get through - it was downright impossible to read at times (I literally did not understand parts of it, and I read academic articles for a living). I only...more
1924 Newbery Medal Winner
I was intrigued about reading this book. I was looking for a copy of it online, thinking it might be old enough to be public domain (it's not, a few years and it will be). My husband happened to find some reviews of it with parents saying they wouldn't let their children read it because of the violence in the book. Made me want to read it even more.
I will first say that the English in the book is written in an older style. Even though this book is almost a century old, i...more
I was intrigued about reading this book. I was looking for a copy of it online, thinking it might be old enough to be public domain (it's not, a few years and it will be). My husband happened to find some reviews of it with parents saying they wouldn't let their children read it because of the violence in the book. Made me want to read it even more.
I will first say that the English in the book is written in an older style. Even though this book is almost a century old, i...more
I chose this book because the summary on the back of the book was very interesting. This book is about a young boy named Phillip who was orphaned as a child and is forced to get a job out at sea. He then accompanies a crew of sailers on very dangerous and murderous expeditions. My favorite quote in this book is "Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be pirates." because the book pretty much revolves around Phillip being a pirate and going out to sea with his crew mates. I really liked the autho...more
This must be one of the worst books I've ever read. The introduction was terrible-the author probably told the man writing it to praise him. No-the author was already dead when this addition came out. Maybe someone he knew? Or maybe the guy who wrote it had a poor sense of books.
This story was almost unreadable. It came out in the 1920's, but it still seems like the English should be a teensy bit better. Sometimes it seems like the authors are trying very much too hard to make their books become...more
This story was almost unreadable. It came out in the 1920's, but it still seems like the English should be a teensy bit better. Sometimes it seems like the authors are trying very much too hard to make their books become...more
I'm a little alarmed at some of the language in this book. I know it was a newbery award winner in the 20s, but wow, has some of our interpretation of language changed.... listen to this quote
" So now, giving her no heed, he began fondling the fat countryman's piece.' (p. 6). The author is talking about a gun, but yikes! I'm thinking I need to hide this one until I finish it!
And now I can see why no one checked this one out EVER. The language is so arcane that no kid I know would have the persi...more
" So now, giving her no heed, he began fondling the fat countryman's piece.' (p. 6). The author is talking about a gun, but yikes! I'm thinking I need to hide this one until I finish it!
And now I can see why no one checked this one out EVER. The language is so arcane that no kid I know would have the persi...more
This 1924 Newbery winner is the story of young Philip Marsham, a boy in England whose father was a sailor. Philip is orphaned as a young man, and eventually makes his way to sea, sailing on a dark frigate called the Rose of Devon. This book is admittedly outside my genre preferences. My biggest complaint, though, is the language. I had a really hard time with the older language and the sentence structure. I did not enjoy this book, and finished it only because it is a Newbery winner. Readers rea...more
Philip Marsham signed on to work on a ship. Before he had traveled far, however, pirates on the ship kill the ship’s captain and part of the crew and take the ship over. Philip has no choice but to stay on the ship and help the pirates, as much as he is able, to carry on with their plan to take over other ships. Finally Philip has an opportunity to escape from the ship onto an island, but he cannot survive long there. He finds another ship and has hope to convince the captain of this ship that h...more
Pretty good, as adventure stories go. I kind of want to go through and look up all the words I didn't know, but I don't know that I enjoyed the book all that much. It's not as fun as The Prisoner of Zenda, but not as convoluted as something like The Count of Monte Cristo. The justice near the end was quite exciting and good, but the final part of the ending left a bit to be desired.
Lots of hoisting the yardarms and straightening the mizzen. Or something. If you like lots of nautical lingo, this book is for you. If you tend to gloss over all the ship terms, as I do, you end up glossing over about a third of the book. What is left is a story of a milquetoast lad, captured by pirates and forced to participate in their exploits. He had no backbone and his only positive quality was that people liked him because he had an "honest face." Really? It seems the moral of this book is...more
I believe the correct phrase is "a rollicking good yarn."
This book brought me back to my days in school when I suffered through reading something miserable just so I could be rewarded for my efforts with a lengthy essay test on it. I felt that same clenching in my chest, a literary claustrophobia that made me squirm, begging my inner self to “accidentally” turn a bunch of pages instead of just one when I got to the bottom. I only read this book as part of my quest to read all the Newbery Medal winners. I can see how others might enjoy this adventure t...more
What do drunken sailors, flirtatious wenches, thick Scottish brogues, slow plots, slashed necks, pirate battles, and hangings have in common with children's literature?
Good question. I think I would be lynched if I tried to have my students read this book.
If the book were designed for adults, I think I'd give it 2 stars. There were some funny parts that I did enjoy, and I did find some of the chapters entertaining once I got into the "hang" of the archaic style of writing. But the plot moved so...more
Good question. I think I would be lynched if I tried to have my students read this book.
If the book were designed for adults, I think I'd give it 2 stars. There were some funny parts that I did enjoy, and I did find some of the chapters entertaining once I got into the "hang" of the archaic style of writing. But the plot moved so...more
Oct 20, 2011
Lena Hillbrand
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
see review
Shelves:
award-winners
Half a year after I started this book...I finished! One of the many books on my list of Newberry Winners, this one was not my usual 'cup o' tea' but it was an interesting read. It was very authentic feelings, or as authentic as a sailor book without swearing can be! The language was a little dense and it was definitely not a fast and easy book to breeze through like the more recent Newberry winners. I appreciated that about it.
The characters were interesting enough, and I really liked how the a...more
The characters were interesting enough, and I really liked how the a...more
The son of a pirate-type goes sailing across the sea, encounters various men of honor and dishonor, survives more than a few scrapes with death, and in so doing becomes a man. There. The Dark Frigate in a nutshell.
It isn't much to say that I liked the story better than my fellow readers. It was a long read and a somewhat pieced together story with a few highlights here and there. I got my hopes up in chapter 6 when Hawes introduced some lovely forboding descriptions of The Rose of Devon (the pi...more
It isn't much to say that I liked the story better than my fellow readers. It was a long read and a somewhat pieced together story with a few highlights here and there. I got my hopes up in chapter 6 when Hawes introduced some lovely forboding descriptions of The Rose of Devon (the pi...more
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Finally done with this after several temptations of giving up on it.. I like the classic style of writing but I find the plot so boring and predictable. I think the author failed to elaborate on the climax because of its very slow development. The book was more interesting toward the end but it was cramp in few pages.
For a good point though, I like the villain, Tom Jordan, the Old One at the end of the story for his honor (if that's what you call it) and composure. He deserved his fate but I wou...more
For a good point though, I like the villain, Tom Jordan, the Old One at the end of the story for his honor (if that's what you call it) and composure. He deserved his fate but I wou...more
I had to take this book back to the library for a few months. I came back to it only after I had almost completely finished the Newbery winner list. I thought maybe after a few months it wouldn't be as tedious a read as I remembered, but no, it was. And unexpectedly violent in parts.
"...there are times when it takes death to maintain the discipline that will save many lives."
Here's an example of the length of some of the author's sentences. I like the description, but it's incredibly long.
"But...more
"...there are times when it takes death to maintain the discipline that will save many lives."
Here's an example of the length of some of the author's sentences. I like the description, but it's incredibly long.
"But...more
The Dark Frigate, which won the Newbery Award in 1923, is of the “pirate adventure” genre. It is not bad by any means, but it seems kind of an odd choice. The Dark Frigate is a little like Treasure Island without the fun – and a little like Patrick O’Brien without the charm.
Its style is quite old-fashioned. The characters all speak in “Shakespearean” terms, reminiscent of the way 19th century authors (like Stevenson or Scott) rendered old-timey speech. There’s a lot of “Prithee! Verily thou have...more
Its style is quite old-fashioned. The characters all speak in “Shakespearean” terms, reminiscent of the way 19th century authors (like Stevenson or Scott) rendered old-timey speech. There’s a lot of “Prithee! Verily thou have...more
I like the idea of this book more than the actual execution. Phillip Marsham is a principled young man faced with an impossible moral dilemma - the only way he can survive is to submit to a band of brutal pirates. Submitting will save his life in the short term, but if they're caught he will most certainly be hung as a criminal.
I liked that the pirates in this story have almost zero redeeming qualities. They are bullies and cowards and this was refreshing given how romanticized pirates have been...more
I liked that the pirates in this story have almost zero redeeming qualities. They are bullies and cowards and this was refreshing given how romanticized pirates have been...more
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From my earliest days, I have had a taste for science fiction. To me, adventure equaled hopping in one's spaceship and blasting off for distant worlds. As I grew older and became aware of other genres of fiction, I gained a vague awareness that the plot of a typical space opera could easily be rewritten--to fit another genre, to be set in the Wild West or on the open seas. I never had an interest in experiencing those other genres, however. The few snatches of westerns or pirate swashbucklers I...more
As of March 27, 2008, I have now read (and collected data from) something like seventy of the eighty-eight winners of the Newbery Medal. When I set out to read them all, I dreaded the older books, for it was my impression that the early honorees were "good for you" books, and not necessarily good literature. For the most part, this has proven true (See Ginger Pye, Smoky the Cow Horse, Miss Hickory, and Invincible Louisa.
How pleasantly surprised I was by Charles Boardman Hawes's The Dark Frig...more
How pleasantly surprised I was by Charles Boardman Hawes's The Dark Frig...more
I was nervous about starting this one based on the #nerdbery reviews, but ended up enjoying it at times. Maybe being a boater helped me read through this pirate story. I must say that it had interesting dialogue that was sometimes hard to understand, but often very funny. Many, many characters to keep track of! I had a hard time getting a hold of a copy of this book, but an intermediate school library discard arrived complete with checkout card. Seemed to be a favorite of boys for awhile. Wonde...more
Great adventure book for lovers of Treasure Island and Pirates of Caribbean. Especially if you like well researched Historical fiction along the lines of Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe's" series or C.S. Forester's "Hornblower" series. Unfortunately for this book, todays young readers are much more interested in a direct story then in beautifully crafted language. Also, the in depth knowledge of 17th century sailing vessels left me needing an glossary or schematic - A glossary of language terms would...more
Fairly decent pirate story, about a boy who gets caught up with the wrong crowd. Justice is done to the pirates, but the boy rightly walks free, is disappointed in love and grows to fight in the English revolution. In the end he leaves on the same boat for Barbados to escape the Psalm singers in England and the new world. Cringed at the ending, but the battle scenes and pirate dynamics were well done.
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| Children's Books: June 2009 - The Dark Frigate (1924 Medal Winner) | 21 | 61 | Mar 14, 2011 10:25am |
Charles Boardman Hawes was an American author. He was posthumously awarded the 1924 Newbery Medal for The Dark Frigate (1923). Additionally, The Great Quest (1921) was a 1922 Newbery Honor book.
More about Charles Boardman Hawes...
Jul 23, 2012 07:16am