Il Corsaro Nero è un classico per ragazzi, nato dalla penna di Emilio Salgari. Un uomo che scriveva cosi bene del mare pur non essendovici mai stato.

Questo racconto narra del signore di Roccabruna che dopo aver giurato sul cadavere dei propri fratelli di uccidere il traditore Wan Guld, cercherà di accerchiare il suo acerrimo nemico e di portare a termine la sua vendetta. Ma non ha fatto i conti con il fato. Un'inaspettata dama farà comparsa nella sua vita stravolgendo i suoi piani.

Un racconto pieno di colpi di scena, e secondo me un po' scontato, ma lo reputo un buon racconto per passare il tempo. Unica pecca, lo stile della scrittura è piuttosto ricercato e questo lo rende un po' meno scorrevole alla lettura.

Ho trovato divertenti le esclamazioni e le "frasi fatte" dei filibustieri, tanto che a leggerle ad alta voce, non si può non mimare il corsaro con la spada sguainata che comanda "Al Arrembaggio miei prodi!" tanta è l'enfasi che traspare dal racconto.

Zaskakująco dobra książka mało znanego włoskiego autora (a przynajmniej znanego w Polsce). Egzemplarz, który posiadam wydany został co prawda w ramach serii "powieści historyczne" ale w tej książce więcej jest przygody i w pewnym stopniu "sensacji" niż historii. Bliżej jest tu do klimatu powieści Verne'a. Co jest plusem - akcja jest bardzo szybka, choć miejscami trochę niedorzeczna, jest tu też bardzo "plastycznie" opisane otoczenie, w którym obracają się bohaterowie. W każdym razie jest to świetna, przygodowa powieść, którą można "pochłonąć" w jeden dzień, o ile lubi się tego typu literaturę. Ale niewiele się z niej potem pamięta - jak z filmu klasy B. Poza ogólnym wrażeniem.

Il Corsaro Nero - Emilio Salgari In the process of working on my Italian language skills, I found this book by Emilio Salgari. Salgari was one of the best-selling Italian writers of all time. While almost unheard of in English-speaking countries, his style of adventure writing inspired numerous films, and some consider him the “Grandfather of the Spaghetti Western.”


Emilio Salgari

[b:Il corsaro nero|78842|Il corsaro nero|Emilio Salgari|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1315788575s/78842.jpg|76128] (“The Black Corsair”) is an adventure novel published in 1898. It is probably aimed at the vocabulary and interests of an eleven year old boy (which seems about right for my Italian level and attention span). The story, set in the 1600s, follows the adventures of the Black Corsair, a dread pirate set on avenging the deaths of his brothers (the Red Corsair, the Green Corsair, and a non-pirate brother).


The Pirates of the Caribbean owe a debt to Salgari’s stories

The Black Corsair’s brothers were executed by the cruel Governor of Maracaibo, Wan Guld. The surviving brother pursues his vendetta against the Governor with a tenacity that borders on the unhinged, swearing an oath to kill the Governor and everyone related to him. In the process, he and his companions face off against just about every challenge imaginable on the sea and in the jungle - a torrential hurricane, poisonous snakes, a snake charmer, jaguars, vampire bats, quicksand, duels of honor, bloody raids (based on historical events) on Maracaibo and Gibraltar, Venezuela, and, of course, a beautiful Flemish duchess captured in a sea battle who just happens to have a mysterious background. (There’s no way that could go wrong). All in all, it’s good fun.

On the morning of April 20th, 1857, the lighthouse keeper at Diamond Harbour signalled the presence of a small unknown vessel that had entered the Hugli during the night.

Certainly not as good as the first Sandokan story, it seems clear that this earlier attempt at a character (who will later show up in Sandokan stories, making this technically a prequel) didn't quite gel for Salgari like Sandokan would. Tremal-Naik's adventure is exciting for how much is crammed into the book, and for the ambiguity of which side he's on (I'll get to that in a minute) but the character doesn't have quite enough to be a lead. His sidekick, Kammamuri, is far more interesting, but unfortunately doesn't show up in the whole second half of the book.

What is most interesting about the book, though, is its two-part structure: where the first part has Tremal-Naik fighting a villainous secret sect, the second part has him fighting alongside that same sect, for reasons too spoiler-y to explain. Wondering how far the character we've come to accept as our hero will go in service of the villains is rather interesting, but it leads to some greater questions that never get answered. Specifically about colonialism, as, while the sect is quite evil, they are also specifically anti-colonialists, and this is never treated as a particularly good or bad thing.

It is, however, clear that those questions came to Salgari as well, considering that the Sandokan series (which this would later be shoe-horned into) has a very strong anti-colonialist bent to it, one that's quite surprising for the time (as I already explained in my review of The Tigers of Mompracem). So the novel, at times, seems a little lost.

The fact is, while many individual scenes are pretty cool, and the amount of crazy shit heaped in here can be fun, there are better places to go for that sort of things (including the Sandokan books themselves) unless you, like me, need to read this one because of its part in the greater series.