Percival Keene (Heart of Oak Sea Classics Series.) (Paperback)

by Frederick Marryat (Author)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; lst Owl/Heart of oak ed edition (June 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805061398
• ISBN-13: 978-0805061390
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,884,342 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A lot of fun with great characters., March 30, 2000

By	Kenneth S. Smith (Goleta, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was a lot of fun. There are a few great characters besides Percival. Captain Delmar, heir to a title and a large estate, is the father of illegitimate Percival and never acknowledges him as his son. He does take Percival on as a midshipman and guides his career. My favorite character is the young coxswain, Bob Cross. He takes care of our hero, protecting and advising him, and teaching him the ways of the navy. Our hero voyages on and goes through some adventures, fights some good battles, is captured by pirates, and saves the life of his future love. The book ends with a violent storm off the French coast and a shipwreck that is described in great detail. The first part of the book is devoted to Percival's Mother and his early childhood. Young Percival is a scamp, a rogue, and a prankster. He is not a particularly pleasant young man. His antics are funny and I felt sorry for his first schoolmaster. All of Marryat's books have a similar theme. A young man of noble birth (usually unknown to him) goes to sea, does good, wins promotion, meets his love, then return home to title, wealth, and fame. But Marryat's books are all a lot of fun and worth reading. They were written by a Royal Navy Captain that served in the Napoleonic War.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Adventure Wnderful Humor, January 1, 2001

By A Customer

A truly wonderful British man of war seafaring novel. Marryat is a wonderful story teller. Good characterizations a little mystery. One difference in the Marryat novels is the stories he tells about the pranks that some of the sailors and officers get up to onboard ship and ashore. And of course this is a usual part of shipboard life but the other officers such as O'Brien don't give us as much of this side of life at sea. Some of the pranks had me laughing nearly out of control

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Usual Marryat - good!, December 18, 2000

By	E. Tobias "Safety_Queen" (Minneaoplis, Minn., USA) - See all my reviews

Marryat displays his colors in his usual fashion: "normal" people, real characters, and the tang of salt air in your nostrils as you read.

The unacknowledged son of a post captain, young Percival strives to do his duty to achieve his father's/captain's respect. Adventures ensue.

Easy to read. Less social critique than Mr. Midshipman Easy. Less gruesome reality than The Privateersman. Not his best, but it is still a good yarn!