FRENCH JOLLY ROGER
THE MEMOIRS OF A BUCCANEER, by Louis le Golif; Allen and Unwin, English price 12/6, "HE destructive bombardment of St. Malo in 1944 revealed among the debris the manuscript-dating back to the early 18th Century*-from which this book has been drawn. "Borgnefesse," the nickname of the narrator, was a privateer or pirate licensed to assault the enemies of Louis XIV. He rejoiced in war, plunder, rapine and strong drink. If we may believe him, he won every battle, at sea, in the tavern or in the bed. Certainly the sea fights ring true in their detail, though one feels less confidence in the refinement and restraint with which the narrator sometimes modestly endows himself, But when one has retired respectably on the proceeds of piracy to a receptive Brittany, butter would not readily melt in one’s mouth. The love-life of buccaneers has its own specialised interest, if little charm. The institution of the matelot, the comrade with whom one shared everything, including one’s wife, was at least an attempt to make a scarce commodity go further. This book should please the amateur of the "robust"; it has the fine swirl of adventure and a little too of
its backwash.
David
Hall
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19541008.2.24.3
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 794, 8 October 1954, Page 13
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204FRENCH JOLLY ROGER New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 794, 8 October 1954, Page 13
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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