John Leonard PielmeierCritiques

Another retelling of the tale of Pan and Hook. This one starts from a young James' life in London with his mother, and wraps around to his father, who has gone missing on a ship, to Peter Pan, to Tiger Lily, and all the rest of the crew.
I enjoyed the way that the author brought in all the aspects and tied them together.

I have always enjoyed Peter Pan retellings and I've read quite a few. Some are good and some aren't, but that's not unusual. I was hoping this retelling from Hook's point of view might be in the former group, but unfortunately, it was too bland for me.
The writing is somewhat archaic which slows the story down a bit, but mostly it's fine. I don't mind the attempt to make the 'villain' of Peter Pan into the 'hero' of Hook's Tale. I do think the author carried it a bit too far; Hook should have a little 'bad boy' still left in him. Even the crocodile loves him.
Mostly, I think the author just tried too hard to be cute about the story. The book dragged, and while I hoped it might pick up, it never did. I was never surprised; I know it's a retelling but what makes a good retelling is adding some twists to the story. Mr. Pielmeier seemed constrained by trying to limit himself to the original story. And I'm not a prude, but the sex scenes were odd and somewhat gratuitous (that whole part about Tink in his pocket so he climaxed was weird).
I think I'm being generous with three stars, but it's his first book although he's a well-known playwright. Next time I hope he creates his own story.

Peter Pan as the bad guy.

This was a light and fun romp of a book telling the tale of Peter Pan from the point of view of Captain Hook. Not at intricately plotted or developed as McGuire's Wicked, but, still, a worthy beach read.

I received an advanced copy of this novel from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I’m a sucker for Peter Pan retellings, so I was super excited to be approved for this book — I haven’t read any novels about Hook, so it’s a new, interesting take on the typical Peter Pan fairy tale.

I enjoyed learning about Hook’s backstory and general history; it was interesting to have the idea of an innocent Hook put into a 19th-century England. My favorite parts were being able to get a different perspective about his story in general, with the pirates and the crocodile; I especially enjoyed the conflicts with Hook’s father and how his father was the one who led him to Neverland in the first place. Seeing Neverland and Peter Pan himself viewed through a different perspective was also really fun. It’s not as dark as the TV show Once Upon a Time made the Peter Pan story, but it’s different, which is what I look for in retellings.

With that said, I do feel like the story is lacking *something.* The writing style wasn’t my favorite; it leaned too heavily on cliffhangers where Hook would say something foreboding about the future and then we’d get a chapter break. While this is a fun technique when used sparingly, I feel like it happened almost every chapter break, which I was not a fan of. And while I understand it’s Hook’s memoir, I wish there were more about the overall Neverland legend and more story building in general rather than Hook’s reminiscences. There’s also a surprising amount of references to sex. While I understand he’s a teenage boy, I’m not sure what Hook having a wet dream or him obsessing over a mermaid with large boobs really added to the story. Instead of that, I wanted more adventure or maybe even just more worldbuilding regarding Neverland itself.

Regardless of the weaknesses, I think it’s an interesting book that some might enjoy. The ending is the strongest part of the book, and it was interesting to see how it was ultimately Hook’s responsibility for Peter finding the Darlings and for Peter’s general shenanigans in London. Overall, I thought it was interesting, but it wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be. Some of the more interesting things were glossed over and some uninteresting things were given way too much page time. Check it out if you’re intrigued, but it’s not a must-read.

Also posted on Purple People Readers.

A retelling of the Peter Pan story, from Captain Hook's perspective. I enjoy origin stories, and this one is definitely intriguing, especially for a character who is so well known (I always prefered Hook over Pan anyway). It's a bit darker, but since he's been labeled a villain, the storyline seems appropriate and fitting. Probably best for YA or adult audiences because some themes may be a bit graphic for young children. The author did good job of reintroducing characters from the original novel, and I liked how Jack the Ripper made a cameo. For adaptation and origin story fans or readers who like all things Neverland.

Net Galley Feedback½

Hook’s Tale: Being the Account of an Unjustly Villainized Pirate Written by Himself by John Pielmeier is a reimagining of the famous play Peter Pan, this time from the point of view of Captain Hook. Mr. Pielmeier is an award winning playwright and screenwriter.

The story begins as our protagonist is kidnapped into the naval service as a cabin boy. He soon discovers a treasure map, as all good pirate kids do, and manages to get his ship into the archipelago.

During his adventures, the boy manages to fall in love, learn to fly, grow a pet crocodile and befriend a forgetful boy that never ages named Peter.The Captain Hook we all think about in our heads is the one from the Disney movie, even recent adaptations have the trademark Hook features which Disney ingrained in our collective memories.

To be fair, the Disney adaptation is not far off the mark and Dustin Hoffman’s Hook in the 2003 movie is spot on, as if right out of J.M. Barrie’s play.

I always thought of Captain Hook as the allegory for the quintessential English father. A humorless disciplinarian, whose word is the law in his castle, who thrives on punishments and gets riled up at the smallest infraction from his family.
The character I always equated with Captain Hook, in my childish mind, was Mr. Banks, the patriarch of the Banks family from the popular books by P. L. Travers and movie by Disney who hires a magical nanny by the name of Mary Poppins.
I know only two English fathers, both living in the US and both are great fathers.

The two characters are in a similar profession (Mr. Banks “robs” his kids of their savings, after all) but unlike Captain Hook, Mr. Banks sees redemption at the end of his story. I say “his story” because Mary Poppins is, after all, the story of Mr. Banks, a realist in a world of dreamers. Captain Hook is also a realist, living in a world which is ready for the plunging, only to be stopped by a mischievous boy who never grows up.

In his book Hook’s Tale: Being the Account of an Unjustly Villainized Pirate Written by Himself, John Pielmeier takes it upon himself to turn the Barrie’s tale upside down. After all, not all antagonists are evil, not all protagonists are champions, and we are all the heroes in our own stories.

Unlike Mr. Banks, Captain Hook starts out as an optimist, a man whose world is at his feet for the taking through hard-work, perseverance and integrity. Hook is a man of integrity and fierce loyalty – how exactly did he become the stone cold, hardened pirate of legends is what this book is about.

To enjoy this book, it’s good to be familiar with the character of Hook from the original play. Mr. Pielmeier took the character, from the play not the movie, and expended on him. A highly educated man, poor but from a prominent sea-fairing family (To reveal who he really was would even at this date set the country in a blaze”) and a scalawag of the seas. Even pirates are afraid of Captain Hook.

I enjoyed the style of writing very much, long winded, wordy but with a certain charm and rhythm that works. Much like the books of old which were meant to be read aloud, to an audience, and not to oneself in privacy. The language tells a story which is rich and clever, takes advantage of things the audience knows, expands on them or turns them on their heads.
You never know.

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If you’re a fan of Gregory Maguire then you should like what John Leonard Pielmeier did for the infamous Captain Hook AKA Captain James Cook. I was curious to see what he could do with a man who has always been depicted as a bit psychopathic but this author wanted to show his ‘softer side’. I figured it had to be interesting after the TV show Once Upon a Time on ABC turned Peter Pan into an evil antisocial villain.

I liked that Pielmeier wrote it in first person so we get James’ story through his own eyes so to speak. One of the nice things also about the way he started this is that you get to see his beginnings and remember even the most ‘evil’ of us started out as innocent children before circumstances turned them into the villain of stories.

James is not only portrayed as someone with a seemingly normal, healthy (for the era at least) upbringing but also quite intelligent and with a loquacious vocabulary which would make sense because despite how Disney portrays his role, to captain a ship of the type he did takes complex cognitive skills.

You can see the first stirrings in his psychological development begin to change when he became an orphan, essentially homeless, most of his belongings taken away, then finally became the target of bullying. All of which would of course leave permanent scarring on even the strongest of us.

The elements of Peter Pan’s story we’ve all come to know such as The Mermaid’s Lagoon, Tink, the Jolly Roger, Smee, Tiger Lily and more but the perspective obviously is different. It’s a very adult way of looking at the childhood classic which of course it would be considering how Hook fit into the story in the first place. There were moments you had to feel for Hook such as when he found his boyhood shadow and felt a little tug at your heart knowing he’s right that at some point we outgrow our childhood. Others when he seemed to blame himself for Pan’s inability to stop committing felony kidnapping, at least that was how Hook viewed his actions.

I found Pielmeier’s character development and implied psychoanalysis of Hook interesting as you get to see how he was formed into the man who would one day be an infamous captain. The dialogue felt realistic for the piece, the plotline ran smoothly and there was a fun “Where’s Waldo” like feel whenever familiar places, people and events popped up.

Since we’ve always seen what Peter Pan was doing, reading this aspect we get to imagine what Hook was doing when Pan wasn’t around. It’s not like he just sat on his ship nearby waiting for Pan to give his life meaning. Just like in ABC’s version, Pan comes off not so much as the quintessential hero but as an equally flawed character who from the Captain’s point of view was not a saint to be worshipped but a sinner who should face the consequences of his actions.

If you’ve ever been interested in an alternate view of the classic stories we grew up with then you should check this out and let Hook be your guide to where time stops.