Book 26: MASTER AND COMMANDER by Patrick O'Brian

[John Self]

So, here we are, four days into July. I admit I haven't got this one yet. Anyone else care to start us off?

[Colyngbourne]

Haven't re-read it yet but will have a go over the weekend.

But I did watch the film on Monday night :-)

[Hekaterine]

I have acquired the book but have not started reading it yet.

[NottyImp]

I might have to borrow your copy, Hekaterine. I've read it several times over the years, but not for a while. I might actually have a go at this one...

[Hekaterine]

I might have to borrow your copy, Hekaterine. I've read it several times over the years, but not for a while. I might actually have a go at this one...

Didn't I borrow your copy?

[NottyImp]

Didn't I borrow your copy?

Did you? Well, I'll have it back then. ;-)

[Paul]

I got hold of it last night so will be starting soon.

[gil]

I am shocked to see that we haven't already got a Patrick O'Brian topic. Still, we can rectify that later.

I am an unashamed fan of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin books.

To put this in context for lurkers who are reading the Book Group topic, but haven't read the book, I cannot do better than refer the reader to this Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_and_Commander).

But we are here to discuss the literary merit of the piece.

Characterisation: I believe that O'Brian establishes the characteristics of his main characters, Captain Aubrey and Dr Maturin, very well in this first book. The choleric captain encounters the shabby doctor at a musical event and forms an early bad opinion of him. That incident actually helps establish character in both of them.
There is a certain kinship between C S Forester's Hornblower and O'Brian's Aubrey, yet you could never mistake one for another.
One or two of the other sailors make their first appearance here, but they are less memorable than they will become in later volumes.

Scene-setting: There is great authenticity in O'Brian's Napoleonic War. He spent vast amounts of time with Naval documents, getting not just the stories but the technical words and the feel for life on board. There are whole volumes written about O'Brian's novels, purely as companions to the vocabulary, geography, and ship design. I have a few of these books, and I don't remember any comment which indicates that O'Brian got it wrong (except that he has sometimes expanded and compressed time in a few places to place a complete novel among real historical events).

Narrative: The actions scenes are impeccably narrated. I have no problem there. I found some off-ship episodes a little tedious, and this fault occurs throughout the series, in my opinion.

Language: O'Brian is very careful to maintain the archaic atmosphere in his use of language, especially in conversation. Certainly, sentences are not couched in 18th century English, but there is no hint of anachronistic modern usage, unlike a number of other historical novelists.

I found myself caring about O'Brian's characters. Certainly, I have read the whole canon twice, though I believe there is now a compendium of O'Brian's notes for a final novel which I have yet to read.

As a reader of C S Forester, I was pre-disposed to like this book. It is one of the best of the series, as first books often are. It would be true to say that if you don't like this, you might as well skip on the other 19.

[John Self]

Thanks, gil. Sadly it doesn't look as though I or anyone else has read this yet...

[Paul]

I actually did read it, I just hadn't gotten around to saying anything. I was familiar with the series due to my dad's compulsive reading of anything Napoleonic and naval. He's read and reread the O'Brians, Hornblowers and Ramage series more times than I care to count. I also enjoyed the movie and have always meant to try the books so I figured the book group was a good opportunity.

First off, there's no doubt that O'Brian knows his facts. I was both impressed and sometimes bogged down in the sheer detail. Don't get me wrong, I love immersing myself in a historical period as much as the next guy but there were sections (especially nautical) where I could feel my eyes glassing over. I can only handle so many "larboards" and "tackings of sail". No fault of the author by any means, just not my thing.

That said, the constant cat and mouse maneuvering between the ships as well as the battles themselves were handled masterfully. Details like huge chains fired through masts and balls skipping off the deck brought home the face-to-face aspects of war.

I also enjoyed the oafish belligerence of Aubrey and Maturin's bookish oblivion made for some very funny moments.

Overall, enjoyable adventure on the high sea. I'm glad I read it but I don't see myself following through with other twenty-whatever. There are just too many books out there to commit myself that completely to one series.

[m.]

On my way home I spotted also this one (cf Tash Aw thread), but when I saw the drawing of the ship, and all those nautical terms, I admit, the spirit failed me. :oops: It was unreasonably expensive to boot. But you might have noticed that to honour this thread, I finally watched the film, which I rated 4...

...reading of anything Napoleonic...

Really long time ago, but I had some interest in this period too. The books I read then (mostly novels but some popular history too) were taking the side of Bonaparte though. :-D