Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin Novels

[hitmouse]

I find Post Captain to be even better than Master & Commander. I can see that some will find it to be a curate's egg, given the fact that it is really a novel of 2 parts: firstly the Austenish domestic novel of manners, in which we are introduced to Diana Villiers, Sophie Williams, and Sophie's horrid mother Mrs Williams; and in which Aubrey and Maturin, now two young men of leisure, bumble around regency England, getting into trouble and nearly fighting a duel before moving on to the second part of the novel, which is all thrilling military action.

The two main characters develop individually and as a pair as the novel progresses. Stephen turns out to have hidden depths as an intelligence agent of great ability as well as an astute social observer. Aubrey is revealed to be extremely clumsy and even stupid on land whilst superbly able as both a leader and tactician at sea. Throughout, their dialogue is shot through with dry wit. The escape to Catalonia is very funny.

Excellent. I have enjoyed this much more on a second reading than I did originally 20-odd years ago.

 

[Vertigo]

I find Post Captain to be even better than Master & Commander. I can see that some will find it to be a curate's egg, given the fact that it is really a novel of 2 parts: firstly the Austenish domestic novel of manners, in which we are introduced to Diana Villiers, Sophie Williams, and Sophie's horrid mother Mrs Williams; and in which Aubrey and Maturin, now two young men of leisure, bumble around regency England, getting into trouble and nearly fighting a duel before moving on to the second part of the novel, which is all thrilling military action.

The two main characters develop individually and as a pair as the novel progresses. Stephen turns out to have hidden depths as an intelligence agent of great ability as well as an astute social observer. Aubrey is revealed to be extremely clumsy and even stupid on land whilst superbly able as both a leader and tactician at sea. Throughout, their dialogue is shot through with dry wit. The escape to Catalonia is very funny.

Excellent. I have enjoyed this much more on a second reading than I did originally 20-odd years ago.

Yes, I felt O'Brian was getting into his stride with the second book and the characters became much more real, Maturin in particular. I think they continue to improve over the next few books before largely levelling off. Though I confess I did find the Austenesque section a little trying; not really my style!

 

[Extollager]

Hitmouse, I took enjoyed this more the second time around.

In addition to elements you mentioned, I note Stephen's drug use -- laudanum; like that of his contemporary S. T. Coleridge, who made a miserable voyage in this same year of 1804 from Gibraltar to Malta, in which opium inflicted appalling constipation upon him. It's not pleasant reading but it's of considerable biographical and medical historical interest.

Coleridge

archive.nytimes.com

 

[Extollager]

I wondered if the bear suit episode was possible (p. 105) -- could even a muscular man stand up to the strain of walking like an animal "on all fours" for days? But aside from that question it's quite an adventure, all right.

I wasn't sure what the Boccherini Corelli sonata was (p. 236), though I tried to identify it. Boccherini certainly is pleasant listening.

 

[Extollager]

Page 173: "'a very deep old file'" -- I think Dickens has that use of file for a person, but does it pass out of use before the century's end?

 

[Extollager]

I think the movie got some dialogue from this one: "'it makes me so very low'" (p. 234), "'Quick's the word and sharp's the action'" (p. 366).

 

[Vince W]

The film borrows from the entire series. It's rather amazing that the film is as coherent as it is, and I do enjoy the film a lot.

 

[hitmouse]

The film borrows from the entire series. It's rather amazing that the film is as coherent as it is, and I do enjoy the film a lot.

Agree. The film takes a clever sample from a number of the books. Does the “ lesser of two weevils” joke come from book 2 or 3?

 

[Vince W]

Three, I think.

 

[paeng]

I bought this great collection a few years ago:

 

[Extollager]

Shall we move a trifle ahead of schedule and begin discussion of H. M. S. Surprise sometime this month?

 

[hitmouse]

Yep.

 

[Extollager]

I’m up to page 140. I’m not sure I’ll have much lit’ry talk to offer but wow, what a storyteller.

 

[Extollager]

What a pleasure H. M. S. Surprise was! I will not wait long to start the 4th book, I expect.

This is largely Stephen Maturin's book. Along with the pangs of romantic desire ("he "had spared no expense in making himself unhappy," p. 16), he suffers torture, self-surgery removing a ball from a duel (in which he killed his opponent), and disappointment of his passion for Diana Villiers. What a lot to endure, believably though, let it be said. At least he discovered a new tortoise. There are some good clues here for those who like the music, as I do: Boccherini is the chief name, while we see mention also of Hummel and Corelli. How pleasant that one can get good recordings of these composers.

Interesting to see the possible derivation of expressions still used though in ignorance of their meaning -- "toe the line" (p. 108), "plane sailing" (p. 121). Perhaps "junk" (salted meat) too.

I expect O'Brian to keep up this high level in the next book, The Mauritius Command.

 

[Vertigo]

Yes I thought H M S Surprise was where O'Brian really gets into his stride with these books. Grim at times but a joy to read! And I felt they remain consistently good from this point until books 8 and 9, the Ionian Mission and Treason's Harbour, both of which were low points for me but definitely picked up again with 10, The Far Side of the World.

 

[Extollager]

Beginning today The Mauritius Command. I love the telescope bit -- "Miss Herschel" etc.

 

[Extollager]

And am now beginning the fifth novel, Desolation Island. The fourth novel was an excellent account of a particular naval mission. It seemed to me a sustained success of the historical imagination.

 

[Extollager]

This one -- Desolation Island -- might be the most suspenseful one in the series so far. Reading the episode in which the ship is sinking after striking ice, I felt the desire to put the book down and -- well, come here for a moment. Whew!!

 

[Vertigo]

Yes it all got a bit suspenseful around that point and O'Brien did a great job of building that suspense. I may have it wrong but I think it was during that episode that he wrote the chase sequence in the "roaring forties." The bit that really brought home the scale of those seas in a storm was when he talked about only being able to bring the chase guns onto target during the brief moments when both ships were either going up or down the same wave. The rest of the time the angle was simply too great to bring them to bear or the other ship was out of sight on the other side of the wave!

 

[Extollager]

A few odd notes on Desolation Island:

pp. 9-10/ Killick's buying a wife reminded me of the beginning of Hardy's Mayor of Casterbridge.

60/ The transportation-of-convicts element was an interesting one to introduce to the series.

122/ "show them the ropes" -- It seems occasionally O'Brian makes a point of including some cliche whose reference has been lost to most people by now. It's not as though he overdoes it.

143/ Jack's favorite dish soused hog's face:

Whole Pig Heads Are Now a Thing | HuffPost Life

page 154/ 116 deaths after outbreak of fever; page 236/ 600 men lost when ship sinks

247/ I had to check to confirm that icebergs would indeed be fresh water.

I was reminded of one of my favorite comics stories, Carl Barks's "Luck of the North." That's the one witht he Viking treasure ship frozen in an iceberg. Of course, this Aubrey-Maturin novel is set in south polar regions.

Luck of the North | Scrooge McDuck Wikia | Fandom

The novel is just excellent, just splendid storytelling, historical and geographical imagination -- perhaps the geographical element deserves more credit than it gets sometimes.