Friday, January 29, 2021

Master and Commander: Patrick O'Brian

 I never thought I would read this book, and I did not know much about the series. Then in December 2020, I saw this post at Nick Senger's blog, announcing a read-along for all the books in the Aubrey/Maturin nautical series, and I thought... why not?

Blurb from the book cover:

This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against a thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of a life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the roar of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.

I started out reading this as a slow read, one chapter a week, planned to last about three months. I did not know how long I could keep that up, and at week four I broke down and finished the book in three days. It was a good read and full of interesting information.

What did I like? Reading about a period in history that is unfamiliar to me. Learning what it was like to live / work on a sloop in 1800. Picking up some nautical terms. Obviously I did not understand all of them just from reading this book, but that did not detract from the reading experience.

The characters are interesting. Jack Aubrey loves life at sea and all his energies are aimed at moving up in rank and commanding bigger and better ships. Stephen Maturin provides a different view of life at sea as a surgeon and a naturalist. Both men play the violin and they often play their instruments together. 

At one point I realized I was reading a book with only male characters. That is not absolutely true. There are a few peripheral female characters. But most of the story in this book takes place on the Sophie, and no women are allowed on the sloop, per the Captain's orders.

The story depends on a lot of nautical terms and they were a bit overwhelming at first. But the author makes an effort to explain some of the terms and Navy life via Stephen Maturin's character. The third chapter has a section where one of the men on the Sophie gives Stephen a tour of the brig, explains a lot of the terms, and gives details of the daily life of various people serving on the brig. Throughout the book Stephen is used as a character who knows little about nautical life and can ask for explanations, thus providing more background to the reader. 

"Brig", "ship", and "sloop" are examples of different terms for naval vessels which I initially found confusing. Early in the novel, Jack Aubrey is appointed as Commander of the Sophie, which is alternately referred to as brig and a sloop. A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. Per WikiPOBia, this is the definition of a sloop vs. a ship.

The term sloop in the Royal Navy described a ship based not on the rigging of the vessel nor on its size but rather by the rank of the officer who commanded her. When a vessel is commanded by a Commander, she is rated as a sloop. If the same vessel where commanded by a Captain she would be rated as a ship.

All in all, I enjoyed the story and I am eager to continue reading the series. 


Also see Katrina's review at Pining for the West.


 -----------------------------

Publisher:   W. W. Norton & Company, 1990 (orig. pub. 1970)
Length:       459 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Series:       Aubrey-Maturin series #1
Setting:      The Mediterranean, and ports in Italy, France, Spain
Genre:        Historical fiction 
Source:      I purchased my copy, December 2020.

24 comments:

Mystica said...

The author and series are new to me. Thanks for the post.

Bill Selnes said...

Liked the book but I loved the Hornblower series by C.S. Forester. Have read them a couple of times. Have no desire to have ever been on a British warship of that era but both series are fascinating.

TracyK said...

Mystica, thanks for visiting. I never expected to read this series, but I found I really liked the first book.

TracyK said...

Bill, I was never interested in the Hornblower series before, but after reading this, I will give the Hornblower series a try also. I agree, life on a British warship of that time would not appeal to me.

dfordoom said...

I'm with Bill on this. The Aubrey-Maturin series is very very good but the Hornblower books are slightly better.

TracyK said...

Dfordoom, I will be checking out your reviews of some of the Hornblower books at your blog.

Cath said...

Yes, it seems I should definitely have persevered when I tried this one some years ago. (7 or 8 possibly.) I got about 2 chapters in and got so bogged down in the terminolgy that I gave up. Wrong decision I think and when the library reopens I'll reserve it and try again. Interesting that a couple of commenters here think Hornblower is better. I've seen the TV series of that which is 'brilliant' but not tried the books.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I know several men that love this series. But not so many women. Glad you did.

Rick Robinson said...

I read this one nearly a decade ago, and found it good but not great. I have read about half the Hornblower series, and another naval series I can't remember now.

Not sure why this should be a gender specific thing, Patti, unless women only want to read women characters. There were no women on sailing ships in those days, of course.

Margot Kinberg said...

I'm glad you liked this one, Tracy. I always enjoy learning about other periods in time, especially if it's a time and place I don't know very well. I know exactly what you mean about that.

TracyK said...

Cath, there is an article by Lucy Eyre at the Guardian that suggests that the reader can just let the nautical terminology wash over you. I gave up on understanding various types of sails but was interested in some of the terminology. I was surprised that this book entices so many people (including me) to continue, since it is sort of episodic and ends on a downer in a way. I think the series has potential but it is 20 books so we shall see.

TracyK said...

Patti, I have known only two people who read this series and both were women. Our librarian friends (now retired) have both read from the series; the man has read a few, the woman has read the whole series. She has also read every Georgette Heyer Regency romance, and tons of fantasy series. Of course, she reads about 3 times more books than I can read in a year.

TracyK said...

Rick, I also plan to read some of the Hornblower books, but not sure where to start. In order written or in chronological order? There are also some non-Hornblower books by C.S. Forester I want to read. Someday.

TracyK said...

Margot, learning about other periods in time is one of the biggest draws for this series, for me. It is like the Wolf Hall series by Mantel, once I learn a bit about that time and the people, I want to know more.

Katrina said...

Thanks for the mention. I thought I had read more of this series but it would seem not, I'm sure I have the next two in the series anyway.
I've only read one Hornblower book which I enjoyed until I got to the last page and there was a publisher's note saying that the author had died before he could finish it! I was so disappointed I've never got around to reading any more.

TracyK said...

Katrina, I have read more general historical fiction (non mystery) lately and I am enjoying it.

I will have to make sure I avoid the unfinished novel in the Horblower series.

Anonymous said...

In dealing with a real sea story, i.e., an author who is not faking it, the terminology will always be a problem. Being a seaman was a real and very difficult profession, and he had to compensate for the crudity of his technology. Hence the profusion of unfamiliar terms. For everyone who has problems with the terminology, I would recommend that they purchase the book "A Sea of Words" by Dean King with two other authors. It is a dictionary and companion book that goes with the Aubrey/Maturin series, and you can look up the strange words as you go. It also has useful charts and diagrams. It may sound laborious, but once you get used to it, it gives you a new respect for our ancestors and just how hard they had to work to get us where we are. If the Hornblower books are better than the Aubrey/Maturin books (and I think they are) I think it is because Forester is usually (though not always) a better storyteller than O'Brian.

Anonymous said...

Note that there are actually 21 published books in this series. Like Forester before him, O'Brian died with a book in progress. Both of these fragments were published. In fact, I thought that "Hornblower During the Crisis" was one of the better books in the series.

TracyK said...

Anonymous,I agree that you have to expect a good deal of nautical terminology in a book like this, otherwise it would not be realistic. I will be looking for a copy of A Sea of Words to help me along reading the books. It is good to hear that you also like the Hornblower series.

I had seen information about the unfinished novel, so I should have mentioned that. And it is interesting that both Forester and O'Brian left an unfinished novel, that was then published.

CLM said...

My mother is a big fan of this series and I think read it along with her Dorothy Dunnett friends. I am going to send her your review. I wonder if your librarian friends have also read Naomi Novik's dragon series? It is really a mixture of O'Brian and Jane Austen. I really liked the first one (maybe two) but then felt I'd read enough dragon lore to last me for some time, although she is a sufficiently gifted writer that one forgets it while reading.

We are about to get a big storm. I had to drop something off at the post office and counted more than 50 people standing outside the grocery store waiting to get in. So glad I did that yesterday!

TracyK said...

Constance, Now you have me very curious about the Naomi Novik series. I will ask my librarian friends and I will look into them more.

A blogger in Tennesse was talking about a few inches of snow there. I was amazed. We just had a few days of rain here but we need much more. Our weather is so weird it can be hot and cold in the same day.

FictionFan said...

I tried one of the later books in the series and didn't get along with it, but various people told me it was one of the weaker ones so maybe one day I'll start again from the beginning. Interesting info about the sloop and the ship - I've often wondered what a sloop was!

TracyK said...

I guess it was the right time and the right book for me, FictionFan. I would not have considered trying this before, now I am branching out.

col2910 said...

Probably not one for me. I do have some Charles Williams book which have a sea/sailing setting eg Dead Calm. And of course I need to read Cape Fear from John D. Mac Doanld sometime. A bit different from this book I think.