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Stephen Maturin had to perform brain surgery. And that brings me to the biggest disappointment of all: the good captain himself. It was like an out-of-body experience looking down on the happenings but feeling nothing. If I had studied a naval manual before I began this book, it may have been different, but alas, no.
I'm so interested in the missions and possible adventures in the other novels that I may give it another go and read on. Watch Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany bring out the best attributes of that time and place: Disciplined, compassionate, courageous, handsome, literate and spirited men. Utterly lost. Wow. My God, what an unattractive man.
Grant it, Aubrey is a math whiz and a master seaman, but one who apparently has a lot of growing up to do. At a certain point in the story one of the ship's mates was injured in a skirmish and ship's surgeon Dr. Gory. While in the book, not so much.
Lost. I was looking for a hero instead I got a florid, selfish, prize-seeking, questionably literate, vulgar man whose "hams shake when he walks". Eww. Maybe.I would never do this, but this time I'd have to say watch the movie. Not really. As a matter of fact, in a fit of repressed uncontrolled pique, the book's Captain Aubrey actually snaps his beloved violin in half. I so looked forward to billowing sails, salty sea air and wind in my face but the arcane, archaic and mostly unintelligible language left me high and dry.
Start with the movie. Fascinating. It was glossed over and reduced to a sordid blow-by at a cocktail party which Captain Aubrey was thrown out of. The music they play is sublime and highlights the more refined aspects of their characters. You'll forget the cold mutton, hard tack and scurvvy and feel honored to come aboard the Sophie.
I thought this book, the first in the series, introduced Jack and Stephan very colorfully and happily, but over the course of the rest of the series a reader will be rewarded with much more knowledge of them, and surprised by the development of their characters. Patrick O'Brian writes in a fluid, rich fashion that rewards the patient reader with perception, inflection, and reflection. He certainly builds his plot on adventure and the hardship of the British naval adventures in the Napoleonic era, but the reader who enjoys his stories best is the reader who appreciates understanding what is inferred and what is left unsaid. Loved this book, loved the Sophie, appreciated the tension that grew and dissipated among the characters. It is all completely believable and enjoyable.
I'm just not convinced, after struggling with this story, that I want to try again.I am interested in other historical fiction of this period, such as the 'Hornblower' series, or the 'Blind Justice' series by Bruce Alexander, set more or less in the same time period. O'Brian just didn't 'sound' like a polished author of fiction when he wrote this book; he made it sound too much like a textbook on sailing terminology, and opted for a much too leisurely, languid, pace.
and moved onto other reading while I recovered.This week, I tried again.and made it almost halfway through before realizing there was a big problem.I simply couldn't force myself to care enough to finish.O'Brian was clearly an intelligent man, with a remarkable grasp of the subject matter, but that simply isn't enough to make 'Master and Commander' worth reading. As an author, his narrative voice is far too dry, stuffy, and disconnected-a problem with other authors of his generation(such as P.D.
I tried reading this book a few years ago, but only got about a quarter of the way through before I got sick(not because of the book). There is certainly development of the characters, from what I saw, as Aubery, Maturin, and Dillon, in particular, show promise that must have ben realized in later books.The problem is that there is very little action in this book, and far too many nautical terms, which, as other readers suggested, really needed an appendix to help newbie/'landlubber' readers.
James), who tried to make up for the shortcomings of a story by burying it in an overabundance of research, and verbiage. The 200 or so pages I read came nowhere close to delivering what was promised by the blurb on the back cover: '.all the action and excitement which could possibly be hoped for in a historical novel'.
I'm sure, as others have said, that this was the 'shakedown voyage' for the Aubery-Maturin series, and that O'Brian grew more comfortable with storytelling, and allowed his characters to take over the story. I just prefer that such stories have interesting, engaging characters; dialogue that doesn't put the readers to sleep, or make them 'skip over' long, boring passages; and, most of all, something exciting happening more than approximately once every hundred pages.
What a fabulous author, who has caught the very fragrance of the ocean, all the phrases (none of which I understood) of the sailors as orders are barked fore and aft, of the cycles of calm and tremendous action as naval warfare is blasted at close quarters. I loved the film version but had heard of rumblings from loyal fans of O'Brian that the film was a hodge podge assembly of various books. I can hardly wait to chomp down on the other book loaned to me, which is "The Far Side of the World". Having not till now read any of the books, I still loved and own the film. A friend loaned me this (first book) in the series and having read it now I am fully salted and totally hooked. Very highly recommended.endlessly fascinating characterizations, with even the simplest person well fleshed out. My only regret is that I had not read O'Brian earlier.Haul up the Maintopsail, I am going to retrieve more O'brian booty.
I haven't seen the film, so I don't know about that. I do like a good series, because once I become attached to characters, I hate to say goodbye.
I had a hard time getting into it. I tried to read this a couple of times, at the urging of my parents.
Many times, I didn't want to wait til I was back in the car, and would continue on with the book in the house. Finally when finding myself on a long, solo, road trip, I bought the CDs and fell in love.
I worked my way through the entire series on both audio and paper books. I think that the audio version is good, especially because one gets the pronunciations correctly, and somehow, some of the technical sea stuff seems a bit easier to understand.
Generally, I am disappointed in the film version.
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