by Patrick O'Brian
I had already read The Unknown Shore a few times when I finally got around to tackling the first of the Aubrey-Maturin books. I jumped into it without watching that Russell Crowe movie first.
It's the story of Captain Jack Aubrey (although he's not really a Captain, he's just called Captain. He's actually Master and Commander) and his good friend Dr. Stephen Maturin. Only he's not actually a Doctor but a Surgeon...or was it the other way around?
Aubrey has been given command of his first ship (although it's not really a...you get it by now) and spends the novel patrolling the Mediterranean in search of enemy vessels to capture. To the victor go the spoils.
This book, published 11 years after The Unknown Shore, is not as easy to get through but that's not to mean that it's difficult or impossible. My one complaint from the other book, that my lack of nautical knowledge limits my grasp of the story, applies here also, as well as my lack of early 19th Century European politics, business practices, Naval Law and Military chain of command.
O'Brian jumps right into things, expecting the reader to know what the Hell's going on. If I had spent my entire life on ships and reading the dusty histories, annals, maps, logs and almanacs of the Aubrey period I'd be in a better position to review this book. But you know what? It doesn't matter, the story is that good!
There's just something about the cadence and lingo of British speech that can make it hilarious whether one knows what's being said or not.
I'm looking forward to reading the next book. Hopefully as the series goes along I'll have a better grasp at what's being said and done. And now, in spite of myself, I kinda sorta wanna see the movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment