Master and Commander

Rating:
Summary: First of Many
Review: One begins Master and Commander with some trepidation -- it being the first chapter of an intensely beloved twenty volume series. Fortunately, the opening scenes depicting the first meeting of O'Brians's long running protagonists are funny and engaging. It is only thereafter that the book becomes a challenging read.

There is a little in the way of an overarching narrative; Master and Commander serves as more of an introduction to life on a Napoleonic brig, and to Aubrey and Maturin. But the book's real difficulty lies in its absolute immersion in its era. It makes no concession to a modern reader lacking knowledge of the period, the setting, or how to rig a frigate. This makes the book a sometimes tough read -- but is also why it is ultimately so rewarding.

One close's Master and Commander with the sense of having spent time with very particular people in a very particular time, looking forward to doing so again in the next volume.

Rating:
Summary: Very Well Written
Review: I gave this series a try after being very much dissapointed with reading Dewey Lamdin's "This King's Coat." I would say without hesitation that this novel is far superior in almost every way.

The characters are well drawn, the writing excellent, though at times it was so dry that it was hard to follow. Unfortunately, I had already ready the first installment of the Alan Lewrie series, so I feel that much of the explanation of how ship-life ran was more of a review for me.

There are a few downsides, though. Most of all, it seemed to lack a moving plot, and seems to focus instead on setting the stage for some grand adventures. The conclusion, however, seems to fit very nicely in to the story, and I look forward to reading the next book whenever I have time.

Rating:
Summary: The Start Of A Classic Literary Friendship
Review: "Master and Commander", the first of Patrick O'Brian's twenty volumes devoted to the exploits of Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin, is a delightful literary pleasure. Yet those unfamiliar to Napoleonic naval fiction should find themselves copies of the Oxford English Dictionary and histories devoted to the Royal Navy and the Napoleonic wars. However, it is still a delight to read, with replete with exceptionally well drawn characters, fascinating details on subjects as diverse as natural history, music, and of course, the Royal Navy, and many scenes devoted to war. O'Brian's fiction rises well above those of his peers in naval fiction, because of his devotion to details and the graceful, lyrical - and some might say outmoded - literary style he uses. Indeed, on more than one occasion, O'Brian admitted to interviewers that he was a 19th Century man trapped in the 20th Century.

"Master and Commander" is a splendid introduction to Aubrey and Maturin. It chronicles Commander Aubrey's exploits as the master and commander of His Britannic Majesty's sloop Sophie along the coasts of France, and especially, Spain. Like the other novels in the Aubrey/Maturin saga, it is a stand alone tale, yet I can assure you that after you read this tome, you'll be eager to read the rest. Unquestionably, this entire series is one of the great classics of late 20th Century literature.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable on every level, save maybe the lowest common one.
Review: As I write this review, "Master and Commander" has been commented upon by 100 other reviewers; how is one supposed to weed through the criticism? I suggest reading the few one-star reviews. From them, you will learn that if you require a numbing series of Clancy-esque action passages to entertain you, this book probably won't. Second, some people detest being challenged by the subject matter of their fiction; if there is going to be anything that can remotely be described as esoteric, the author should carefully connect the dots to avoid any suspicion that he might be talking down to his readers. O'Brien is particularly annoying to those with such concerns, because he has no qualms about targeting the 19th century groves of academe as his readership. He appears to presume that we all have a working knowledge of botany, entymology, biology, geography, socio-economic theory, classical music, the British navy, and sailing ships (each as it existed in the Napoleonic era) as we read. That may indeed be somewhat arrogant. It's also impressive and highly entertaining for many who might find their interest in these various subjects piqued by the many references to them.

This book and the many that follow it in the series do not play well to the lowest common denominator; for example, the protagonists Captain Aubrey and Doctor Maturin are not always sympathetic; each has fundamental flaws that sometimes make them difficult to like. All of this being said, "Master and Commander" is accessible to any patient and thoughtful reader who doesn't demand comic-book simplicity in his or her fiction. The book is uproariously funny in certain passages, but it is the kind of humor that only becomes apparent three pages later. The delight in the joke itself is magnified by the joy in discovering it.

O'Brien won't patronize you, and you may feel comforted by piling several reference guides around you as you read, but this book's pleasures are exponentially greater than the cheap payoff from a formulaic potboiler. If you don't mind actually exercising your brain as you read, if you like tightly drawn characters and have even a passing interest the glory years of the British Navy, you'll probably love this. I suspect, however, that even you will not be able to read this book in less than a few sittings. This type of prose is meant to be slowly chewed and digested, which is why the fast-food types just don't relate.

Rating:
Summary: You do not have to be a sailing fan to enjoy this book
Review: For many years now I have wondered about Patrick O'Brian and why his novels are so popular. Naval fiction has never attracted me so it was with some trepidation that I eventually bit the bullet and decided to try this book.

I cannot pretend that this book was easy-going. There is a lot of jargon used that, unless you are a sea boffin, frankly you will not understand. But the funny thing is, you don't need to. As other reviewers have pointed out, O'Brian has very skilfully evoked the world of 1800 in this novel and this book really did transport me to another era and place. It is also frequently funny. The characters of Aubrey and Maturin were attractive and engaging. You certainly do not need to be a man or 96 years old to be able to enjoy this book!

I am not sure if I will read any other novels in the series since I did find this book to be hard work at times. But what I cannot deny is that the Aubrey/Maturin series undoubtedly gives a great deal of pleasure to many people - if it is for this reason alone, you owe it to yourself to give this book a try.

Rating:
Summary: amazingly detailed, yet fun
Review: What a happy surprise to find that I simply can't stop reading this series. I had long heard fans of this series sing its praises, but I was always put off by the thought of reading a seafaring military saga. My few attempts at historical "sailing" novels made me believe that the genre was chock-full of misogyny and slow plot-lines. After reading "Master and Commander" I have revised my estimation of the genre and have resolved to continue reading this series in its entirety (I am now on the third Aubrey/Maturin book).
I agree wholeheartedly with the recommendations by the reviewer from Charlottesville -- in particular, skip trying to figure out all of the sailing jargon and just go with the flow of the novels. They move along at great pace; you'll never be bored. I do keep a dictionary by my side to look up some of the more arcane and obsolete vocabulary used. (Indeed, the OED would be a great choice if you have access to it.) And that's half the fun of reading these novels -- immersing yourself in a bygone age of such different morals, manners, language, knowledge, and priorities. Of course, the other half of the fun is getting to know Aubrey and Maturin. O'Brien's ability to draw these characters so rich in their complexity is nothing short of amazing.
As a relatively young female reader who never thought she'd see the day that a seafaring tale would hold her interest, I highly recommend this series.

Rating:
Summary: I read them all - now what? :}
Review: Over the years, I have came across a number of stunning reviews for O'Brian's books. One day when I was faced with finding something new to read, I ordered this book from Amazon.

To be honest, at first I found the book confusing and boring. The reader is faced with a number of unfamiliarities: the time period, the culture of the Royal navy, the dialect, the nautical terms, the political situations, the standards of behavior, the geography, the Royal Society with its Baconian approach to science, and state-legitimized piracy, to name but a few. I spent about 6 months reading this book ( I usually read a book in a week or two), and would put it down for awhile and read something else. After three or four chapters, I realized that there was little value in looking up all the references to various sails and parts of ships. From this point on I really started to enjoy the book, and by the time Aubrey has his first piratical adventure, I was hooked. After I finished "Master and Commander", I read the other 19 books in 11 months.

Some advice:

1. Read the books in order. Characters appear, disappear, and re-appear throughout the books. Sometimes they die, but usually not.
2. Read the second book "Post Captain" very carefully. IMHO, it is the best book of all 20. This book focuses on developing the Maturin character as a spy; a sophisticated man of wealth, background, and education; a drug user; and a nerdy womanizer - sort of an 19th century cross between James Bond and Bill Gates.
3. Unless you are compelled by an obsessive-compulsive disorder to do otherwise, ignore the thousands of detailed nautical terms. Sometimes they have some value, but generally only in the case of a nautical joke. I bought one of the suggested help books ("Dictionary of Nautical Terms") and found it to be generally useless in defining terms used in 19th century sailing.
4. Keep a general US and World history text handy. This will be useful for some quick background when Aubrey is involved in some minor war, especially the ones I slept thru in world history classes in college.
5. I looked up a lot of terms in the OED.
6. Have fun. These are easy reads. It was fun to discover a unread series of 20 great books to read at my age. It was like "discovering" the works of Faulkner, Steinbeck, Hemingway, McPhee, and Updike in high school.

Rating:
Summary: O Happy Meeting!
Review: When Lieutenant Jack Aubrey Royal Navy meets Stephen Maturin, physician of Spain and Ireland, in the elegant music room of the Governor's house in Port Mahon at the dawn of the Nineteenth Century and in the middle of the Napoleonic wars, a friendship is begun which is one of the most remarkable in modern literature.

For twenty books we follow the adventures of this pair, around the world, in love and war, sun and storm, battle and peace, at sea and on land. The reader who stays with them - and it is not uncommon to read all twenty books, one after the other - is in for a feast, a remarkable journey through this world of sea-captains and their ladies, spies and spymasters, politicians, convicts, bureaucrats and soldiers. Grand ladies and scoundrels, thiefs, bailiffs and bums.

But I stray. This is the first volume, and like all the others it stands alone as a story. It is the story of Lucky Jack Aubrey and his cruises in the sloop HMS Sophie up and down the Mediterranean, but chiefly off the coasts of France and Spain. There is victory and promotion, death and failure, glory and satisfaction before we get to the end.

The atmosphere is unerringly authentic. Every word is researched, every setting, every ship, every part of a ship. We are taken aloft in a square-rigger, we man the guns in a sea-battle, and we line the rails as she comes home to port. All in exquisite detail.

But this is more than Hornblower or his later imitators. This is a step up. These battles and characters, settings and seamen are far, far more than the "fighting sail" equivalent of today's technothriller. No cardboard characters here! Every one is finely drawn, acting according to their own desires and ambitions, with their own habits and mannerisms. Here is Mowett, declaiming snatches of poetry, remarkably turgid poetry that was published by the yard in those days. (Thankfully we never hear more than a verse or two). Here is Killick, bringing in the Captain's salt horse, Midshipman Babbington interested in the ladies but amazingly coy about it. Barret Bonden, Tom Pullings - a host of characters!

The humour, the gentle good humour, sets this book aside from all the others with a sailing ship on the cover. There are wonderful jokes, there is restrained word play, there are hidden treasures of subtlety, for Patrick O'Brian was a deep old file, and every now and then he sets the reader up for a prank, all the more pleasurable for being found out and appreciated at its proper moment.

One remarkable aspect is the popularity of this series amongst the fairer sex. This is not a catalogue of sea-battles and nineteenth century naval technology, but a tale of manners and relationships that would do Jane Austen proud.

We feel for the characters, suffering and smiling with them as the narrative unfolds. And we can feel the relationships folding in turn - Jack and Stephen might begin the story as mere acquaintances, but they end as firm friends, one of the best and most pleasant friendships in literature.

For, rest assured, this is literature. A most amazingly pleasant novel-series that is both fun to read and yet contains enough deep insights and discussions of fundamental themes for any university course.

I must confess I am biased. I read Hornblower as a schoolboy and began reading his imitators - Bolitho, Ramage and the rest. I'd buy each book as they were published but as time went by I perservered with only one author, and the annual wait for the next Patrick O'Brian seemed to stretch out to double or triple the time. I have now read them all, for Patrick O'Brian died as the Twentieth Century ended, but I still read and re-read them for the sheer pleasure of the reading. And I am a busy man, with piles of wonderful books stacked high on my bedside table, but there is nothing in fiction quite so pleasant as to return to the dear old barky, hear the strains of Locatelli from the great stern-cabin, spy Killick waiting by the door with coffee and toasted cheese, and a cheery voice from the Gunroom cry "Rouse out another bottle there - can't you see we've got a guest?"

O happy meeting, and happy voyage in this first of a great novel series. Dear reader, do yourself a favour and plunge into this wonderful world. ...

Rating:
Summary: Master and Commander
Review: After reading the Hornblower series I was looking for more. I got through about two chapters of this and threw it away. O'brian writes like an old woman. The story seems to be about tea parties and gossip, the time and setting seem incidental to the story. Tedious and boring. If you like Jane Austin, you'll like O'brian, maybe. Skip it and try Alexander Kents "Richard Bolitho" series.

Rating:
Summary: A reading challenge and adventure
Review: The Aubrey-Maturin series is an amazing journey through the English navy and the many places it sailed throughout the early 19th century. You see the world through the eyes of an inhabitant. You become a denizen of the era, not merely a spectator. The first book introduces the characters and we see personalities and quirks in the two main characters that permeate seamlessly throughout the series. We meet Jack and Stephen when they meet each other, and we all become great friends. The reading is difficult at first. The author forces you to learn an almost foreign tongue as he saturates you with the English language and customs of the era. Once you get your sea legs, though, you are off on a grand adventure. Highly recommended. Once you start the series, you cannot stop, even if it takes years to complete, you will always return to it until the journey is at end.