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Summary: It all started here...
Review: I have little to say about Hornblower per se. Excellent adventure stories with a fine naval setting. The quality of print and binding of the book (trade paperback size) was excellent. What more needs to be said?
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Summary: The very best of British Navy Napoleonic War sailing ship no
Review: I was missing the pleasure of reading through the Patrick O'Brien series of novels, impatiently awaiting the next Alexander Kent novel and decided to pick up one of the classics in the British navy sailing novel genera. Want a nice find. I find the Hornblower novels to be even better than the O'Brien novels. Too bad there are fewer in the series.
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Summary: Immortal Tales of the Sea
Review: I listened to the recorded book, read by Geoffrey Howard, who is perfect for the job. He is excellent with all the varieties of a British accent, including English spoken with a French or Spanish accent, and his voice lends due nobility to the Hornblower saga. This book, tho not the first written, begins Hornblower's naval career as a 17 year old youth. Each chapter is a separate adventure, confronting the young officer with foreign enemies and untrustworthy allies, the trials of his own service, deprivation and disease, and of course, the mighty sea itself. It deals with a time when officers were gentlemen, at least in fiction, and Hornblower embodies all the qualities in a man that make for leadership and honorable service. Unlike the superhero types so popular in comics, movies, and popular fiction today, Hornblower does not always succeed (therein lies true adventure), but he does have style. They don't write adventure like this any more. When you become tired of aliens and the occult, sex and gore, or tortured hard-drinking divorced anti-heroes, let the exploits of Horatio Hornblower thrill you again.
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Summary: A Page Turner
Review: If you enjoy military nautical themes, then I recommend this historical fiction page turning book. CS Forester's fluid and smooth writing style was a refreshing treat after stressful mind intensive days from work. I cannot wait to start the second of the series.
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Summary: I don't usually read fiction, but I liked this book
Review: I probably haven't read a work of fiction since being required to do so back in college (or possibly high school) over ten years ago. I was introduced to the Horatio Hornblower series by the video series presented on A&E a couple of years ago. I decided to read the first book in the series and I was not disappointed. I found the action compelling and I was kept interested throughout the entire book. Watching the development of Horatio Hornblower from midshipman to lieutenant through a series of failures and successes gives depth to the whole work. I look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.
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Summary: Exciting Short Stories about Hornblower's First Voyages
Review: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is the prequel to the Horatio Hornblower series. Written as the sixth book chronologically, it covers the very first times when Hornblower served in His Majesty’s navy. My recommendation is that you read it first, so that you can follow Hornblower chronologically along over his career as it develops. Since much of service aboard a naval vessel is routine, C.S. Forester gives us the high spots of Hornblower’s first years in the form of short stories beginning at age 17 when he entered the navy. Each story is nicely balanced among the following qualities: Hornblower’s inexperience; the rapid shift of circumstances that can occur at sea; Hornblower’s physical and psychological weaknesses and courage to overcome them; the demands of honor; the importance of thinking clearly, getting good information, and making a swift decision; the benefits of discipline; and the brotherhood of all seaman before the dangers they face. Those who are interested in the war between Britain and France after the French Revolution in 1789 will find the material to bring those events to life in a vivid way. I learned a lot about the details of naval warfare as it was conducted then. The weakness of most short story writers is that their plots and resolutions often become overly predictable. These short stories are predictable only in their originality and unpredictability. As such, I found myself drawn forward, wondering what rabbit Forester would next pull out of the hat. This is just the sort of book that I loved to read as a teenager, and I could feel the years peeling off as I raced through the stories. This book would be a wonderful gift to a teenager who likes adventure tales based on historical events. Readers will be reminded of how embarrassing and emotionally daunting it can be to launch off to operate in the adult world at age 17. Unlike many adventure books, Hornblower serves the dual role of hero and morally-inspired man. It’s too bad that so much modern fiction chooses to develop the action without developing any character in the process.
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Summary: A ripping boy's own adventure
Review: Forester's entire Hornblower series are first rate nautical adventure's that carry the reader along with well written prose and cracking plots.
Horatio Hornblower, hero of Forester's series, is almost impossible to believe. Brave, handsome and a skilled seaman he is almost without flaw - a tendency to seasickness and constant self doubt are the two that make him human. This novel gives us the early maritime life of Hornblower, though not the first written, and we are introduced to a seasick, slightly miserable young man as he starts a naval career that will end many years (and novels) later with him reaching the pinnacles of the British Navy. The historical background of the Napoleonic wars throughout this and most of the other Hornblower novels is well played out and made me want to delve back into the history books to follow up on some of the slighter historical allusions. The same skill is brought to bear on all elements of life, struggle, battle and death in the British Navy of the time. I first read all these novels as an adult and enjoyed them. My nephew in his early teens, not a big reader, devoured the entire series in short order after I gave him this volume. We both wanted more and continue an unsuccesful search for another author of seafaring adventures who combines excellent writing, fine detail and constant action with the same skill as Forester. I would recommend this book to anyone from their early teens on who enjoys a good adventure story.
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Summary: Fun, Quick-Paced, Full of Action
Review: This is a fun book to read. I had never heard of Mr. Forester or these novels, and when they came recommended to me over a short period of time from several different sources, I picked up this, the first in the series chronologically (we meet a young Hornblower as he first joins His Majesty's Navy) and had a very good time reading it. The book is a collection of short stories which occasionally build on each other. The writing is blunt and to the point, the action fast paced, the life-lessons brutally self-apparent, but they are put together in a very entertaining manner which creates quite an enjoyable book. I would compare the book to a historically placed Clive Cussler novel, or perhaps even a more modern and quickly told version of James Fenimore Cooper's Leather-Stocking Tales. I recommend this to anyone who is looking for a light-hearted, fast-paced adventure novel that doesn't weigh too heavily on the soul. I think this would be a great novel to read to/with kids. I'm looking forward to reading some of the other books in the series.
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Summary: The Best of the Series
Review: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is by far my favorite of the Hornblower series. Forester's characters aboard His Majesty's Frigate the Indefatigable are unforgettable. The hero, Horatio Hornblower, seems like a realistic character. He has faults and makes mistakes...he is also a young 17 year old eager to please. The entire series is exciting reading, but this title is my number one pick. The adventures of Horatio Hornblower are well worth reading! Order it today!
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Summary: Hornblower is Not Captain Ahab!
Review: Do not seek the living horror of an historical shipwreck such as one finds in Philbrick's "In the Heart of the Sea" in any of Forester's novels. Similarly, look elsewhere for the symbolism and multi-layered thoughts that make Melville's "Moby Dick" such a rich source of inspiration. Forester is by no means an historian, nor can he reach the inspiring heights of Melville as a novelist. Nonetheless, Forester can not only spin an engrossing sea yarn but can also introduce us to young Hornblower in such a way that we really come to know him and look forward to following his career in the Royal Navy. To this landlubber, Forester's familiar use of nautical terminology, especially that which is relevant to the various accoutrements of a sailing ship, causes me mentally to falter from time to time, but the broader contextual meanings of his terms are never lost, and the story line is simply enchanting. Forester's entire collection of novels featuring the trials, tribulations, fears, doubts and successes of Hornblower as he rises from midshipman to lieutenent to captain and on up the hierarchy of officer-dom in the Royal Navy is a grand read for everyone with the least interest in adventure on the high seas. His is more mature reading than, say, "Treasure Island," but it is nowhere near as "heavy" as the seafaring works of Melville or Conrad. Put quite simply, Forester is fun to read!
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