Mr Midshipman Easy (Classics of Nautical Fiction Series)

Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining! Even for a mother of 6!
Review: Almost 5 stars.

Mr. Easy's father is a philosopher, with a very naive view of human nature. This comic figure is the major influence in Jack Easy's life until he is convinced Jack needs to be sent off to school. There begins Jack Easy's REAL schooling in life, followed by his entry into the British Navy. After all, isn't everyone equal on the sea, which belongs to no man?!

Marryat's major strength in this book is that he can make almost any situation comical. You may roll your eyes at some of his puns,(He must really have enjoyed them!)but you can't help but laugh!

Although lots of sea interested people have reviewed this book, I would heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys a pleasant read and a good laugh. It's clean enough for children, interesting enough for dads, has adventure enough for boys, and stinging rebuke enough for moms. (My daughters also enjoyed it, especially the "duel".)

Only 4 stars because it's not as great literature as R.L. Stevenson's Kidnapped.

Rating:
Summary: easy does it!
Review: Considering the era in which it was written, this book is remarkable! Fast paced, uproariously funny at times, "Midshipman Easy" is a delight to all who enjoy seafaring novels. True, it is far-fetched at times, but it was never intended to be a true grit novel. The satire involved gains perspective if you understand Marryat's position for naval reform after he retired from active duty as a British Naval Captain. Marryat's use of a black man as Easy's guide and balance is something else ahead of it's time and I applaud him for that. The real purpose of this book is to provide a good read and it does it beautifully. The best of his novels,although Peter Simple ought to please the Forrester crowd.

Rating:
Summary: Midshipman Exremely Easy
Review: Great book in that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Great tongue-in-cheek view of life aboard a British man-of-war. Of course its not too realistic, which O'Brian attempts and Forrester accomplishes, still, a real hilarious adventure tale. Easy leads an unbelievably charmed life, to the point of delightful reading but not incredulity. Characters are real yet outstandingly rich and beautiful. Find yourself putting your head back now and then and laughing in a most horse-like fashion... In regard to sea stories of this nature, I put C.S. Forrester 1st (He is the master, and will always be 1st just as Tolkien will always be 1st for fantasy readers), Marryat 2nd, O'Brian 3rd (too much pontificating...) and Alexander Kent and others a distant, distant, distant 4th.

Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining! Even for a mother of 6!
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. Despite the fact that the book was written over one hundred years ago, Marryat's creation is entertaining to this day. One thing that made it such a good book was Marryat's experiences as a participant in the actual war. Writers of other Maritime books do not have as clear an understanding of what life was like on the ocean because they were never there. While Marryat can describe life on the ocean well and tell an entertaining story, he cannot be counted among the great authors of the english language. His book is entertaining and exciting, but not outstanding

Rating:
Summary: "Mr Midshipman Easy", part of Henry Holt & Company's Heart o
Review: If you like the more modern Patrick O'Brian novels you will most likely like enjoy "Mr Midshipman Easy" even more. The author, Frederick Marryat, was a real Post Captain on a British man-of-war and an excellent writer as well. The days of ship warfare in the Napoleanic era come alive as does the day-to-day life onboard a man-of-war.

I very much very much recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: If you like nautical adventures, this is a good bet.
Review: This book is to nineteenth century England what Huckleberry Finn was to early twentieth century America. (a great coming-of-age story.) This book is full of the immortal truths of English boyhood. It's also a good naval yarn. Jack Easy is the prototype for young seamen in the post-Trafalgar era. The book is actually quite funny, too. Marryat's characters are very well-drawn, if a little rough around the edges. This is a very good story, and Captain Marryat was quite a story-teller. There is truth in this book, and a hard-edged plot.

Rating:
Summary: Humor, adventure & social commentary
Review: While digging through the treasure trove of nautical fiction available, I found this gem.

Written in the 1830s, this story is a sharp social commentary combined with the adventure of a midshipman in the Royal Navy. I found this a delightful observation of society, which from today is even more humorous than it might have been 200 years ago.

The language isn't far off from today's (the sailing vocabulary hasn't -obviously- changed). A good read for just about any age. Footnotes (in the Heart of Oak edition) to help those unfamiliar with some 19th C. idioms or semi-obscure sailing terminology.

If you haven't read Marryat's work yet, this is a good one to get your feet wet.