Just finished the 20th vol. “Blue at the Mizzen.” Been reading them for about a month and a half or so. Yeah, I read fast. Got the lexicography book, too.
What fun. I figure I’ll buy the whole set one day for multiple re-readings.
I’m in- he’s my one of my favorite take it on the airplane and read authors. Have you gotten the cookbook??? That’s interesting as well. The other one I try to take on the plane is Terry Pratchett.
I did not need to know that!
There goes the budget…again! 
Heck, yeah. Great stuff. I’ve only discovered him recently; have only read H.M.S. Surprise and The Far Side of the World, thus far. The first one took me a while to get into, but once I did, I was hooked. The richness of the language…delightful. Looking forward to reading more, preferably in some sort of order. Expect it may take me more than a month, though.
Well, it’s funny because I mostly read history and hadn’t read fiction in years so I did get pretty obsessive. I remember reading the Hornblower books when I was a kid and liking them for similar reasons. And because these are “can’t put em downs” I have to say I probably ruined more than a few workdays staying up reading the night before. I used three different libraries to get through the series as none of them necessarily have all the volumes in at any time. Two weeks ago, I checked out the last six, not knowing how long it would take but being secure I wouldn’t run out of the sequence. I won’t ruin the end for anybody, other than to say that it was set up for more, but O’Brian died.
The way I see it, Russell Crowe or not, there are many fine movies that could be made out of the series.
I’m a potential fan. I read the first two quite a long time ago and liked them. I remember getting some book to help with the language and ship parts. Then something came up and I didn’t get further. So they are waiting for me. Of course now I have no idea where my reference book is!
They get better with each rereading. Incredibly rich. And such subtlety.
Maturin’s observations about people are of particular interest to me. It’s a whole other side to idea that the books are “action-adventure.” His observations about aging, vanity and personality types are timeless.
I very nearly made it through Master and Commander and the other one that went with it into the movie … almost all the way … well, close to …
http://www.wwnorton.com/pob/pobhome.htm
djm
Count me among the fans.
I did try one, I forget the title, but the two lead characters were poncing about on dry land chatting up some young ladies, instead of in a ship fighting the French, and I never finished it.
Probably picked the wrong one to start with, and I’d like to try again as I know O’Brian was well respected.
It’s true that there is a sort of explanation-scenario set up with the ladies that ends up as a key element for the rest of the series. The vast majority of the series takes place at sea with some exotic locations for land adventures thrown in.
If anyone is interested, do read them in order. Just check the inside pages and you will see it.
Been tempted for years and knowing that I just can’t read one! Got the full set in our library system and they are always going out. I just don’t have the time and I know if I start, I might just miss work.
Thanks for using your local public libraries also!
MarkB
Been a while since I read the series - and yes, I checked them out of the library (I own a few of the books, but they were purchased after my original read-through).
Very good. I’ve seen the claim made that they should be considered “science fiction” in that they show how intellegent aliens might think.
Jack Aubrey and Dr. Maturin are intellegent, interesting, and sympathetic - but their society isn’t ours, and their thought patterns, mores, and desires don’t match our own. Much of what they accept as normal and correct - behavior, social roles, simple day-to-day actions - seem shockingly alien to modern sensibilities. And much of what we currently consider normal would be equally shocking to them.
O’Brian’s prose furthers this sense of the alien - his characters don’t speak in modern idiom, but in the language and dialect of their own time and place. Though both are educated, Aubrey and Maturin have very different speech patterns, as do the people surrounding them.
And, somehow, O’Brian carries it all off almost effortlessly. When you’re reading the book, this is almost transparent; without any shock of immersion the reader is surrounded by a different world.
Yeah, I suppose you could say I like the books. 