Call number
FIC OBR
Collection
Genres
Series
Publication
W. W. Norton & Company (1990), 411 pages
Description
Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML: Here is the maiden voyage of O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series, which follows the unique friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent. It is the dawn of the nineteenth century; Britain is at war with Napoleon's France. When Jack Aubrey, a young lieutenant in Nelson's navy, is promoted to captain, he inherits command of HMS Sophie, an old, slow brig unlikely to make his fortune. But Captain Aubrey is a brave and gifted seaman, his thirst for adventure and victory immense. With the aid of his friend Stephen Maturin, Aubrey and his crew engage in one thrilling battle after another, their journey culminating in a stunning clash with a mighty Spanish frigate against whose guns and manpower the tiny Sophie is hopelessly outmatched. O'Brian renders in riveting detail the life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the roar of broadsides as the great ships close in battle..… (more)
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User reviews
LibraryThing member iayork
Worth the effort: From reading the previous reviews it is apparent that this novel polarises opinions like few others, i.e. you'll either love it or hate it. People who hate it find the language archaic, "eighteenth century nautical terms scattered like confetti", the characters wooden and hard to
This is the first of a series of twenty novels and you really do need to read them in sequence, (1. Master and Commander, 2. Post Captain, 3. HMS Surprise etc.),as the author tends to tell you something once and then expects you to remember it. If you start with The Far Side of the World, number ten, because of the film, you will be hopelessly adrift; nothing the characters do or say will make any sense, and the plot is very different from the film so you will not recognise what you are reading.
Start with this one then, book one and don't just skim it for the adventure story. Climb the rigging with the lubberly Dr Stephen Maturin and listen as he has explained to him the masts, yards and sails of the Sophie. After only a few pages you know the difference between the foremast and the mizzen, the stays, tops and ratlines. You will benefit from getting some maps; Minorca and the Spanish coast east of Gibraltar (look them up as soon as the place names come out of the text). You want to get a feel for the shape of the coast, harbours and ports. Don't spend any money, just five minutes with the Google map facility and print them off, nicely magnified so you get all the capes and points. Now you can feel the tension as the Sophie ducks under the enemy guns, steals a prize and races for safety with a half dozen frigates in hot pursuit; all the naval engagements make a whole lot more sense; you might even mark the positions of the vessels and follow their movements; Patrick O'Brian gives you enough description to clearly visualise every detail and this is where he scores most of his points and wins his lifelong devotees. The author had vast resources of knowledge about naval engagements of the period and most of the action is painstakingly recreated from real events, as reported by those who took part in them. This is far more than historical fiction, it is the bringing back to vivid life of a period of our relatively recent history.
Next if you find the story intriguing but the nautical terms frustrating (you are not alone in this), you might consider purchasing a reference book: The World of Jack Aubrey by David Miller (I paid £5.99), a shortish, hard-backed book for the twenty-first century reader, full of diagrams and explanations and with a glossary of technical terms. The mysteries of the stunsail, the use of the log, the bells of the watch and the use of the glass will all become clear, along with good descriptions of the various vessels that feature, from lateens to bum-boats, sloops and brigs, the points of the compass and the different fighting styles of the British and French men o' war (British preferred solid shot aimed at the hull that sent explosions of splinters through the enemy crew, wheras the French preferred chain and grape shot to disable and capture.
A further book is a worthwhile purchase, Admiral W.H. Smyth's The Sailor's Word-Book (Conway £9.99). This fat period tome comprises over 14,000 nautical and naval terms, every technical word used by Patrick O'Brian is in there, described in crisp clarity, the Admiral spent the seven years of his retirement from 1858 - 1865 working on this mine of information and the Aubrey/Maturin enthusiast will have this reference close by at all times.
To bring the experience fully to life I would also recommend a day out to the Portsmouth historic harbour; a couple of hours inhaling the air aboard the H.M.S. Victory touching the cables and absorbing the perspectives will be well spent.
If you find yourself shouting, "Vast that anchor", to your wife in the Sainsbury's car park, and your kids buy you a parrot for Christmas then it's possible that you might be allowing your enthusiasm to carry you a little too far, but until then, enjoy the journey.
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sympathise with, and struggle to engage with the novelist. Many readers, perhaps enticed by the Russell Crowe film, will find themselves buying this book and then struggling to get beyond the first chapter. It is not easy reading, not like Sharpe, or Hornblower that you can race through, especially at the outset. However, if you like a book with a bit of substance behind it, are prepared to do a little bit of work to understand what is going on, and will give the characters room to breathe, you may just find yourself rewarded beyond expectations as a treasurehouse opens up before you. This is the first of a series of twenty novels and you really do need to read them in sequence, (1. Master and Commander, 2. Post Captain, 3. HMS Surprise etc.),as the author tends to tell you something once and then expects you to remember it. If you start with The Far Side of the World, number ten, because of the film, you will be hopelessly adrift; nothing the characters do or say will make any sense, and the plot is very different from the film so you will not recognise what you are reading.
Start with this one then, book one and don't just skim it for the adventure story. Climb the rigging with the lubberly Dr Stephen Maturin and listen as he has explained to him the masts, yards and sails of the Sophie. After only a few pages you know the difference between the foremast and the mizzen, the stays, tops and ratlines. You will benefit from getting some maps; Minorca and the Spanish coast east of Gibraltar (look them up as soon as the place names come out of the text). You want to get a feel for the shape of the coast, harbours and ports. Don't spend any money, just five minutes with the Google map facility and print them off, nicely magnified so you get all the capes and points. Now you can feel the tension as the Sophie ducks under the enemy guns, steals a prize and races for safety with a half dozen frigates in hot pursuit; all the naval engagements make a whole lot more sense; you might even mark the positions of the vessels and follow their movements; Patrick O'Brian gives you enough description to clearly visualise every detail and this is where he scores most of his points and wins his lifelong devotees. The author had vast resources of knowledge about naval engagements of the period and most of the action is painstakingly recreated from real events, as reported by those who took part in them. This is far more than historical fiction, it is the bringing back to vivid life of a period of our relatively recent history.
Next if you find the story intriguing but the nautical terms frustrating (you are not alone in this), you might consider purchasing a reference book: The World of Jack Aubrey by David Miller (I paid £5.99), a shortish, hard-backed book for the twenty-first century reader, full of diagrams and explanations and with a glossary of technical terms. The mysteries of the stunsail, the use of the log, the bells of the watch and the use of the glass will all become clear, along with good descriptions of the various vessels that feature, from lateens to bum-boats, sloops and brigs, the points of the compass and the different fighting styles of the British and French men o' war (British preferred solid shot aimed at the hull that sent explosions of splinters through the enemy crew, wheras the French preferred chain and grape shot to disable and capture.
A further book is a worthwhile purchase, Admiral W.H. Smyth's The Sailor's Word-Book (Conway £9.99). This fat period tome comprises over 14,000 nautical and naval terms, every technical word used by Patrick O'Brian is in there, described in crisp clarity, the Admiral spent the seven years of his retirement from 1858 - 1865 working on this mine of information and the Aubrey/Maturin enthusiast will have this reference close by at all times.
To bring the experience fully to life I would also recommend a day out to the Portsmouth historic harbour; a couple of hours inhaling the air aboard the H.M.S. Victory touching the cables and absorbing the perspectives will be well spent.
If you find yourself shouting, "Vast that anchor", to your wife in the Sainsbury's car park, and your kids buy you a parrot for Christmas then it's possible that you might be allowing your enthusiasm to carry you a little too far, but until then, enjoy the journey.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bragan
The first book in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, about life in the British navy in the early 19th century.
I have to confess, I found this one slow going, particularly the first half of the novel. Our introduction to the characters and the setting is slow and drawn-out and features a lot
Overall, I find myself responding to this book almost exactly the way I often respond to the pilot episode of a well-regarded TV series. There's too much awkward set-up to get through for things to feel satisfying, and I'm not yet sufficiently invested in the characters to feel properly engaged. But I can see the potential for something really worthwhile. So, despite my difficulties, I fully intend to keep going with this series. Which is good, I suppose, as I already own several of the later books.
I have to confess, I found this one slow going, particularly the first half of the novel. Our introduction to the characters and the setting is slow and drawn-out and features a lot
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of exposition, much of which might almost as well have been written in a foreign language, as far as I'm concerned. Despite having made it through the entire Horatio Hornblower series, I still do not remotely speak nautical-ese. And though Forester had a remarkable talent for writing in such a way that I could follow all the action even without understanding most of the terminology, O'Brian seems to foolishly trust that I'll pick it up as I go along. So it was often a bit of a struggle. Still, there are things here that I really like. I like the way O'Brian refuses to romanticize shipboard life without ever getting too grim. I like the sense of humor, which ranges from the dry to the bawdy, and tends to pop up at surprising moments. And I like the combination of the bluff, beefy, not overly educated man of action Captain Aubrey and the introverted, intellectual, entirely-too-obsessed-with-birds Dr. Maturin, which is, or at least has the potential to be, a delightful odd couple friendship.Overall, I find myself responding to this book almost exactly the way I often respond to the pilot episode of a well-regarded TV series. There's too much awkward set-up to get through for things to feel satisfying, and I'm not yet sufficiently invested in the characters to feel properly engaged. But I can see the potential for something really worthwhile. So, despite my difficulties, I fully intend to keep going with this series. Which is good, I suppose, as I already own several of the later books.
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LibraryThing member dsc73277
At times I found this a difficult voyage, largely on account of the mass of nautical terminology. I frequently found myself at the end of a paragraph with little idea what had just happened. In any case, however well described, battle scenes are not really my thing. However, I was won over by the
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less technical historical details, and by the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, the physician he recruits to be doctor on his boat. Next time I read Jane Austen's Persuasion, I will have a clearer idea what working life was actually like for Captain Wentworth. Reading Austen one could be forgiven that the Navy simply existed to provide commissions for the sons of the upper middle classes and husbands for their daughters; reading O'Brian one is reminded of the realities of service life, not least the risk of serious injury. Show Less
LibraryThing member mrgan
If you've heard anything about this book at all, it's that the language within is closer to Naval than English. Entire pages are filled with one strange ship term after another (another fifty, really), and if you think you'll work it out from the context, think again, for the context is usually
Well I'm here to say that it came close to stopping me, in fact. Not by the virtue of the text's impenetrability, but by the sheer ratio of naval encyclopediatrics to human action. Plenty things happen in the book—friendship, jealousy, hatred, loyalty, romance—but those are delivered to the sleepy reader at strange points in the story, and often in a puzzlingly abbreviated fashion. Three pages of deck-swabbing, then suddenly we've captured a ship and retired for dinner in Barcelona and are now discussing Irish politics in a paragraph and half. In the end, it's difficult to get a solid sense of the book's social order, of the politics at large, and of the very characters.
There's still an addictive, peppy quality to the plotting, but I'm not sure if the actual experience of focusing intensely to distinguish the tutorial on running a ship from the events happening to its crew has been fun enough to keep me coming back for all the other books in the series.
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just more of these topgallantmasts, cunt splices, Lateen mizzens and whatnots. I was aware of all this, but I figured it was no thing to stop me from enjoying an otherwise well written book.Well I'm here to say that it came close to stopping me, in fact. Not by the virtue of the text's impenetrability, but by the sheer ratio of naval encyclopediatrics to human action. Plenty things happen in the book—friendship, jealousy, hatred, loyalty, romance—but those are delivered to the sleepy reader at strange points in the story, and often in a puzzlingly abbreviated fashion. Three pages of deck-swabbing, then suddenly we've captured a ship and retired for dinner in Barcelona and are now discussing Irish politics in a paragraph and half. In the end, it's difficult to get a solid sense of the book's social order, of the politics at large, and of the very characters.
There's still an addictive, peppy quality to the plotting, but I'm not sure if the actual experience of focusing intensely to distinguish the tutorial on running a ship from the events happening to its crew has been fun enough to keep me coming back for all the other books in the series.
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LibraryThing member otterley
I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I gave myself permission not to worry too much about the technical detail and language, and enjoyed the characterisation, well paced plotting and salty depictions of naval life. Like Georgette Heyer, O'Brian is obviously in love with his period
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and its language, which is enjoyable if sometimes a little bewildering to landlubbers... Show Less
LibraryThing member taylorw
I'd started with the third volume of this series, HMS Surprise, and plowed through with such delight that I went ahead to the fourth. But then I stopped to go back to Master and Commander and start from the beginning. I've been through the series three times (can that be true?... such are the
I would now say read the second or third volumes first, since they are filled with more of the social realities (i.e., Diana Villiers) which ultimately gives the novels their expansive, may we say Dickensian scope. Newcomers overwhelmed and put off by the nautical jargon would find these more welcoming perhaps.
And if there is another writer who can drop the reader into another place and time, and do it with such subtle command of the language and sensibilities of the time, I've not come across him or her. I find myself unfairly comparing his prose style to almost all other fiction I read.
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delights and powers of this astonishing work; like listening to the 5th Symphony from time to time). I would now say read the second or third volumes first, since they are filled with more of the social realities (i.e., Diana Villiers) which ultimately gives the novels their expansive, may we say Dickensian scope. Newcomers overwhelmed and put off by the nautical jargon would find these more welcoming perhaps.
And if there is another writer who can drop the reader into another place and time, and do it with such subtle command of the language and sensibilities of the time, I've not come across him or her. I find myself unfairly comparing his prose style to almost all other fiction I read.
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LibraryThing member rameau
A few months ago, I watched a documentary of O'Brian that was done in the late 90s before his death. He was cagey about his life, but I was amused because all the personal info was complete lies. After re-reading Master and Commander, I have a theory about that. O'Brian was a man from that time. He
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was from 1800. Oh yes, the structures of the books are quite modern, but he writes with the knowledge of the native. He knew this world. He was a time traveler. That's the only logical explanation. Show Less
LibraryThing member thesmellofbooks
I have wanted to dip into this series for a while, and finally stumbled across the first title. It is dense, rich, and very human fiction. For a landlubber, the nautical terms get a tad confusing at times, but like travelling in a foreign land, the lilt of the accent and the slight sense of
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When a key character dies late in the book, I was left with a kind of flat feeling for the rest of the book. This is because of the way it was handled, that he was so very there and then so very gone. He goes so quickly, off stage, and we see so little of the impact on his mates. Clearly, they mourn him, but more weight is given to their irritations earlier in the book than to this devastating loss. Still, an excellent book.
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uncertainty is all part of the enjoyment. Loved it.>
When a key character dies late in the book, I was left with a kind of flat feeling for the rest of the book. This is because of the way it was handled, that he was so very there and then so very gone. He goes so quickly, off stage, and we see so little of the impact on his mates. Clearly, they mourn him, but more weight is given to their irritations earlier in the book than to this devastating loss. Still, an excellent book.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
Several of my friends are big fans of the Aubrey/Maturin series of naval adventures set in the Age of Sail that starts with this book. The series was the inspiration for the popular fantasy novels by Naomi Novik (and on a more literary note, according to the Wiki, they've been an inspiration for
At this first outing, I didn't feel O'Brien compared well. Forster's books are far more accessible, being written in a straightforward, modern style--you open the novel and you're immediately absorbed into the adventure. O'Brian, in contrast, writes in a period style--his favorite author reportedly was Jane Austen, and this is the world of Captain Wentworth of Persuasion. O'Brian also throws a lot more naval jargon into his story than Forster, so at times my eyes glazed over. And judging from just this book, Hornblower comes across as the more impressive creation. He's rather a Sherlock Holmes of nautical fiction--a brilliant commander with plenty of tricks up his sleeves--it's no accident Hornblower was the inspiration for Captain Kirk of Star Trek. Captain Jack Aubrey doesn't impress in this first novel with his brilliance. Luck and aggression seem more the source of his success (and more than a bit of good leadership and seamanship admittedly). The book also never pulled itself together as a novel--it doesn't build towards anything and one thread of conflict never gets resolved--or at least it is in a very unsatisfactory way so I wonder what the point was of James Dillon's character.
On the other hand, note these are called the "Aubrey/Maturin" books. Hornblower is very much isolated and alone. An introvert, although he trusts and cares about his subordinate, Lieutenant Bush, they're not intimates. Captain Jack Aubrey is much more extroverted, social--but also, he has a good friend in Stephen Maturin, who he first meets in this novel, and who becomes his ship's surgeon. And the books are as much about him, a brilliant physician and naturalist as they are about Aubrey. And since at the start Maturin knows nothing of the navy, through him, he and the reader are able to learn about the ships and service together. I did like how Aubrey and Maturin played off each other--their growing friendship was the highlight of the book.
Reading this first book (and people tell me the series only gets better) I can understand why some find them so addictive--though I think it'll take quite a bit more of the series--and better books than Master and Commander--before I feel the same affection for Aubrey as I do for Hornblower.
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Iris Murdoch and Eudora Welty.) I did enjoy the Russell Crowe film based on this and another novel of the series, The Far Side of the World, and I'm a huge fan of C.S. Forster's Horatio Hornblower books, similarly based on the exploits of a British naval officer during the Napoleonic wars. At this first outing, I didn't feel O'Brien compared well. Forster's books are far more accessible, being written in a straightforward, modern style--you open the novel and you're immediately absorbed into the adventure. O'Brian, in contrast, writes in a period style--his favorite author reportedly was Jane Austen, and this is the world of Captain Wentworth of Persuasion. O'Brian also throws a lot more naval jargon into his story than Forster, so at times my eyes glazed over. And judging from just this book, Hornblower comes across as the more impressive creation. He's rather a Sherlock Holmes of nautical fiction--a brilliant commander with plenty of tricks up his sleeves--it's no accident Hornblower was the inspiration for Captain Kirk of Star Trek. Captain Jack Aubrey doesn't impress in this first novel with his brilliance. Luck and aggression seem more the source of his success (and more than a bit of good leadership and seamanship admittedly). The book also never pulled itself together as a novel--it doesn't build towards anything and one thread of conflict never gets resolved--or at least it is in a very unsatisfactory way so I wonder what the point was of James Dillon's character.
On the other hand, note these are called the "Aubrey/Maturin" books. Hornblower is very much isolated and alone. An introvert, although he trusts and cares about his subordinate, Lieutenant Bush, they're not intimates. Captain Jack Aubrey is much more extroverted, social--but also, he has a good friend in Stephen Maturin, who he first meets in this novel, and who becomes his ship's surgeon. And the books are as much about him, a brilliant physician and naturalist as they are about Aubrey. And since at the start Maturin knows nothing of the navy, through him, he and the reader are able to learn about the ships and service together. I did like how Aubrey and Maturin played off each other--their growing friendship was the highlight of the book.
Reading this first book (and people tell me the series only gets better) I can understand why some find them so addictive--though I think it'll take quite a bit more of the series--and better books than Master and Commander--before I feel the same affection for Aubrey as I do for Hornblower.
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LibraryThing member gopfolk
I'm just not a fan. I read this book with the idea that this was a classic...what I found was a snooze. While it appears that the author knows his way around a ship I do not nor do I wish to understand it either. I was not impressed with the writing nor the plot. In fact I felt that the plot was
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very weak from beginning to end. I will not be reading the subsequent books in this series. Show Less
LibraryThing member Larou
Patrick O’Brian is arguably the third great British writer of historical novels in the 20th century, beside Mary Renault and Dorothy Dunnett. His chef-d’oeuvre is the Aubrey-Maturin series which runs to a massive twenty volumes plus one last, unfinished one; and I’m planning on reading the
Master & Commander is the first in the series, and I think I read somewhere that it was not planned as such but rather as a standalone novel. Not that you’d necessarily notice, as Master & Commander begins (with its two protagonists meeting for the first time during a concert) and ends (with Jack Aubrey being acquitted by a court-martial for having lost his ship) rather randomly, and the novel itself is mostly episodic without a clear plot arc that would span from beginning to end – one has the feeling it could have started and stopped pretty much anywhere. Which was probably intentional, because Master & Commander presents itself like a slice of life from early 19th century navy life, and a large part of the novel’s (and, indeed, the whole series’) appeal lies in the immediacy of its approach, gripping the reader’s attention and holding it even through pages filled so densely with naval jargon as to be close to incomprehensible, but also (and with greater ease and charm) through vivid descriptions of life on sea on a British war ship, both the everyday routine and the heart-pounding battles and breathless races across the ocean, and not to forget (probably O’Brian’s greatest strength, and something I’ll have to return when writing about later volumes) through the portrayal of characters that are quirky but plausible, and deeply likeable in spite of their many faults.
O’Brian has not quite found his rhythm yet in Master & Commander – the pacing is still somewhat unsteady and has not quite the easy flow of later volumes, the character of Stephen Maturin is still somewhat underdeveloped, and he really is overdoing it with the naval terms – even native speakers seem to find those often impenetrable. In parts, this reads not so much like a novel but more like a non-fiction account, and a fairly dry one at that, and getting through those parts can be a slog. But Master & Commander sets the groundwork for what is to come, so anyone wanting to explore the series should definitely start here. And it’s not like this was a bad novel, it has many delightful moments; it just falls short compared to what is still to come.
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whole of it (although likely skipping the final one as that apparently was still a very rough draft when O’Brian died) in the next couple months. Well, more likely during the next two years, assuming I’ll manage one volume per month (as I’ll likely want to read other stuff, too). I had already started once and read the first four novels, but then was hospitalized for a while and somehow lost track of it; hopefully there won’t be any interruptions this time.Master & Commander is the first in the series, and I think I read somewhere that it was not planned as such but rather as a standalone novel. Not that you’d necessarily notice, as Master & Commander begins (with its two protagonists meeting for the first time during a concert) and ends (with Jack Aubrey being acquitted by a court-martial for having lost his ship) rather randomly, and the novel itself is mostly episodic without a clear plot arc that would span from beginning to end – one has the feeling it could have started and stopped pretty much anywhere. Which was probably intentional, because Master & Commander presents itself like a slice of life from early 19th century navy life, and a large part of the novel’s (and, indeed, the whole series’) appeal lies in the immediacy of its approach, gripping the reader’s attention and holding it even through pages filled so densely with naval jargon as to be close to incomprehensible, but also (and with greater ease and charm) through vivid descriptions of life on sea on a British war ship, both the everyday routine and the heart-pounding battles and breathless races across the ocean, and not to forget (probably O’Brian’s greatest strength, and something I’ll have to return when writing about later volumes) through the portrayal of characters that are quirky but plausible, and deeply likeable in spite of their many faults.
O’Brian has not quite found his rhythm yet in Master & Commander – the pacing is still somewhat unsteady and has not quite the easy flow of later volumes, the character of Stephen Maturin is still somewhat underdeveloped, and he really is overdoing it with the naval terms – even native speakers seem to find those often impenetrable. In parts, this reads not so much like a novel but more like a non-fiction account, and a fairly dry one at that, and getting through those parts can be a slog. But Master & Commander sets the groundwork for what is to come, so anyone wanting to explore the series should definitely start here. And it’s not like this was a bad novel, it has many delightful moments; it just falls short compared to what is still to come.
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
Set during the Napoleonic Wars, a navy man Jack Aubrey and a surgeon, Stephen Maturin, form a friendship based on their shared love of music. As so many others have noted, the greatest things about this book (and from what I’ve heard, the whole series), is their friendship. While I did love that
The series has become a classic for good reason. O’Brian spares no detail in describing ship life during that time. The politics of each promotion or judicial case are like walking a tight rope. For me, I felt buried in the details at times.
BOTTOM LINE: Honestly, I really wanted to love this one more than I did. I struggled to stay interested in it and felt a bit relieved when I finished it. I think I’ll wait a decade or so and then maybe give it a try again.
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aspect of the novel, I struggled with the technical side of the rest of it. No one can say O’Brian didn’t pay attention to the details of the British navy in the 1800s. I love that Jack is a bit of a hot head, while Stephen is cautious and patient. They balance each other out. Stephen is new to the naval side of things, but is motivated to become the ship’s doctor when he realizes the new species he will be able to see on his travels.The series has become a classic for good reason. O’Brian spares no detail in describing ship life during that time. The politics of each promotion or judicial case are like walking a tight rope. For me, I felt buried in the details at times.
BOTTOM LINE: Honestly, I really wanted to love this one more than I did. I struggled to stay interested in it and felt a bit relieved when I finished it. I think I’ll wait a decade or so and then maybe give it a try again.
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LibraryThing member Kwarizmi
Oh my stars and garters! What a ride! Thank you, Patrick O'Brian, gods rest your soul.
"Master and Commander" has nothing to do with the synonymous movie starring Russell Crowe. It has the same grittiness, the same smell of the sea and the sound of snapping canvas, but the book is vastly superior in
This book is the first of a TWENTY BOOK SERIES (all caps so you Harry Potter/Wheel of Time maniacs can wrap your mind around a single work of fiction spanning 5000 pages) called by fans "The Aubrey-Maturin books", after the co-protagonists, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, and a more delightful, fully-realized buddy team you will not easily find in fiction. Aubrey is a blusterous, reckless, jovial Epicure who happens to know how to fight a brigantine. Maturin is a gentle, introspective, meticulous scientist with a taste for books. Neither are perfect, but both are good company for each other and their conversations make for great tension and reading.
The author does absolutely nothing to spare the reader from the ins and outs of a Napoleonic Era fighting ship. By page twenty your head will be swimming with unfamiliar nautical terms, but much to O'Brian's credit, by the end of the book you will know your stun'suls from your maintopmast gallants, your xebecs from your feluccas and your chasers from your twelve-pounders. The characters sound real and they exchange zingers that will have you chortling for days.
You can bet your flying jib I will be reading each and every single one of these books, and so should you.
"Master and Commander" has nothing to do with the synonymous movie starring Russell Crowe. It has the same grittiness, the same smell of the sea and the sound of snapping canvas, but the book is vastly superior in
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every way.This book is the first of a TWENTY BOOK SERIES (all caps so you Harry Potter/Wheel of Time maniacs can wrap your mind around a single work of fiction spanning 5000 pages) called by fans "The Aubrey-Maturin books", after the co-protagonists, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, and a more delightful, fully-realized buddy team you will not easily find in fiction. Aubrey is a blusterous, reckless, jovial Epicure who happens to know how to fight a brigantine. Maturin is a gentle, introspective, meticulous scientist with a taste for books. Neither are perfect, but both are good company for each other and their conversations make for great tension and reading.
The author does absolutely nothing to spare the reader from the ins and outs of a Napoleonic Era fighting ship. By page twenty your head will be swimming with unfamiliar nautical terms, but much to O'Brian's credit, by the end of the book you will know your stun'suls from your maintopmast gallants, your xebecs from your feluccas and your chasers from your twelve-pounders. The characters sound real and they exchange zingers that will have you chortling for days.
You can bet your flying jib I will be reading each and every single one of these books, and so should you.
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
A sea adventure of the top notch. The story of the captain of a ship, Jack Aubrey, in HMS, during the early 1800s, this book is full of little details of life aboard ship intricately woven into the narrative. You will also meet Stephen Maturin, a physician who finds himself aboard as a ship's
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surgeon. I love the details of medical knowledge and treatment at that time, again, woven into the tale. The author has a gift of helping you understand the nautical terminology and battle events. This was a real page turner and I'm looking forward to more books in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member clue
Jack Aubrey, at sea since he was nine, received his first appointment as a commander when he became "Commander of His Majesty's Sloop Sophie April 1, 1800. The day he learned of this joyous appointment he also met, seemingly by accident, the man who will become his ship surgeon and close friend,
Britian is at war with France and as Aubrey and his crew patrol the Mediterranean they engage in many battles, often with ships much larger than Sophie. A naval historian, in his notes O'Brian writes that every battle he has written was taken from log-books, official letters, contemporary accounts or memoirs. He earned my esteem by saying his characters are "best celebrated in their own splendid actions rather than in imaginary contests; that authenticity is a jewel and that the echo of their words has an abiding value." Of course, there is much more to the book than fighting. O'Brian writes of comaraderie, what life was like both on and off the sea two hundred years ago, and the thoughts and fears of a young brash commander with dozens of lives in his hands. By doing so, he deserves the high praise he has received over more than fifty years.
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Stephen Maturin. Uknown to Aubrey, Maturin is more than a doctor, he's also a spy. Britian is at war with France and as Aubrey and his crew patrol the Mediterranean they engage in many battles, often with ships much larger than Sophie. A naval historian, in his notes O'Brian writes that every battle he has written was taken from log-books, official letters, contemporary accounts or memoirs. He earned my esteem by saying his characters are "best celebrated in their own splendid actions rather than in imaginary contests; that authenticity is a jewel and that the echo of their words has an abiding value." Of course, there is much more to the book than fighting. O'Brian writes of comaraderie, what life was like both on and off the sea two hundred years ago, and the thoughts and fears of a young brash commander with dozens of lives in his hands. By doing so, he deserves the high praise he has received over more than fifty years.
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LibraryThing member txorig
I disliked this so much I just stopped reading it half way through
LibraryThing member stevenwbucey
I couldn't finish it. The scenes often failed to transition so that the characters appeared too disjointed.
LibraryThing member ctpress
This is Jane Austen on a ship of war, with the humanity, joy and pathos of Shakespeare. (quote from a blog-review)
The praise and accolade for Patrick O’Brians 20-novel long Napoleonic naval series are worth attention. And I agree. This first one in the series was just great. You are instantly
In this first book we are introduced to our hero, Jack Aubrey, a fighting captain in the British Navy, and the beginning of his long-lasting friendship with Stephen Maturin, naturalist and naval surgeon.
Aubrey gets his first command and there’s ups and downs through the book as the newly appointed captain navigates the seas.
I couldn’t have asked for a better narrator in Simon Vance - but I regret the choice of listening to the novel. I needed explanations of the seaman’s terms and quaint expressions - and several times I was lost (at sea) and couldn’t figure out the naval tactics and ships positions.
The praise and accolade for Patrick O’Brians 20-novel long Napoleonic naval series are worth attention. And I agree. This first one in the series was just great. You are instantly
Show More
brought back to this period in time - with attention to detail and naval expressions and conversation. In this first book we are introduced to our hero, Jack Aubrey, a fighting captain in the British Navy, and the beginning of his long-lasting friendship with Stephen Maturin, naturalist and naval surgeon.
Aubrey gets his first command and there’s ups and downs through the book as the newly appointed captain navigates the seas.
I couldn’t have asked for a better narrator in Simon Vance - but I regret the choice of listening to the novel. I needed explanations of the seaman’s terms and quaint expressions - and several times I was lost (at sea) and couldn’t figure out the naval tactics and ships positions.
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LibraryThing member Katherine_Ashe
Superb, a bit of a trial in the nautical language.
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
For starters, Master and Commander is an excellent lesson in naval warships. The dense nautical terminology will make your eyes go dry if you let it. There are many areas where the plot and dialogue altogether cease making it an arid read. Amidst the didactic seagoing vessel lesson 19th century
For every adventurer Master and Commander is a must read. Every battle is played out in stunning detail. Life on a man-of-war could not be any more vivid.
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Britain is at war with France's brash Napoleon. Young Jack Aubrey has been promoted to commander of the sloop Sophie. Along as his right hand man is Doctor Stephen Maturin. He acts as ship medic and surgeon and together they fight enemies on the high seas. Aubrey and Maturin are as different as they come but they balance each other out and truly need one another. Their relationship is the cornerstone of the whole series.For every adventurer Master and Commander is a must read. Every battle is played out in stunning detail. Life on a man-of-war could not be any more vivid.
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LibraryThing member Ron18
My 4 stars are a rounded 3.5
I've long been interested in reading Aubrey/Maturin, ever since having learned that it was a primary influence on Gene Roddenberry for the creation of Star Trek. This feeling pervades the book and is a delight to consider retroactively.
The style is a bit difficult
This is a series that is beloved by far too many for the considerate reader to dismiss. I imagine that it only gets better - because now I know my way around a sloop (or frigate, or man-of-war for that matter), and more importantly: because now we know our cast of characters.
The main two are Aubrey (Commander) and Maturin (Ships Medic... unofficial surgeon). Aubrey is so refreshingly NOT a Captain Kirk... in the sense that Zap Brannigan is Captain Kirk... but an imperfect temper-prone horndog whose judgement is clouded from time to time, but whose character is solid enough that you like him more for it. Maturin is your Spock (while technically being Bones - - or visa versa) - - he might as well be a different species from the other crew members (though he's blending well as time goes by). He's a science officer philosopher, the Laurel to Aubrey's Hardy. He manages to be far beyond the reader, and our entry point to seeing life aboard the vessel at the same time.
I look forward to reading more, as first books in beloved series that span decades are often a mere shadow of the goodness you find once the ball really gets rolling.
I found the main death of the novel (withheld to prevent spoiler) to be downplayed and under-explored.. and felt there were some serious loose ends that were never tied w/ relation to it - but that's life.
I've long been interested in reading Aubrey/Maturin, ever since having learned that it was a primary influence on Gene Roddenberry for the creation of Star Trek. This feeling pervades the book and is a delight to consider retroactively.
The style is a bit difficult
Show More
because it isn't really comparable to contemporary literature that I'm familiar with - but anyone who can read Moby Dick for pleasure will be *more than* right at home. A solid 3/4 of the details and plotting are directly related to the composition of warships of the time period, and their hierarchy and disciplines. This can be dry, and whole pages can go by without ample context to translate the nautical terminology... and yet, it's a good read.This is a series that is beloved by far too many for the considerate reader to dismiss. I imagine that it only gets better - because now I know my way around a sloop (or frigate, or man-of-war for that matter), and more importantly: because now we know our cast of characters.
The main two are Aubrey (Commander) and Maturin (Ships Medic... unofficial surgeon). Aubrey is so refreshingly NOT a Captain Kirk... in the sense that Zap Brannigan is Captain Kirk... but an imperfect temper-prone horndog whose judgement is clouded from time to time, but whose character is solid enough that you like him more for it. Maturin is your Spock (while technically being Bones - - or visa versa) - - he might as well be a different species from the other crew members (though he's blending well as time goes by). He's a science officer philosopher, the Laurel to Aubrey's Hardy. He manages to be far beyond the reader, and our entry point to seeing life aboard the vessel at the same time.
I look forward to reading more, as first books in beloved series that span decades are often a mere shadow of the goodness you find once the ball really gets rolling.
I found the main death of the novel (withheld to prevent spoiler) to be downplayed and under-explored.. and felt there were some serious loose ends that were never tied w/ relation to it - but that's life.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ViragoReads
This book is the beginning of Jack Aubrey's captaincy, and the start of physician Stephen Maturin's tenor as a naval surgeon.
Jack is made captain of the Sloop, Sophie. In his excitement at finally being made captain, Aubrey seeks out Maturin, with whom he had an unpleasant meeting with the previous
The Sophie engages in several battles, takes several prizes and Jack begins to make a name for himself; especially with what he has accomplished with such a small ship. We see the start of the Aubrey/Maturin great friendship, and meet fun characters that will stick with him through his captaincy like Pullings, Bondin and Mowett. All-in-all it was an interesting start to the long story f Aubrey/Maturin and I look forward to seeing how many books it takes for Jack to inherit the Surprise.
Jack is made captain of the Sloop, Sophie. In his excitement at finally being made captain, Aubrey seeks out Maturin, with whom he had an unpleasant meeting with the previous
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evening, to apologize and invite to share a meal. During this time he learns that Stephen is a physician in need of employment as his current patient had recently died. Jack was in the market for a ship surgeon. It was kismet.The Sophie engages in several battles, takes several prizes and Jack begins to make a name for himself; especially with what he has accomplished with such a small ship. We see the start of the Aubrey/Maturin great friendship, and meet fun characters that will stick with him through his captaincy like Pullings, Bondin and Mowett. All-in-all it was an interesting start to the long story f Aubrey/Maturin and I look forward to seeing how many books it takes for Jack to inherit the Surprise.
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LibraryThing member denmoir
This is good writing. Compare O'Brian's approach to the reader with that of countless popular writers who tediously explain technical terms, assuming we are all morons. The same authors display their technical knowledge self-consciously, knowing their own deficiencies. O'Brian assumes we will find
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out, if we feel we must, what all the nautical terms mean. He certainly knows what they are and they occur naturally in their place in the course of the story. I think the names of all the sails that ever were are not essential knowledge. I just read the book and enjoyed the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member Napoleonicus
The year is 1800 and the place is Port Mahon, Minorca. The island is a British possession since 1713, and a base of operations of the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean Sea. There, Lieutenant John “Jack” Aubrey, a naval officer, enjoyed some shore time. During a concert at the governor’s
When Jack returns to his lodgings that night, there is a dispatch from the admiralty waiting for him. It was his long-awaited promotion. He was to take command of the sloop HMS Sophie. Tradition wanting that a departing captain may take with him a number of his crew to his new command, Captain Aubrey (the multiple definitions of the title of, and of the rank of captain are well-described in the book) was left without a first officer and a doctor.
When doctor Maturin joins the crew of the Sophie to escape from his financial difficulties, they embark on a series of adventures that include a convoy mission, action against the Spaniards, a manhunt for Irish republican leaders, and an ill-fated courier job.
O’Brian does a great job at putting on paper the life of men at sea. He also makes smart use of the character of doctor Maturin for this purpose. An outsider to all things nautical, he uses the questions of the good doctor to explain the inner workings of the ship and the procedures and traditions of the Royal Navy, which is of great use to neophytes such as yours truely.
This book is a great starting point to a series of stories that have conquered the hearts of adventure fans and historical fiction nuts for decades. It is highly recommended!
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mansion, he made the acquaintance of Stephen Maturin, a doctor by trade.When Jack returns to his lodgings that night, there is a dispatch from the admiralty waiting for him. It was his long-awaited promotion. He was to take command of the sloop HMS Sophie. Tradition wanting that a departing captain may take with him a number of his crew to his new command, Captain Aubrey (the multiple definitions of the title of, and of the rank of captain are well-described in the book) was left without a first officer and a doctor.
When doctor Maturin joins the crew of the Sophie to escape from his financial difficulties, they embark on a series of adventures that include a convoy mission, action against the Spaniards, a manhunt for Irish republican leaders, and an ill-fated courier job.
O’Brian does a great job at putting on paper the life of men at sea. He also makes smart use of the character of doctor Maturin for this purpose. An outsider to all things nautical, he uses the questions of the good doctor to explain the inner workings of the ship and the procedures and traditions of the Royal Navy, which is of great use to neophytes such as yours truely.
This book is a great starting point to a series of stories that have conquered the hearts of adventure fans and historical fiction nuts for decades. It is highly recommended!
Show Less
LibraryThing member ansate
MAN BABIES AT SEA
Awards
Pages
411
ISBN
0393307050 / 9780393307054