Re: On being on or off topic and a blatanlty off-topic stir


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Previous # Next ] [ Start New Thread ] [ TarBoard ]

Posted by Adam Quinan on November 06, 2007 at 03:45:52 from 99.226.247.88 user Adam.

In Reply to: Re: On being on or off topic and a blatanlty off-topic stir posted by andyb on November 05, 2007 at 22:46:33:

I am suffering from an identity crisis, am I Alan or Owen, I can never get it straight and neither, it seems, can anyone else.

As for Patrick O'Brian, most people who try them seem to enjoy them or else they get bogged down in the boaty bits.

O'Brian took actual historical incidents and wove his own story around them, the first book, Master and Commander, will be quite familiar to those who are familiar with Cochrane's history (as will some aspects of some Hornblower books). However, Aubrey and Maturin are much more a pair of friends whose life with all its vicissitudes is related in the books than a hero and his sidekick. Both are fully realised characters each plays his own part.

The books are chronological, but the earlier ones can stand on their own quite successfully. There is often some discussion whether it is best to start at the beginning with Master and Commander or at book two or three.

The second book, Post Captain, is in some ways O'Brian's homage to Jane Austen, there is a good deal of time set on shore with young ladies and bachelor officers living in the country.

I happened to start with the third book, HMS Surprise, because that was the one I found in the library. I was hooked when I found myself laughing out loud. Hornblower never has such amusing passages.


Follow Ups:



Post a Followup

Name:
Eel-Mail:

Existing subject (please edit appropriately) :

or is it time to start a New Thread?

Comments:

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

post direct to TarBoard test post first

Before posting it is necessary to be a registered user.


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TarBoard ]

Courtesy of Environmental Science, Lancaster

space