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Huggybear
Jun 17, 2005

I got the jimjams
I've read the entire series through twice now, and certain books more than twice. I've puzzled out some of the more confusing scenes and subplots if anyone has questions as they read through the novels (granted I never understood the cricket scene until I read this thread). My favorite book is Desolation Island. I also really enjoyed the Mauritius Command.

I am always jealous of anyone starting out for the first time. I absolutely love historical fiction and no one comes even close to O'Brian...though purely in terms of depth, authenticity and character McMurtry is probably second best imo.

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ItalicSquirrels
Feb 15, 2007

What?
:siren:Here be spoilers. I've blanked out the more serious bits, but the whole post has spoilers.:siren:

Decius posted:

his apparently sexually healthy relationships

They actually touch on that during another part of the conversation. Jack's all for sleeping with a woman, but he doesn't make sure she enjoys herself. He does what he needs to enjoy himself, which (evidently) Captain Apollo doesn't.

Smashurbanipal posted:

The very end of the book when the crowd of Navy men shows up to cheer for him while he's placed in stocks ?

Here's Patrick Tull reading that scene. For those who don't know, Patrick Tull read the entire series for Books On Tape and was quite possibly one of the best readers ever. If you haven't heard him, go to your library, make sure there's a copy read by him (there's another guy who did the series for Blackstone Audio who isn't anywhere near as good), and enjoy.


Piedmon Sama posted:

I actually started on HMS Surprise, for some reason, but I think it's still my favorite book--the best in terms of balancing the action between Aubrey and Maturin, and still one of the best battle descriptions in the series. The Mauritus Command had an interesting setup, but kind of fizzled out I thought, the last battle being a little anticlimactic (and I still don't really understand what the point was of that flashy sloop captain killing himself at the end, it kind of spoiled the book for me)

Alright, backstory time. When Jack was a young man, he and Clonfert served together on the same ship as Lieutenants. They both took part in cutting out a privateer. For some unnamed reason, Clonfert and his boat did not join in the climactic assault. Jack and his crew carried it out on their own with very heavy casualties, including serious injuries to Jack. This left the impression that Clonfert was a coward, something no man with pride at the time could live down. Clonfert transferred to another ship while Jack was recuperating.

Fast forward to The Mauritius Command. Clonfert was temporarily off the lists (possibly a court-martial, but maybe just unable to get a ship, I can't find the reference at the moment) and is now only a Commander and thus subservient to Aubrey. Clonfert has been following Aubrey's career and consistently comparing himself to Aubrey, to the point that he has developed what we would consider a serious complex. Every time Clonfert messes up, gets checked by Aubrey, or Aubrey simply does something awesome, Clonfert gets sweats and serious muscle spasms. Part of this is due to his being brought up a Lord and thus convinced that he's above everyone else. Instead, he's not much of a seaman, comparatively speaking (he went to sea late), he's about 5'3, and he mocks the doctor that practically brought him into the world and who is still a friend. The only thing he has going for him is his looks.

Then comes the Ile De La Passe attack. The attack is an utter failure with two frigates lost and two captured. This is mainly due to Captain Pym being a stubborn, unimaginative bastard, but the tricky navigation certainly didn't help any. At the height of this, Clonfert gets seriously, almost mortally, wounded. If this were simply, say, a bar-shot across the belly or grape shattering his arm, things might have been different, but what happened was basically a sharpened 2x4 hitting his face and neck along with some grape shot. He is now hideous. So, we have the final scene. Clonfert's wounds aren't healing because he's worried about his looks and keeps picking at the bandages that are basically the only thing keeping his carotid artery from being exposed to the air, and he's fretting about Aubrey winning the campaign. And yes, Aubrey being the Commodore would mean that he'd get serious praise for capturing the islands, even if he had only done half as much. So, even though the fleet is talking about what a great job he and his men did holding out so long on the Nereid, he's incredibly unhappy. He's ugly, which takes away his biggest advantage in life, and he has once again come second to Jack. His pride is in tatters and he is probably secretly hoping to hear that the plan of attack that Jack and Colonel Keating put together has failed. But instead it succeeds almost perfectly and right as the capitulation is signed, he hears that Jack is coming to see him. Jack is only bringing a letter from Clonfert's wife, to talk about what a good job Clonfert did with the Nereid, wishes for a speedy recovery so Clonfert can resume command, and other sorts of pleasantries. But part of the social contract is going to require that Clonfert congratulate Aubrey on his victory.

As MacAdam says, "It was the cheering that woke him. 'What are they cheering for?' says he. And I said, 'The French have surrendered. Aubrey will be here, and you shall have your Nereid back.' 'Never, by God,' says he. 'Not from Jack Aubrey. Run out MacAdam, and see if they're coming.' And when I stepped out of the door, so he did it (ripped away the bandages, severing his jugular). And so, bloody Christ, he did it." Basically, everything that Clonfert didn't want to happen, happened, and he chose what he felt was the only honorable way out. I might be biased because I first heard this passage read by Patrick Tull who injected so much emotion into it, but I always found it to be a very moving part.


...Yeah, I've been through the series a couple of times.

Molybdenum
Jun 25, 2007
Melting Point ~2622C
i finished the yellow admiral over this weekend. really excited about seeing how everything ends

Raskolnikov2089
Nov 3, 2006

Schizzy to the matic
It ends on a good note.

Obviously I'd prefer Patrick O'Brian was still alive and writing, but Blue at the Mizzen ends on a very :unsmith: note.

Lanky Coconut Tree
Apr 7, 2011

An angry tree.

The angriest tree

Raskolnikov2089 posted:

It ends on a good note.

Obviously I'd prefer Patrick O'Brian was still alive and writing, but Blue at the Mizzen ends on a very :unsmith: note.

I sort of stopped reading after 'The Commodore', is the ending of Blue at the Mizzen better than that? I'd rather prefer to have the series ended there, with Jack victorious, rich and successful, and Stephen patching his family back together. I started 'The Yellow Admiral' and thought, oh god there's only 2 books left and I don't want to have it end abruptly, leaving some of my favourite characters in the poo poo.



Yes, I'm kinda attached to this series.

silly
Jul 15, 2004

"I saw it get by the mound, and I saw Superman at second base."
I was about two-thirds of the way through Blue At The Mizzen when I forgot in a seat pocket on an airplane and decided that it was a sign. As long as I don't read the ending, the books don't end.

Raskolnikov2089
Nov 3, 2006

Schizzy to the matic

silly posted:

I was about two-thirds of the way through Blue At The Mizzen when I forgot in a seat pocket on an airplane and decided that it was a sign. As long as I don't read the ending, the books don't end.

I didn't read Blue at the Mizzen for my first 3 read-throughs of the series for precisely that reason.

Lanky Coconut Tree posted:

I sort of stopped reading after 'The Commodore', is the ending of Blue at the Mizzen better than that?

Not as much is resolved, but it still has an emotionally validating ending.

Decius
Oct 14, 2005

Ramrod XTreme

Lanky Coconut Tree posted:

I sort of stopped reading after 'The Commodore', is the ending of Blue at the Mizzen better than that?

It ends with Jack achieving exactly what the title of the book says. It ends for Stephen on a positive note regarding his love life. Yeah, I'd say it's a pretty perfect ending.

Scipio Africanus
Dec 4, 2005

Enslave the Elephants!
I chewed through the first two books in about a week this spring but decided to slow it down. I'm now just starting HMS and am really glad I did so. Savoring one to three of the books per year seems a great way to spend the next decade.

Raskolnikov2089
Nov 3, 2006

Schizzy to the matic
Did anyone else find their reading habits changed after this series?

At one point I couldn't stand Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, but after the second time finishing the Aubrey-Maturin series I've gone back to both and found myself really enjoying them.

Mahasamatman
Nov 8, 2006

Flame on the trail headed for the powder keg
I just started book 3, and I think it's funny how the plot through the first two books (and the start of the third) is essentially the entourage cliche:

Vince got the movie! ...oh wait, something happened the movie's off! ...It's all cleared up now, Vince has a movie! :parties: Vince:Jack::movie:prize

Benagain
Oct 10, 2007

Can you see that I am serious?
Fun Shoe
No matter how many times i read about Stephen being late to a dinner or some other event, i always crack a smile when he's forcibly hauled back and made presentable.

Blog Free or Die
Apr 30, 2005

FOR THE MOTHERLAND
Along similar lines, when Jack or Tom see his boat putting out and immediately order the sweet oil prepared never fails to set me grinnin'.

Smashurbanipal
Sep 12, 2009
ASK ME ABOUT BEING A SHITTY POSTER
In many ways O'Brian keeping his characters so fallible and human is what makes this series so great. Jack has his horrible puns, Stephen his clumsy irascibility, reminds me a bit of Hornblower's coffee addiction.

Possibly the best paragraph in the Hornblower books is a bit in Beat to Quarters where he has a lovely loving day and is just feeling absolutely worthless and horrible. Then Polwheal comes in with a cup of coffee and as he drinks it, he comes to view the world in a more favorable light, while marveling at the joy of drinking hot, sweet, black coffee. Maybe I just relate to it, heh.

Benagain
Oct 10, 2007

Can you see that I am serious?
Fun Shoe
There's a phrase that captures Jack perfectly and damned if I can remember it exactly. Something along the lines of "A man with a great appreciation of all humor, be it his own or other's."

That's why you can never fully dislike the pun thing, because he never steals jokes and laughs just as hard at other people's. Every time he tells the dog-watch story he makes sure to give Stephen credit.

CarterUSM
Mar 17, 2004
Cornfield aviator

Benagain posted:

There's a phrase that captures Jack perfectly and damned if I can remember it exactly. Something along the lines of "A man with a great appreciation of all humor, be it his own or other's."

That's why you can never fully dislike the pun thing, because he never steals jokes and laughs just as hard at other people's. Every time he tells the dog-watch story he makes sure to give Stephen credit.

That's actually one of the things that I think Russell Crowe did best with his characterization of Aubrey in the movie. The "lesser of two weevils," scene was wonderful...he tries to hold a serious mien as he leads into it, but just loses all control as he gives the punchline and dissolves into helpless laughter. Exactly as I would imagine Aubrey to do so in the novels.

withak
Jan 15, 2003


Fun Shoe
Some day I will find an excuse to work "lesser of two weevils" into a conversation and it will be hilarious.

Molybdenum
Jun 25, 2007
Melting Point ~2622C
is the unfinished voyage worth reading?

Pharnakes
Aug 14, 2009
No, its incredibly depresing, it just makes you feel so bad for PoB as he was obviously strugling to finish this book in the last stages of his life. Its a disjointed collection of drafts and notes put together by someone else (his son?) but you'll finish it and wish you'd never touched it.

Hieronymous Alloy
Jan 30, 2009


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Morbid Hound
I thought it was bittersweet. It was nice to get a little more detail about Stephen's new romance and there are some cool parts but, yeah, it's not finished, so it's sad for that reason.

I'd only read it if you get the boxed set that includes it. It's not worth buying independently but it is worth reading if you get a free copy.

Molybdenum
Jun 25, 2007
Melting Point ~2622C
just finished hundred days. kinda bummed about diana and bonden

who is the lady mentioned in the last sentence as they sail away?

ItalicSquirrels
Feb 15, 2007

What?
I've always assumed it to be Jack's cousin, Isobel.

Hieronymous Alloy
Jan 30, 2009


Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!




Morbid Hound
It's amazing how wonderful the feeling of re-reading this series is. Picking up Master and Commander for the fourth or fifth time, after it's been a year or two since your last read-through . . oh, it's a beautiful thing.

Trimangle
Dec 4, 2004
Front de Libération de Québec

Molybdenum posted:

is the unfinished voyage worth reading?

It's very bittersweet, but when you read it from his (O'brian) actual manuscript notes (which is difficult as hell since his writing is hard to read) it's full of these brilliant notes to himself and it's a great insight into his mind. At one point there is a note that says "What should I do, Maturin?" or "What would you do, Maturin?" and it's just really poignant to see that on the page.

Terraplane
Aug 16, 2007

And when I mash down on your little starter, then your spark plug will give me fire.

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

It's amazing how wonderful the feeling of re-reading this series is. Picking up Master and Commander for the fourth or fifth time, after it's been a year or two since your last read-through . . oh, it's a beautiful thing.

I read the books about once a year and it's always so, so satisfying. And what's awesome is that on each reread there's always something new, something you missed before. I've never read anything else like this series and what makes me sad is the fact that I probably never will again.

Hieronymous Alloy
Jan 30, 2009


Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!




Morbid Hound

Terraplane posted:

I read the books about once a year and it's always so, so satisfying. And what's awesome is that on each reread there's always something new, something you missed before. I've never read anything else like this series and what makes me sad is the fact that I probably never will again.

So many new things each time. With each pass I learn the "language" a little better, so it's always a fresh start -- that first explanation of the parts of the Sophie to Stephen is always new!

This time through I'm being careful to always look up words I don't know, and it's so amazingly revealing -- just as one tiny example, there's a point where Stephen says "I am no rapparee" and looking it up, "rapparee" is

quote:


rapparee (ˌræpəˈriː)

— n
1: an Irish irregular soldier or bandit
2: vagabond, plunderer
Origin of RAPPAREE

Irish rapaire, ropaire, literally, thruster, stabber, from rop thrust, stab
First Known Use: 1690

It's not just a word for bandit . . it's an Irish word for bandit, that Stephen's using because he's Stephen. So many perfect little details.

Blog Free or Die
Apr 30, 2005

FOR THE MOTHERLAND
Also translating what Stephen says/writes in Latin is often hilarious.

Harime Nui
Apr 15, 2008

The New Insincerity

ItalicSquirrels posted:

:Alright, backstory time.

Oh, wow. So sorry I stopped reading the thread, because I missed this until just now. I got that Clonfert was constantly comparing himself to Jack, but I felt it just seemed like it wasn't explained as to why he'd feel so extremly--I completely missed that his good looks were a major part of his self-image and that the injury destroyed his face. Now it makes much more sense he'd feel like he had nothing left to live for.

Your explanation also makes Clonfert sound like a much more fascinating character than I gave credit for; I more see where he was coming from being such a flashy showboat. It also makes Stephen's final rumination on the matter make much more sense--you feel bad for the guy, and his situation was pitiable, but ultimately it's not Jack's fault the guy was neurotic, and there would be no point burdening him with it.

Harime Nui fucked around with this message at 02:45 on Oct 6, 2011

BeigeJacket
Jul 21, 2005

Halfway through Post Captain and holy poo poo, I think I have a new favourite set of books.

E: Having always been fond of 19th century stuff, I really liked the first section of PC where Jack and Stephen have their Bro-House and are living the life of country squires. Is this something that is a regular thing in the series?

Is Steven actually loving Diana Villiers at this point? It's heavily hinted at, what with his midnight 'visits' and all but O'Brian never actually confirms it, and I'm still getting used to his spare, compacted prose.

Question, what exactly is tacking? From the little I've read about the period, I think it's something like changing the sails to work the ship through unfavourable wind conditions? It seems to be quite important as O Brian mentions it constantly.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV - Thanks, that makes sense!

BeigeJacket fucked around with this message at 21:06 on Oct 16, 2011

withak
Jan 15, 2003


Fun Shoe
Sailing boats can't move directly into the wind, but they can move at something like a 45 degree angle into the wind. So to move directly into the wind they have to zig-zag back and forth about 45 degrees into the wind to the left and right. Turning from the zig direction into the zag direction is fairly complicated and requires a lot of rearranging of the sails which is why they make a big deal about it.

The other related term is "missing stays" which is an embarrassing thing that happens when they don't pull the maneuver off correctly and instead of a 90-degree turn to the left or right into the wind they have to make a 270-degreee turn in the opposite direction to end up pointing the direction that they need.

withak fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Oct 16, 2011

withak
Jan 15, 2003


Fun Shoe
The trick to understanding sailing mechanics is to realize that the sail really works like the wing of an airplane where you want the wind to blow at a small angle along the plane of the curved sail and the resulting force pulls the ship perpendicular to the plane of the sail.

Trying to picture the sail as a flat surface or a parachute which is pushed in whatever direction the wind is blowing will make things more confusing. Even when they want to sail in the general direction of the wind they usually orient the sails so that the wind blows across them at an angle and can actually move faster than the wind in that direction.

withak fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Oct 16, 2011

Mahasamatman
Nov 8, 2006

Flame on the trail headed for the powder keg
I just finished HMS Surprise. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I'll definitely be continuing on with the series after I get through the piles of other books I've accumulated and need to read.

Regarding HMS Surprise Poor Stephen. Villiers shouldn't lead him on like that. At least Jack got Sophie. It's been kinda fun finding all the scenes they jammed into the movie scattered throughout the books so far.

I picked up Far Side of the World because I found it cheap in a local bookstore. Would I be remiss to start right into that? Or should I read the series in order.

ItalicSquirrels
Feb 15, 2007

What?

BeigeJacket posted:

Halfway through Post Captain and holy poo poo, I think I have a new favourite set of books.

E: Having always been fond of 19th century stuff, I really liked the first section of PC where Jack and Stephen have their Bro-House and are living the life of country squires. Is this something that is a regular thing in the series?

To different extents, yes. Less bro sometimes, but there's almost always a house.

BeigeJacket posted:

Is Steven actually loving Diana Villiers at this point? It's heavily hinted at, what with his midnight 'visits' and all but O'Brian never actually confirms it, and I'm still getting used to his spare, compacted prose.

O'Brian leaves a lot unsaid, I think so we can make our own interpretation. That being said, mine has always been that Stephen isn't. He's paying calls, telling stories, sharing drinks, listening to her talk about her previous life (and maybe previous lovers), and getting the occasional kiss, but that's it.

withak posted:

The other related term is "missing stays" which is an embarrassing thing that happens when they don't pull the maneuver off correctly and instead of a 90-degree turn to the left or right into the wind they have to make a 270-degreee turn in the opposite direction to end up pointing the direction that they need.

Just a heads up, the 270 degree turn is called "wearing round" and was a common maneuver with inexperienced/short-handed crews or if the captain wanted to be careful of his spars and sails. Aubrey does it on occasion, but usually has enough experienced people on hand to tack.

Mahasamatman posted:

I picked up Far Side of the World because I found it cheap in a local bookstore. Would I be remiss to start right into that? Or should I read the series in order.

I jumped from Post Captain straight to The Hundred Days and had to stop after a chapter as I was completely lost. On the other hand, I somehow completely missed Wine Dark Sea until I had finished Blue at the Mizzen and didn't have any real problems. So I'd say that you could make the jump, seeing as O'Brian has a habit of giving a short re-telling of any salient points in the backstory. However, I wouldn't recommend it as there will be a large number of smaller things that you will have missed.

Hieronymous Alloy
Jan 30, 2009


Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!




Morbid Hound
It's funny how different passages stand out to you on each read through. This time I'm really carefully looking up every reference and foreign-language bit I can catch; some of them are just so perfect.

Tutti contenti, saremo cosi, saremo cosi . . .

Mahasamatman posted:

I picked up Far Side of the World because I found it cheap in a local bookstore. Would I be remiss to start right into that? Or should I read the series in order.

The best quote I've seen on this is "Only read the Aubrey/Maturin books out of order if you would read the chapters of a book out of order."

I would strongly recommend r not reading anything after, well, The Far Side of the World out of order. You probably *could* jump straight to Far Side but I wouldn't suggest it; the books are confusing enough as it is just from the language.

The best thing to do is just make the dive and grab the box set here:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Aubrey-Maturin-Novels/dp/039306011X

Hundred bucks seems like a lot but it boils out to $5 per book which is reasonable. And these are books you'll read many times.

Alternatively, I think there are ebook editions floating around somewhere.


BeigeJacket posted:


Is Steven actually loving Diana Villiers at this point? It's heavily hinted at, what with his midnight 'visits' and all but O'Brian never actually confirms it, and I'm still getting used to his spare, compacted prose.


Good question. On my first few read-throughs I thought "no" but on this read through I changed my mind, and yeah, while it's ambiguous, I think there's a brief period where Diana is using him for sex, essentially, then she discards him and goes to Jack. But yeah it's definitely ambiguous.


Worth noting for this thread: Jo Walton, a really brilliant sci-fi author, has done a "read through" blog of this series over on Tor.com. Starts here: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/10/re-reading-patrick-obrians-aubrey-maturin-series. She has some interesting and fun comments; for example, on The Far Side of the World:

quote:

The book begins with a note that the Napoleonic Wars are about to run out and O’Brian is going to be cast upon his own invention, “the author may be led to make use of hypothetical years... an 1812a or even an 1812b.” I know some people feel that this diminishes the series, but to me it enhances it enormously. They do not sail off the map, and everything remains as historical as possible under the circumstances, but they sail into hypothetical years. The beginning of The Far Side of the World is sometime in 1813 and the beginning of The Yellow Admiral is early in 1815, and there are seven or eight years between them, to my count. Stephen can’t say how old his daughter is, and really, neither can anybody.

I have a fantastical explanation for this, if anyone would care for it. Padeen, Stephen’s almost mute Irish loblolly boy, is one of the Sidhe, and around him time runs differently. Or if you don’t like that, I have half a really complicated fantasy explanation that may one day become a story—not about them or about the Napoleonic Wars, just about the intersection of real years and imaginary years, and real people and imaginary people.

Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 14:45 on Oct 17, 2011

Decius
Oct 14, 2005

Ramrod XTreme

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

The best thing to do is just make the dive and grab the box set here:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Aubrey-Maturin-Novels/dp/039306011X

The editing/spell checking was pretty bad with this edition as far as I know.

Molybdenum
Jun 25, 2007
Melting Point ~2622C
i bought the gold paperback editions, the spines form some of the paintings on the covers, i believe some of them were done by o'brian.

ItalicSquirrels
Feb 15, 2007

What?

Decius posted:

The editing/spell checking was pretty bad with this edition as far as I know.

It has its issues, but it's still readable. Most of the problems are punctuation-based. Don't forget that O'Brian purposefully spelled things as they were spelled around 1800 ("connexion", etc.).

Hieronymous Alloy
Jan 30, 2009


Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!




Morbid Hound

Decius posted:

The editing/spell checking was pretty bad with this edition as far as I know.

Yeah, it's got some typos here and there but it's no worse than the average ebook edition of almost anything. The worst issue is that the paper's really, really thin. Still, though, it winds up cheaper to buy them all that way than to try to collect all 20 individual books, so regardless it's the best deal if you're new to the series.

Molybdenum
Jun 25, 2007
Melting Point ~2622C
i'm reading the unfinished voyage now. it is noticably a first draft, the phrasing is just a bit off. enjoying it so far though. My next boat book is Six Frigates, it is about the founding of the US Navy.

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silly
Jul 15, 2004

"I saw it get by the mound, and I saw Superman at second base."

Molybdenum posted:

i'm reading the unfinished voyage now. it is noticably a first draft, the phrasing is just a bit off. enjoying it so far though. My next boat book is Six Frigates, it is about the founding of the US Navy.

Six Frigates is amazing. One of the best works of military history I've ever read.

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