|
I enjoyed and recommend Cochrane by David Cordingly (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00422LERA/) and agree that Six Frigates is great as well. I'm only up to #10 of O'Brian's novels but I've found that reading nonfiction of the time is nearly as interesting and often as exciting as the novels, as we all know O'Brien bases much on real-life occurrences and Thomas Cochrane's exploits make for fascinating reading.Prolonged Priapism posted:Six Frigates rocks because at one point it just straight up quotes The Fortune of War while describing the HMS Java / USS Constitution battle. It's also a very good read otherwise. It's pretty funny how often these nonfiction books reference O'Brien's novels as inspiration for writing said book, or as in Six Frigates about the novel having a nearly accurate description of the battle. I recently finished Commander: The Life and Exploits of Britain's Greatest Frigate Captain by Stephen Taylor about Edward Pellew, it was good as well. I think that so much of the papers and personal correspondence surviving from that time really helps flesh out the history in depth - whereas I read Cordingly's Under the Black Flag about the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean and it wasn't as detailed and in-depth as I would've liked, and mostly because I think the source documents are lacking. Navy officers would write personal letters, fill in logbooks, have a diary, etc etc, but pirates sure didn't bother for the most part and most of what we know is from the people who fought them, tried them in court, or got robbed by them.
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2014 02:12
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 23, 2024 14:13 |
|
|
Raskolnikov2089 posted:Hornblower is probably the best after Aubrey/Maturin. I recall a scene in Hornblower where the eponymous character thinks about how good it makes him feel to humiliate his second-in-command, Bush. I don't think you can fault Aubrey for anything like that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2014 07:44
|
|
|
PlushCow posted:It's pretty funny how often these nonfiction books reference O'Brien's novels as inspiration for writing said book, or as in Six Frigates about the novel having a nearly accurate description of the battle. I live in Boston and I've seen the USS Constitution, and I still feel like I never really understood the battle with HMS Java until I read the description in Fortune of War.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2014 17:10
|
|
|
What exactly is a 'slime draught' and why is Stephen so fond of prescribing them to his patients?
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2014 23:23
|
|
|
BeigeJacket posted:What exactly is a 'slime draught' and why is Stephen so fond of prescribing them to his patients? A bunch of nasty-tasting poo poo to drink so that the patient can be sure that he has received medicine.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2014 01:40
|
|
|
withak posted:A bunch of nasty-tasting poo poo to drink so that the patient can be sure that he has received medicine. One of the first things Stephen did with the price money he got from the Sophie was after all buying as much nasty tasting and smelling stuff as he could to mix it into this medicine. He might be iffy on germ theory, but he knows his sailor psychology (except when he wants to take away their alcohol and wonders if a navy of castrates would be better suited for living together years on end...).
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2014 07:20
|
|
|
Raskolnikov2089 posted:Hornblower is probably the best after Aubrey/Maturin. Agree that the Aubrey/Maturin books are more enjoyable than Hornblower. I recently started reading Dudley Pope's Ramage series and I am really enjoying them. Some of the situations are a bit comical but his descriptions of ship-ship actions and normal ship handling are extremely satisfying.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2014 20:50
|
|
|
Oh also I had meant to post this a while back. Not sure if it's been posted before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE1sTVJ8YA4 It's centered around HMS Victory but it goes through everything from ship building through battles and daily life. Pretty good watch if you like the subject (and if you didn't why read this thread?)
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2014 21:29
|
|
|
withak posted:A bunch of nasty-tasting poo poo to drink so that the patient can be sure that he has received medicine. And probably a laxative. "Purges" were considered Good For You based on the theory that they'd clear out whatever was making you sick, and also made the patient feel like something had been very noticeably accomplished. I believe Stephen also has his black draught and blue pill, which were also laxatives. (Mrs. Beeton's book has a recipe for black draught; the blue pill was mostly mercury.) There were emetic draughts too but with a name like "slime draught" it's gotta be butt stuff
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2014 11:10
|
|
|
At the end of book 11, The Reverse of the Medal, when Jack is being put into the pillory and the whole square is taken up with sailors and officers (who've kicked out all others, haha), at risk to their commissions/careers, taking off their hats and cheering Jack made me a bit teary-eyed reading it  Rarely can a novel do that to me. Considering the reveal to Stephen at the end about Wray I don't know if I can stop myself from going right onto the next book instead of reading something in-between as I have been.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2014 06:19
|
|
|
That scene was probably my favorite part of the whole thing. I just finished Blue at the Mizzen today, and I kinda teared up right at the end even though it's pretty obvious what's coming. This was a really really awesome series which I would never have read if I hadn't seen this thread. Should I read 21? I'm completely satisfied with the series as it stands at the end of Blue at the Mizzen. Also, I'm kinda confused about (I seriously wouldn't mouse over this if you haven't read The Hundred Days) Diana's death. Shortly after we hear of her death, someone says that she wasn't on the coach when it went into the river.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2014 14:54
|
|
|
I say read 21. It was a nice little closing to the series, even though it stops abruptly. There are also people online who have transcribed O'Brian's handwritten notes. There's a little hint of something happening around the Cape of Good Hope and you get to see Stephen get into a duel (shock). As for the other thing, can you find the passage? I don't remember that and have never had any confusion about it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2014 18:15
|
|
|
I might have actually misread it. It's right near the start of The Hundred Days, when Jack's talking to Queenie. quote:Queenie: ...how is poor dear Maturin? Which on re-reading, probably means that Diana wasn't in the coach, but on the box where she would usually be.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 00:02
|
|
|
AlphaDog posted:I might have actually misread it. It's right near the start of The Hundred Days, when Jack's talking to Queenie. Wasn't she asking to confirm that Brigid wasn't in the wreck? The last "she" referring to the little girl, not Diana? withak fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Jun 5, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 00:21
|
|
|
That makes much more sense. I'm an idiot.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 00:49
|
|
|
AlphaDog posted:That makes much more sense. I'm an idiot. Why, what a fellow you are, AlphaDog.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 05:22
|
|
|
Is it sad that I knew what your username referenced without even reading your avatar text?
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2014 16:54
|
|
|
ItalicSquirrels posted:Is it sad that I knew what your username referenced without even reading your avatar text? 100 years from now, Aubrey-Maturin catchphrases will be just as instantly recognizable as Holmes-Watson catchphrases are today.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2014 18:26
|
|
|
Lewd Mangabey posted:100 years from now, Aubrey-Maturin catchphrases will be just as instantly recognizable as Holmes-Watson catchphrases are today. quote:...and making a fraudulent return of the portable soup. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 05:08 on Jun 10, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2014 05:06
|
|
|
"Return" can mean "report" when you're talking about bookkeeping. I have no idea if that was common usage back then though. Given that, and since Stephen is being sarcastic about things that would get him put to death when he says it, I read that as something like recording that he uses two cubes for every one he actually uses so he can sell the excess.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2014 15:39
|
|
|
I absolutely loved the movie and have been steadily working through my book list until I have an opening to slot in all of the novels. As it turns out, I simply don't have the patience to wait any longer and I'm bumping these to the front as soon as I finish the series I'm on now.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 16:12
|
|
|
king of no pants posted:I absolutely loved the movie and have been steadily working through my book list until I have an opening to slot in all of the novels. As it turns out, I simply don't have the patience to wait any longer and I'm bumping these to the front as soon as I finish the series I'm on now. Read it slowly. O'Brian's prose is deceptively sparse. Time jumps 6 weeks in the space between two sentences. Raskolnikov2089 fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Jun 14, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 03:43
|
|
|
Raskolnikov2089 posted:Read it slowly. O'Brian's prose is deceptively sparse. Time jumps 6 weeks in the space between two sentenc I found in the later novels, that while there are still more sudden time/location jumps than you might be used to, they're communicated better. I thought that maybe I just got used to them, but I'm starting to re-read the series (nearly finished book 3 again), and the jumps in Post Captain are a lot more jarring than they are in, say The Wine Dark Sea.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 08:16
|
|
|
Raskolnikov2089 posted:Read it slowly. O'Brian's prose is deceptively sparse. Time jumps 6 weeks in the space between two sentenc This is especially a problem in audio books.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 10:18
|
|
|
Hogge Wild posted:This is especially a problem in audio books. Not on your sixth read through. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 13:01
|
|
|
AlphaDog posted:I found in the later novels, that while there are still more sudden time/location jumps than you might be used to, they're communicated better. I thought that maybe I just got used to them, but I'm starting to re-read the series (nearly finished book 3 again), and the jumps in Post Captain are a lot more jarring than they are in, say The Wine Dark Sea. I like them. It made me a much more patient reader. Patrick O'Brian taught me to enjoy Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. I just finished HMS Surprise for the 5th time. I'm at the point where I can grab a book at any point in the series at random and just really, really enjoy it. This really is the ultimate bromance series.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 16:49
|
|
|
It's kind of amazing how the movie was really so poor compared to the books. It'd be an amazing series - Crossbones is the current new hotness however, you could easily cut up a lot of the novels and make some really, really interesting and pretty faithful episodes of a season or two of a TV series by interspersing, say, books 1 and 2 with a little bit of early running around the countryside dealing with debtors and rich women, in between the ship combat sequences.  The major weakness I can think of for the novels being turned into a show is that there really aren't any women characters in the first novel. I'm only through 1 and 2, does O'Brien add more women in most of the rest of the books, or are some of them still just bromance-on-a-boat for a few hundred pages? coyo7e fucked around with this message at 17:14 on Jun 14, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 17:11
|
|
|
coyo7e posted:bromance-on-a-boat For a couple thousand pages, actually! There are a few books that take place on shore and there are female characters mostly starting with (I think?) the third novel. The third one is kindof O'Brian's take on Austen and it rolls from there. They're still in the background for huge swathes of the series though.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 17:28
|
|
|
Most of Post Captain is on shore, until he gets the double-ended artillery boat.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 18:44
|
|
|
coyo7e posted:It's kind of amazing how the movie was really so poor compared to the books. It'd be an amazing series - Crossbones is the current new hotness however, you could easily cut up a lot of the novels and make some really, really interesting and pretty faithful episodes of a season or two of a TV series by interspersing, say, books 1 and 2 with a little bit of early running around the countryside dealing with debtors and rich women, in between the ship combat sequences. The first book or two have Molly Harte. I'd think HBO could do something with her if you know what I mean. I mean sexposition. It's the only way anyone will ever figure out what a staysail really is. You could probably add a little something between Maturin and the Spanish innkeeper/make whose name I'm forgetting too. Setup the Diana conflict a little.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2014 23:52
|
|
|
builds character posted:The first book or two have Molly Harte. I'd think HBO could do something with her if you know what I mean.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 07:16
|
|
|
builds character posted:It's the only way anyone will ever figure out what a staysail really is. I believe I have seen several of them about the ship. But seriously, that kind of stuff is way easier to show than describe. I think a show that cared about rigging would be a really expensive flop though.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 08:56
|
|
|
Nektu posted:This is so dumb, has nothing to do with the books and my cat hates you now. Do you want HBO to pick this up or not?  Jack was definitely banging Molly and here's Mercedes (whose name I had to go look up). 'Yes, Teniente,' said Mercedes, her eyes rolling in the candlelight and her teeth flashing white. 'Not teniente,' cried Jack, crushing the breath out of her plump, supple body. 'Capitan! Capitano, ha, ha, ha!' He woke in the morning straight out of a deep, deep sleep: Anyway, at the very least there are enough female characters to make the books as a show. And someone should do a good job making this show so that I can watch it. Thank you in advance. AlphaDog posted:I believe I have seen several of them about the ship. You make Larry Ellison so sad. Edit: you could just have the rigging and the sailors could use the correct terms and after like eleven seasons you'd find yourself gasping at the site of a French ship busting out skysails when clearly they were just pressing too hard and goddamn maybe if they spent some time sailing instead of being blockaded they'd be better sailors. builds character fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Jun 15, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 16:09
|
|
|
Yeah, even though I've listened to almost every book in the series, I have no loving clue what the different sails, masts, rigging types, etc, actually do, nor why some are better than others in certain situations.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2014 07:38
|
|
|
builds character posted:You make Larry Ellison so sad. That article made me angry and sad at the same time. Angry because America's Cup racing has turned into such stupid bullshit, and sad because I haven't sailed a small boat (let alone raced) for years and I miss it. On your edit: That's what I meant by "it's easier to show than describe", yeah. I just think that the difficulty and expense of having accurate sailing scenes would be too high for what you'd get out of it. kaujot posted:Yeah, even though I've listened to almost every book in the series, I have no loving clue what the different sails, masts, rigging types, etc, actually do, nor why some are better than others in certain situations. You're pretty much making my point for me right there. If you'd like to know (and I don't think it will increase your enjoyment of the books much), it's pretty easy to look up rigging and sail plans. With those and a basic understanding of how sailing works, you can make sense of most of the detailed stuff. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 07:49 on Jun 16, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2014 07:42
|
|
|
Raskolnikov2089 posted:I just finished HMS Surprise for the 5th time. I'm at the point where I can grab a book at any point in the series at random and just really, really enjoy it. This really is the ultimate bromance series. Yeah, I think that one is my favorite in the series. Letter of Marque is probably my second favorite. I love the battles and descriptions of sailing, but the best moments for me are Stephen's tortured and introspective moments when he's dealing with Diana.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2014 15:20
|
|
|
AlphaDog posted:I believe I have seen several of them about the ship. We trice 'em athwart the starboard gumbrils when sailing by and large.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2014 21:00
|
|
|
ZekeNY posted:We trice 'em athwart the starboard gumbrils when sailing by and large. Fore and aft, he said with some emphasis.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2014 05:01
|
|
|
there's a bit where somebody calls somebody else a "great gaby" and all I can think is "portmanteau for 'gay baby'"
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2014 08:17
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 23, 2024 14:13 |
|
|
InediblePenguin posted:there's a bit where somebody calls somebody else a "great gaby" and all I can think is "portmanteau for 'gay baby'" It means "a fool", but I guess it's used about the same way as "gay baby" is on the internet, so...
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2014 08:19
|
|