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I thought the writing felt more natural in book 2, I actually skipped M+C when I did my last reread.
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Aug 20, 2016 00:50
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The best parts of the books are when they're at sea and the second book has the largest onshore section. Wat ho the bear!
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Aug 20, 2016 01:12
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uPen posted:Wat ho the bear! A scene not at sea. 
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Aug 20, 2016 01:37
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The scenes on land can still be amazing without being better than the sea-based stuff.
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Aug 20, 2016 01:59
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to be fair, I'm sure I'll look back fondly at these downton abbey-esque charades. I just would much rather be back at sea with my Sophies. glad to hear it gets better
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Aug 22, 2016 12:39
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The Mantis posted:to be fair, I'm sure I'll look back fondly at these downton abbey-esque charades. I just would much rather be back at sea with my Sophies. It does get better, but the land-based parts also pay off at the end.
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Aug 22, 2016 14:07
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I know this thread is dead/comatose but god drat do I love these books. You guys were right. Slogging through the Pride and Prejudice portions was well worth it in the end of book 2. So much development between Jack and Stephen. Onwards to Book 3!
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Sep 3, 2016 10:48
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I'm jealous. The next ten books are really good and don't have the melancholy of Stephen and Jack reaching late middle age. What do you guys think is the weakest book? Wine-Dark Sea? Blue at the Mizzen?
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Sep 4, 2016 17:14
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Arglebargle III posted:I'm jealous. The next ten books are really good and don't have the melancholy of Stephen and Jack reaching late middle age. I feel like all the tension in Blue at the Mizzen comes from wondering whether Jack's actually improving his chances of a flag or just wasting his time, but since the title spoils the end there isn't any tension at all.
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Sep 4, 2016 17:25
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thekeeshman posted:I feel like all the tension in Blue at the Mizzen comes from wondering whether Jack's actually improving his chances of a flag or just wasting his time, but since the title spoils the end there isn't any tension at all. Should've called it "Blue at the Mizzen?"
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Sep 5, 2016 12:08
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What book is it where they are somewhere in the, I believe, Arabian ocean and Stephen and Martin go down into the diving bell to get at the 'gold' they think is in the wreck below them?
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Sep 5, 2016 13:50
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BeigeJacket posted:What book is it where they are somewhere in the, I believe, Arabian ocean and Stephen and Martin go down into the diving bell to get at the 'gold' they think is in the wreck below them? Treasons harbor.
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Sep 5, 2016 16:40
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Arglebargle III posted:I'm jealous. The next ten books are really good and don't have the melancholy of Stephen and Jack reaching late middle age. Either Yellow Admiral or Far Side of the World. Not bad books, just not my favorites.
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Sep 5, 2016 21:17
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What's the one where Stephen gets caught in the Andes and has to Han Solo his way under a llama or something and the same blizzard blows Jack out to sea in the cutter for like three weeks?
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Sep 6, 2016 04:16
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Arglebargle III posted:What's the one where Stephen gets caught in the Andes and has to Han Solo his way under a llama or something and the same blizzard blows Jack out to sea in the cutter for like three weeks? Wine-Dark Sea. The bit that gives the book its title is quite impressive.
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Sep 6, 2016 08:36
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Just finished book three and can already feel JA and SM getting older 
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Sep 15, 2016 05:49
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The Mantis posted:Just finished book three and can already feel JA and SM getting older It doesn't get as bad as you might expect. By the end of book four, we've progressed almost a decade (Mauritius campaign wrapped up in late 1810). O'Brian flat out admitted he made time screwy later on in the series, saying he used hypothetical years, "an 1813a and 1813b, if you will". With everything that happens over the whole series, it ought to be around 1825 by the time the Napoleonic Wars end. I like to think of the book 5-17 Aubrey/Maturin as staying a young middle age. Still able to do a lot, still in the prime of life, but no longer feeling like teenagers.
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Sep 15, 2016 12:39
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Okay another thing I love is the rambling descriptions of the terrible food. Just plate after plate of meat parts and tubs of wine.
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Sep 16, 2016 11:00
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The Mantis posted:Okay another thing I love is the rambling descriptions of the terrible food. Just plate after plate of meat parts and tubs of wine. And puddings!
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Sep 16, 2016 16:03
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and fish pie! My most recent chuckle came from the following: Book 4, page 31 posted:It was a good dinner, but even the soused hog's face did not restore Captain Aubrey's philosophy, nor give his expression the old degree of cheerfulness that Stephen had known outlast privation, defeat, imprisonment and even the loss of his ship.
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Sep 16, 2016 16:13
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Lewd Mangabey posted:And puddings! Drowned Baby!
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Sep 16, 2016 16:51
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I'm a good chunk of the way through another re-read and it's as much a joy as ever. There's something about the way Stephen trolls Jack by spiking his already mixed metaphors at every opportunity which never gets old. Also I had completely forgotten the discussion on the Sultan's Ganymede ("I was up with him all last night", "I wonder Jack, are we talking about the same thing?"). Some of my favourite parts are the dinner parties. The verbal cut and thrust and the manoeuvring around the etiquette and social niceties have a wonderful charm and I think are some of his best pieces of writing. Things like the dreadfully dull party saved by the food being dropped onto one of the lieutenants, the midshipman asked to recite some poetry and coming to a terrible juddering end at the word bottom, and Jack's standard fall back when conversation is grinding to a halt of offering more drinks.
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Nov 22, 2016 23:53
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The latest episode of the revolutions podcast is basically about Aubrey. Guy gets kicked out of Parliament and the royal Navy for a stock market scam involving a guy saying the war is over, loses all his prize money to scammers and getting hosed over and goes broke. After getting out of jail he heads over to South America, kicks a bunch of rear end, takes a bunch of prizes before heading home redeemed and being let back into the Navy.
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Nov 23, 2016 00:42
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That would be Cochrane. O'Brian was not shy about saying he modeled a huge part of Aubrey and his adventures on him. Starting with Speedy vs El Gamo (which was known as Cacafuego). Interestingly Cochrane had several more impressive exploits in real life that didn't make it in. Probably because no reader would believe that one person had done so much and yet could still be ignored/poo poo on by the higher authorities.
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Nov 23, 2016 02:01
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Murgos posted:That would be Cochrane. O'Brian was not shy about saying he modeled a huge part of Aubrey and his adventures on him. Starting with Speedy vs El Gamo (which was known as Cacafuego). Interestingly Cochrane had several more impressive exploits in real life that didn't make it in. Probably because no reader would believe that one person had done so much and yet could still be ignored/poo poo on by the higher authorities. His autobiography is poo poo though. Basically, one giant political apologia after he got mixed up in the Great Stock Exchange Fraud. His account of the Battle of the Basque Roads is fun though and does a great job of conveying his frustration at being saddled with an admiral hopelessly reluctant to engage the French. While generally short on details of life at sea, his autobiography does also include a story about an incident with a ship's parrot which I'm a little surprised O'Brian didn't include in any of his novels: "On board most ships there is a pet animal of some kind. Ours was a parrot, which was [the lieutenant’s] aversion, from the exactness with which the bird had learned to imitate the calls of the boatswain’s whistle. Sometimes the parrot would pipe an order so correctly as to throw the ship into momentary confusion, and the first lieutenant into a volley of imprecations, consigning Poll to a warmer latitude than his native tropical forest. Indeed, it was only by [the captain’s] countenance that the bird was tolerated. One day a party of ladies paid us a visit aboard, and several had been hoisted on deck by the usual means of a “whip” on the mainyard. The chair had descended for another “whip,” but scarcely had its fair freight been lifted out of the boat alongside, then the unlucky parrot piped “Let go!” The order being instantly obeyed, the unfortunate lady, instead of being comfortably seated on deck, as had been those who preceded her, was soused overboard in the sea!" (http://j.nelsonleith.com/2013/07/27/quotes-parrot-pranks-from-the-1800s/)
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Nov 23, 2016 19:34
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PerilPastry posted:His autobiography is poo poo though. Basically, one giant political apologia after he got mixed up in the Great Stock Exchange Fraud. His account of the Battle of the Basque Roads is fun though and does a great job of conveying his frustration at being saddled with an admiral hopelessly reluctant to engage the French. Oh good lord, now my head canon is that in 21 Stephen gets a parrot and this happens to his new flame whats her name
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Nov 24, 2016 16:27
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No, it must have happened to the admiral wife Jack called a poxed son of a whore or something in book one.
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Nov 24, 2016 18:38
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bondetamp posted:No, it must have happened to the admiral wife Jack called a poxed son of a whore or something in book one. No, see, she gets all upset but then realizes OMG ITS A PARROT later in the book the parrot is killed in action and they dissect it together
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Nov 25, 2016 00:13
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This series is pretty much like The Bible in my family, everyone owns a copy. My father is particularly fond of the books, so I'm looking for something related as a Christmas gift. I found Patrick O'Brians Navy: The Illustrated Companion on Amazon, which looked like a good coffee table piece, but it seems to be out-of-print. So I'm asking for gift recommendations for someone who loves these books. Similar fiction series, collections of Age of Sail artwork, biographies. Nerd boat stuff!
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Nov 27, 2016 07:38
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Speaking as a connoisseur of nerdy boat stuff, "Patrick O'Brien's Navy" is a great coffee table book.
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Nov 27, 2016 07:42
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"Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which It's a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels" is supposedly great and written with a good deal of appreciation for O'Brian's sense of humor. Been meaning to get it myself 
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Nov 27, 2016 09:26
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PerilPastry posted:"Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which It's a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels" is supposedly great and written with a good deal of appreciation for O'Brian's sense of humor. Been meaning to get it myself It is pretty great, and the only cookbook I've ever seen which tells you that some of the recipes in it are terrible and should not be attempted.
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Nov 27, 2016 17:18
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thekeeshman posted:It is pretty great, and the only cookbook I've ever seen which tells you that some of the recipes in it are terrible and should not be attempted. One of the recipes is literally boiled poo poo so yeah.
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Nov 27, 2016 18:13
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I've been planning to join this party and start this series - just saw that the Kindle edition is $1.99 right now. Good timing!
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Nov 27, 2016 20:03
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Robot Danger posted:I've been planning to join this party and start this series - just saw that the Kindle edition is $1.99 right now. Good timing! You lucky bastard, getting to read the series fresh.
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Nov 28, 2016 23:10
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Notahippie posted:You lucky bastard, getting to read the series fresh. Actually, that's an interesting point. Is it time to start the thread over? It's almost six years old and the OP's been marked with an R since about a month after it started (and only halfway through book 2!). Should we begin from the beginning or should we press on, crack on regardless?
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Nov 29, 2016 14:52
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ItalicSquirrels posted:Actually, that's an interesting point. Is it time to start the thread over? It's almost six years old and the OP's been marked with an R since about a month after it started (and only halfway through book 2!). Should we begin from the beginning or should we press on, crack on regardless? This doesn't relate at all, but nevermind manuevers go straight at em didn't really seem to fit so here are two other quotes I like. quote#1 posted:Stephen nodded. 'Tell me,' he said, in a low voice, some moments later. 'Were I under naval discipline, could that fellow have me whipped?' He nodded towards Mr Marshall. quote#2 posted:"You were always grossly obese," observed Stephen. "Were you to walk ten miles a day, and eat half what you do in fact devour, with no butcher's meat and no malt liquors, you would be able to play at the hand-ball like a Christian rather than a galvanized manatee, or dugong."
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Nov 29, 2016 23:38
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ItalicSquirrels posted:Actually, that's an interesting point. Is it time to start the thread over? It's almost six years old and the OP's been marked with an R since about a month after it started (and only halfway through book 2!). Should we begin from the beginning or should we press on, crack on regardless? I kinda like seeing this thread eternally recur, but that may just be me.
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Nov 30, 2016 15:04
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I just finished Book 3 last night, I really enjoyed the last half of it, 4 should be in at the library next week
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Dec 2, 2016 19:32
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Book four is what I left off on. For some reason I was struggling to keep interested. It wasn't bad, Aubrey dealing with the responsibility of a Commodore was neat. prob just burnout.
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Dec 2, 2016 21:41
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