Splice the mainbrace! Let's read Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels!

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Splice the mainbrace! Let's read Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels!

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

Happy Sophie vs. Cacafeugo day! (Aka Speedy vs. El Gamo)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_6_May_1801

Working my way through these for the first time now that the omnibus edition is out, after reading the first two years ago. Like so many other readers, I'm surprised and delighted by the copious amounts of witty banter between Aubrey and Maturin. It's like reading one of Dickens' comic novels if Dickens were comfortable making sex jokes.

I'm on the Mauritius Command right now, and Mrs. Williams seriously needs to catch yellow fever. She activates all my mother-in-law reflexes. :frogout:

# ¿ May 6, 2013 17:23

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 22:37

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

Reading The Far Side of the World right now and loved the MacBeth/MacDuff throwaway joke. O'Brian's humor is getting more refined, needing less setup to make his jokes, as he gets deeper into his series. "I am an urinator," from Treason's Harbous was also a classic.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2013 22:03

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

Raskolnikov2089 posted:

I love how the crew thinks the Doctor is a lecherous, short tempered alcoholic.

Not only that, but they *love* him for it. That and the trepanning.

When Stephen brings Mrs. Fielding onto the ship and all the crew are like, "Yyyyeah nice."

# ¿ Aug 30, 2013 19:36

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

AlphaDog posted:

I'm reading these again. I've nearly finished The Surgeon's Mate, and Stephen explaining nautical stuff to Jagiello has to be one of my favorite moments in the series so far.

I don't have the book in front of me to quote exactly, but when Aubrey takes a hard turn to catch an enemy and Jagiello asks Maturin, "Does he not consult you on strategy before a battle?" Stephen's answer of "Not always," is one of the best examples of O'Brian's humor in the series.

# ¿ Dec 11, 2013 04:25

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

AlphaDog posted:

That makes much more sense. I'm an idiot.

Why, what a fellow you are, AlphaDog.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2014 05:22

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

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: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

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

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

ItalicSquirrels posted:

I've been giving this some thought, Bollig. If you don't want to read the series in one go, the books sort of break themselves up into "acts". I've always considered them to be broken up like this (I'm certain someone will have an issue with the division, but whatever):

I) Master & Commander through Mauritius Command
II) Desolation Island through Surgeon's Mate
III) The Ionian Mission through The Letter of Marque
IV) The Thirteen Gun Salute through The Wine-Dark Sea
V) The Commodore through Blue at the Mizzen/21

These are more thematic breaks than time breaks, but I'd also be hard-pressed to make a reasonable and roughly even set of acts from time-breaks. So if you want to follow your original plan and read one book per author per year but don't want to be an old fart by the time you finish, try reading them in the above sections.

This is roughly how I did it. Most of the books are pretty short and many end in the middle of a coherent storyline, so you'll drive yourself a little crazy if you stop after every book. But on the flip side, I found that some of the charm of the Aubrey/Maturin interaction wore a little thin after the 40th "what a creature you are" in a brief time period, so breaking it into manageable chunks keeps it fresh.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2014 03:21

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

i81icu812 posted:

So what is the best way to get the full series of these books? I know the full hardcover print has some unfortunate typos: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Aubrey-Maturin-Novels-volumes/dp/039306011X

Seconding Lord Bude that the hardcover set is fine. The Amazon comments definitely oversell the issues. I noticed the comments myself before I bought the books a couple of years ago, and was worried, but was pleasantly surprised once I got my hands on the books.

I think I noticed one or two obvious typographical errors over the course of the entire series, which I don't consider out of line for a 20/21 book series. The books themselves are of reasonable quality. The paper is thin, but not tissue paper, and the type is readable.

If you're an O'Brian sperglord searching for the definitive high-quality set of books to put in the middle of the shrine you built right next to the head of your bed, then these are probably going to disappoint you. If you want to read all of his books in physical form without buying used copies, these will be fine.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2015 18:24

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

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!

# ¿ Sep 16, 2016 16:03

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

<---

# ¿ Nov 14, 2017 19:29

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

MeatwadIsGod posted:

Some of the best passages revolve around Babbington.

<--------

# ¿ Apr 7, 2018 15:35

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

Just read The Golden Ocean. I recall it being mentioned here before, but it was a pleasant surprise, especially since I'd previously read The Road to Samarkand and not particularly enjoyed it. Ocean really was very much in the vein of the Aubrey-Maturin books, except from the point of view of a midshipman, and at a time when the British were less at home in the open ocean.

In fact, I might suggest it as a gateway book into the Aubrey-Maturin series for new readers who might balk at a 20 book series. The book is short, wraps up nicely, and has more of a normal narrative structure than Master and Commander, which had all those slightly jarring jumps in plot. Also, Aubrey and particularly Maturin take a little time to get going character-wise, while the protagonists of Ocean are charming right off the bat.

There is still the issue of the abundant nautical jargon, but Ocean seems to wallow in it less than Aubrey-Maturin does, and I think it's more obvious that the details aren't important, partly because the narrative viewpoint belongs to someone lower down the totem pole.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2018 03:54

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

It's not undercooked -- you boiled it for 3 hours. British puddings are just supposed to be big lumpy pale blobs that taste better than they look. It is no coincidence that the French have spent the last several centuries throwing up in their mouths every time they think of British cooking.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2018 03:34

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

ChubbyChecker posted:

how is she rigged?

Fore and aft, by and large!

:wink:

# ¿ Sep 23, 2022 18:15

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

Not to be confused with Jack's bankers.

Jack, to young Babbington, posted:

'Give your father my compliments and tell him my bankers are Hoares.' For Jack, like most other captains, managed the youngsters' parental allowance for them. 'Hoares,' he repeated absently once or twice, 'my bankers are Hoares,' and a strangled ugly crowing noise made him turn. Young Ricketts was clinging to the fall of the main burton-tackle in an attempt to control himself, but without much success.

# ¿ Jul 31, 2023 01:55

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 22:37

Lewd Mangabey: Jun 2, 2011; "What sort of ape?" asked Stephen.
"A damned ill-conditioned sort of an ape. It had a can of ale at every pot-house on the road, and is reeling drunk. It has been offering itself to Babbington."

Lockback posted:

I'm just going to say it, if no one else will.

Wearing that hat athwart ship makes that dumb hat look even worse and fore and aft looks objectively better, and even a little dashing. I don't care what Nelson did.

One of the few consistent blunders Aubrey insisted on making at sea.

*Gasps and drops sherry glass directly into the pudding plate*

# ¿ Dec 24, 2023 18:28

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Splice the mainbrace! Let's read Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels!