About this title: In the second volume of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, Jack Aubrey escapes from a French prison and returns to England to face his creditors. He meets Sophia Williams--destined to become his wife--while Stephen Maturin becomes involved with the faithless Diana Villiers. A near-mutiny and a particularly bloody encounter with a French ship ...
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780393307061ISBN:0393307069
Description: Very Good. Slight cover wear with minor scuffing to edges. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 0393307069 Good condition Soft cover book, some edge/corner rubs, may have small edge tear or spine slant, some creasing to spine, a good book! Shop & Save With US. read more
Description: Good. 1990-Paperback---Used-Good. Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Acceptable. 1990-Paperback----Used-Acceptable-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Good. 1990-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
"If you liked Master & Commander, as I did, you will definitely love this book also. The descriptions by Mr. O'Brian are so amazinly detailed and thorough, that the reader definitely has the feeling of being a "fly on the wall" in seeing all that is happening. Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are people that we actually get to know and I keep wondering how Mr O'Brian became so well versed in not only the history of the time but in the small details of life such as the use of "was" by educated people such as Jack and Stephen in saying such things as "you was going to the ship", etc. Due to the fact that I saw the movie before reading any of these books, I always think of Jack Aubrey as Russell Crowe, who did an amazingly good job of portraying this character."
Exposed yourself as a Jane Austen wannabe, that is. One who is a bit sniffily about the fact that Jane (quite unfairly, I'm sure!) did not give us the thoughts of the male half of the regency romance equation.
The first 200 pages of this novel do really read like a historical romance. Albeit one with a very masculine touch- there's just as much swearing and angst and tinkering with the natural world in odd ways as ever there was before, but now its all in the presence of Ladies. The male half of the romance ncludes a number of entirely un-romantic things, most of which are questions of money and position, in much greater detail than one would get in a normal romance- things that a man very legitimately could not propose to a woman without. Also, Stephen's analysis of his own romantic torment is truly not to be missed- we get to see the Enlightenment trying to do a lab analysis of love. Wonderful. O'Brian also deals with the fact that these are men. Men who like sex. He's much more open about the slightly more adult sections of Polite Society who deal with this kind of thing. For example, Diana Villiers, the Whore of the Madonna/Whore pair that are the main females of this novel (there are others, but they're mostly easily dismissed cariactures), embodies a certain type of woman who took advantage of the strict proprieties to advance her own very slender chances of finding financial security and someone to look after her. As you can see, for all of his generally masculine world, he shows a surprising sensitivity to the delicacy of the feminine world as well. There's several very good depictions of the nuances of the social heirarchy in provincial England, and the various things that could immediately put one up or down that ladder- money and rank, of course, but also family associations, number of suitors, age, the material of one's dress, etc.
The most interesting status depiction, of course, is that of the service of the Navy as a whole. Jane herself dealt with the interesting mobility of a service of men who could rise instantly to the top and sink back down again within weeks (Persuasion)- this rapid status change was something new and unusual, something that rarely happened in the closed ranks of the Upper Ten Thousand. The book as a whole really focuses on a bunch of uncouth Navy men try to mend their ways to fit in on land, and the various levels of difficulty they find adjusting to the ways that people are judged and what matters here as opposed to Out There on the ocean waters, as well as the fact that even off land, you can never quite get away from all your problems there. Also, O'Brian brings up again and again throughout his books the fact that war really did change many people's lives for the better (if you're cool with probably losing a limb, at least, to get what you want). He doesn't let us forget that. Jack Aubrey is of course the most extreme example of this, but there are plenty of other ones brought up on every page of the book. Its one of the more interesting ins and outs of his work, and it is the forefront of the entire book.
... But never fear, O'Brian fans who are in it for the swashbuckling action and adventure! There's plenty of that to come as soon as our fellows get off land (come on, that's not really a spoiler). There's also some espionage, some fights, some excellently stupid bromantical angst between Jack and Stephen (they almost break up, oh noes!), and lots of running away from, beating up on, and dodging debt collectors (one of those scenes was my fav).
I think the quality of the book remained the same- the only reason I give it four stars instead of five is that I already know how good these books are, so I didn't get quite the same jolt of expectations surpassed x1000 that I did last time."
"I did enjoy this book. O'Brian's writing remains exceptional. (He made me laugh out loud with his handling of an incident of horse flatulence.) But I couldn't help being disappointed at how little of the story took place on the sea. Most of the book finds Aubrey and Maturin on land, where we learn more about the etiquette of British society, the process involved in getting command of a ship, romance in the 1800's, and hidden facets of Dr. Maturin. Still, it is the shipboard sections that really take off, and I hope to see more of that in Book 3."
Here's an oddball passage from the Aubrey/Maturn series, and a good trivia question for anyone who thinks he knows the series.
Question: Who are Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey's bankers in London?
Answer: Hoare's
This is known because in one passage, Aubrey is pacing the quarterdeck in his exclusive area, muttering audibly to himself, "My bankers are Hoare's, my bankers are Hoare's, my bankers are Hoare's, my bankers are Hoare's."
This display of finacial cogitation or reverie prompts barely stifled gales of laughter from the midshipmen who are also on the quarterdeck, and trying to keep out of sight of the capttain.
For the rest, see the review of The H.M.S. Surprise."
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