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bookgazing) wrote2009-05-04 09:43 am
bookgazing) wrote2009-05-04 09:43 am
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Master and Commander - Patrick O'Brian
‘Master and Commander’ has spent a long time hanging around our house, along with ‘Post Captain’ the second novel in Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey and Maturin series. After the ITV series based on the Hornblower books I decided to explore the naval novels my dad seemed to like, so every time he tried to send ‘Master and Commander’ to a new home I would intercept him and remind him I was obviously, just about to read it. Three years passed. Finally, spurred on by some positive blog reviews, I decided to ditch my challenge reading and jump aboard a king’s ship for a life of adventure.
Stephen Maturin and Jack Aubrey meet at a concert and instantly dislike each other, but after Jack later meets Stephen in the street, soon after receiving news that he is to command his own ship, all is forgotten. The two form a quick, affectionate friendship and Stephen finds himself invited to join Jack’s ship as their surgeon. This first novel follows them through the battles and adventures of their time aboard the Sophie.
I’m afraid that despite Patrick O’Brian’s great patience I still know very little about ships. I know a reasonable amount about epaulettes and what rank they indicate and I seem to remember that a craft has to have three distinct masts to earn the title of ship. O’Brian tries his hardest to educate his reader, using landsman Stephen Maturin as a device to enable members of the ship to deliver lectures about the different parts of the ship, but I think I needed to take these pages away and spend time trying to draw a ship from the descriptions. Possibly, that’s a project for the future. When battle scenes began I did sometimes get a bit confused about what all the commands related to, but it didn’t really hamper my enjoyment of the book.
What I liked most about the book was the same thing that initially attracted Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings to the book. In his review he said:
‘What attracted me to Patrick O’Brian’s books in the first place was DVD commentary that indicated just how much these novels focused on the friendship of these two individuals and that the first novel really established this friendship.’
The majority of the drama in between battles is centred around the friendships of the main characters. Jack and Stephen form a strong friendship based on common interests, like music, and the equality which Jack can find with no one else aboard the ship, as they are all subordinate to him. Jack is also constantly gaining and losing the admiration of his first lieutenant James Dillon, someone Stephen knows well from his past in Ireland. These relationships are complex and quite a bit of confusion can arise easily between men who do not think alike or come from the same backgrounds. The changes in these relationships significantly alter the feeling aboard, as the sailors form a particularly tight community. I wish there were more books that explored friendships between men and men, or women and women, with such depth and understanding.
I want to include something about the slash element of the book but I can’t think quite how to put it. While it’s very clear that both Jack and Stephen are straight (the affectionate way they address each other is in keeping with the way many straight male pairings act in earlier literature and if I had time I’d try to make the case for earlier straight, male relations being possibly more openly caring than they are now) O’Brian certainly delights in adding a bit of homosexual titillation into his novel. There is a tender scene where the gay master of the ship, settles Jack into a more comfortable position when he falls asleep at his desk. There’s also much use of double entendre, some open speculation about Jack’s sexuality and a certain tolerance towards homosexuality onboard the Sophie. All of which adds up to what? Is O’Brian merely trying to add an extra bit of playful scandal to his novel, or does he want to add his own tolerant views to the book, without harming their historical accuracy? Personally I lean towards the idea that he wants to address all the questions that might be thrown up about his main characters if homosexuality in the navy was ignored, while also pointing out an area of history that is largely ignored in novels about the navy.
I’m looking forward to seeing Jack and Stephen’s friendship develop in the next book, which I’ll save until later this year. I might have to seek some Hornblower out before then though, or maybe one of the Nathaniel Drinkwater books – any other naval recommendations?
Stephen Maturin and Jack Aubrey meet at a concert and instantly dislike each other, but after Jack later meets Stephen in the street, soon after receiving news that he is to command his own ship, all is forgotten. The two form a quick, affectionate friendship and Stephen finds himself invited to join Jack’s ship as their surgeon. This first novel follows them through the battles and adventures of their time aboard the Sophie.
I’m afraid that despite Patrick O’Brian’s great patience I still know very little about ships. I know a reasonable amount about epaulettes and what rank they indicate and I seem to remember that a craft has to have three distinct masts to earn the title of ship. O’Brian tries his hardest to educate his reader, using landsman Stephen Maturin as a device to enable members of the ship to deliver lectures about the different parts of the ship, but I think I needed to take these pages away and spend time trying to draw a ship from the descriptions. Possibly, that’s a project for the future. When battle scenes began I did sometimes get a bit confused about what all the commands related to, but it didn’t really hamper my enjoyment of the book.
What I liked most about the book was the same thing that initially attracted Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings to the book. In his review he said:
‘What attracted me to Patrick O’Brian’s books in the first place was DVD commentary that indicated just how much these novels focused on the friendship of these two individuals and that the first novel really established this friendship.’
The majority of the drama in between battles is centred around the friendships of the main characters. Jack and Stephen form a strong friendship based on common interests, like music, and the equality which Jack can find with no one else aboard the ship, as they are all subordinate to him. Jack is also constantly gaining and losing the admiration of his first lieutenant James Dillon, someone Stephen knows well from his past in Ireland. These relationships are complex and quite a bit of confusion can arise easily between men who do not think alike or come from the same backgrounds. The changes in these relationships significantly alter the feeling aboard, as the sailors form a particularly tight community. I wish there were more books that explored friendships between men and men, or women and women, with such depth and understanding.
I want to include something about the slash element of the book but I can’t think quite how to put it. While it’s very clear that both Jack and Stephen are straight (the affectionate way they address each other is in keeping with the way many straight male pairings act in earlier literature and if I had time I’d try to make the case for earlier straight, male relations being possibly more openly caring than they are now) O’Brian certainly delights in adding a bit of homosexual titillation into his novel. There is a tender scene where the gay master of the ship, settles Jack into a more comfortable position when he falls asleep at his desk. There’s also much use of double entendre, some open speculation about Jack’s sexuality and a certain tolerance towards homosexuality onboard the Sophie. All of which adds up to what? Is O’Brian merely trying to add an extra bit of playful scandal to his novel, or does he want to add his own tolerant views to the book, without harming their historical accuracy? Personally I lean towards the idea that he wants to address all the questions that might be thrown up about his main characters if homosexuality in the navy was ignored, while also pointing out an area of history that is largely ignored in novels about the navy.
I’m looking forward to seeing Jack and Stephen’s friendship develop in the next book, which I’ll save until later this year. I might have to seek some Hornblower out before then though, or maybe one of the Nathaniel Drinkwater books – any other naval recommendations?