HMS Surprise
 | von Patrick O'Brian
ISBN: 0006499171 |
5 southern gales as the Aubrey/Maturin voyage continues
The third entry in the Aubrey/Maturin saga picks up where the action left off in Post Captain. The friendship between Aubrey and Maturin that was seriously strained in Post Captain continues to flourish. Existing characters are further developed and new characters introduced and developed. The reader follows the philosophical thoughts of Maturin and the simpler thoughts of Aubrey. In the meantime there is sufficient naval action to carry the philosophizing and character development.HMS Surprise is serious and philosophical while being earthy and funny. Referring to an intoxicated animal, Maturin delivers the most hilarious line that I remember reading in a novel, "Jack, you have debauched my sloth." At the same time Maturin's ponderings are on a higher level. So the novel oscillates between the down to earth and the ethereal. O'Brian never goes over the top one way or the other. For instance, Maturin is tortured early in the novel. The reader is spared the details. While not describing the torture, O'Brian has accentuated its horror by using peoples' reactions to his injured body. O'Brian also makes points very subtly and one can miss things because of the way that they are revealed matter of factly. There is a lot of depth (no pun intended) to the novel. One theme that resonated was the faith that the two men have in each other's specialties. Aubrey believes that Maturin can cure anything while Maturin is only too aware of the limits of early 19th century medicine. Conversely, Maturin believes that Aubrey can work miracles with the ships at his command. O'Brian's presentation was as relevant for the day it was written as it was for 1800 and is still today. On one hand we have an unrealistic faith in modern medicine. On the other we are presented with an unrealistic belief in modern technology. While medicine and technology appear to be miraculous and without limits in their capabilities, the practitioners in those disciplines know their limitations all too well. Similarly, there are many themes that O'Brian explores deftly using a long voyage as the backdrop. The sailing story is superb although it has fewer broadsides per page that most of its counterparts in the genre. My favourite description is of a storm while rounding the Cape of Good Hope during the voyage to India. Throughout the novel tension builds from the spectre of Admiral Linois, who captured Aubrey in Master and Commander, in the Indian Ocean. Will Linois prevail a second time in their inevitable encounter or will Aubrey use all of his formidable skills to defeat the Frenchman? HMS Surprise seems typical of the Aubrey/Maturin series in that it requires some commitment to read through. It is not a quick, instant gratification read but it is a very satisfying one. The novel is well worth the effort that a reader of serious historical fiction must put into it.
Home again
I had been reading reviews of Patrick O'brian's Aubrey/Maturin series for years before I finally picked up "H.M.S. Surprise". The book was very compelling and revealed O'brian to be a brilliant writer of historical fiction. The Aubrey/Maturin series describes the maritime and romantic exploits of a British sea captain and an Irish physician/spy during the Napoleonic wars. "H.M.S. Surprise" is the third book in the series. The most delightful thing about this novel is its extrordinary attention to detail, particulary in its description of the environment on an English war ship. When you read this book you feel like you are actually on the ship experiencing every facet of life from the daily chores of the crew to the loftier concerns of the captain. A detailed descripton of naval vessels alone would not be enough to constitute a compelling novel. O'brian also tells a great story packed with romance, intrigue, combat, and travel. Despite their many winning characteristics, the protagonists experience their share of problems and display imperfections. The captain, for example, never overcomes his bitterness at having been rejected by Diana Villiers. And despite Maturin's formidable intelligence, he displays poor judgement which results in dire consequences for him and death for an innocent child. These flaws make the characters more human and more compelling. We empathize with their failings and vulnerability as much as we applaude their victories. If you don't have a sense of history and don't like to imagine life in another time and place then this series won't appeal to you. If you enjoy these things, however, you will find "H.M.S. Surprise a superb novel in many respects.
This series is simply as good as it gets
H.M.S. Surprise, like the two books before it in this series, is excellent in every way. There is great dialogue, subtle humor and riviting action. We finially get to see what Jack Aubrey can do when given command of a decent ship (as oppossed to the little Sophie and the piece of junk Polychrest). I think most male readers will like this book a little better than Post Captain; the main characters spend a lot less time on shore and there is a little less romantic/relationship stuff. From the reviews I have read of this series, it stays pretty good at least through book #17 and then deteriorates badly. Although it is a shame this series is not strong until the end, O'Brian did write a very large number of excellent books that we should all be grateful for. In my humble opinion, if O'Brian had not written another word after finishing H.M.S. Surprise he would still deserve to be remembered as the best novelist who ever wrote in this genre.
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