The History Book Club discussion

On November 1st, 2010, The History Book Club will kick off the second book in the Aubrey–Maturin series.

Those of you new to the group might not know about the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.

"The Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of nautical historical novels—20 completed and one unfinished—by Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centering on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, who is also a physician, natural philosopher, and secret agent.

The first novel, Master and Commander, was published in 1969 and the last finished novel in 1999. The 21st novel of the series, left unfinished by O'Brian's death in 2000, appeared in print in late 2004. The series received considerable international acclaim and most of the novels reached The New York Times Best Seller list. These novels comprised the canon of an author often compared to Jane Austen, C. S. Forester and a myriad of other British authors central to the canon.

The 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World took material from books in this series, notably Master and Commander, HMS Surprise, The Letter of Marque, The Fortune of War, and particularly The Far Side of the World. Russell Crowe played the role of Jack Aubrey, and Paul Bettany that of Stephen Maturin."

This series is beloved and includes the following books in the series:

1. Master and Commander (1970)
2. Post Captain (1972)
3. HMS Surprise (1973)
4. The Mauritius Command (1977)
5. Desolation Island (1978)
6. The Fortune of War (1979)
7. The Surgeon's Mate (1980)
8. The Ionian Mission (1981)
9. Treason's Harbour (1983)
10.The Far Side of the World (1984)
11.The Reverse of the Medal (1986)
12.The Letter of Marque (1988)
13.The Thirteen Gun Salute (1989)
14.The Nutmeg of Consolation (1991)
15.Clarissa Oakes (1992) - (The Truelove in the USA)
16.The Wine-Dark Sea (1993)
17.The Commodore (1995)
18.The Yellow Admiral (1996)
19.The Hundred Days (1998)
20.Blue at the Mizzen (1999)
21.The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey (2004) - (21 in the USA)

Read more of the wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey–M...

Here is the table of contents and syllabus for the discussion:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...

Patrick O'Brian

Short Synopsis:

The year is 1803, and that scalliwag Napoleon Bonaparte has gone to war again. For Captain Jack Aubrey, who has fled to France to escape his creditors, this is doubly alarming news. In short order the captain is interned, makes his escape across the French countryside, then leads a ship into battle. And again, his adventures are cleverly counterpointed by those of his alter ego Stephen Maturin.

Source: Goodreads from Amazon

Christopher will be leading the moderation of this book and we look forward to your participating in this discussion beginning November 1st, 2010.

For those of you who are new to the group, The History Book Club completed Master and Commander which is the first book in the series. That discussion was led by our own Elizabeth S. who is the Assisting Moderator for Historical Fiction.

Christopher was kind enough to volunteer to lead the second book in the series since there was high interest in continuing right on through.

So we hope you can partake in the journey with us.

both by Patrick O'Brian

Do you think that I will miss something when reading "Post Captain" if I haven't read "Master and Commander" first?



Patrick O'Brian

I don't think it will matter that much.

I agree with Bentley. While the books do build on each other as the series progresses, Master and Commander is almost an introduction to the story that starts with Post Captain. I certainly do not want to dissuade anybody who doesn't want to join the discussion because we are on the second book. These are some of my favorite books so, of course, I would like other people to experience and enjoy them as well.

Ok, I will try to read Master and Commander before we get rolling on Post Captain, but if not, I'll still join in on the discussion for Post Captain. Thanks for the input! Can't wait to start!



Patrick O'Brian

Welcome O'Brian fans, I'm Chris Tolley, your moderator for this book, Post Captain.

Like many of you, I've read all 20 books, as well as several others by O'Brian, so I'll be very careful not to spill anything from future works.

I am re-reading Post Captain myself, and having remembered it with disfavor, I've been pleasantly surprised at how good it is.

The first part of our reading assignment finds our heroes, Stephen maturin and Jack Aubrey, cast ashore in that bane of all fighting types - peace.

They are immediately immersed in a conflict of another kind, just as serious - that between men and women.

I was struck by how much time O'Brian spends decribing the female characters. Any thoughts on why that is?

These are clearly 19th century women, i.e., locked in a world where their only reasonable alternative in life is to find a husband. Yet O'Brian uses two words to describe the best of them - dash and courage. How does O'Brian portry the women? Is he fair? Sexist?

I was struck by his description of Mrs. Williams, that she is emphatically 'a woman'? He doesn't explain much further. I wasn't sure exactly what he meant by that? Any ideas?

If he meant women are narrow minded, over intuitive and scheming, his female characters don't bear that out, since Mrs. Willimas appears to be the only female that is truly that way.

What do you think? What does it mean to be emphatically 'a woman'?

Thanks for your comments. I look forward to reading them.

As a reader of all the jack Aubrey books I have a question for the group. I found it really helped me if I memorized that portion of the map that each book traveled. With the map in mind and paying attention to direction, wind and the like I always had a mental image of where I was "going" and what was on my larboard and starboard shoulders.

Anybody else do the same?
Or am I crazy

Jim, I think that is an excellent idea. I will make sure that the glossary is available if Christopher wants to post any urls or helpful maps, etc.

Here are several webistes which track voyages, show maps, etc. I would rate them only okay, or good for getting a general idea of where things are or people went. What I found most useful was a good atlas. Or, in the alternative, not to bother too much with specific places beyond getting a general grasp of what continent the characters were on or ocean they were in

www.patrickobrian.com

www.cannonade.net

www.zooterville.com/obrian/index.html

www.io.com/gibbonsb/pob

web.mit.edu/hwebb/www/pob_list.html

http://www.patrickobrian.com/

http://www.cannonade.net

http://web.mit.edu/hwebb/www/pob_list...

Great adds Christopher..some of the links did not link so I fixed those.

PS This is the best companion book that I can find to help understand the ship and its workings. I consider it essential.

Enjoy - Jim

Sorry, I thought that post would include the book name:

A Sea of Words: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O'Brian.

Add book / author didn't seem to work.

by Dean King

Thank you Jim. The add book/author link appears to be working fine.

Bentley turned me on to a very detailed in depth website I would recommend to Jim and anyone who is interested in the Aubrey/Maturin books, The Dear Surprise:

http://www.thedearsurprise.com/

Not having spent much time there, I do not know whether it has maps, but it seems like it might. Vertainly it's a great place for O'Brian fans.

Yes, it is an exceptional site Christopher and thank you for adding it here.

it's a great place !!!
Thanks

You are welcome.

Hi Fran - If you are an O'Brian fan feel free to drop into the conversation on Post Captain and leave any comments you care to.

Christopher wrote: "Hi Fran - If you are an O'Brian fan feel free to drop into the conversation on Post Captain and leave any comments you care to."

Ok