Aubrey/Maturin Novels

[Tom Hoffman]

Recently found the Aubrey/Murtin Novels by Patrick O'Brian.

I had seen the move "Master and Commander" and loved it, but did not realize that it was the beginning of a huge series of books, I just finished the Second "Post Captain". Loved it too.

Where might I purchase other books in the series used?

Would have to spend a small fortune to buy them all indivdually at Barnes and Nobel.

Any Help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks...:D

[S/V Laura Ellen]

Try www.abe.com

[Jon Agne]

My favorite:

http://www.alibris.com

Best score was Herreshoff's "Commen Sense of Yacht Design, Vols. 1 & 2" for $75.

Good luck! I've read the entire series twice over and will probably do so again in 2 0r 3 years.

Best,

Jon

[Captain Blight]

I think those books might have saved my life. those books and boats.

[bamamick]

I have bought from Abebooks before and had a good experience. McBooks also quite often has good deals on nautical books and I think that you can buy them all together at a greatly reduced price.

I'd have to go look but Amazon.com almost always lists used books. Just put in the title you want and look under the list price to see if there are any used available.

Another option is your library.

Mickey Lake

[Ian McColgin]

And welcom to the club.

A group of fans tried all the food entries they could recreate from period cook books and such - titled Spotted Dog and Lobscouse or something such. I gave it to a friend and am happy to say she's had the goodness not to try any of that nasty tripe on me. But it's worth a look if you really want your gourge gurgled.

Of the two bios of O'Brien the second published, by his stepson, is by far the more comprehensive and interesting. I'm sure that if the search works you can find a review on these threads.

[bamamick]

Oh yeah. Amazon has all of them listed under the used book sections. Just go look around and find what you need. I have read them all many times. Some of the finest use of the English language that I have ever come across, plus there is an underlying moral thread that, well, that makes me want to be a better person, friend, father, etc. Good stuff.

Mickey Lake

[Tom Hoffman]

Thank you all for the help. I have reviewed the sites and will be placing orders as the need arises for another book to feed my voracious reading appetite.

The first half of Post Captain was a little tough sledding, but once I got use to the speach and started understanding the the intent, it got really good.

Have a good one....

[Upnorth1]

I'm half way through the series. I've been buying them new as they are scarce up here, and I want to read them in order. They sure are addicting!

[Jay Greer]

I subscribed to "Books on Tape" and listened to them between S. CA and Port Townsend. By the way, Russel Crow is considering filming a sequel to Master and Commander.
Jay

[Bob Cleek]

I have and have read them all, as have many others. If I had it to do over again, I'd buy the hardcover editions. They don't cost all that much more and I'd expect that the series will be popular for a long, long time. The full hardcover set will retain its value and likely appreciate, particularly if they go out of print. First editions are the most valuable, of course. Then again, investing in fiction is rarely a good move. Save your money for that first edition hardcover "Commonsense of Yacht Design," Worchester's "Junks and Sampans of the Yangtse River," or maybe anything by Kunhardt. (Now out in reprints and downloadable facsimiles on line.)

If you are going to read the whole Aubry/Maturin series, consider getting one of the companion volumes in the beginning. There's one that has all the charts for all the voyages, together with local information. It gives you some decent background.

As for the content... hey, come on guys! They are great fun to read. Basically adult sailing comic books. Hardly "great English literature," however. ("Great sailing literature," maybe.) O'Brian was a "formula" writer. The series grew like Topsy after a publisher brought him the idea for a plot and commissioned him to write the first, Master and Commander. After that, the hits just kept on coming. I suppose they'd still be sailing if O'Brian had still been living.

It will be interesting to see if the movies have the same "legs." Sadly, for those of us who've read and loved the books, the movie was something of a disappointment. Great production values... very accurate nautical details. Decent acting. But... alas, a cobbled together medly of scenes from various books which, to my taste, favored bombast and action over the real depth of relationships that made the books so engrossing.

Then, too, Russell Crowe has a hard act to follow...

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews28/a%20captain%20horatio%20hornblower/a%20captain%20horatio%20nornblower%20CAPTAIN_HORAT IO_HORNBLOWER-7.jpg

[bamamick]

I agree that the story was a bit of a mess, but I would imagine that Peter Weir thought that this was a one-time shot and wanted to do a bit of an homage thingee. I do like the fact that he kept them on the ship the entire time and made you buy into the fact that the ship itself was an character ingrained into everything that the sailors experienced in their lives. Good idea, and who needs all of that shore-side gradu anyway?

I hope that they do make another. It wasn't perfect, but it was about the best I've ever seen (and I do have the Hornblower movie on dvd).

Mickey Lake

[OErjan]

I bought the whole series as audiobooks at a used book stand in Stockholm, The English version from books on tape, best book deal of my life, paid under 30$US for all of them, moved them to one of my older I-pods (one with broken display), guess what i listen to when i have a boring task at work (I work at a junkyard, and we are required to wear muffs to protect our hearing, regular buds fit nicely under them).

[Tom Hoffman]

Good News: I found the entire collection in a Hardcover Boxed Edition for only $99.00 + $3.99 Shipping and they are brand new...

How cool is that.

I can hardly wait.

I too like to listen to tapes or CD in the car. But nothing beats sitting down in my big mans over sized Lazy Boy and just getting lost in the story.

Thanks again to all for your kind help.

[Tom Hoffman]

Well, I have been slogging through the books. That's not really a fair statement, as I have been enjoying them immensily. There are parts that are a little slow going, but they just keep sucking me back in.

I am just starting "The Ionian Mission".

Just for clairification, for all of you who may choose to read this post, I heartly recommend that you look at this set of books.

As Tony the tiger say's "They're GREAT!!!"

[Torna]

I read the whole set over 1 1/2 years. Good fun.
Turns out that my local library had most of them. And those that they didn't have I bought used (for ~$3 each) and gave them to the library. Now they have a complete set and I feel like a good citizen. :-)
-leif

[Bobcat]

I am getting them out of the library one by one.

We already have 'way too many books in our house as it is

[wtarzia]

I bought one after another and felt like a heroin addict, and then went into withdrawal after I was done and read all the Hornblower novels for my methadone clinic treatment. (Hornblower wasn't as good as Aubrey/Maturin but not bad either; I saw some of the films made from the Hornblower novels, and though entertaining, they put me off from reading the novels until forced by withdrawal symptoms. But don't let the films put you off if you saw them first).

The film Master and Commander I thought did the best it could with the time and plot-squeeze it had. The essential male-friendship theme was retained well; let's face it, that is the big draw of these novels in our up-tight-male-society (what is a same-sex friend, what is a friend, what is the boundary of friendship, can I have friends, and what would they be like, and how do we think of women as women, women as friends, etc.; Dr. Maturin's love-interest, though a babe, I suppose, also had some qualities men have traditionally identified with maleness such as confidence, independence, etc.). So, if you liked seeing Aubrey/Maturin's friendship develop, then you probably also like watching Capt. Kirk's and Mr. Spock's, and Holmes' and Watson's (not a criticism; rather, an hypothesis).

The other big draw was the explanation of the workings of these 'spaceships at sea', and I bought the excellent books _Seamanship_ and _The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor_ to help me out and gain further respect for the technological complexity possible in wood, rope fiber, and canvas. O'Brien did a splendid job leaking out that information without devolving to sheer exposition (as an English professor, it is my occupational hazard and pleasure to think that way as I read).

For me the other draw of these novels was to watch O'Brien touch upon the growth of science in the curious personality of Dr. Maturin and his naturalist quests. As one interested in science, I love 'watching' this 'history' unfold, and see in Dr. Maturin the iconic person on whose shoulders all living scientists stand.

And of course, it is interesting to see in the literary tradition of dual characters the idea that Aubrey and Maturin combined make the perfect individual man, if only you could melt them together. -- Wade

[wtarzia]

By the bye, the non-Aubrey sea novels are also great: The Golden Ocean, and The Unknown Shore. I wanted to buy some of the cover art to frame in my house, but the Mystic Seaport Musem shop was selling just the prints for a couple of hundred dollars, yikes. Has anybody bought them cheaper? -- Wade

[gert]

If you like O Brian, you'll also like "Dudley" Pope's "Ramage" series

http://www.amazon.com/Ramage-Lord-Novels-Dudley-Pope/dp/0935526765

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

And welcom to the club.

A group of fans tried all the food entries they could recreate from period cook books and such - titled Spotted Dog and Lobscouse or something such. I gave it to a friend and am happy to say she's had the goodness not to try any of that nasty tripe on me. But it's worth a look if you really want your gourge gurgled.

Of the two bios of O'Brien the second published, by his stepson, is by far the more comprehensive and interesting. I'm sure that if the search works you can find a review on these threads.

"Lobscouse and Spotted Dog" is a wonderful book, Ian!

Not all the recipes are to be tried, but many are, and those are really good, espescially for on-board cookery without a refrigerator. The puddings are generally excellent and the ships biscuit receipe is also good.

[Keith Wilson]

I have not yet gathered the courage to try an English pudding.

It's almost time to read the books again.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

If you like O Brian, you'll also like Alexander Pope's "Ramage" series

http://www.amazon.com/Ramage-Lord-Novels-Dudley-Pope/dp/0935526765

Dudley Pope. Alexander is short of ships.

[Thorne]

Well, considering he had the entire Greek fleet and good old Odysseus to play with, old Alex had **plenty of ships** -

Achilles with Patroclus took his way
Where near his tents his hollow vessels lay.
Meantime Atrides launch'd with numerous oars
A well-rigg'd ship for Chrysa's sacred shores:
High on the deck was fair Chryseis placed,
And sage Ulysses with the conduct graced:
Safe in her sides the hecatomb they stow'd,
Then swiftly sailing, cut the liquid road.

[Dave Davis]

Also try Alexander Kent and his Richard Bolitho novels.

And if you like more contemporary naval fiction Alexander Kent's actual name is Douglas Reeman.

All of this genre make fantastic treatises on naval leadership.

[Mike Field]

.
Surprisingly, to me, Reeman's "Reeman" novels are far better than his "Kent" ones. I think he's much more comfortable with modern vessels than with Napoleonic-era sailing ones. Of all the series of this type of book that I had (Forester, Pope, Kent, O'Brian, even Parkinson) it was only the Kent ones that I couldn't be bothered keeping when I moved house.

Peter Wier, being interviewed about the film "Master and Commander," described how difficult it was to make a film out of O'Brian's books. Roughly quoted, he said, "If you pick up one of these books by the spine and shake it until the words all fall out there's not much of a story left to work with." And he's right -- it's the language that makes these books so good; plots are a bit lighter on. (That's why "Master and Commander" was based on a combination of novels instead of just one.)

Forester was still the master though. Hornblower was a fully-rounded and thoroughly-thought-out character, the plots of the novels were excellent, and the historical details are all there (like the establishment of the telegraph system from Admiralty house, or "walking" a narrow-boat through a canal tunnel.) The only place where O'Brian beat him is that O'Brian used contemporary language whereas Forester used modern English.

What particularly struck me about the Hornblower books were that they weren't written in any sense as a chronological series. Forester wrote only one story initially, and it was to be a stand-alone. (It was "Captain Hownblower" from memory.) Then he wrote a second about the same character later in life, then a couple of other ones skipping around at different periods in the time-line, and only then did he decide to complete a full series by writing further books to fill in the chronological gaps -- which I think he did brilliantly, as they had to join seamlessly with what had gone "before" and what had already happened "after."

Incidentally, although I very much like Gregory Peck as an actor, I think he made only a fair Hornblower, and that that film itself was also only a fair film. Much better and far more believable is the acting of Ioan Gruffudd in the 1990s eight-episode TV series (although admittedly a series can necessarily go into more detail than can a feature film.)

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/10/31/Hornblower_051031093919974_wideweb__300x375.jpg
.

[Captain Blight]

Yeah, but Gruffud's such a prat.

[Dick Wynne]

O'Brian freely admitted that many of Aubrey's exploits were lifted from the life of Lord Cochrane, of whom a number of biographies exist, the latest and probably best being by David Cordingly

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Zv2-MzRsL._SS500_.jpg (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cochrane-Dauntless-Life-Adventures-Thomas/dp/074758088X/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219499188&sr=1-12)

Now I think in paperback. Readers will recognise many adventures from the O'Brian tales, eg the alleged Stock Exchange fraud, the capture of the Xebec, and the entire Chile saga. One episode which O'Brian resisted, I don't know how, was where Cochrane, pursuing a French army column along the south coast of France, ordered his anchor to be dropped when at full speed, and as his vessel swung to it his guns brought to bear for an instant on a cliff overhang, which he brought down with a broadside, impeding or even burying the column of soldiers (I forget the exact details, my copy is out on loan!).

[Thad]

Wouldn't have been believable, Dick.

[Dick Wynne]

Probably right! O'Brian must have been aware of the incident.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

CS Forester used it, in "A Ship of the Line".

.

[gert]

oops; How about an author who goes by: Alexander Kent O Brian?

I admit they have blurred a bit

[S/V Laura Ellen]

There is a complete set of first edition books available on the "abe.com (http://www.abe.com)" web site.

http://www.aylard.ca/Misc/abe.JPG

Who wants it, only $26K, order now, limited quantity available.

[Paul Pless]

What a bargain!:D

[S/V Laura Ellen]

What a bargain!:D

Can I borrow them from you after you read them?:D

[Paul Pless]

Maybe you could help out and chip in on the shipping.

[S/V Laura Ellen]

Maybe you could help out and chip in on the shipping.

Hey, I'm a generous guy, I'll cover the shipping costs (only basic shipping of course, non of that overnight expedited stuff).

[Ethan]

O'Brian freely admitted that many of Aubrey's exploits were lifted from the life of Lord Cochrane, of whom a number of biographies exist, the latest and probably best being by David Cordingly

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Zv2-MzRsL._SS500_.jpg (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cochrane-Dauntless-Life-Adventures-Thomas/dp/074758088X/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219499188&sr=1-12)

Now I think in paperback. Readers will recognise many adventures from the O'Brian tales, eg the alleged Stock Exchange fraud, the capture of the Xebec, and the entire Chile saga. One episode which O'Brian resisted, I don't know how, was where Cochrane, pursuing a French army column along the south coast of France, ordered his anchor to be dropped when at full speed, and as his vessel swung to it his guns brought to bear for an instant on a cliff overhang, which he brought down with a broadside, impeding or even burying the column of soldiers (I forget the exact details, my copy is out on loan!).

Also check out Cochrane by Donald Thomas. Bernard Cornwell used Thomas' "very readable" biography in his research for the final Richard Sharpe novel - another series I would recommend with regards to the Napoleonic Wars.

[Tom Hoffman]

I am almost through with the 5 Volume Hardcover set of Aubrey Maturin Novels.

Does any one know where a complete set of the books can be had on tape?

I would love to listen to them on tape while I drive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Tom...

[gert]

Does any one know where a complete set of the books can be had on tape?

Public Library?

[Landrith]

I have heard people put O'Brien on the top of the list of historical novelists in the English language regardless of genre. He does have great detail that C.S. Forester did without.

[Tom Hoffman]

Our public library doesn't even have any of the books on paper let alone tape.

Besides, I am greedy, I want to own them to get my fix at my whim, not a librarians time table.

Oh' well. If there are 8 or 9 tapes per book, that would be a lot of tapes.

Cheers.

[landlocked sailor]

Try audible.com http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/enSearch/searchResults.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&N=0&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&D=master+%26+commander&Dx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&Ntk=S_Title&Ntt=master+%26+commander

Rick