Rating: 
Summary: SImply Outstanding
Review: Some years ago George Will wrote a column on this series, highly recommending it. I read this book, the first in the series, and I was hooked. A few months later I had finished all twenty books, though I admit I did not read much else in that time. A few months ago started rereading the series, and again found this novel to be a great read. Last week I read the first few paragraphs to my wife, and completed the book a third time a few days later.I really have little interest in the historical period, it's the characters and stories (typically based on real events) that drew me in. The technical terms are really unnecessary to grasping the story, you can be as much of a lubber as Stephen Maturin himself and enjoy all of the book. The characters are memorable, the book is rich in humor and the writing is superb. I read all but the first book (this one) compliments of the local library, but I now own the entire series in hardcover. Try the series. This is the place to start. If you don't enjoy it you've wasted one book. If you fail to read this, however, you risk missing out on the most enjoyable series you can find.
Rating:
Summary: Commend Her
Review: Let me add to the online discussion that Master and Commander is a fine standalone book. I have not read the next 19 in the series, and may not. Regardless, I feel I have invested well, as O'Brian paints a vivid, colorful portrait of sailboat battling in the Napoleonic era. I picked up an original 1969 copy of the book from the local library, and the dusty old jacket was a constant reminder of just how timeless this story is. Yes, it takes a bit of work and a few chapters to delve into the terminology of the early nineteenth century, but that's not too hard. And yes, there are entire stretches throughout the novel that are utterly boring...much like being stuck in the shipyard while repairs are underway, or becalmed on a glassy sea. The reader happily musters on though to arrive at a new battle, to learn a bit more about the complex Jack Aubrey or intellectual Doctor Maturin. Along with the overwhelming technical sailing jargon, O'Brian throws in some pretty wry humor: His observations of the mating Praying Mantis parallels the mating experiences of Commander Aubrey. For as skilled and adept Lucky Jack Aubrey is at sea, he is mere mortal (and indeed a first rate klutz) ashore. Just the opposite of his trusty sidekick Maturin, who is a seafaring neophyte, and knows his way around the spars even less well than we the readers do. If nothing else, this tale will have you yearning for a sunny Mediterranean cruise.
Rating:
Summary: Before the Movie Was an Author
Review: What is it that makes a book into a film? Connections, best-seller status? Certainly there are many pathways, and fewer pathways to success. For example who would have thought that the story of the Passion might become a billion dollar success? Tens of hundreds of years after it was written? So comes the author Patrick O'Brian. Shortly before his death in 1997, Professor Robert Herman of the University of Texas at Austin (Physics and Engineering), one of the very last Renaissance men of his generation, brought O'Brian to my attention. Mind you, Dr. Herman was well-versed in all of the classics, in original Russian, German, French, English, and perhaps more. An it was "Master and Commander" that he brought to my attention as a great work of literature. So, naturally I bought the book, and read it--in the pre-film edition. Never did I dream this would become a successful film starring the Oscar-winning Russell Crowe, whom I'd come to respect years before "Gladiator". A great combination. I would not review the film here...however, anyone who has not seen the film, but wishes to read a truly great work in English literature of the 20th century, must become familiar with Patrick O'Brian, and I cannot find a better work with which to begin!!! Highly recommended, readable, a page turner. Like many such works, the film is not only in another genre, but must be judged by different standards. By any standard, this is a book to be read, re-read, and given as a gift to any appreciator of great fiction on a grand scale!!!
Rating:
Summary: book > movie
Review: Having sailed a tall ship, scuttled around like a spider in her shrouds, scrubbed her decks and promoted Navigator, Master and Commander does an exemplary job in recreating the tense atmosphere of adventure in the Napoleonic wars. With a voyage and brig secured, Jack Aubrey, accompanied by his friend Stephen Maturin, does his duty in commanding the little brig HMS Sophie and her crew for England to capture other ships of the French fleet and take them as prize. Set in the wet waters of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, the inseparable pair Aubrey and Maturin sail their way through many eye-opening encounters. It is O'Brian's beauteous prose and characterisations that seize the reader's imagination - allowing him to delve into the world itself and actively take part in it. By elegantly combining nautical terms of the Enlightenment thinker and descriptions of feelings and the environment like a Romantic, O'Brian creates a pleasantly-paced plot which give readers an unquenchable thirst for more. The language is formal and most proper, littered with delectable nautical terms (depending on your naval background). This may be a crucial factor in determining whether this read will be one of success or not. Therefore it is only highly recommended to those with even a dollop of sailing lingo. Only then is it possible to relive the delight of going aloft to furl the forecourse; with Maturin the ship's surgeon to learn of the knuts and bolts of the brig. Therefore I would highly recommend this book to all adventurous souls who delight in sailing or history. The fact that there are twenty books in the Aubrey/Maturin series makes it even more of a treasure. Life is all about experiences, and what more could you wish for than to dive into the world of a man-of-war while riding the bus? Especially when O'Brian's world of 18th century sailing is fading.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Sea Story
Review: The first in Patrick O'Brian's twenty-volume "Aubrey-Maturin" series, "Master and Commander" is both a compelling narrative and a fine foundation for the books to follow. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, British naval officer Jack Aubrey is promoted to his first command of a warship, the sloop "Sophie". He befriends an eccentric physician, Stephen Maturin, and convinces him to sail as ship's surgeon. What follows is a sort of odyssey, a linear narrative as the Sophie cruises the Mediterranean, capturing cargo ships and fighting French and Spanish warships. O'Brian has a wonderful, mature prose, a spare style that omits repetitious detail while allowing characters and events to describe themselves and leaving the minutiae to the reader's imagination. His complete ease with nineteenth century maritime affairs, from the idiom to the equipment is wholly convincing, yet never patronizing. Readers familiar with neither the sea nor the era will be swept along for the ride. Aubrey is heroic, but three-dimensional. He is flawed and sometimes unlikable, courageous yet occasionally frustratingly inept. Other characters are drawn with equal attention to detail and humanity. This is a fine book, a wonderful sea story. Norton's newly-released edition of the entire series is attractive, and the books continue to please.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Masterful ¿ Yet
Review: The first in the Aubrey-Matruin series displays all of O'Brian's erudition, with only some of the verve and narrative mastery of the books that came shortly thereafter. Essentially a series of cruises through the Mediterranean, the novel lacks the strong narrative arc that many of the other novels posses and it suffers for the lack. Nevertheless, Master and Commander remains a fascinating and compelling story of life at sea during the Napoleonic wars. Captain Jack Aubrey and Surgeon Steven Maturin are here revealed, for the first time, in all their complexity and humanity. If you find yourself getting slowed down by this book, muddle through. The rewards will be great when you dive into the next several books, beginning with number two, Post Captain.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Story
Review: The master and commander series is incredible. I very much enjoyed the Master and Commander story. It was the first time in a long while that I did not try to avoid reading this book. It was very long but I was glued to this exciting story. This book is great if you want to read a factual and realistic action adventure story. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I think everyone should sit back and enjoy the wonderfully composed Master and Commander series,
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever writtten
Review: I read this book for the first time almost two years ago. Since then Jack and Stephen have been a part of my life. I have read the series almost three times, and everytime I find more that I understand and appreciate. Patrick O'Brian is excrutiatingly accurate with his historical facts, and one of the best things about the series is how strong a sense a reader gets of the time period and culture. Well written and facinating, I heartily reccomend this book to anyone. Even if you don't know much about naval life and the language, it is still worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: On second thought...
Review: On second reading: the prose is still splendid and the wry humor is now more understandable (full of allusive lingo and obscure situations). Capt. Aubrey's meaty speech and amusing malapropisms more intensely entertain. On the other hand, the shockingly unexpected situations are of course less so now. This is perhaps the most exciting volume in O'Brian's 20-book series. This first volume is awash in emotional extremes of hope and despair, women, allusions to sexual escapades, frequent battles, swashbuckling adventures, challenges to authority, and a surprising number of floggings (these are all toned down in later, more languid volumes). O'Brian includes a few explanations of the characters' backgrounds and motives, and, unusually, a few helpful comments on seamanship under sail occasioned by the ignorant landsman and ship's surgeon, Stephen Maturin, who strikes up a happy acquaintance with Capt. Jack Aubrey. I also realize now that O'Brian shamefully gives Jack a great pass, nay two, at his court-martial, where the matter neither of his orders nor his conduct of a convoy is raised. If this is your first entry into the Age of Fighting Sail, I urge you to study carefully the single illustration of a square-rigged sail plan, committing to memory their names and puzzling the use of each rope in the standing and the running rigging. O'Brian's stories are so much more more enjoyable if they are intelligible! He does immerse us directly in an antique world without so much as a by your leave. If you like O'Brian's prose and pace, I pray you go back and read his The Golden Ocean and The Unknown Shore before continuing, in which you will gain the acquaintance, sir, of both an earlier Royal Navy and your illustrious author developing the prototypes of our prodigious heroes, Jack and Stephen. Acquiring a copy of Dean King's compendium, A Sea of Words, is also not amiss.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible book, also try the Recorded Books audiobooks
Review: Having read the entire series twice through, I am a huge fan and can not say enough about O'Brian. But before talking about the book itself, I will point all of you to the wonderful unabridged audiobook versions performed by (as opposed to simply "read by") Patrick Tull and produced by Recorded Books, LLC. They are vastly superior to any other audiobook productions of the series I have listened to (including the versions sold here on Amazon, unfortunately). For those who have difficulty with the pacing or the language, the audiobook format brings it all to life with amazing clarity. The accents, the tones, the emotion, they are all there in Tull's masterful rendition. Having said that, I will turn to the book itself. Master and Commander (and the entire series) brings the past to life with more immediacy than any other historical novel I have ever read. After spending some time in O'Brian's world, you truly feel at home there, even those of us who know (or at least knew) very little about things nautical or the history of the Napoleonic Wars. The characters become your friends, the ships become familiar surroundings. You come to be in tune with the period even though it is alien to our own times in so many ways. There is also a great deal of humor in these novels, something unexpected in such literate works. The action is phenomenal, the character development (within the book, but especially over the series) is engrossing. The language is brilliant and sophisticated, but at the same time earthy and "real". All in all, I would have to agree with the New York Times that these are the best historical novels ever written.
|
