Rating: 
Summary: Great literature? It depends on how you define the term...
Review: It irks me to see people say a book isn't great literature, and then say, "But..." If a book excites you, if it entertains you, if it's well-written, well-constructed, then why isn't it great literature? Simply because it's an adventure novel? Please! Some of the best writing occurs in genres that get no respect because they aren't "literary" in the classical sense of the term. Well, Jane Austen's work was pop fiction in its day. Oh, don't get me started. Anyway, the entire Hornblower series is, imho, great literature because it meets the above criteria. Forester is great at crafting his books, and he offers more than just an adventure. Read these books! You won't be sorry.
Rating: 
Summary: A Swash-Buckled Hemingway!!!
Review: No more need be said than the comment of Papa H on the cover of this first rate "Book of the Line" - The great one states " I recommend Forester to every literate I know". AS THE OLD SAYING GOES - "WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE, THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO SAY OR DO". Loved it all over again for the googol(th) time. And-as a sidebar, Fred Earl Exley loved 'ornbowair' and read this in Exley's (rare) lucid moments. Both of them.
Rating:
Summary: Classic though not Hornblower's best outing
Review: This first Hornblower book that Forester wrote was BEAT TO QUARTERS, and that is still arguably the best Hornblower book to read first (though not the best in the series). Because MR. MIDSHIPMAN HORNBLOWER comes first in the saga's timeline, though, many readers start here and unfortunately do not get Hornblower at his best point of entry. The pacing of this collection of stories simply does not grip the reader as well as that of the novels. I'm sure they worked fine when published individually in the popular magazines of the day, but when clutched together like this, an awkward lack of fluidity results.That said, MR. MIDSHIPMAN HORNBLOWER is still an excellent book, rich with fascinating incident and detail, and anyone who has started the series will certainly read it -- the whole series is just too good! Certainly by the last episode in this book, quite a long story, the young Hornblower has gotten into the thick of it and you have begun to find out (if this is indeed where you've come in) just why Forester continues to be held in such high regard by generation after generation of readers. Another important point is that MR. MIDSHIPMAN HORNBLOWER is the material from which the recent A&E series took its inspiration, and you do owe it to yourself if you saw it on TV to read the book and find out why and how that pivotal duel *really* happened. Be prepared to learn that C.S. Forester's plot turns were considerably more dramatic and thought-provoking than the hash (though admittedly watchable hash) made of them for TV consumption. Incidentally, this paperback edition is lovely. The woodcut-style cover artwork looks really nice, and the pages and typeface being about the same size as a hardback edition make handling it and reading it a special pleasure
Rating:
Summary: Adventure packed to the end.
Review: The book "Mr. Midshipman Hornblower" excited me with it's detail, adventures, and it's characters. The book is about a boy named Horatio Hornblower who is in the British Royal Navy around the 1700's. He tries to become an officer by obeying orders from Captain Pellew (Horatio's captain). But on his journey, he faces Spanish Frigates, exciting battles, and enemy prisons.
Rating:
Summary: Good example of an old-time sailor's life
Review: When I read Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, I knew what I was getting (I had just watched the A&E mini-siries), yet I was pleasantly supprised. Hornblower's adventures are very exciting, and it's fun to read about how he handles them. Not only are the stories fun to read, but it is interesting to hear how the life of a sailor in 1794, hard, yet (in Hornblower's case) not dull. A good read for people of all ages
Rating:
Summary: A Great Tale of Swashbuckling Adventure!
Review: C.S Forester created a classic hero in the Hornblower novels. I was inspired to read the books when I saw the movies on A&E, it wwas amazing how the books brought them to life. Its a great book if you like classic adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Lively adventure and pure fun
Review: After seeing the A&E dipiction of this novel I had to give it a read. And much to my delight the excellent television miniseries was true to the book in the best sense. The books are easy to read and completely entertaining. If you enjoyed A&E's version you will love the books as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Good fun
Review: It would be impossible to call this great literature, but then again, I don't think that great literature is what Forester was aiming at when he wrote this. This book is, however, a real page-turner: fast-paced, action-filled, and realistic. I especially like the narrative style that Forester adopts: since Hornblower is only a midshipman, a strictly sequential narration of his service aboard the Indefatigable would likely be tedious. By writing the chapters as a series of relatively unconnected vignettes, Forester is able to skip the most of the monotony that characterized a junior officer's life and to produce a highly readable book. I wouldn't come to this book expecting to find higher truths about the Nelsonian navy or about life in general, but the book is rollicking good fun and certainly a cut above most of the pulp fiction that tops the bestseller lists nowadays.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderfull Nautical Series!
Review: The Horatio Hornblower series of books by CS Forrester is one of the most wonderful I have ever read. The stories of a boy's experiences at sea in the British Navy are wonderful and captivating. The complexity and human nature of Horratio is heart warming. This starts out the series and only shows the beginning of the wonderful adventure.
Rating:
Summary: A good read. Engrossing series.
Review: I read the Hornblower novels as an older adolescent, and reread them as an young adult, and again, often, as a fully mature adult. They were originally copyrighted in the thirties so this is quite possible. Most of my series were purchased for less than a dollar and a half each. For technical accuracy and engrossing plots they can not be beaten.
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