The Hundred Days

Rating:
Summary: O'Brian could never have written this drivel!
Review: "Disappointment" is far too inadequate to describe my feelings after reading the first third of this book. There is none of the flash and sparkle that made O'Brian's prose so unique, none of the deep foreshadowing that haunts the reader's subconscious, none of the splendid sketches of personality of the main or supporting players which allowed nuances to ripen into full-blown behaviors. It is stilted, clumsy, boring, and, worst of all, a parody of the true O'Brian style.

I could not bear to finish it; I have re-read the entire series at least three times, yet if I were to accept "The Hundred Days" as the ultimate chapter, I might never pick up any of the other volumes again. Do not read this book! Let Jack and Steven set off on their oceanographic expedition aboard the Surprise; let yourself forever speculate about the rest of their lives. Do not let them sail into this mess!

Rating:
Summary: Is this Roman-Fleuve running out of flow?
Review: To those who have followed this series from the first novel, as I have, The Hundred Days is curiously affronting. We have followed Jack and Stephen down the years and learned to love not only the author's erudition and grasp of historical detail, but also the delicate web of human relationships he has contructed with such a deft touch. Now, suddenly, with half a paragraph, he disposes of Diana Maturin, the guiding star of Stephen's life thus far, and with two half sentences passes Barret Bonden, Jack's coxwain since the early days, into glory. This abruptness is all the more shocking as in the recent novels O'Brian had been examining the relationships of his principal characters with greater depth and and reflection. What we have left is the finely crafted and researched plot that is the O'Brian hallmark, with the human touch strangely attenuate. I pray that the final volume we are promised will recapture the magic which another reviewer so well described as "putting a spark into the sawdust of history"

Rating:
Summary: It's literature, thank you, not a genre-piece.
Review: Those who already read Patrick O'Brian do not need any encouragement to pick up The Hundred Days. The glory of O'Brian's language, the human-ness of characters who grow and change, the variety of exotic locales, the perfect exactness of details from two-hundred years ago -- all this has kept alive the interest of a growing legion of fans through nineteen extraordinary volumes. For these lucky devotees, it's enough to note that this volume will remind them of The Ionian Mission and the other Mediterranean-based episodes. It is livelier than recent installments, more surprising, has more of the smell of gunpowder, and yet delves deeper than ever into the psyches of the two central characters. It is as if O'Brian has recaptured his spark as he nears the end of his epic.

But really, a review should convince new readers to test the waters. So, you should consider buying this book (or the first in the series, Master and Commander, also available from Amazon,) if...

you admire a perfect command of the English language -- O'Brian is literature, not genre;

you ever enjoyed even one historical novel (the New York Times called this series "the best historical novels ever written");

you generally like to learn something as you read, in the way of interesting arcana (in this book, such things as narwhale horns and Hands of Glory);

you think it at least possible for people to behave heroically, and morally;

and, most of all, if you have ever stood on the deck of any kind of ship, anywhere, and pondered, even for a second, the incredible courage of the "iron men" who could brave vast oceans in wooden sailing ships.

O'Brian appeals to a certain kind of person, I find: one who wishes to find courage in oneself, and enjoys reading of it in others. The Aubrey/Maturin novels are, in fact, great literature.

End of review.

So. After twelve years, my B.A. in English Literature finally pays off.

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Aubrey & Maturin, but disappointing
Review: I love this series. However, this latest book is very heavily steeped in the loves of the main characters and has few of the facets that I feel leaven the detail. Most of the book is filled with details about sailing and naturalism. Very little space is given to the personal trials and triumphs that kept me following the evolution of Aubrey and Maturin. There is even relatively little in the way of rousing battle scenes. I continue to enjoy the series, but this last one left me rather cool.

Rating:
Summary: Masterfully Told Adventure
Review: Patrick O'Brian's capacity to carry off nineteen installments in the Aubrey/Maturin series is nothing short of astonishing. There is no faulting O'Brian's ability to craft a richly detailed and captivating tale combined seamlessly with subtle plot twists and turns. The Napoleonic wars and the escape of Napoleon from Elba provide the backdrop to this incredible tale filled with action and political intrigue that completely captives the reader.

The personalities of the families, friends, and enemies left ashore by Aubrey and Mautrin permeate their lives at sea. If not considered in this light, the death of Mautrin's wife, Diana, would be a meaningless detail. This is also what allows the reader to become intimate with Aubrey and Mautrin, almost as if they are old friends. O'Brian is never callow or derivative. You should not expect these sea-going tales to be filled with swashbuckling adventure of which the singular point is action.

This ninetieth installment takes across the Mediterranean and the Adriatic into combat against the French navy. It also takes ashore into North Africa to intercept caravans carrying gold. This gold is intended for Muslin mercenaries who are disposed to support Napoleon. This is an outstanding installment to the series and most definitely can stand on its own.


Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, but not as
Review: I very much admire Partick O'brien's style and books, and I cannot say that this is even a mediocre book, but it is below his rest, merely for reasons of the plot. It is rather a shock to discover, in the first few pages, that Stephen's beloved Diana has died. At first I was annoyed that we heard about it from a complete stranger, but then I realized that it was really kinder than being with Stephen when he learned of it. I was and am still frusterated with Bonden's curt death, but in the next book there is somewhat of a recompense. As I said, a good book, one worth reading, but not as spectacular as the others in the series.

Rating:
Summary: I Loved It
Review: "The Hundred Days" is the nineteenth of O'Brian's amazing 20-volume nautical series. It's not quite as heavy or complex as some of the others, but it has a wonderful flow. Aubrey and Maturin are back in the Med, back in Gibraltar, and the places where the whole series began. The period is Napoleon's brief renaissance, between Elba and Waterloo, and the ship "Surprise" runs up the Adriatic to sort out which ships will take Napoleon's side. Then Maturin stops in Algiers, and the book is topped off by a long slow chase of a bullion-filled arab galley. As in the previous installments, Aubrey and Maturin win and lose fortunes and favor at the turn of a page and at the whim of O'Brian's mischevious sense of humor. But the story definitely has a twilight feel, as though the aging author knew he was near the end of his long tale. I loved "The Hundred Days", but then I love the entire series.

Rating:
Summary: THe Hundred Days
Review: Jack and the rest of his squadron must intercept a shipment of gold sent to the Muslim mercenaries from Napoleon in order for them to join him in war. Jack must first sail through the Adriatic ports and sink and destroy any one who plans to join Napoleon.

I personally did not like the book. The book moved to slowly, and was about something that I'm not really interested in. However, people who are interested in war stories and sailors would enjoy this book. Someone who is excited by Napoleon might also like the book. With a little more action and a faster pace, this would be a great novel. In the book The Hundred Days by Patrick O'Brian the main character is Jack Aubrey.

Rating:
Summary: Don't read the Hong Kong review, gives away plot items
Review: Some critics have referred to the Aubrey/Maturin books as one long novel united not only by their historical setting but also by the central plot element of the Aubrey/Maturin friendship. Having read these fine books over a period of several years, I decided to evaluate their cumulative integrity by reading them consecutively in order of publication over a period of a few weeks. This turned out to be a rewarding enterprise. For readers unfamiliar with these books, they describe the experiences of a Royal Navy officer and his close friend and traveling companion, a naval surgeon. The experiences cover a broad swath of the Napoleonic Wars and virtually the whole globe.
Rereading all the books confirmed that O'Brian is a superb writer and that his ability to evoke the past is outstanding. O'Brian has numerous gifts as a writer. He is the master of the long, careful description, and the short, telling episode. His ability to construct ingenious but creditable plots is first-rate, probably because he based much of the action of his books on actual events. For example, some of the episodes of Jack Aubrey's career are based on the life of the famous frigate captain, Lord Cochrane. O'Brian excels also in his depiction of characters. His ability to develop psychologically creditable characters through a combination of dialogue, comments by other characters, and description is tremendous. O'Brien's interest in psychology went well beyond normal character development, some books contain excellent case studies of anxiety, depression, and mania.
Reading O'Brien gives vivid view of the early 19th century. The historian Bernard Bailyn, writing of colonial America, stated once that the 18th century world was not only pre-industrial but also pre-humanitarian (paraphrase). This is true as well for the early 19th century depicted by O'Brien. The casual and invariable presence of violence, brutality, and death is a theme running through all the books. The constant threats to life are the product not only of natural forces beyond human control, particularly the weather and disease, but also of relative human indifference to suffering. There is nothing particularly romantic about the world O'Brien describes but it also a certain grim grandeur. O'Brien also shows the somewhat transitional nature of the early 19th century. The British Navy and its vessals were the apogee of what could be achieved by pre-industrial technology. This is true both of the technology itself and the social organization needed to produce and use the massive sailing vessals. Aubrey's navy is an organization reflecting its society; an order based on deference, rigid hierarchy, primitive notions of honor, favoritism, and very, very corrupt. At the same time, it was one of the largest and most effective bureaucracies in human history to that time. The nature of service exacted great penalities for failure in a particularly environment, and great success was rewarded greatly. In some ways, it was a ruthless meritocracy whose structure and success anticipates the great expansion of government power and capacity seen in the rest of the 19th century.
O'Brian is also the great writer about male friendship. There are important female characters in these books but since most of the action takes place at sea, male characters predominate. The friendship between Aubrey and Maturin is the central armature of the books and is a brilliant creation. The position of women in these books is ambiguous. There are sympathetic characters, notably Aubrey's long suffering wife. Other women figures, notably Maturin's wife, leave a less positive impression. On board ship, women tend to have a disruptive, even malign influence.
How did O'Brian manage to sustain his achievement over 20 books? Beyond his technical abilities as a writer and the instrinsic interest of the subject, O'Brien made a series of very intelligent choices. He has not one but two major protagonists. The contrasting but equally interesting figures of Aubrey and Maturin allowed O'Brien to a particularly rich opportunity to expose different facets of character development and to vary plots carefully. This is quite difficult and I'm not aware of any other writer who has been able to accomplish such sustained development of two major protagonists for such a prolonged period. O'Brian's use of his historical setting is very creative. The scenes and events in the books literally span the whole globe as Aubrey and Maturin encounter numerous cultures and societies. The naval setting allowed him also to introduce numerous new and interesting characters. O'Brian was able to make his stories attractive to many audiences. Several of these stories can be enjoyed as psychological novels, as adventure stories, as suspense novels, and even one as a legal thriller. O'Brian was also a very funny writer, successful at both broad, low humor, and sophisticated wit. Finally, O'Brian made efforts to link some of the books together. While a number are complete in themselves, others form components of extended, multi-book narratives. Desolation Island, Fortune of War, and The Surgeon's Mate are one such grouping. Treason's Harbor, The Far Side of the World, and The Reverse of the Medal are another. The Letter of Marque and the ensuing 4 books, centered around a circumnavigation, are another.
Though the average quality of the books is remarkably high, some are better than others. I suspect that different readers will have different favorites. I personally prefer some of the books with greater psychological elements. The first book, Master and Commander, is one of my favorites. The last 2 or 3, while good, are not as strong as earlier books. I suspect O'Brian's stream of invention was beginning to diminish. All can be read profitably as stand alone works though there is definitely something to be gained by reading in consecutive order.