Rating: 
Summary: THE PERFECT PRECURSOR
Review: The Golden Ocean was written in 1956 and is Patrick O'Brian's first novel about the sea. As such, it is the perfect precursor to the highly acclimed Aubrey/Maturin series. The protagonist of this book is Peter Palafox, son of an impoverished Irish parson. In 1740, Peter, who has never before seen a ship, signs on, as a midshipman with Commodore Anson. Together with his lifelong friend, Sean, Peter hopes to find his fortune. He finds danger and disappointment instead, as Anson and his men circle the globe through poorly charted waters. And, although they seize a vast fortune in Spanish gold and silver, only one of Anson's five ships survives the voyage. The Golden Ocean is as perfectly and beautifully crafted as are the Aubrey/Maturin novels. The writing is brilliantly detailed and the action perfectly paced. With The Golden Ocean, O'Brian has created a perfect world of must-read-on storytelling. A book deserving of ten stars and anyone's time.
Rating: 
Summary: A slow start...a rousing conclusion!
Review: This being the first book I have read by Patrick O'Brian , I struggled a bit getting into the flow of the novel due to the peculiar Gaelic flavored writing style. In fact it took several starts over a couple of years to make it past the first chapter or two. However once past the somewhat slow start , the pace of the novel describing the adventure of the young parson's son , Peter Palafox , the tale progresses nicely. Young Palafox has obtained an appointment as a midshipman on Commodore Anson's flagship Centurion through the good offices of his father and the ship's chaplain. He and his lifelong friend Sean have several misadventures on the way to England to join the ship's company and arrive just in the nick of time to sail with the vessel. The maturation of young Palafox into a competent naval officer is set against a broad tapestry of Anson's historic 1740 circimnavigation of the globe , spanning over three years. The crew of the Centurion and the small fleet commanded by the commodore encounter fantastic hardships and outright disasters on an unimaginable scale , only to finally return home with the riches of the Spanish Main as a reward. Some of the best descriptive writing of the entire book details rounding The Horn into the Pacific--called in the book The Golden Ocean. Hence , the title of this volume. Other than an initial struggle with the somewhat complex writing style of the author , I enjoyed the book immensely. I still don't pretend to understand some of the Gaelic expresions and interjections , but I plan to continue reading some of the other works by this author.
Rating:
Summary: A slow start...a rousing conclusion!
Review: This being the first book I have read by Patrick O'Brian , I struggled a bit getting into the flow of the novel due to the peculiar Gaelic flavored writing style. In fact it took several starts over a couple of years to make it past the first chapter or two. However once past the somewhat slow start , the pace of the novel describing the adventure of the young parson's son , Peter Palafox , the tale progresses nicely. Young Palafox has obtained an appointment as a midshipman on Commodore Anson's flagship Centurion through the good offices of his father and the ship's chaplain. He and his lifelong friend Sean have several misadventures on the way to England to join the ship's company and arrive just in the nick of time to sail with the vessel. The maturation of young Palafox into a competent naval officer is set against a broad tapestry of Anson's historic 1740 circimnavigation of the globe , spanning over three years. The crew of the Centurion and the small fleet commanded by the commodore encounter fantastic hardships and outright disasters on an unimaginable scale , only to finally return home with the riches of the Spanish Main as a reward. Some of the best descriptive writing of the entire book details rounding The Horn into the Pacific--called in the book The Golden Ocean. Hence , the title of this volume. Other than an initial struggle with the somewhat complex writing style of the author , I enjoyed the book immensely. I still don't pretend to understand some of the Gaelic expresions and interjections , but I plan to continue reading some of the other works by this author.
Rating:
Summary: This is a wonderful retelling of the Anson voyage
Review: This precursor to the Aubrey-Maturin series is more memorable than some of the books in that series. It covers Anson's voyage around the world, in which he captured the fabled Manila galleon, one of the richest single-ship captures in naval history. I enjoyed it partly for its setting within this historical event: a particularly grand adventure. This was the 'dream cruise'(in terms of results!)that fired the hopes of royal-navymen, from admirals to ordinary seamen, for generations afterward. O'Brian's is a wonderfully rich telling, via two interesting and well-developed Irish character who interact throughout with actual historical figures, such as a very young Keppel. O'Brian's portait of the peppery Keppel was particularly vivid and interesting, revealing much about the Royal Navy of the times and the kind of men who did well in its selection process. The hardships and the mood of events on this voyage are well-drawn, and the story moves along at a comfortable pace. If I had a criticism, I would say that not enough time was spent on the capture itself and the story of intrigue surrounding it, which feels truncated and hurried. I wanted to know more about the capture and to savor their success with them, and I didn't feel that. They just sailed home. I think this apparent imbalance comes from the amount of time spent getting there. I like this book because it has stayed with me, unlike some of the Aubrey-Maturin series, as much as I like that series. Something about 'The Golden Ocean' maintains a hold on my imagination despite it's status as an 'early' O'Brian work.
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