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5.0étoiles sur 5
A great story -- O'Brian reaches a first peak . . ., Oct. 23 2002
This is the second in the Aubrey-Maturin series and it's a far more broadly painted picture than the first; also, a great deal more of the action takes place ashore. Jack finds himself out of a command due to the peace, but having come into a large sum of prize money, he rents a country place and takes up riding to hounds. He also meets Sophie and her family, and the Doctor meets Sophie's cousin, Diana. Relationships become interestingly complicated, but then Jack's prize agent defaults and two of his prizes are ruled invalid, and he suddenly finds himself deep in debt. The two go abroad to escape a debt judgment and they're visiting Spain when war breaks out again. After a period disguised as a trained bear accompanying its trainer, they reach Gibralter and take ship, only to be captured. And so it goes, with Maturin having taken up his additional avocation by this time as an intelligence agent for the Admiralty. In fact, his connections are about the only thing that keeps Jack in his series of commands against the competition, and after a particularly gallant action, he finally gets made post. All in all, this is a far more interesting book, with a great deal more character development, than the first book. Young Sophia is especially nicely drawn, and Jack himself (as Stephen notes) has begun to mature in important ways. In fact, my only complaint is in respect to the wretched cover illustration in the original hardcover edition!
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5.0étoiles sur 5
Early, classic Aubrey-Maturin, Mai 4 2002
This second book in the Aubrey-Maturin series is, like all of the others, an absolute delight. O'Brian does his usual astonishing job of transporting us to an imagined early-19th century world, interesting in large part because it is in some basic ways quite unlike ours, yet peopled by richly-drawn characters who experience emotions intensely familiar.For the fanatic O'Brian fan (I am one) this book is especially interesting to re-read, since several of the dimensions of the characters, especially Maturin, are slightly at odds with later versions. For example, in one diary passage, Maturin waxes eloquent (and accurate) about the specific arrangement of sails as a convoy weighs anchor -- something he would never do in the later books, when he has become hopelessly ignorant about all things nautical. These books are in the rare category of those classics that are a page-turning excitement to read when first encountered, and remain similarly exciting if read again and again, constantly revealing new subtleties of character and incident. One of the great things about the books is O'Brian's periodic indirect explanation of certain expressions that have passed into the vernacular, and are used in contexts far removed from their nautical roots -- for example, "the devil to pay" or "we were at loggerheads", or...I've forgotten the rest. I guess I'll have to read the books again, and so should you.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
Splendid Sophomore Outing For Aubrey And Maturin, Mars 27 2002
I was sucked into the Aubrey/Maturin series after reading "Post Captain", discovering the virtues of O'Brian's prose and his fictional rendering of the Napoleonic wars nearly a year and a half before it became popular here in the United States. This is truly the novel where the celebrated Aubrey/Maturin friendship takes off, whereby Maturin shows that he is Sherlock Holmes to Aubrey's Doctor Watson (Or perhaps, for a more contemporary analogy, Spock as opposed to Captain Kirk.). Maturin comes across as an elegant, erudite spy, working on behalf of Sir Joseph Banks, the chief of British naval intelligence. Meanwhile Aubrey finds himself in a debtor's prison in France and escapes just as Western Europe plunges into war again. Eventually he will find himself rewarded with a promotion to Post Captain and a new ship command. Once more O'Brian's elegant, descriptive prose shows a unique side of British life not shown in prior naval fiction series; indeed, it is truly his homage to Jane Austen's fiction.
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