Patrick O'Brian

[don1reed]

I've been reading every Patrick O'Brian "Aubrey and Maturin" novel for my summer project. EXCELLENT READs! Amen. (halfway through)

If they'd come up with a seafaring sim based on those books...we'd have a winner. I'd give up subsiming in a heart beat to play a Napoleonic sea battle. Ah...to spend a whole week maneuvering to get the weather gage on an enemy frigate...lawdy sakes!

...then to get promoted to lieutenant, you'd have to "jump down the muzzle of a 12#er and squeeze out the touch-hole"!

cheers,

[TteFAboB]

I've just read "Victory in Tripoli" by Joshua London and it also made me wish for a sail ships sim.

The only decent sim I know is Pirates of the Caribbean, which was supposed to be Sea Dogs II. Beneath the "game" surface, there is a decent tactical battle sim.

I've had the urge to install it again, with the super-mod from Pirates Ahoy, but the world is so ridiculously small and the "game" part is so shallow (straightforward, dull) you can only really enjoy it for so long. Even the battles start to get old once your character becomes a powerfull captain, because there's less stuff to do in the game than in Sid Meyer's Pirates! and that game has a much bigger world too.

Well, the "Sea Dogs III" is coming out September 12th:

I hope it has a decent world this time. The whole Caribbean will suffice, like Sid's Pirates! or Sea Dogs I. But I also hope the story-line doesn't get in the way of what I want to do: battle. I don't care for missions or whatever. I want the freedom of Sid's Pirates! and the neat features it has with the realism and large-scale battles of POTC.

While it's alot of fun to play a Pirate, playing a lone privateer can get boring eventually, because I want to wage war. I want to take command of a squadron and go attack the enemy harbor after slugging it out for 2 hours with the enemy fleet, not just go after merchant convoys or lone-pickings.

[don1reed]

...when the smoke is thick, and yer given as much as yer takin, and ya hear the captain yellin, "away all boarders!", and axes, pikes, marlin spikes, fids or cutlasses mess together in one, loud ,"world cup soccer match!" crescendo...

...sweetheart, the wf yells up the steps, ...supper's ready.


damn [pause-game]

...ok honey, be right down.

Strange how tastes vary. I've never been able to get all the way through an O'Brian novel. I much prefer C.S. Forester's 'Horatio Hornblower' series.

[don1reed]

Howdy, Steve.

I have the Hornblower dvd collection (modern version)...love it, that is, the authenticity of it. I fully intend to read Forester's written version soon as I finish O'Brian. As a jungen I marveled at, Gregory Peck, in the role as HH...some great movies.

Forester has written HH as a stand alone and well done, O'Brian on the other hand, plays Aubrey and Maturin off each other. Aubrey is a swashbuckler at sea but a real dufus ashore, has sailor ways and falls into stupidity when women and finance are concerned; whereas, Maturin is a lubber at sea, but part of the British Intelligence/gifted physician/naturalist (egghead) very plausible cover stories.

Both authors are MUST reads.

I also love the TV series and the old movie, but when you read the books you might be shocked at how different both are.

What I like about Forester's books are how few there are. Hornblower ages as his career advances, and he is not always the nicest of people. Also, they well convey the boredom of life at sea, and in general. HH's adventures are few and far between.

Aubrey and Maturin, on the other hand, seem to be everywhere and do everything, and never have a dull moment. That said, O'Brians books actually are the more popular, and more highly praised. A recent article in Bookmark magazine was titled '101 Greatest Sea Stories'. They rated Aubrey/Maturin #4 and Hornblower #9. #1 was The Odyssey and Moby-Dick was #2.

[LoBlo]

Isn't Pat O'Brian that former TV host that got caught on tape harassing a woman while drunk and high on crack?

[don1reed]

:rotfl: :rotfl:

I never thought of that, LoBlo...he he he

that one caught me...




Steve, you know a good source for Forester?

Both authors pretty much nail the time period, right?

my better half has poor sight and I read to her frequently; however, O'Brian's prose is hard to understand if your not part of the sea, she has a difficult time following his line of thought....heh, it's probably my reading style... one or the other puts her to sleep in a flash.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by don1reed

I've been reading every Patrick O'Brian "Aubrey and Maturin" novel for my summer project. EXCELLENT READs! Amen. (halfway through)

Bravo!! Yes, agreed. O'Brian is the Master. His books are pure literature. I swear, I wept when I read the 20th and last novel. I give his work the highest recommendation. What a giant.

[don1reed]

dang, Neal, I hope you didn't give the ending away...

Cheers,

[Onkel Neal]

No! I wept beause there were NO MORE Aubrey/Maturin books to be read!! Alas

[LoBlo]

This series sounds interesting. Which book is the first book to start with?

[don1reed]

they're numbered as 20 individual books from any store, but the first one is Master and Commander....But, Neal, can we get them thru your affiliation with Amazon.com ??? might as well help out the cause, while we're at it. Whoa, nevermind...I just now caught the banner. (duh)

Ok, ok. I ordered the first two HH thru the subsim link to Amazon to pay for my stupidity

[Onkel Neal]

Yes, and thanks. Click on the link below to go to the store, then type in "Master and commander" in the search box. Will take you right away to our Amazon affiliate. We get $1.09 for each book we sell on average and it really helps.

You would want to being with book #1, Master and Commander. The epic tale begins with young Jack Aubrey searching the shops for an epaullete to sew on his coat, he has just been made a Master and Commander, a rank which allows him to captain a ship in the Royal Navy. That rascal Napoleon is making noises that ensure Jack will have many busy years ahead. I wish I could go into more detail but you want to make these discoveries for yourself, trust me.

It's ironic and pathetic how I discovered O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels. I am a voracious reader, it's my all-time favorite pastime and passion. I've read a lot of the classics, biographies, histories, and mainstream fiction over the last 35 years. Hugo (I visited his apt. in Paris), Dostoyevksi (I visited his apt. in St. Petersburg, Russia), Somerset Maugham, Thomas Hardy, Theodore Dreiser, et al. I thought I knew where all the treasures on the map were.

And then one evening about 4 years ago I caught a preview in a movie theater for a film with Russell Crowe called Master and Commander. Looked interesting... saw the movie when it came out and loved it. I thought, "Ok, this has to be based on a novel, let me check it out." Discovered it was based on a series of 20 novels! Hmmm...ok, I bought the first in the series, Master and Commander, and very soon learned that no matter how extensively one has read, there are certainly undiscovered gems out there.

I began reading each book nonstop until book 10...then it dawned on me--crikey! I'm halfway through, I got to slow the pace and make this last!! I tried to read only 1 book a month and read other stuff inbetween. But the salty allure of Aubrey's world was too strong... I finished the series a year ago.

I have loaned my original M&C book to several friends and my father. Every one has told me what a fantastic find O'Brian is. My father liked them so much, he read them non-stop and finished before me, even though I was at book 6 when he started. I warned him that he would soon finish the series at his pace--what did he plan to do to cope? His answer: "Heck, I'll just start over and read them again."

My buddy Richard like the series so much, he bought the hardcover set, and to show me his appreciation he bought another hardcover set and had it sent to me! Lol, so now I have two sets of the series, the paperback that I bought and the hardcover set my friend gave me.

It's not just about sailing ships and naval engagements, it's also about a powerful friendship, about discoveries and learning one's strengths, about espionage and intrigues, and mainly, just damn fine prose.

cheers
Neal

[don1reed]

Right you are, Neal!!

between the DVDs, Master and Command on the Far Side of the World & Das Boot, I'm unable to tell which will wear out first.

...seeing Surprise's deck raked by the Archeron in the early stages...I'm devestated...like the first 30min of Pvt. Ryan...great films and stories.

All the best,