Any Patrick O'Brian fans?

[Gary Dolce]

On a completely different tack (pun intended) from my previous message, let me add that good literature is worth reading no matter what the subject. O'Brian was one of the great writers of the 20th century - but he is under appreciated because he wrote historical fiction, a genre that doesn't get much respect given that a lot of historical fiction is very poorly written. The nautical stuff is interesting in its own right, but I think O'Brian's books are really about the changing nature of long-term friendship in close quarters under difficult circumstances. I would recommend them to anyone.

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by Gary Dolce
Well now that you mention it - a key naval battle of the War of 1812, the Battle of Lake Erie was fought about 60 miles southeast of here. An American squadron, under the command of Oliver Hazard Perry, met an over-confident British squadron of roughly equal strength. Perry's flagship, the Lawrence, was destroyed (83 casulties out of a crew of 103), in large part because his second in command, aboard the Niagara, refused to engage the British out of spite over being passed over for command of the fleet. Undaunted, Perry had himself rowed in an open boat a half mile through enemy fire to the Niagara, took command, and broke the British line for a complete victory. Perry's famous victory dispatch said, "We have met the enemy; and they are ours." As a result of the victory, the British army had to retreat from Detroit, the Northwest Territories of the United States were secured, and residents of Michigan speak American English rather than Canadian English.

So maybe it isn't that unusual that we landlubbers in Michigan might be interested in things nautical.

Damn! You mean that's thereason people in Detroit misspell "centre" and "colour"? Now I'm miffed!

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by Gary Dolce
On a completely different tack (pun intended) from my previous message, let me add that good literature is worth reading no matter what the subject. O'Brian was one of the great writers of the 20th century - but he is under appreciated because he wrote historical fiction, a genre that doesn't get much respect given that a lot of historical fiction is very poorly written. The nautical stuff is interesting in its own right, but I think O'Brian's books are really about the changing nature of long-term friendship in close quarters under difficult circumstances. I would recommend them to anyone.

Gassho, Sensei.
To be honest, I'd never heard of O'Brian until I saw a trailer for the forthcoming movie of "Master and Commander". Maybe he's worth checking out.
I agree completely that good literature is worth reading regardless.
Kesshu.

[Charlie Kondek]

Me, too. I'm reading a pretty good book right now called "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" by Michael Chabon. It's about these two Jewish kids making comic books in 1940s New York, in the wake of Simon and Schuster's Superman and Will Eisner's early work.

Yeah, Gary's right about the human element present in "Master and Commander." There's great interplay between the captain, his first mate and the ship's physician and scientist, as well as the characters themselves. I also loved O'Brian's knowledge of 18th-century (the book begins in 1800) science, manners and society, as well as the nautical stuff and Irish political stuff. And he's subtle, he doesn't wave a flag over it when he does something clever or reveals something cool.

Gary, are all the books in the series this good?? That's pretty incredible stamina for a writer's work, I think.