Daily Book Excerpt: Adult fiction:
Master and Commander
I came to these books late. As in, RIGHT NOW. Master & Commander was the last book I read in 2007 – and I am now nearly finished with Desolation Island
I just LOVE hanging out with these characters and I am so thrilled that I have so many more books to go, so I can just linger on in them … it’s an embarrassment of riches.
Master & Commander starts with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin meeting for the first time in a small concert at a private house. I love that O’Brian chooses to introduce us to both of them in the context of music – which is so important to both of the main characters, and one of their main bonds of friendship. Some of my favorite bits of writing in these books is when Aubrey and Maturin meet up at evening in the captain’s quarters, and Aubrey plays his violin and Maturin plays his cello – It is a silent communion of friendship – and it is how they can be truly intimate with one another. They’re outside the realm of language and social niceties – they are communicating, freely and without barriers – delving themselves into Mozart, Bach, whoever. God, it’s just marvelous how O’Brian brings us to that particular scene again and again – and you know, each time it’s different. Because different things are being communicated. Sometimes it’s loneliness, sometimes it’s hope … sometimes it’s a long breath of fresh air after a weary day … It’s like they allow themselves to sink into their own personal experiences – after so much pure ACTION during the day. They can step back, and let the music do the talking for them. Wonderful stuff.
I also love Stephen Maturin’s diary entries. Terrific writing, first of all, on O’Brian’s part … I can hear Stephen’s voice. And his psychological and intellectual observations are like blood to a vampire for me. I can’t get enough.
So that’s the excerpt I chose from this book – one of his diary entries.
And one last thing. The main gift of these books (for me) is that I have truly come to love these people. I love Jack Aubrey, and I love Stephen Maturin. Maturin’s my favorite – and his journey, over the course of the books, has been so pleasing to me to read … his laudanum addiction, his intellectual and scientific curiosity, his observations, his love affair (Ouch!), his intelligence work, his hatred of tyranny and authority of any kind, his medical work and his devotion to it, his friendship with Aubrey … He has quickly become one of my favorite literary characters ever. I adore Jack Aubrey, too, but Stephen Maturin is my main man.
I LOVE THESE BOOKS.
EXCERPT FROM Master and Commander
It was an enchanting house for meditation, backing on to the very top of Mahon’s cliff and overhanging the merchants’ quay at a dizzy height – so high that the noise and business of the harbour was impersonal, no more than an accompaniment to thought. Stephen’s room was at the back, on this cool northern side looking over the water; and he sat there just inside the open window with his feet in a basin of water, writing his diary while the swifts (common, pallid and Alpine) raced shrieking through the torrid, quivering air between him and the Sophie, a toy-like object far down on the other side of the harbour, tied up to the victualling-wharf.
‘So James Dillon is a Catholic,’ he wrote in his minute and secret shorthand. ‘He used not to be. That is to say, he was not a Catholic in the sense that it would have made any marked difference to his behaviour, or have rendered the taking of an oath intolerably painful. He was not in any way a religious man. Has there been some conversion, some Loyolan change? I hope not. How many crypto-Catholics are there in the service? I should like to ask him; but that would be indiscreet. I remember Colonel Despard’s telling me that in England Bishop Challoner gave a dozen dispensations a year for the occasional taking of the sacrament according to the Anglican rite. Colonel T-, of the Gordon riots, was a Catholic. Did Despard’s remark refer only to the army? I never thought to ask him at the time. Quaere: is this the cause for James Dillon’s agitated state of mind? Yes, I think so. Some strong pressure is certainly at work. What is more, it appears to me that this is a critical time for him, a lesser climacteric – a time that will settle him in that particular course he will never leave again, but will persevere in for the rest of his life. It has often seemed to me that towards this period (in which we all three lie, more or less) men strike out their permanent characters; or have those characters struck into them. Merriment, roaring high spirits before this: then some chance concatenation, or some hidden predilection (or rather inherent bias) working through, and the man is in the road he cannot leave but must go on, making it deeper and deeper (a groove, or channel), until he is lost in his mere character – persona – no longer human, but an accretion of qualities belonging to this character. James Dillon was a delightful being. Now he is closing in. It is odd – will I say heart-breaking? – how cheerfulness goes: gaiety of mind, natural free-springing joy. Authority is its great enemy – the assumption of authority. I know few men over fifty that seem to me entirely human: virtually none who has long exercised authority. The senior post-captains here; Admiral Warne. Shrivelled men (shrivelled in essence: not, alas, in belly). Pomp, an unwholesome diet, a cause of choler, a pleasure paid too late and at too high a price, like lying with a peppered paramour. Yet Ld Nelson, by Jack Aubrey’s account, is as direct and unaffected and amiable a man as could be wished. So, indeed, in most ways is JA himself; though a certain careless arrogancy of power appears at times. His cheerfulness, at all events, is with him still. How long will it last? What woman, political cause, disappointment, wound, disease, untoward child, defeat, what strange surprising accident will take it all away? But I am concerned for James Dillon: he is as mercurial as he ever was – more so – only now it is all ten octaves lower down and in a darker key; and sometimes I am afraid in a black humour he will do himself a mischief. I would give so much to bring him cordially friends with Jack Aubrey. They are so alike in so many ways, and James is made for friendship: when he sees that he is mistaken about JA’s conduct, surely he will come round? But will he ever find this out, or is JA to be the focus of his discontent? If so there is little hope; for the discontent, the inner contest, must at times be very severe in a man so humorless (on occasion) and so very exigent upon the point of honour. He is obliged to reconcile the irreconcilable more often than most men; and he is less qualified to do so. And whatever he may say he knows as well as I do that he is in danger of a horrible confrontation: suppose it had been he who took Wolfe Tone in Lough Swilly? What if Emmet persuades the French to invade again? And what if Bonaparte makes friends with the Pope? It is not impossible. But on the other hand, JD is a mercurial creature, and if once, on the upward rise, he comes to love JA as he should, he will not change – never was a more loyal affection. I would give a great deal to bring them friends.’
One of the many things I like about that passage is what O’Brian tells us about Maturin with an offhand five words: “…swifts (common, pallid, and Alpine)…”
Ken – I know I have a long long way to go with many miles before I sleep – but so far, Desolation Island has been my favorite of the books.
Wow. Just wow. The hurricane, the “Jonah” onboard, the outbreak of the plague, poor Tom Pullings having to be left onshore, the hole in the boat from the iceberg, the crew bailing out and sailing off in the boats, the endless pumping out of water … There’s only been one battle in the whole book but my God it was a stunner – the two ships climbing up the mountains of water and then plunging into the troughs – Wow wow wow.
I’ll probably finish the book tonight – it’s been a great experience.
Well, I just mooched a copy of this! (Do you do Bookmooch, Sheila? It’s the greatest thing.) Your raves about this book/series have really piqued my interest.
Oops. I forgot that I was going to say that I think I actually bought this for my husband (former naval guy) and I also think that he read it and then passed it on because I didn’t think I would be interested. It seemed so “masculine” or something. But since then I have seen you and at least one other female blogger just rave.
Diana – I think I had the same preconceived notion that you did. But these books!! I can’t stop.
So wonderfully written, so psychologically acute – and there are moments during some of the battle scenes when O’Brian seems to literally transport me into the thick of the action. he’s that good at making me feel like I am there.
Yeah, I hadn’t realized that they were such “people” books, which is the only kind that I really like. Ships and fighting? Yawn. (But you say those parts are good, too!) I just wouldn’t have thought of this book for me, so I look forward to being proven wrong.
Diana – yes, they’re awesome!
I am having so much fun discovering these books. And with the first book, I had to keep referring to the diagram of the ship in the frontispiece, because there were so many terms I didn’t know … and now by the 5th book, I know what they’re talking about. So that’s pretty cool.
But for me it’s really about the fascinatioin of these 2 main characters, their friendship, etc. etc.
Great escape books … I literally lose myself in them!
I LOVE that you mentioned the word “vampire” in your post – I can’t think about Jack’s anger at Stephen bringing the great hairy vampire aboard without giggling.
I used to think I was so highbrow with my literature degree compared to my husband (a sailor), and now his favorite books are rapidly becoming mine also. The only remotely negative thing about reading these books is that I’m going to have to avoid your site for a while because you’re reading them faster than I am and I don’t want to get spoiled! (I’m starting Desolation Island tonight) :)
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So these books had been on my radar since you put M&C on your recommended list years back. Anyway… a friend forcefully lent me the first three. Two weeks later I’m on Mauritius Command and this series has me in a CHOKEHOLD.
There were a few moments in the first book when I knew I was a goner– Stephen dossing in a tower, eating meat out of his pocket and classifying ants– and then the moment when they’re at a dinner party– Stephen drops his handkerchief, dives under the table and sees everyone’s feet. Jack has planted his massive foot on top of Molly Harte’s left foot– and on her other side another man, also not her husband, has planted HIS massive foot on her right. It’s so hilarious and so perfect. I jumped on Post Captain immediately and I think I enjoyed that even more. Stephen and the bees and the highly rational wool garment. Sophia’s awful mother. HMS Surprise… read it in a day. I am obsessed. I love these guys so much. Thank you for posting about them.
Yay!!! I’m so excited!!
// a friend forcefully lent me // hahahaha oh those forceful recommendations!
Post Captain! Yes – I really loved that one. The characters are just so indepth – the relationships so intricate. And to me they really FEEL like early 19th-century guys. Even though of course I wasn’t there. But their level of knowledge – their passions – their ways with women – it just feels so RIGHT. I think I was a goner with their first violin duet. I fell MADLY in love.
Stephen is so special – his drug addiction! and there are other things but I won’t spoil them.
Feel free to come back and report back. I’ve been meaning to do a re-read.
and oh my gosh this post was from 2008. !!!!
Yes yes yes! I can’t read a lot of historical fiction– a lot of it feels jarringly modern to me. But POB inhabits that world so so well. Even Stephen, who is a before-his-time liberal, doesn’t feel like an anachronism. They relate to each other in 19th-century ways. It’s so immersive.
I just finished Desolation Island. It’s hard to say which book is my fave so far– I’m reading them so fast– I am already looking forward to a slower, more thoughtful second read. I totally white-knuckled HMS Surprise though. So far my favourite things are:
The absolutely spectacular dialogue– everyone has a particular voice, ways of speaking, and no-one is a caricature.
POB’s absolute confidence– he never patronises the reader by over-explaining things. There’s a moment (in the first book?) where Stephen asks about shaving on a boat– surely they often cut themselves– etc? And Jack brushes him off saying oh, no, you get used to it. Two hundred or so pages later Jack mentions that the boat rolled so sharply (or something) that he cut himself shaving. Stephen says, ‘Ha.’ No explanation to link it back to that earlier moment. Blink-and-you-miss it but so so funny.
Jack having to dress up in a bearskin and walk the entire length of France with Stephen as his ‘keeper’ to avoid being thrown into prison. So so ridiculous.
Stephen’s beautiful conversations with Sophie. I LOVE their friendship. (And the way Jack’s marriage is almost a menage-a-trois with Stephen is hilarious)
The ‘not above 60,000 bees’ Stephen brings aboard ship (and his other many many social gaffes)
Stephen’s drug addiction! Oh my god. That moment in Desolation Island where he finds a stock of laudanum on the ship, pours some of it away, and then finds himself reasoning that perhaps he should keep it around to prove to himself that he’s sober, etc. And of course ends up drinking it.
‘Stephen, you have debauched my sloth!’ Iconic. And Jack’s utter sheepishness– how badly he wanted that sloth to like him– his genuine hurt feelings when it didn’t.
Jack ‘supervising’ the midshipmen’s maths lessons because he secretly wants to learn– and subsequently becoming a brilliant scientific navigator!
Also that chapter where Jack rescues Stephen from torture is so moving. The ending brought tears to my eyes.
I am totally obsessed.
Oh my God you are totally making me want to read them all again. The DETAILS. I forgot about the feet under the table! lol
The books are so smart too about “addiction” in an era when there wasn’t really a language for it – even though everyone knew, say, opium was bad news. Coleridge was an addict! But if you don’t have the language of the 20th century post-Alcoholics-Anonymous framework – then the experience must be different – at least in your own head. I feel like POB just knows this era so well – or at least imagines himself in so completely because he’s researched it so much – that you actually are getting a glimpse of how things must have really been. Even though it’s fiction!
I don’t know what I was expecting when I first picked them up. But I wasn’t expecting the stellar writing – and the powerful descriptions – and the in-depth characters. I feel like if you aren’t hooked in by Jack and Stephen … well, I won’t say there’s no hope for you but I will just say – what is wrong with you??
// Jack’s marriage is almost a menage-a-trois with Stephen is hilarious //
hahahaha it really is. I love how Stephen is kind of an unexpected lady-killer – or, at least, you can see why he’s catnip. He’s thoughtful and respectful and completely not condescending, and he’s a scientist so he understands the sex drive and doesn’t judge it. I mean, this is my memory of it. And of course people WERE like that “back then”. It was the middle classes – always – who tried to be “respectable” and shamed people etc because the community depended upon people repressing their natural urges. I mean, we still see some of that pressure today – and you really have to decide to just liberate yourself from that. Probably being out on a ship for months at a time makes you automatically not like the conventionally driven land-lubbers.
Also … in my recollection, POB holds back the fact that Stephen is, basically, a spy. Or, at least, “in intelligence”. I feel like the characters are allowed to develop – in this very organic way – but he’s also a master at letting things unfold so that you, the reader, can have moments of ‘Oh wow, I would never have thought he’d be like THIS.” You’re sort of forced to accept that people are complicated and not just one thing, you know?
You’re making me want to read them again!
Later in the series they visit Australia (which of course gives me a thrill) and Stephen is obsessed with seeing a platypus – that jumbled up puzzle of an animal – his eventual encounter with it is everything you could hope for. And I saw someone on reddit talk about how Stephen feels so real but if you ever describe him to someone he describes like the improbable platypus: naturalist, spy, physician, killer, musician, drug addict, acerbic, filthy, funny, passionate, dispassionate, etc, etc. Such a great observation.
And the leonine simplicity of Jack in contrast! It just doesn’t get better. Not that Jack is simple — sometimes he does mind the manoeuvres — but he has the direct WYSISWG power, playfulness, hedonism, and cunning of a lion.
hahaha I really do see Stephen as an unexpected ladykiller. He’s so sexy. And I find POB’s insistence that he is an UGLY, SCRAWNY, DIRTY-looking little man totally hilarious. It gets funnier to me every time.
I’m on Surgeon’s Mate now. Diana!! That whole sequence in Fortune of War (what a brutal book, my God) where Stephen brains that guy with a giant obsidian phallus, slits another Frenchman’s throat and hides in Diana’s bed to escape– then Diana goes into the room to get her jewels and leaves bloody footprints all over the carpet… totally chilling. Also:
‘If I no longer love Diana– what shall I do?’
Wow.
There’s such a push-pull– one minute I’m laughing out loud at the totally deadpan comedy– the next minute something absolutely tragic happens.
I go on about Stephen but Jack’s journey is fascinating too. His moment of horror after the sinking of the Waazaamkeid (or whatever it’s called)– and how he basically spends the next 1.5 books in a deep depression… rough stuff.
// he has the direct WYSISWG power, playfulness, hedonism, and cunning of a lion. //
God I love how you put that.
The scene where that boat sinks – in a huge storm, right? – haunts me to this day.
“600 men.”
Brilliantly written sequence – these mountainous waves – having to shoot UP at the boat above them and then DOWN when it’s in the trough – the stuff of nightmares.
I think that’s the sequence you mean?
‘Oh my God, oh my God. Six hundred men.’
And yes, truly nightmare stuff.
also – the description of the sea. Especially how he describes storms at sea. So vivid and terrifying. and I kind of get the gist even though I basically only know “fore” and “aft” and “starboard” and “port” in terms of sailing terms.
ahhhhh my favourite books of all time for just these reasons!! The pleasure of them is so deep it feels indulgent. Everything emerges from character and POB floats between characters without judgement, revealing our two main guys but also almost everyone they cross paths with both starkly (he will expose their innermost desires or untimely ends in the most terrifyingly plain language) and in a thousand sidelong shades.
I am so excited for you that you get to experience them for the first time. I follow the aubreyad tag on tumblr and it’s a regular injection of excerpts that for any other author would be a ‘turn-in-your-pen’ pinnacle of subtlety or humour and for POB it’s paragraph 3 on page 112.
“There you are, Stephen,” honestly might be my favourite sentence in the entire canon (of literature). It gives me so much.
Hahaha I know. Every 2nd page it’s ‘THERE YOU ARE, STEPHEN!’
I just love their friendship. It’s so COMPREHENSIVE.
// for any other author would be a ‘turn-in-your-pen’ pinnacle of subtlety or humour and for POB it’s paragraph 3 on page 112. //
It’s so true.
The gems of wisdom and psychology and insight on every page is daunting! It’s too much! Give me a second to absorb things POB!
And Crowe IS Jack Aubrey. Can’t read the books without seeing him.
Agreed Michael it’s hard to see past Crowe – incredible casting.
I quibble with some particulars here but this is a sweet lens on how the timelessness of the books deepens the relationships: https://lithub.com/actually-master-and-commander-is-a-domestic-fantasy-about-a-codependent-life-partnership/
Interesting essay, thank you Jessie.
I think that the Aubrey character is far smarter than he lets on, I suspect being too obviously smart in the Royal Navy environment in the 1800’s would make one appear “unsound”, to steal a phrase. But consider this quote about Jack’s intellectual ability:
… he had read several papers to the Royal Society, with great applause on the part of those Fellows who understood them: Gloomy fortitude on the part of the rest
The Nutmeg of Consolation p. 172
Patrick O’Brian
(“Gloomy fortitude” makes me laugh)
Point is that Maturin provided Jack with an intellectual foil that was safe, career wise.