Master and Commander (1969)
4 Stars out of 5
Patrick O’Brian
When aficionados of naval warfare fiction, especially of the
sailing variety discuss their genre, they usually think back to the 12 volume
series involving the Horatio Hornblower character; first introduced by C.S.
Forester’s 1936 novel “The Happy Return”. Forester’s credentials as a master of naval
fiction are hard to emulate, but starting in 1969, Patrick O’Brian with his 20
volume series from the similar time of the Napoleonic Wars is most definitely on
a par. While Forester’s stories were based on real events that had been colored
in fiction, they always and intentionally stayed away from the main action of
the war. O’Brian in stark contrast has his heroes Captain Jack Aubrey and Naval
Surgeon Stephen Maturin either right in the action or close enough to be able to
witness such major historical battles as the 1801 sea battle between the
French/Spanish coalition and the English at Algeciras. However, the biggest
difference between the two sets of stories is a more nuanced study of human
nature in the O’Brian stories as he follows the sometimes reckless (on shore)
but brilliant (at sea) Aubrey versus the reflective and inward-looking Maturin.
When we first meet Lieutenant Aubrey, he is attending a concert
featuring the love of his life, Molly Keith; unfortunately she is also the married Mrs. Lord Keith. As Jack enthusiastically
beats out the rhythm to Molly’s playing, he comes into conflict with a man
seated to Jack’s left, Stephen Maturin. Even in this pending juvenile altercation,
the reader is pretty clearly allowed to see much of the two personalities: Jack’s
boisterous enthusiasm and Stephen’s intellectual and far more sedate observance
of all things around him. After Jack receives an unexpected promotion to Master
and Commander (through the intervention of another well placed married woman),
he is so overjoyed that he reconciles with Maturin. In fact, he offers Maturin
a position on his new sloop, the Sophie.
Maturin being penniless at the time and seeing an opportunity to observe far
beyond the shores of provincial Port Mahon, Minorca where these first scenes
take place, readily agrees to the offer. Thus begins their collaborative efforts
into English naval life. More to the point thus begins their dual interpretations
of life during wartime, life on the sea, and indeed through a series of adventures a
life that helps define the human condition.
Because of the compromised life that Jack leads ashore on
Minorca with Mrs. Keith as well as the various alcoholic jaunts he makes
through Port Mahon, the reader is justified in wondering what kind of naval commander
Aubrey will be. We soon learn that Jack is not only lucky in finding opportunities
at sea, he is also able to display his competency as both a tactician and as a
leader of men. At the same time, Maturin is quickly learning the ways and means
of naval life and warfare, and in doing so, the reader learns, too. The early
chapters follow the Sophie as she provides military escort duty to a series of English merchantmen.
In time, the less exciting assignment of convoy duty is replaced with cruises
along the southern Spanish coast. These cruises are designed to be the inverse
of the previous convoy duty; that is to say, the Sophie’s new charter is to
attack and take possession of the various Spanish or French merchantmen plying
the coast. The manner in which O’Brian tells these tales (all based on actual
events by a real English sloop and her Master and Commander, Lord Cochran and
the HMS Speedy) is never in the
manner of the Sophie being able to
simply overpower her foes. Rather, Aubrey relies at sea primarily on his keen
observation of his ship’s sails and those of his opponent. He uses this
information to deduce the intentions of his foes and then through a combination
of bravery and thinking outside of the box, he is able to surprise and almost always overwhelm his enemies.
Besides his own individual resources, the primary ancillary
force Aubrey has at his command is his surgeon Stephen Maturin. Maturin is the
master of several languages and a lifetime study of many aspects of science.
Maturin’s knowledge of the language and customs of the land in the vicinity of
Barcelona comes in very handy on many occasions; he often provides a source of
intelligence as in Intel, and also intelligence in the form of his thoughtful
reasoning. In this manner, O’Brian gives the reader two world views into the
nature of war and of humanity. Aubrey might well be the icon for primitive man
with his passions, vigor and informed cleverness at combat, while Maturin is
the icon for the educated, cultured and pacific man. Neither can stand by
himself in the swirling chaos of the many sea battles they enter into, but
together, their odd form of yin and yang creates a synergy, a whole bigger than
the sum of their parts. Their discussions and different viewpoints help explain
how man can conquer an environment so alien to human survival as the open sea,
even as he is busy doing his best to kill his fellow man.
“Master and Commander” is not for every reader. O’Brian
spends a considerable amount of time using words that might as well be from a
foreign language when he describes the various sails, hawsers, pulleys, stays
and ship types that were to be found in the early 19th century Mediterranean
Sea. On occasions his prose includes jarring segues. However, if you have the patience to work your way through the long discussions of
sailing ships, their accoutrements and the manner in which they are used in
naval warfare (warfare where at any moment the winds can fail or save you), then you may well enjoy and learn from this book. It
does require some determination to just flow with the language and not get too
encumbered trying to understand all the terms and tactics. If you can read this book in this
manner, you will be entertained by the battles, the sly and not so sly sailor humor,
and you will find it interesting to see the world of land and sea through two
very different kinds of human understanding.
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