Book Review: "Post Captain" by Patrick O'Brian

Post Captain (1972)

3 Stars out of 5

414 Pages

Patrick O’Brian

 

"falsum in unam, falsum in omnibus”

"false in one thing, false in all things".

Roman Law

 

We first met O’Brian’s two heroes Captain Jack Aubrey and Naval Surgeon Steven Maturin in the first book of their 20 book series, "Master and Commander" (1969). In this first book, the reader was treated to O’Brian’s mixture of actual historical naval events during the Napoleonic Wars of the late18th/early 19^th century. He also brought an interesting mix of personalities: the rash on land/brilliant at sea Aubrey and the deeply reflective and conflicted (over at sea naval procedures) Maturin. O’Brian reprises many of these elements in the second book in the series, “Post Captain” (1972); he also works hard to add a touch of Jane Austen-like characters and motifs to this sequel. Taken in pieces, O'Brian's homage to his favorite author Austin, improves nicely the range of topics and emotions used in the first book. But there is a downside, and that is the overall dramatic arc to this book is damaged.

“Post Captain” is more like a series of novellas linked by the inclusion of its two protagonists than like a cohesive novel consisting of minor story arcs that are brought together in a final denouement. In the opening section, we meet Aubrey ashore – always a problem for him and this novel will prove it to be markedly true. Aubrey lives with Maturin in a rented country house. They are seemingly happy and in Aubrey’s case, quite wealthy. He did quite well in terms of naval prizes in book 1 and is now living the life of a country gentleman as he awaits his presumed de rigueur promotion to Post Captain. Aubrey is “courted” by a local mother of three young women. She is Mrs. Williams and of her three daughters, Sophia is the eldest and the one Mrs. Williams most wants to make a match with to Aubrey. There is also a cousin, Dianna Villiers – she of no name or wealth, a kind of foundling to Mrs. Williams. Dianna is also quite saucy for the times, as she will prove time and again as she verbally jousts with Maturin.

Alas, poor Aubrey’s fortune quickly evaporates, and having done so, Mrs. Williams ensures Sophia is no longer on the market for Aubrey. In keeping with his poor ashore decision making skills Aubrey turns his eyes on Dianna, who has by now become a point of intense fascination to Maturin. This conflict will test the strong friendship/love of Maturin and Aubrey, leading to the brink of a duel to the death. However, Dianna will soon also be off the market to both men as she is more attracted to a third, and in a later act of Aubrey’s unusual skills and bravery at sea, the duel which had been put on hold will quietly fall to the side as the two men resume their long running relationship of trust and affection. These scenes will be played out over the length of the novel, but will be unfortunately be so haphazardly included in the novel’s narrative that much of the emotional weight of the dissension between the two men and even more so, their reconciliation will be lost to the reader. There is some literary gold within these sections as O’Brian will to some degree accurately emulate Austin’s astute observations of class distinction and behavior. He is far less effective in copying Austin’s exquisite command of 19^th century English dialog. O’Brian’s efforts are noteworthy, nevertheless.

One consequence of Aubrey’s newly acquired penniless state is that throughout the remainder of the book, he will spend almost all of his time ashore dodging the various bailiffs sent to collect him for his debts. In one amusing episode, he will actually order one of his crew to impress into the naval service one of the very men sent to arrest Aubrey. However, the biggest consequence of Aubrey’s need for money is a greatly magnified need to return to duty in the navy. And again, we are given the opportunity to witness how clumsy Aubrey is ashore as he fruitlessly seeks a ship and command. Aubrey will enter into badly couched arguments with the First Lord of the Admiralty (Earl St. Vincent) and will end up merely antagonizing the very man he should have been courting. The scenes are useful also in that they describe the politics of the time (Aubrey’s father is in Parliament and a member of the opposition) as well as the unfortunate fate of many former ship captains. The biggest problem for Aubrey and the other former captains is that the English Navy is flush with captains deserving a promotion to Post Captain and/or to a ship. The reason there so many in want is that this book takes place during the Treaty of Amiens – and ironically, this time of peace has set many former captains adrift as the English Navy simply has no need for a large navy during this interregnum between wars. That will soon change.

During the final stages of the peace, Aubrey and Maturin are visiting a former foe in the French navy; visiting him in France. While there, the peace treaty falls to pieces, and the French government now firmly in the hands of Napoleon orders the arrest of all the Englishmen in France. Thus ensues another comical interlude as Maturin adopts the role of bear trainer and Aubrey the guise of said bear. They will make a serio-comic journey out of France to neutral Spain where Maturin owns an estate. They will in time make it back to England where Aubrey will be given (finally) a ship, but no promotion. This ship unlike all others in the book is a fictional ship, the Polychrest. The Polychrest was built for a special weapon system that was later abandoned. A key element to the Polychrest’s unique architecture is that she lacks a true stern; both ends of this ship appear to be bows. Such a design will require expert seamanship on the part of the captain and his crew. Unfortunately for Aubrey, the same First Lord of the Admiralty that gave him this ship (the same he previously antagonized) has also given Aubrey no crew of seasoned sailors. Aubrey will create a crew but they will be far from experienced including as they do many impressed “sailors” such as the aforementioned bailiff.

O’Brian’s point in creating this scenario is to of course highlight just how skilled at sea Aubrey is. He will do so of course. He will also prove his sense of right and wrong as he makes decisions that will make the highly avaricious First Lord Vincent angry. These actions and decisions of Aubrey will take a feared and highly capable privateer (the Bellone) out of action pleasing many English merchants that had been preyed upon by the Bellone, but because no prize ships were captured, Vincent will vent once more his spleen at poor Captain Aubrey. Undeterred, Aubrey will take the Polychrest out on a mission not far removed from a suicide mission. He will succeed in the books’ best described naval action and in doing so, he will also succeed in capturing a French frigate, the Fanciulla, though he will lose the unfortunate Polychrest. In an act characteristic of the morally upright Aubrey, he will recommend captaincy of the Fanciulla be given to his First Lieutenant (Mr. Parker) and not to himself. However, brighter days lie ahead for the honorable Aubrey.

A consequence of the resumption of the war is the replacement of the venal Vincent with the far more focused Lord Melville; a man that greatly admires both Aubrey and Maturin. Maturin has recently in other story arcs within this book displayed his capabilities to Melville and others inside the English military hierarchy of his abilities as an English spy. The success of which will now help earn Aubrey his long awaited promotion to Post Captain and to a temporary captaincy of the HMS Lively. Again Aubrey will be placed into a situation where he must prove himself not just an able seaman but far more importantly, an able commander of men. The Lively is an extremely capable ship and her crew just as much so. Her previous captain is away for a short period of time as he works as a MP in Parliament. Thus Aubrey must shape this new crew to his tastes and do so without disturbing an already finely tuned crew. One thing he finds out about this crew is that as good as they are at seamanship they are woefully inexperienced in naval warfare – he has his goal now, and he exercises it and the crew superbly. All of this will lead to a final confrontation at sea between a four ship English squadron sent to intercept a Spanish squadron approaching Spain with a cargo of New World gold. If the gold reaches Spain, the Spanish will throw in with the French. It is a clever use of actual history and a final (for this book) chance for Aubrey to prove his skills. You know he will do so, but as in the first book, you cannot be 100% certain of just how Aubrey and Maturin will excel in this last engagement.

You will have to read the book to find out. You won’t be disappointed if you enjoy stories of moral and physical courage. Aubrey and Maturin are nothing but fine examples of both at sea. Their misadventures ashore as they both seek the hand of the quixotic Dianna, or as Aubrey and Sophia seek some kind of relationship despite Aubrey’s new penury might shake your opinion of them; certainly of the ashore maladapted Aubrey. As a reader you might ask yourself, are these characters believable or at least consistent? I believe you will agree they are. I especially liked the philosophical debate the Irishman Maturin engages in regarding the poetry of fellow Irishman Ossian, and how he is countered by Scotsman, First Lieutenant McDonald. Their discussion of a principle of Roman Law plays very effectively against the flaws of several of the characters within this book. It also helps to highlight the mixture of strengths and weaknesses possessed by the redoubtable Aubrey. Just what is he exactly: a sad fool ashore, but brilliant leader of men at sea? It would seem so, and perhaps he is the exception that proves the rule with respect to the Roman principle just mentioned.

Where you may share a negative opinion with me is that this book suffers from two flaws: O’Brian consistently disappoints in his segue descriptions on a small scale (they are far too abrupt) and as noted previously, at least in this book, in linking properly the various vignettes and in doing so with a pacing that leads to a major climax to the overall story presented in this book. I did like this book, and if I consider the various sub-sections as standalone stories, this book is comparable to “Master and Commander” in quality. If I look for a complete artfully designed full length novel, I walk away from this book somewhat disappointed; not so much I won’t read book 3, but still with some dismay.

Book Review: "Master and Commander" by Patrick O'Brian

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 19^th 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.