Helpful Score: 3
Part 10 of the Aubrey/Martin series.
Napoleonic war adventures on the high seas. Excellent read. History and adventure.
Napoleonic war adventures on the high seas. Excellent read. History and adventure.
I saw the movie in the theater; I loved the detail of the story and how they filmed it. I'd never heard of it otherwise. I realized that my friend had read the books and recommended them, so I put it on my reading list. I didn't know there were over 20 books in the series and that the first was published before I was born! I also didn't realize that the movie was not the same as the book. how innocent I was.
the movie is called Master and Commander: Far Side of the World. there is a book in the series called The Far Side of the World; I thought they had just skipped to that story (ten books in, no less!) and started there. but no, they combined story elements from the first book with places and events from the tenth book. quite ridiculous and totally unnecessary: Master and Commander stands very well on its own, thank you, and needs no cinematic reinterpretation.
I highly recommend all Patrick O'Brian's work: the detail is damn near immaculate, even if there is a little acknowledged liberty taken, the humanity of the characters is profound, the flow of the story sweeps you up and carries you away just like the proverbial ship. the language is attractive and O'Brian shows such deep insight... read it :)
http://www.wwnorton.com/pob/pobtitles.htm
the movie is called Master and Commander: Far Side of the World. there is a book in the series called The Far Side of the World; I thought they had just skipped to that story (ten books in, no less!) and started there. but no, they combined story elements from the first book with places and events from the tenth book. quite ridiculous and totally unnecessary: Master and Commander stands very well on its own, thank you, and needs no cinematic reinterpretation.
I highly recommend all Patrick O'Brian's work: the detail is damn near immaculate, even if there is a little acknowledged liberty taken, the humanity of the characters is profound, the flow of the story sweeps you up and carries you away just like the proverbial ship. the language is attractive and O'Brian shows such deep insight... read it :)
http://www.wwnorton.com/pob/pobtitles.htm
Helpful Score: 1
While very good, excellent actually, the books of this series are far from easy reading.
While the descriptions of sea life, military life. and the process of sailing are very interesting there are many terms in the book that probably most people have never heard of, without much explanation. It does slow down the reading.
Just a word of warning, these are not really fitting for a casual read.
While the descriptions of sea life, military life. and the process of sailing are very interesting there are many terms in the book that probably most people have never heard of, without much explanation. It does slow down the reading.
Just a word of warning, these are not really fitting for a casual read.
