Patrick O'Brian

Like others I know, I have read through the entire Aubrey/Maturin series, and loved them. (I’ve also read O’Brian’s biographies of Joseph Banks and Pablo Picasso, and some of his short stories, also tremendous). Anyway, I’m now re-reading the Aubrey/Maturins, and just finished HMS Surprise, one of the very best in a series that is never less than excellent.

Re-reading is a new kind of pleasure because, now that I know the stories, I’m less breathless to find out “what happens next” (and next, and next). O’Brian is a master of suspense, among other things, but inevitably that feeling of suspense is lessened the second time around. What I am much more aware of, instead, is all of O’Brian’s other qualities: his wonderful sense of humor, his ability to evoke human nature in all its ambiguity, and his sheer, intoxicating command of English. Having been in awe of the Royal Navy and its fantastic feats, now I’m equally in awe of a great writer’s ability as a storyteller.

Lastly, some would-be readers might skip the series, mistaking it for British Empire triumphalism. This is not the case at all, and I’m more aware on re-reading of the unforgiving light that O’Brian shines on imperial greed, hubris and racism, and the horrors of war (and the idiocy of bureaucracy and petty jealousies). He doesn’t impose a “modern” sensibility, or commit any anachronisms; he just tells it like it was, and it was… ghastly. It would be almost unreadable if the recurring characters were not so enchanting and if O’Brian did not serve them up so amazingly well.