I watched the movie again this weekend (partly because of this thread), and was struck again how respectfully the screenwriters held the original novels. There were plenty of changes, sure, but Peter Weir and John Collee seemed to strive to capture the essence of the Aubrey and Maturin. There were dozens of little touches that were faithful to the books, including:
[ul]
[li]Aubrey and Maturin’s duets.[/li][li]Aubrey’s mangling of aphorisms: “Don’t count your eggs before the pudding’s made” (or whatever the exact line was).[/li][li]Aubrey’s delight in himself when he made up any joke: The lesser of two weevils.[/li][li]Maturin’s loathing of the autocracy of shipboard life.[/li][/ul]
I think I like the movie just a little bit better every time I see it.
Robbie Coltrane and Steve Buscemi.
I think the exact line was “Don’t count your eggs before they’re in the pudding” (but you were close enough).
Relevant to nothing: My bilingual nieces informed me that the weevils joke does not work in Spanish.
I had them watch that scene on the DVD, and they said the translation was “…the lesser of the bugs.”
The Dons never had a sense of humor.
Jim Broadbent and Rowan Atkinson
He will.
Have you seen the extras on the special edition DVD? There is a montage of scenes of “shipboard life”, and a scene where Stephen is trying to get the marine officer to stop shooting things: “If the men can’t eat it, and I can’t dissect it, please don’t shoot it.”
How many Aubrey/Maturin fans also like Richard Sharpe?
I’m more of a Flashman fan.
I love Sharpe, too. I have all the books and most of the DVDs. Mmm, Sean Bean.
That goes without saying.
My brother, my father and I are all fans, which is good, as it gives me something I can talk to my father about without arguing. Some of my favorite scenes are the dinner parties, especially on board ship.
And with having recently taken up the drinking of wine, I was able to say to my brother at Christmas dinner “The bottle stands by you, sir!” I’ve been waiting for years to be able to do that.
HEY! I resemble that remark!
I just got that far last night, and was happy to see him and Mrs. Wogan again so soon!
I was also amused to run into oblique references to Fanny Burney and Audubon (both coyly left unnamed). Also, I enjoyed the Java’s battle with the Constitution, although I was not in suspense about the outcome, since the USS Constitution and the HMS Victory are the two ships from this era I have actually seen and know something about: USS Constitution - Wikipedia (who knew Jack was there?)
That would be typhus. Just about as nasty as smallpox ever was.
I’d heard how good the series was and literally slogged through the first book. I found O’Brian’s prose a bit purple for my taste and when I was done, didn’t start the second. But scenes kept coming up in my mind so, with some trepidation, I read the second book and . . . it wasn’t so florid. Encouraged I did the third and after that I was hooked – I ripped through the remaining seventeen in about three months, forsaking even my periodicals to do so.
I still haven’t decided whether he toned his writing down a bit or I just got used to it.
You just got used to it. Go back and read the first one again. You’ll love it.
I’ve read them all three times and my brother must be on his seventh go around by now.
One of the fascinating things about reading these books is discovering new ways to use words. I can’t count how many times while reading this series where I ran into a familiar word but it was being used in a context that was unusual but made total and complete sense. The series is like a huge etymology lesson.
From Nutmeg:
“Another misery of human life,” remarked Stephen to the morning darkness, “is having a contubernal that snores like ten.”
“I was not snoring,” said Jack. “I was wide awake. What is a contubernal?”
“You are a contubernal.”
“And you are another.”
I was amused to note that in the novels, “intercourse” means talking, while “conversation” often means sex (“criminal conversation,” I gather, is adultery, but Stephen has used “conversation” alone to refer to sexual contact). At some point, the euphemisms got switched around.