C.S. Forester?
Patrick O’Brien?
Alexander Kent?
Dudley Pope?
Dewey Lambdin?
Lambdin had a rake, Alan Lewrie, as protagonist and turned him into a hero. I was kind of dissapointed, looking forwards to a nautical Flashman.
Jack Aubrey is the guy I would serve with. He started his fresh water overboard to outrun the Dutchman while he and the gunner fired off the sternchasers with cigars.
Is there anyone but Forester?
Its hard to think that there is any thing better along this line than the Hornblower stories and Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin stories. Hornblower was a heroic Everyman, riddled with self doubt. Aubrey was endearing lout with the very human tendency to act on impulse. Has any one noticed that Aubrey tended to regard his crew as part of the machinery until a time of real crises, such as a ship wreck, when they became his “shipmates.”
I remember a story (novella?) about North Atlantic duty in WWII called “The Good Shepard,” or something like that. A good story about the almost modern Royal Navy.
I rather prefer O’Brian, not so much for Luck Jack Aubrey, but more for his portrayal of Stephen Maturin, the non-nautical navy surgeon.
He is pretty much the ultimate outsider; the lubber among seamen, the intellectual amidst a culture of braun, a lettered man among the illiterate, a soldier in a secret war surrounded by men who fight the most obvious wars.
I like the way O’Brian draws him.
TV
…who whacked the two French agents hounding him and gave them to a vivisectionist to conceal the bodies; who smuggled Jack through Catalonia in a bear suit. He is indeed an interesting character.
Spavined Gelding, “The Good Shepard” is by Forester.
This may seem odd to people, but I really dislike the O’Brian novels. I find them boring and long-winded. I’ve started several different ones, thinking that maybe I’d just picked a lemon, and never finished a single one of them, which is unusual for me. What’s the attraction?
Pope - well, if you overlook his repetitive dialogue, cardboard characters, and re-treaded plots, I suppose you could say he tells a good story.
I tried Kent years ago and didn’t like him, but I’ve given him another chance and am warming to him. However, overall I repeat my original comment:
Is there anyone but Forester?
I was brought up on Forester (and still have a soft spot for his novella that had a Canadian protagonist), but O’Brian knocks him into a tricorne hat, I’m afraid. Character development, depth of setting, the wonderful tying-in of social history on land, a sense of humour, etc.
No shame to Forester, though–he’s still head and shoulders above anyone other than O’Brian.
I think that the best writer of modern naval tales was Nicholas Monsarrat. “The Cruel Sea” is one of those rare books that I can re-read every two years or so, and still savour.
Rodd - which novella is that?
What? No Adam Hardy fans?
Okay, seriously, I appear to be with the majority on this one. While O’Brian is arguably a better author, I enjoy Forester’s books the most.
I’ve tried a lot of the others, but I really like C.S. Forester. His books are the only ones I re-read. In addition to the Horatio Hornblower series, he also wrote a number of other sea stories, many of them set during WWII – The Good Shephered has already been mentioned, but there are also The Man in the Yellow Raft, The Ship, and others. He also wrote a novel about an American[/i} sea captain from the Hornblower era in ** The Captain from Connecticut*.
C. Northcote Parkinson (infamous for creating “Parkinson’s Law”) wrote a biography of Hornblower (!!) that is well worth reading, then went on to write a series of pseudo-Hornblower books about his own captain that I found entertaining.
O’Brian for me every time.If you can find one in your library get hold of the unabridged talking book versions read by Patrick Tull.He gives a fantastic performance and Characterisation.
Haven’t read any of those guys, so I can’t comment. I do love John Winton’s stuff, though.
Especially his novel “Aircraft Carrier” about the British Pacific fleet in 1945. Beautifully written, full of amazing escapades, a central character with whom I identify utterly (despite his background being nothing like mine), and (spoiler…!) possibly the most poignant ending of any book I’ve ever read.
Anyone else read Winton?
Sorry, Northern Piper, I wasn’t ignoring you–the novella is “Brown on Resolution,” wherein our hero keeps a German ship (cruiser?) trapped by sniping her repair crews on a deserted island until the RN can arrive. There was a quite good movie adaptation made in 1935, with John Mills (obviously they dropped the Canadian thing for the movie).
C.S. Forester is by far my favourite. I’ve tried O’Brien, but his writing didn’t do much for me. Hornblower was a much better protagonist, IMHO. Let’s compare:
Hornblower:
[li] Escaped France by killing his escort (who was taking him to be executed), finding a sympathetic Frenchman to stay with, building his own boat, and stealing a captured British ship to escape by enlisting the help of disgruntled French prisoners.[/li]
Aubrey:
[li] Escaped France in a bear suit.[/li]
Hornblower:
[li] Spent his time on land playing whist with high-ranking navy officers in order to improve his chances of getting a good ship.[/li]
Aubrey:
[li] Spent his time on land chasing women and being lazy.[/li]
Hornblower:
[li] Challenged a bullying midshipman to a duel almost immediately after arriving on his first ship.[/li]
Aubrey:
[li] ummm…escaped from France in a bear suit.[/li]
As we can see, Hornblower beats Aubrey hands down 
Ah, but Aubrey escaped France in a bear suit.
Hornblower married the Duke of Wellington’s daughter.
Aubrey married some twit with a * really * viscious mother.
[quibble] Hornblower married Wellington’s sister, not his daughter. [/quibble]
Hornblower’s first wife, Maria, was a twit… with an obnox mother.
My son started reading Hornblower about a year ago, and I was very pleased that he enjoyed them as much as I.
That’s what I get for posting at work.
I haven’t read any of them except Hornblower, which I liked very much. I will have to check out some of those others.
On a side note, for those who might be interested in “Hornblower in Space”, check out David Feintuch’s “Midshipman’s Hope”, et al… It’s basically Forester translated, rather succesfully, into a sci-fi universe.
So, what about the movie Horatio Hornblower with Gregory Peck?
I particularly liked the scene where they sink the Sutherland and he says “If you don’t mind, Mr. Brown” and fires the cannon himself.
It wasn’t Brown, though, they left him out…