# The Aubrey/Maturin book series: question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 20, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302 "2005-04-20T20:27:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/21 "2005-04-22T00:18:32Z")
From reading plenty of other maritime literature as well as doing some sailing myself (fiberglass only, alas) – holystoning is not just an busy-work activity that was always done. It was an essential chore that kept splinters from routinely disabling barefoot sailors. The daily swabbing of the deck, while keeping the place all spic-n-span, more importantly kept the deck planks from drying out and shrinking. ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/22 "2005-04-22T02:11:54Z")
I probably got this wrong, but I’m under the impression that all that holystoning resulted in a white deck (not white with paint, but “fresh” wood); an amazing amount of work to keep up. For those of you reading the books, let me suggest getting the tapes or CDs of the books as read by Patrick Tull. I found POB that way by checking out “Post Captain” at the library. It seemed easier to pick up the context of the prose – particularly the technical terms – from Tull’s reading than by reading the books. The brawl between the ship’s crew and the tipstaff’s is one of my favorite scenes as well, particularly this exchange (from memory, so it’s not 100% accurate): Tipstaff: Halt in the name of the law! Sailor: F\*\*\* the law! The sheer unexpectedness of this response – I don’t know if POB ever used “f\*\*\*” before – caught me unawares, and I was laughing so hard that I darn near drove the van off the road. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/23 "2005-04-22T02:21:13Z")
> [@Chance the Gardener](#): > > It’s also interesting that the enemy in the movie was France, since the enemy in the book was the United States. But I guess that wouldn’t have played too well with the U.S. audiences, hm? That, and the adaptor mashed the timeline of _Master and Commander_ and _The Far Side of the World_ together, so the movie was set in 1806. At which time, American relations with England were strained but not outright warfare, and meanwhile Boney was tearing it up in Europe. So the shift from an American to a French enemy makes sense in that context, too. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/24 "2005-04-22T05:37:12Z")
> [@pesch](#): > > The sheer unexpectedness of this response – I don’t know if POB ever used “f\*\*\*” before – caught me unawares, and I was laughing so hard that I darn near drove the van off the road. O’Brian was extremely unpredictable when it comes to swearing. Sometimes it was just -------- to represent the words, somethings it was f--------, and somethings it was fuck. I can’t seem to figure out whether there was a pattern to what was used when, or whether it just depends on his mood at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/25 "2005-04-22T07:17:21Z")
> [@teela brown](#): > > My question: Why were they constantly “holystoning” the decks, even when they were in the middle of the ocean? It’s not like dirt was getting tracked in. It was the lesser of the two weevils 🙂 Declan ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/26 "2005-04-22T16:04:46Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > Paul Bettany, as others have pointed out, is physically wrong for Don Esteban. An unshaven Dustin Hoffman. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/27 "2005-04-22T16:07:16Z")
And another thing - I’m going to have to find a glossary of nautical lingo somewhere. When POB starts in on a session of luffing, wearing, shivering, tacking and stunsailing, I’m all at sea. Mostly, I just sort of mentally fill in the phrase “they sailed very cleverly, which helped them win the skirmish”, but I’d like to have a truer understanding of what’s going on. Any suggestions? And for Royal Shakespeare Company fans, did you notice that the actor who portrayed Preserved Killick in the movie is the same actor who played Smike in the RSC’s brilliant filmed play _Nicholas Nickleby_? His name is David Threlfall. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/28 "2005-04-22T16:29:43Z")
> [@teela brown](#): > > And another thing - I’m going to have to find a glossary of nautical lingo somewhere. When POB starts in on a session of luffing, wearing, shivering, tacking and stunsailing, I’m all at sea. Mostly, I just sort of mentally fill in the phrase “they sailed very cleverly, which helped them win the skirmish”, but I’d like to have a truer understanding of what’s going on. Any suggestions? Check this out: [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805066152/qid=1114187529/sr=8-1/ref=pd\_csp\_1/103-1198820-7691013?v=glance&s=books&n=507846](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805066152/qid=1114187529/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-1198820-7691013?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/29 "2005-04-22T16:39:18Z")
[QUOTE=Rube E. Tewesday] Check this out: I second _A Sea of Words_. ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/30 "2005-04-22T17:00:44Z")
I third _A Sea of Words_. It’s an invaluable companion to the Aubrey-Maturin series. I also understand there’s an atlas out called _Harbors and High Seas_, which provides maps of where all the actions took place in O’Brian’s novels. I haven’t picked it up yet, so I can’t offer any recommendations, but here’s a link: [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805046100/thefloatplan/104-0198761-1892755](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805046100/thefloatplan/104-0198761-1892755) And while we’re talking about this series, there’s one thing that’s been bugging me. I don’t get where the title of _The Reverse of the Medal_ comes from. Am I just thick? Or does anyone else not get it? I have a hunch it might relate to how Jack got drummed out of the navy, but I’m really not sure. Anyone have any insight? ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/31 "2005-04-22T19:37:15Z")
_A Sea of Words_ was invaluable to me when I made my first pass through the books. It’s also fun reading in its own right, if you like reading through reference-type books. Lots of nifty tidbits of info there. And I’m sorry, I don’t think Russell Crowe made a good Aubrey. Not lusty enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302/32 "2005-04-22T21:44:07Z")
> [@Archergal](#): > > And I’m sorry, I don’t think Russell Crowe made a good Aubrey. Not lusty enough for me. There was that look he gave the islander girl in the boat that came alongside the Surprise to trade. The Special Edition DVD has some deleted scenes on it that are nice. There are various scenes of “shipboard life”, including one where Maturin is teaching Bonden to read, and some of Mowett’s poetry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aubrey-maturin-book-series-question/300302.md?page=1)