# Thoughts on Patrick O'Brian's Novels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [November 15, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078 "2016-11-15T17:58:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/142 "2022-04-29T13:43:20Z")
They are literally too many to list, but in no particular order: sodomy with the goat the rats fed with madder that the mids stole and ate, and the consequences thereof “Dr Maturin, I should dearly love to examine your excrement.” “The operation was a complete success, and I even maintain some hope the patient will survive.” “My bankers are Hoares.” “I thought it was the horse.” Stephen’s bees. Martin constantly being injured by animals and birds when he tries to study them. Killick frequently “breaking” wine bottles. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/143 "2022-04-29T14:29:06Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Killick frequently “breaking” wine bottles. Killick is a constant source of dead-pan humour, I thought David Threlfall captured him wonderfully in “master and commander” and had the series continued I’m sure he’d have featured more. Actually,I confess that, having watched the film first and read the books second, I was pretty happy with the choice of actors for the main characters. That’s maybe a minority view but having the picture of Russel Crowe and Paul Bettany in in my head as I read works perfectly well for me. I don’t feel a huge disconnect as some others do. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/144 "2022-04-29T16:18:38Z")
I’m just winding up my sixth or so re-reading of the series. I’m on the last whole book. I like that Stephen is hooking up with a woman who shares his passion for birds and comparative anatomy. It makes me think of when I once visited a used bookstore here in Silicon Valley to buy some used books from this series. An older woman ran the place, and when she saw my books, she recounted how she attended a book-related event years ago. Maybe it was a signing, I don’t remember. Patrick O’Brien was there, and he was in an uncharacteristically chatty and good mood because he had been birding in Santa Cruz that day and spotted a species of seagull which was new to him. I like to think that Stephen Maturin is Patrick O’Brien’s alter ego. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/145 "2022-04-29T17:50:47Z")
There’s probably something to that, **teela**. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > > [@Cardigan](#): > > > > It’s been a number of years since I last read them. I’m getting ready to embark on a re-reading of the entire series once again. What do you think the the most humorous bits in the series are? > > I’m currently re-reading and enjoying them even more. > > As I’m more attuned to the language and the characters this time around I’m picking up far more humourous digs and barbed asides than on first reading. > > Hard to quote exact “jokes” of course because the humour is mostly bone-dry and comes from the situation and in the context of relationships but I smirk often and sometimes laugh out loud… Agreed. Some favorites bits: Recurring lines: “There you are, Stephen!”, “We have not a moment to lose!”, “There’s no one like him for the whipping-off of a leg” etc. Jack gently acknowledging Stephen’s comical ignorance of all things nautical Stephen’s frequent comments on Jack’s appetite and girth Killick’s peevishness and eavesdropping Stephen’s acerbic criticism of Jack’s mother-in-law, various diplomats, admirals and generals, and the two less-than-attractive young women who attended a shipboard dinner once One funny line that really stuck with me was from _HMS Surprise_, in which a sailor was talking about an earlier cruise. His ship had come across a suspicious Chinese junk. The crew was sure that the foreigners must be pirates and wanted to hang them all, “but our captain, who was a magistrate ashore and had some scruples about evidence, forbade it” (paraphrased). ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada_Jr)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/146 "2022-04-29T18:38:16Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Marryat was the real thing – an actual British navy captain who saw almost continuous action at sea from 1806 to 1830, serving in the Napoleonic wars, the War of 1812, and a colonial expedition to Burma amongst others. > > But he later also became a very successful author who wrote about 30 books, and was a personal friend of Charles Dickens. If you are a fan of the O’Brian series, and you are interested in the real deal, you really need to dip into The Autobiography of a Sailor by Lord Thomas Cochrane. > **[The Autobiography of a Seaman (Classic Reprint): Fitzgerald, F. Scott Cochrane:...](https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Seaman-Classic-Reprint/dp/1440040656)** > > The Autobiography of a Seaman (Classic Reprint) \[Fitzgerald, F. Scott Cochrane\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Autobiography of a Seaman (Classic Reprint) In one of O’Brian’s novels Stephen reflects something along the lines of “I used to see much of Cochrane in Aubrey but less lately…” No bear costumes, and much of what he writes about the Stock Market swindle might well qualify as historical fiction, but an extremely interesting book by a very witty writer–and definitely the Real Thing. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/147 "2022-04-29T21:42:16Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Actually,I confess that, having watched the film first and read the books second, I was pretty happy with the choice of actors for the main characters. That’s maybe a minority view but having the picture of Russel Crowe and Paul Bettany in in my head as I read works perfectly well for me. Having read the books before the film, I pictured Stephen as smaller and darker, very much like Baldrick physically, but with a higher percentage of workable cunning plans. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/148 "2022-04-30T03:07:54Z")
I also read the books before the film. I somehow got an image of Burgess Meredith as Stephen. But I couldn’t mentally cast anyone as Jack. Still working on that. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/149 "2022-09-29T19:41:32Z")
Bumped. Just finished reading _Blue at the Mizzen_, the last complete O’Brian novel, which ends with Aubrey being named an admiral and given command of HMS _Implacable_, 74, and the South African Squadron. I checked Wikipedia as to the ship and learned that she made it through WWII before being purposefully scuttled. > **[HMS Implacable (1805)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Implacable_(1805))** > > HMS Implacable was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was originally the French Navy's Téméraire-class ship of the line Duguay-Trouin, launched in 1800. > She survived the Battle of Trafalgar only for the British to capture her at the subsequent Battle of Cape Ortegal. In British service she participated in the capture of the Imperial Russian Navy 74-gun ship of the line Vsevolod (Russian: Всеволод) in the Baltic in 1808 during the Anglo-Russian War. Later, Implacable b... I also learned that, although Napoleon couldn’t sink this ship, Hitler did! > **[HMS Wellesley (1815)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Wellesley_(1815))** > > HMS Wellesley was a 74-gun third rate, named after the Duke of Wellington, and launched in 1815. She captured Karachi for the British, and participated in the First Opium War, which resulted in Britain gaining control of Hong Kong. Thereafter she served primarily as a training ship before gaining the almost surely unwanted distinction of being the last British ship of the line to be sunk by enemy action and the only one to have been sunk by an air-raid. > Although Wellesley was ordered as a Bl... ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/150 "2022-09-29T20:05:39Z")
I have recently binge read my way through the series, (I had read the series twice before). Do not do this. The joke about Aubrey calling Stephen on deck to look at some new scrap of sail is overdone. But the more annoying thing is Maturin doing the “Lucy and the Football” thing with their finances, over and over. Still, it is a great series, but short of Forester, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/151 "2022-09-30T14:51:00Z")
“Of course”? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/152 "2022-09-30T17:00:44Z")
Don’t forget about Stephen’s “garment” that he showed up to one of the ships wearing. That whole bit cracked me up, imagining him wearing some bizarre sort of long underwear type thing. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/153 "2022-09-30T20:00:10Z")
I was skeptical of the choice of lead actors until I saw the movie. Crowe and Bettany absolutely nailed the characters. My only beef (still) is that Paul Bettany is too tall and too good looking to be Stephen Maturin. But I have no quibbles with his portrayal. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/154 "2022-09-30T22:29:43Z")
Agreed. I thought of Maturin as small and dark, as well. But Bettany’s acting during the “lesser of two weevils” scene - especially his delivery of the line “He that would make a pun would pick a pocket” - sold me; I felt like he really understood the character. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/155 "2022-10-02T16:49:37Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > I like to think that Stephen Maturin is Patrick O’Brien’s alter ego. Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/156 "2022-10-02T19:37:11Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > “Of course”? A horse is a horse… 😛 Yeah, Forester is the high bar for age of sail naval fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/157 "2022-10-02T20:07:18Z")
The taxpayers got their money’s worth from those two ships. _Inconstant_ was another one, not finally going to the breakers yard until 1956. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/158 "2022-10-29T23:21:51Z")
I know there are quite a few other fans of Patrick O’Brian’s novels here, so thought I’d just let you know I saw a current re-issue of the books appearing in the shops. The notable thing is new cover art - goodbye to Geoff Hunt’s meticulous and moody ship paintings. They’ve gone with a very contemporary look - focussing on ye olde nautical objects\* on nautical charts. Might be time to start dropping pre-Christmas hints to the loved ones - you could ask each of them to get you one specific volume and have a brand new set to get stuck into over the holidays. [Example - new Post Captain cover](https://www.booktopia.com.au/post-captain-patrick-o-brian/book/9780006499169.html) - Pedant’s Corner. Archaeologists and museum people will immediately spot that some of the items chosen are not at all from the Napoleonic Wars period. It would not have been that much more effort to get it right. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/159 "2022-10-30T12:11:39Z")
The problem with Russell Crowe as Aubrey IMHO is that he just isn’t large enough. In height or weight. Crowe’s charisma and authority in Stephen Fry’s physique would be about right I think. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/160 "2022-10-30T14:16:38Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > The problem with Russell Crowe as Aubrey IMHO is that he just isn’t large enough. In height or weight. To be fair to him though, he definitely has an outsize presence, I think of Gladiator and Romper Stomper and he occupies a lot of screen real-estate even if he isn’t physically huge. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078/161 "2022-10-31T03:26:10Z")
Agree entirely. But when you’ve read 20 novels that describe Aubrey’s physical bulk, and dozens of Maturin digs at how overweight he becomes, it jars a little. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-patrick-obrians-novels/772078.md?page=9)