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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
I also learned that, although Napoleon couldn’t sink this ship, Hitler did!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
