It is a cracking good read. There's an awful lot packed in here; apart from the basic plot of Aubrey commanding a mission both transporting convicts and recsuing Bligh (of Bounty fame) and Maturin finding his personal and political allegiances increasingly tangled as the War of 1812 looms. Loads of the ship's crew are killed by violence or disease. The high point of the book is an engagement with a Dutch ship, brilliantly described from Aubrey's point of view as a testing to destruction of both vessels; the victorious but severely damaged British limp to what we now call Kerguelen Island, the island of the title of the book, and have a diplomatically tricky encounter with an American crew while they are there. O'Brian's sensitivity to language and nuance is rather lovely, and I shall try and develop this habit a little more.
March Books 9) Desolation Island, by Patrick O'Brian
It is a cracking good read. There's an awful lot packed in here; apart from the basic plot of Aubrey commanding a mission both transporting convicts and recsuing Bligh (of Bounty fame) and Maturin finding his personal and political allegiances increasingly tangled as the War of 1812 looms. Loads of the ship's crew are killed by violence or disease. The high point of the book is an engagement with a Dutch ship, brilliantly described from Aubrey's point of view as a testing to destruction of both vessels; the victorious but severely damaged British limp to what we now call Kerguelen Island, the island of the title of the book, and have a diplomatically tricky encounter with an American crew while they are there. O'Brian's sensitivity to language and nuance is rather lovely, and I shall try and develop this habit a little more.
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Saturday reading
NB: With Russia's unprovoked murderous assault on Ukraine, I am actively looking at alternative hosts for this journal, preferably those which will…
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Saturday reading
Current The Twinkling of an Eye, by Brian Aldiss Last books finished 84K, by Claire North Next books Lost in Translation, by Ella Frances…
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Saturday reading
Current 84K, by Claire North Last books finished The Dreamer’s Lament, by Benjamin Burford-Jones Scherven, by Erik de Graaf Project Hail Mary,…
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Saturday reading
NB: With Russia's unprovoked murderous assault on Ukraine, I am actively looking at alternative hosts for this journal, preferably those which will…
-
Saturday reading
Current The Twinkling of an Eye, by Brian Aldiss Last books finished 84K, by Claire North Next books Lost in Translation, by Ella Frances…
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Saturday reading
Current 84K, by Claire North Last books finished The Dreamer’s Lament, by Benjamin Burford-Jones Scherven, by Erik de Graaf Project Hail Mary,…