Tag Archives: Patrick O’Brian

Bernard Cornwell, “Sharpe’s Tiger”

Posted on August 21, 2013 by carolwallace

Sean Bean is the link here, folks. He played Eddard Stark in S1 of Game of Thrones. He also played Richard Sharpe in the British TV series Sharpe. Patrick O’Brian is the other link. Sometimes people who see the O’Brians lined … Continue reading →

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George R. R. Martin, “A Clash of Kings” Game of Thrones Book 2

Posted on July 8, 2013 by carolwallace

I think it’s a good sign when the book you’re reading follows you around, don’t you? That means it’s got such a grip on your imagination that you see everything through the fictional scrim the author has created. And, OK, … Continue reading →

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Patrick O’Brian, “Blue at the Mizzen”

Posted on October 30, 2012 by carolwallace

No, I didn’t skip. Being a methodical person I did read The Yellow Admiral and The Hundred Days before embarking on Blue at the Mizzen, but as many an O’Brian fanatic has found, our beloved author does run out of … Continue reading →

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Patrick O’Brian, “The Commodore”

Posted on October 22, 2012 by carolwallace

We’re getting to the end here. The Commodore is number 17 in the Aubrey/Maturin series. Jack, as you will have understood from the title, has been promoted yet again, this time acting as commodore of a fleet that’s sent to … Continue reading →

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Patrick O’Brian, “The Wine-Dark Sea”

Posted on October 19, 2012 by carolwallace

The Wine-Dark Sea takes up very much where The Truelove left off, in location and mood. Both books are relatively short and I wonder if Patrick O’Brian originally intended them as one volume. However, 500 pages of the frustration and … Continue reading →

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Patrick O’Brian, “The Truelove”

Posted on October 17, 2012 by carolwallace

Yes — this is where the Aubrey/Maturin series starts to bog down. In which, perhaps, it reflects life as we know it: Jack and Stephen are now in full middle age and The Truelove is full of testiness, misunderstanding, and emotional … Continue reading →

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Patrick O’Brian, “The Nutmeg of Consolation”

Posted on October 13, 2012 by carolwallace

I had forgotten how many ships Stephen and Jack sail in: somehow I conflated them all into the Surprise, but in The Nutmeg of Consolation, Jack commands a little Dutch-built sloop that has been captured by the English. He calls … Continue reading →

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Patrick O’Brian, “The Thirteen Gun Salute”

Posted on October 9, 2012 by carolwallace

The Thirteen Gun Salute is volume 13 of the Aubrey/Maturin series and the tale itself, like its protagonists, is showing its maturity. (A good thing, not a bad thing.)  This novel is one of several that takes Jack and Stephen … Continue reading →

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Patrick O’Brian, “The Letter of Marque”

Posted on October 6, 2012 by carolwallace

More literary references here — I really don’t want to be sounding like a graduate student, but in The Letter of Marque, Patrick O’Brian practically shoves Aristotle’s Poetics in our faces.  Stephen’s sidekick, the one-eyed naturalist minister Nathaniel Martin, is … Continue reading →

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Patrick O’Brian, “The Reverse of the Medal”

Posted on October 3, 2012 by carolwallace

Oh wow, are you sitting down? Major Literary Discovery here. I was happily absorbed in The Reverse of the Medal when PLOT SPOILER (sorry) I got to the section when Jack is imprisoned at the Marshalsea — what we might … Continue reading →

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