Yesterday, at about mid-day, I finished the 20th Aubrey/Maturin novel by Patrick O'Brian, Blue At The Mizzen. While the novel ends with Aubrey receiving news of his promotion to Rear Admiral of the Blue, a life-long dream and source of worry, the full tale of the two men remains woefully unfinished. I am of two minds about reading the fragment of the 21st book, left unwritten by Patrick O'Brian's untimely death. While the end of the 20th book left me hanging (as most of the Aubrey/Maturin novels tend to end a tad abruptly), reading only part of the 21st novel would be even worse. More importantly, where do I take my reading now? I had planned on reading my way through the Lord of the Rings over the Christmas break (I try to read the trilogy once a year), but I also promised my wife-to-be (exactly four weeks until the wedding) that I would read something new over the break instead. I have the first two Hornblower novels, but having thrown in my lot with Aubrey and Maturin over 20 books, I find myself strangely prejudiced against Mr. Forester's canon.
What to do? What to do?
About Me
- Radoje Spasojevic
- A Serbian-American redneck living in suburbia with dreams of wooden boat-building, organic gardening, home brewing, and sitting on the porch sipping brandy.
My lovely wife and I at our wedding
Orthodox (and other) Bloggers of Note
3 comments:
I wouldn't let an appreciation for O'Brian prejudice you against C.S. Forester. Both have their virtues.
I will say that if you go into Hornblower expecting the depth of character that you find in Aubrey/Maturin you are going to be disappointed. Still, if you enjoy adventures and you like the period, you'll enjoy Hornblower.
Sigrid Undset's Kristen Lavransdatter trilogy. It's a bit girly, but you'll live. She did, after all, win a Nobel Prize.
I've recently discovered Alan Furst's novels. Set in Europe, 1930's - 1940's. Le Carre meets Camus. Literary spy novels... each set in a different country... gives you perspective of the war through the lens of Russia, Bulgaria, Poland, etc... Or you could just re-read The Pacific!
Post a Comment