Master and Commander
Published: 1969
Author: Patrick O'Brian
Book 1 of 21: Aubrey/Maturin Novels
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fiction, Historical, Literary, Medical, Military, Sea, Suspense, Thriller
Check out the review of this book here:
Summary
In April of 1800, the book begins. Jack Aubrey, a shipless lieutenant wasting away in the Royal Navy port of Mahon in Minorca, meets Stephen Maturin, an impoverished Irish-Catalan physician, and natural philosopher, at a play at the Governor's Mansion.
During the performance, Maturin elbows Aubrey, who is "half a beat ahead" on the measure. The guys, who are both at personal low points, handle the situation as a question of honor, exchanging names and preparing for a duel.
Aubrey learns later that evening that he has been promoted to commander and has been assigned command of the 14-gun HM Sloop Sophie. When Aubrey runs into Maturin on the street the next day, his excitement overpowers his hatred, and he asks Maturin to dinner.
Aubrey plays the violin, and Maturin plays the cello, and the two men discover a common love of music. Aubrey invites Maturin to join his ship after learning of his occupation. Maturin agrees, despite the fact that his competence as a physician extends much beyond that of a navy surgeon.
Sophie is dispatched to the Mediterranean to escort a small convoy of cargo ships. With the help of his new first lieutenant, James Dillon, a wealthy and aristocratic Irishman, Aubrey uses the chance to get to know his men and mold them into a fighting unit.
Dillon and Maturin had met as members of the United Irishmen, a club committed to Irish home rule and Catholic emancipation (a fact they kept to themselves). When Dillon is assigned to intercept an American ship suspected of harboring Irish rebels, he has a moral problem and seeks to assist them to evade arrest.
Maturin, who has never been aboard a man-of-war, has trouble understanding nautical etiquette, so O'Brian has the crew explain naval vocabulary and the official process of awarding prize money for captured enemy vessels to him (and the reader). Maturin is regarded like a landsman by the crew, but without offense. He enjoys the opportunity to study uncommon birds and fish as a natural philosopher.
After completing his convoy responsibilities, Admiral Keith allows Aubrey to cruise the Mediterranean on his own, in search of hostile French merchants, which he finds. Sophie confronts and defeats the Cacafuego, a Spanish 32-gun xebec-frigate, despite losing a number of crew members, including Dillon, in the terrible battle.
A triumph against such odds would typically earn Aubrey formal acclaim, promotion, and a large sum of money, but his superior at Mahon is Captain Harte, with whose wife Aubrey has been having an affair. Harte makes sure Aubrey doesn't get any of those things, but he can't stop Aubrey from earning a reputation as one of the Royal Navy's outstanding young combat captains.
Sophie is seized while on escort duty by a fleet of four big French warships. Captain Christy Pallière, a Frenchman, is kind, telling Aubrey about his relations in Bath and feeding him well. After being paroled by the French, Aubrey and his men miss the Algeciras Campaign but are able to view the combat from Gibraltar. Aubrey is acquitted in a court-martial for the loss of his ship.
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Rating: 90/100
Recommended: 95/100 Yes.
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Master and Commander (2003) (PG+):
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