Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
The bear still makes me laugh.
I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying that it's with this book that the series starts to take shape. Sophie and Diana become major characters, Stephen's role as a spy is more than implied, Jack will continue to have money problems. And the bits where Jack avoids getting nobbled for his debts are every bit as funny as the bear.
|
Indeed, this book introduces critical characters, and a great deal about the difference between Jack ashore and Jack at sea. We've still a couple of important characters to find their way to us, but this book is, in many ways, the first book in the series, with
Master and Commander almost a prequel.
It also starts in on giving us a feel for the England of the time. The whole question of debtor's prison being something that North American's don't quite get.