Discussion: Post Captain (Aubrey/Maturin #2)

[CRussel]

Discussion: Post Captain (Aubrey/Maturin #2)
The second book in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series finds our two protagonists headed home from the Mediterranean to find peace has arrived in England following the Treaty of Amiens. Without a ship, he and Stephen begin to live the lives of country gentlemen, hunting, entertaining and enjoying more amorous adventures.

Their comfortable existence, however, is cut short when Jack is overnight reduced to a pauper with enough debts to keep him in prison for life. He flees to the continent to seek refuge: instead he finds himself a hunted fugitive as Napoleon has ordered the internment of all Englishmen in France. Dr Stephen Maturin, spy and surgeon, leads Jack to the his Spanish castle. When they finally manage to escape, a jealous cuckold assigns Jack to an experimental and poorly-built ship on poorly-conceived mission.

The escape through France to Stephen's ruined castle is one of the few bits of absolute slapstick in the books, but it IS funny.

From the Amazon description:

Amazon Review
The year is 1803, and that scalawag Napoleon Bonaparte has gone to war again. For Captain Jack Aubrey, who has fled to France to escape his creditors, this is doubly alarming news. In short order the captain is interned, makes his escape across the French countryside, and leads a ship into battle. And again, his adventures are cleverly counterpointed by those of his alter ego Stephen Maturin.
Review
“The best historical novels ever written.” (New York Times)

“They're funny, they're exciting, they're informative.... There are legions of us who would gladly ship out time and time again under Captain Aubrey.” (The New Yorker)

“The best thing afloat since Horatio Hornblower.” (Observer)

“Aubrey and Maturin compose one of those complex and fascinating pairs of characters which have inspired thrilling stories of all kinds since the Iliad.” (Iris Murdoch and John Bayley)

Please use this thread to discuss Post Captain as you read it. Rather than wait to open the discussion until everyone has had an opportunity to read the entire book, we'll open the thread early so you can comment as you go on. Please exercise appropriate discretion to avoid spoiling too much too quickly, of course, but honestly, we want to hear what you think. Whether it's about the actual book, or the specifics of a particular version of the book. (Some of us are listening to audio versions, of which there are at least four that I'm aware of.)

[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.

[CRussel]

Post Captain is 492 pages long, and is available at the following locations:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Audible US (Patrick Tull narration, my personal favourite)

Audible UK (Ric Jerrom Narration)

OverDrive Audio (Simon Vance narration, issybird's favourite)

Kobo UK

I'll be reading this and listening to the Patrick Tull narration, primarily.

[CRussel]

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.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by CRussel

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.

As an American I must admit I don't quite get it. How could you make any money to repay your debts if you were in prison? I heard a story on NPR a while back about places in the modern US where people get sentenced to jail because they couldn't pay a court-ordered fee for some minor offense - again, how will they ever be able to pay if they're in jail?

[jgaiser]

The first time I read this book, I mostly didn't like it. It seemed to drag with no direction. On a reread after getting to book 9, I find I really like it for all the introductions to characters that inhabit the books that follow. If it's your first time through, persevere. You'll appreciate it in the end.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

As an American I must admit I don't quite get it. How could you make any money to repay your debts if you were in prison?

The idea, I believe, is to force your friends and relatives to come up with the money. Since you'd obviously shown you couldn't.

[issybird]

I like the "plottiness" of this compared to the first book. O'Brian's a master at world-building and I get sucked in no matter what, but the books with more of a narrative and not just incident are my favorites. That said, I was more aware this time of how the Lively aspect seemed tacked on, even though the denouement is critical to the ongoing story.

[CRussel]

Interesting, issybird. I always felt a little uncomfortable with that incident, but hadn't ever quite articulated it. I think you've hit it well.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Interesting, issybird. I always felt a little uncomfortable with that incident, but hadn't ever quite articulated it. I think you've hit it well.

The book reaches its natural end, but then it starts up again!

But this is the book where O'Brian switches from a standalone story to a series and I can forgive a little awkwardness as he changed gears.

[CRussel]

O'Brian at some point commented that if he'd known how successful the books would be, he'd have started Jack out a LOT earlier in the Napoleonic era. He found it difficult to insert all that many books and battles in a fairly narrow time frame.

[issybird]

^ It was in the forward to The Far Side of the World, which I read just a few months ago. It was the book where he had to acknowledge that he'd run out of war and said that his timeline would subsequently be much looser and even simultaneous to earlier stories.

It really is a pity, but he kept spinning the tales as long as he lived and that's all we could ask.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

^ It was in the forward to The Far Side of the World, which I read just a few months ago. It was the book where he had to acknowledge that he'd run out of war and said that his timeline would subsequently be much looser and even simultaneous to earlier stories.

It really is a pity, but he kept spinning the tales as long as he lived and that's all we could ask.

Yes, though I actually had a chance to do a Caribbean cruise that he was on just about the time the 20th came out, and couldn't get the time off work. I've regretted not going on that cruise a couple of times since, but then I remind myself that it's not always good to know your favourite public figures outside their public persona. It's easier to enjoy their works when you don't know all their warts. (And yes, I do know a few of his, but I've chosen to ignore them by not knowing details.)

I'm only about a 1/4 of the way into my re-read of Post Captain, but enjoying it again. The picture of country life of the time and the introduction of Sophie and Diana Villiers heralds two characters who will play significant roles as the series progresses. Plus we start to see the start of Jack adrift on land, though most of it is later. And the first formal acknowledgement of Stephen as a spy.