Post Captain (Aubrey/Maturin)

by Patrick O'Brian

Book Overview

It's 1802. The Treaty of Amiens has brought an end to the hostilities between Great Britain and France. Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend, naval surgeon Stephen Maturin, are enjoying the respite in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393307069
• Release Date: August 1990
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 1.0" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Joint Review of All Aubrey-Maturin Books

Some critics have referred to the Aubrey/Maturin books as one long novel united not only by their historical setting but also by the central plot element of the Aubrey/Maturin friendship. Having read these fine books over a period of several years, I decided to evaluate their cumulative integrity by reading them consecutively in order of publication over a period of a few weeks. This turned out to be a rewarding enterprise. For readers unfamiliar with these books, they describe the experiences of a Royal Navy officer and his close friend and traveling companion, a naval surgeon. The experiences cover a broad swath of the Napoleonic Wars and virtually the whole globe. Rereading all the books confirmed that O'Brian is a superb writer and that his ability to evoke the past is outstanding. O'Brian has numerous gifts as a writer. He is the master of the long, careful description, and the short, telling episode. His ability to construct ingenious but creditable plots is first-rate, probably because he based much of the action of his books on actual events. For example, some of the episodes of Jack Aubrey's career are based on the life of the famous frigate captain, Lord Cochrane. O'Brian excels also in his depiction of characters. His ability to develop psychologically creditable characters through a combination of dialogue, comments by other characters, and description is tremendous. O'Brien's interest in psychology went well beyond normal character development, some books contain excellent case studies of anxiety, depression, and mania. Reading O'Brien gives vivid view of the early 19th century. The historian Bernard Bailyn, writing of colonial America, stated once that the 18th century world was not only pre-industrial but also pre-humanitarian (paraphrase). This is true as well for the early 19th century depicted by O'Brien. The casual and invariable presence of violence, brutality, and death is a theme running through all the books. The constant threats to life are the product not only of natural forces beyond human control, particularly the weather and disease, but also of relative human indifference to suffering. There is nothing particularly romantic about the world O'Brien describes but it also a certain grim grandeur. O'Brien also shows the somewhat transitional nature of the early 19th century. The British Navy and its vessals were the apogee of what could be achieved by pre-industrial technology. This is true both of the technology itself and the social organization needed to produce and use the massive sailing vessals. Aubrey's navy is an organization reflecting its society; an order based on deference, rigid hierarchy, primitive notions of honor, favoritism, and very, very corrupt. At the same time, it was one of the largest and most effective bureaucracies in human history to that time. The nature of service exacted great penalities for failure in a particularly environment, and great success was rewarded greatl

Even Better than the First

"Post Captain" is the second in Patrick O'Brian's epic 20-volume 19th-century maritime series. Captain Jack Aubrey, who made and lost a fortune in the first book, spends this book on the run. On the run from France as war comes, from debtor's prison throughout, and from the entanglements of romance. His shotgun-approach to courtship leads to a near-disastrous conflict with his best friend, the ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, whose own secret life slowly unfolds behind Aubrey's back. This is a wonderful book, not a typical novel in the sense that it does not open questions in the beginning and then answer them by the end. Instead, it is a linear narrative that ends on a cliff-hanger just begging for a sequel. O'Brian's writing is crisp and spare. The characters are fully-developed human beings, the action is exciting. The book is hard to put down, but the best thing is that there are eighteen more to follow.

5 Indebted Captains as Aubrey reaches stride

Post Captain is the second in the Aubrey/Maturin series and perhaps the first written with the knowledge that it was part of a series. O'Brian's first novel in the series was published shortly after C.S. Forester's death and the publication of Pope's and Kent's first novels in their series of wooden ships and iron men. O'Brian found a different niche within the genre and one that ultimately led to his recognition as a serious author of historical novels. If one has read Pope or Kent and even Forester, then the reader might have some difficulty getting into O'Brian's novels. If one accepts that O'Brian is a longer read and that the emphasis is more on character and historicity than violent action then one can enjoy this novel thoroughly.I read the first book in the series, Master and Commander, and was disappointed. I enjoyed Post Captain more. Perhaps that was due to knowing what to expect and perhaps it is because Post Captain is better than its predecessor. However, it is not your typical naval action adventure. In fact, the first few chapters sounded a bit like Pride and Prejudice from Mr. Darcy's perspective. The fact is that O'Brian writes well enough to pull it off. Post Captain does pick up when war is declared and Aubrey goes back to sea. One area of conflict that I found strangely missing in Master and Commander was that between Aubrey and Maturin. I had expected that Maturin would be critical of Aubrey taking the ship into actions that caused wounds Maturin would have to treat. There is a serious conflict between the two in Post Captain although it's not over Aubrey's naval actions. Since the series has 18 more novels one knows that the conflict will be resolved.The main problem that Aubrey faces in the novel is not the French navy but his own indebtedness and the inability to obtain a suitable command. Paradoxically, Aubrey is safe from creditors while at sea. The problems that a person faced while in debt in 1800 are explained well and the reader has great empathy with Aubrey.The naval activities in Post Captain seem similar to those in Hornblower and the Hotspur to the point that the climactic action appears to correspond to the same point in history. While O'Brian did not appear to value the Hornblower novels greatly it is obvious that he owes Forester a debt of gratitude for creating the genre. Without Forester it is doubtful that O'Brian would have been able to develop his own unique niche and this excellent novel would not have been published.

Adventure, romance, the sea, and capital comic wit combined!

What absolutely delicious reading this is! Master and Commander was excellent. This is even better. I cannot believe how very, very funny O'Brian can be! There is a little scene in the beginning of this book where he briefly describes Jack's horse, a "sullen gray gelding" who spends most of his time "mourning his lost stones", and the horse's train of thought, something like, "Sits too far forward at a jump, I'll have him off sooner or later... Oh, a mare! A mare!" I just laughed myself to tears.It is rare to find a book that has such a rich blend of various ingredients. O'Brian's insights into the wide variety of human personality (not to mention equine!), his quirky sense of humor, his excellent portrayal of the ways of life in that time, the politics, the navies, the ships, all are tied together, and blend beautifully into this absorbing human drama.I think I'll have to read them all!

One of the Great Novels of the Last 25 Years

Patrick O'Brian's works have been compared to those of both Jane Austen and Homer. To those who haven't read the series, this might seem like a strange juxtoposition. But anyone who has read Post Captain understands this. O'Brian's novels are a marvel, mixing the story of life at sea with the goings on in 1800 Britain. Throughout the series, we see most of the world and experience the life of many characters. And all the while O'Brian develops two of the most vivid and well done characters in fiction: Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. Although the series itself starts out in Master and Commander, it really takes off in Post Captain. I've talked to several readers who's reaction to the first book was that it was good but they weren't ready to rush out that night and buy the next half dozen. After Post Captain, they're hooked, and procede to devour the entire series.