Master and Commander [Special Edition] [Paperback]

From reading the previous reviews it is apparent that this novel polarises opinions like few others, i.e. you'll either love it or hate it. People who hate it find the language archaic, "eighteenth century nautical terms scattered like confetti", the characters wooden and hard to sympathise with, and struggle to engage with the novelist. Many readers, perhaps enticed by the Russell Crowe film, will find themselves buying this book and then struggling to get beyond the first chapter. It is not easy reading, not like Sharpe, or Hornblower that you can race through, especially at the outset. However, if you like a book with a bit of substance behind it, are prepared to do a little bit of work to understand what is going on, and will give the characters room to breathe, you may just find yourself rewarded beyond expectations as a treasurehouse opens up before you.

This is the first of a series of twenty novels and you really do need to read them in sequence, (1. Master and Commander, 2. Post Captain, 3. HMS Surprise etc.),as the author tends to tell you something once and then expects you to remember it. If you start with The Far Side of the World, number ten, because of the film, you will be hopelessly adrift; nothing the characters do or say will make any sense, and the plot is very different from the film so you will not recognise what you are reading.

Start with this one then, book one and don't just skim it for the adventure story. Climb the rigging with the lubberly Dr Stephen Maturin and listen as he has explained to him the masts, yards and sails of the Sophie. After only a few pages you know the difference between the foremast and the mizzen, the stays, tops and ratlines. You will benefit from getting some maps; Minorca and the Spanish coast east of Gibraltar (look them up as soon as the place names come out of the text). You want to get a feel for the shape of the coast, harbours and ports. Don't spend any money, just five minutes with the Google map facility and print them off, nicely magnified so you get all the capes and points. Now you can feel the tension as the Sophie ducks under the enemy guns, steals a prize and races for safety with a half dozen frigates in hot pursuit; all the naval engagements make a whole lot more sense; you might even mark the positions of the vessels and follow their movements; Patrick O'Brian gives you enough description to clearly visualise every detail and this is where he scores most of his points and wins his lifelong devotees. The author had vast resources of knowledge about naval engagements of the period and most of the action is painstakingly recreated from real events, as reported by those who took part in them. This is far more than historical fiction, it is the bringing back to vivid life of a period of our relatively recent history.

Next if you find the story intriguing but the nautical terms frustrating (you are not alone in this), you might consider purchasing a reference book: The World of Jack Aubrey by David Miller (I paid £5.99), a shortish, hard-backed book for the twenty-first century reader, full of diagrams and explanations and with a glossary of technical terms. The mysteries of the stunsail, the use of the log, the bells of the watch and the use of the glass will all become clear, along with good descriptions of the various vessels that feature, from lateens to bum-boats, sloops and brigs, the points of the compass and the different fighting styles of the British and French men o' war (British preferred solid shot aimed at the hull that sent explosions of splinters through the enemy crew, wheras the French preferred chain and grape shot to disable and capture.

A further book is a worthwhile purchase, Admiral W.H. Smyth's The Sailor's Word-Book (Conway £9.99). This fat period tome comprises over 14,000 nautical and naval terms, every technical word used by Patrick O'Brian is in there, described in crisp clarity, the Admiral spent the seven years of his retirement from 1858 - 1865 working on this mine of information and the Aubrey/Maturin enthusiast will have this reference close by at all times.

To bring the experience fully to life I would also recommend a day out to the Portsmouth historic harbour; a couple of hours inhaling the air aboard the H.M.S. Victory touching the cables and absorbing the perspectives will be well spent.

If you find yourself shouting, "Vast that anchor", to your wife in the Sainsbury's car park, and your kids buy you a parrot for Christmas then it's possible that you might be allowing your enthusiasm to carry you a little too far, but until then, enjoy the journey.

I came at this series from a background of reading a lot of fantasy / sci-fi and Tom Clancy type adventure - all of which are easy to read and conjure up a picture in your mind.

I had two false starts on this book, where I got about 30 pages in and then gave up as the language seemed hard and the terms technical. I then made a determined effort to stick with it and finish the book and have never made a better decision in terms of reading. This is one of the best and most engaging series I have ever read and you find that, as the books unfold, various nautical terms are explained. The best idea is just to carry on reading and not worry - the plots are excellent and characterisation is second to none. I enjoyed the first reading for the story, the second for the characters and even now, on my approx 6th time through, still find new sub plots and meanings I never noticed before.

Give this series a chance and give yourself a good stretch at first read to get into it - once you do you should hopefully find, as I did, that this is one of the best series ever written - full stop - and one that can be read again and again.

A movie that is adopted from a novel presents the eternal quandary as to whether you should read the novel before or after seeing the film. However, with the release today of "Master and Commander: The Far Side of World" you have a unique opportunity to do both. Although we have assumed this Russell Crowe film was an amalgam of the first and tenth novels in the series of twenty written by Patrick O'Brien starting in 1970, that is not the case. The film is based squarely on "The Far Side of the World," although certainly liberties have been taken with translating the work to the screen (the enemy ship is now a French vessel in 1805 durng the Napoleonic Wars instead of an American ship during the War of 1812). This means that reading "Master and Commander" before seeing the film would actually work to your advantage, because you would then understand the relationship between "Lucky" Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin, which begins in this first novel.

On the first of April in the year 1800 two of the most important things in his life happen to John Aubrey, Esquire. Not only is he appointed Commander of His Majesty's Sloop "Sophie," but he makes the acquaintance of Dr. Maturin. Aubrey, who is taller and broad shouldered, plays the violin, which the smaller Maturin plays the cello. Aubrey is the embodiment of an English seaman while Maturin is an absent-minded intellectual. Outside of their love of music there is little to recommend one to the other, but this is the beginning of one of the great friendships in literature. Many times we will be reminded through these books that each is the other's particular friend, and that friendship begins here. Consequently, you can read "Master and Commander" and it will enhance you experience of watching the movie because it provides all you really need to know about the back story concerning this deep friendship which is a recurring subtext of the film.

Aubrey's first command, H.M.S. "Sophie," is an old, slow brig and unlikely to help him fulfill his dream of making a fortune in captured French and Spanish prizes, all of which are bigger and better than his small ship. If there is a theme to this first novel it is the story of how Jack Aubrey came to earn the sobriquet "Lucky," and how he pushed that luck right to edge, and a bit beyond. In the telling of this tale O'Brian amply demonstrates both Aubrey's capacities and his vulnerabilities, both of which are explored in future volumes.

You have to think of this as a series rather than a novel, because after reading this book and seeing the movie you want to progress to the second O'Brian volume, "Post Captain," and not skip ahead to "The Far Side of the World." This is not Horatio Hornblower; these Aubrey-Maturin novels were written in order and the first half-dozen volumes are the ones most grounded in naval history (O'Brian liked to take real engagements and add his characters and their ship into the mix). For his 21st birthday I got my son the entire 20-volume series and one of the many excellent companion volumes that are out there.

Just be aware that if you get the movie tie-in editions of "Master and Commander" and/or "The Far Side of the World" that they are slightly larger than the standard paperback editions. Consequently when they are all lined up on your bookcase having them is going to keep your collection from looking shipshape.