Post Captain (1972)
If it is by now become something of a cliche to refer to Patrick O'Brian as the Jane Austen of the the British Navy, it is certainly Post Captain that deserves most of the credit/blame for the original observation. For the action of this entry in the deservedly revered series takes place as much on land as at sea and concerns the tortured loves, courtships and spouse-seekings of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin to no less an extent than Jack's quest for the promotion of the book's title. Indeed, in setting them off against each other and then playing the two themes in tandem and apart, Mr. O'Brian brought attention, whether willfully or no, to the similarity between the struggles for career advancement in the excessively political and patronage-based hierarchy of the Admiralty and the to-ing and fro-ing of settling on a good romantic match. The loss of a chance for advancement breaks an officer's heart just as surely as any belle ever had hers shattered by a beau gone astray.
Meanwhile, it is here too that Mr. O'Brian demonstrated his gifts as a comic novelist, though we aren't likely to think first of his books as humorous tales. He does slapstick--with Jack disguised as a dancing bear and sneaking out of France after war is resumed suddenly; with Stephen bringing a beehive onboard ship; and with Stephen coming aboard dressed in a woolen bodystocking, with a narwhal norn in one hand and a green umbrella in the other. He does buffoonery--in the form of what passes for witticism between Jack and the other officers. He does sarcasm, irony, etc., etc., etc. And, all the while, in a series where the author writes as if it is still 1805 and he need make no concession to the necessary ignorance of the nuances of naval matters and the manners of the day, there is a certain quality to the books of a joke played on the reader. Jane Austen, of course, had little choice but to write for the audience of her time. What are we to make of a cotemporary author who seems to be writing for them too?
All this barely begins to scrape the surface of a book that also sees more naval engagements than we're sometimes used to in the series, Jack losing a fortune and becoming a target of the debt collectors, a near duel between Stephen and Jack, and much else besides. The whole proceeds at Mr. O'Brian's usual leisurely pace, with many philosophical, metaphysical and historical asides, but we have a bit better idea where things must be headed than is sometimes the case, given the dramas that are set up and seem likely to be settled. In a series that never has a particular narrative drive, we might say this one charts a clearer course than some others.
A final word: having read the book some years ago, this time I listened to the audio version, read by Simon Vance. It's a splendid way to experience the books, not least because it prevents your getting bogged down in archaic phrases and naval lingo. Highly recommended.
(Reviewed:02-Mar-07)
Grade: (A+)
