redthroatedloon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
redthroatedloon) wrote2004-04-23 09:30 am
redthroatedloon) wrote2004-04-23 09:30 am
Blue at the Ending
Well, I've just finished Blue at the Mizzen, the 20th novel in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series. Jack has finally been made an Admiral, Stephen is hoping that Caroline Wood (who shares his passion for natural history but has a nasty personal history that makes her adverse to any sexual passions) will accept his offer of marriage, and the good ship Surprise has just set off for Cape Pilar for another adventure... And that's it. Last one.
Sigh.
The only silver lining in this particular cloud is that O'Brian, like Dickens, wrote very dense, wordy novels. I love novels like that, because I can read them several times and always find something new. So while I almost flew through these books for plot and character development, the next time I'll go more slowly, for background and detail.
It's like watching a favorite episode several times (although it takes a lot longer). The first time, you may watch, say, SG's Forever and a Day just to see what happens. The next time, you watch for how Daniel's feelings change along the way, and then you might examine the packing scene closely to watch how Daniel and Jack interact with each other, and at what point Daniel nearly breaks down and how Jack reacts.
Still and all -- I'm sorry that there are no more books in the series.
Sigh.
The only silver lining in this particular cloud is that O'Brian, like Dickens, wrote very dense, wordy novels. I love novels like that, because I can read them several times and always find something new. So while I almost flew through these books for plot and character development, the next time I'll go more slowly, for background and detail.
It's like watching a favorite episode several times (although it takes a lot longer). The first time, you may watch, say, SG's Forever and a Day just to see what happens. The next time, you watch for how Daniel's feelings change along the way, and then you might examine the packing scene closely to watch how Daniel and Jack interact with each other, and at what point Daniel nearly breaks down and how Jack reacts.
Still and all -- I'm sorry that there are no more books in the series.
Time for reading?
Re: Time for reading?
Basically, I read in the cracks in my day: when I had to reboot my machine (about four times a day or so), during lunch, and in bed just before I went to sleep.
I remember how I used to do four books a week when I was a kid, and it just astonishes me.