H. M. S. Surpise and The Mauritius Command by Patrick O' Brian


H. M. S. Surpise and The Mauitius Command by Patrick O' Brian, the third and fourth in the Aubrey-Maturin series


After seeing the movie Master and Commander, which I wrote about here, I got inspired to go through the the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian again (I have already read the entire series twice). Since I've lent Philip the first two books, I have started with book 3 The H. M. S. Surprise , and book 4 The Mauritius Command. I really do love these books - HMS Surprise has some very exciting parts - Maturins rescue from Minorca while being tortured is very exciting. This is also the one where they go to Bombay, and Maturin befriends a little girl who really has his number - but he sends her away so he can visit Diana who he is hopelessly in love with, and the little girl is killed for the silver bracelets Maturin bought her.
This is really more about Maturin than Aubrey. Maturin proposes to Diana, who puts him off because she likes being the mistress of a rich man, Canning. When Canning hits Maturin, he challenges him to a duel and kills Canning. It almost works, she accepts his ring but ends up running off with a rich American.
His heartbreak is balanced by Aubrey's happiness - when he saves the China fleet their gratitude makes him rich, and at the end of the book he is marrying Sophie.
The Mauritius Command is based on an historical, the taking of the islands of Mauritius and La Reunion. First it looks like they'll take them easily, in fact La Reunion is won quickly, but then a number of disastrous things happen as they try to take Mauritius , and several of their ships are taken by the French. Aubrey takes a couple back, and is just about to take Mauritius when an admiral shows up to claim victory.
Both of these books show the strength of the series - the battles are careful described in accurate detail. Seamanship, courage, handling of men, strategy and luck all play a part. The covert operations of Maturin contribute to the overt operations of Aubrey, and the books are full of deft character touches as well as strong contrast - boredom and warfare, beauty and violence, joy of life and sudden death.
Avery interesting site related to this book shows all the maneuvering between Admiral Linois and Aubrey.
The best site for all things related to the series is The Gunroom Guide to Patrick O'Brian Web Resources.

Posted: Fri - November 28, 2003 at 07:44 PM          

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