LOSING NELSON. (1999). Barry Unsworth. ****.Charles Cleasby is a dedicated student of Lord Horatio Nelson. It is not only his hobby, it is what provides meaning to his life. He owns all of the pertinent biographies – in English – about this great man, and books dealing the events of the era. In Cleasby’s mind, Nelson was England’s greatest hero. With all of his research he also plans to write a biography, but he gets hung up on one of Nelson’s acts that compromise Cleasby’s opinion of him. This occurred in Naples, when Nelson turned his back on the multitude of Jacobite citizens who were supposed to be set free after Naples was freed from the French – or something like that. In any event, Nelson turned his back on the people and they were all ultimately slaughtered. Cleasby’s approach to his study of Nelson included a re-enactment of the various sea battles that he had. He had installed a large sheet of glass over his pool table in the basement, and moved his wooden boats around to track the paths of the particular battle. The battles were not celebrated in order; the only requisite was that the date of the battle was true to the original. We plot with Cleasby and his ships for the following sea battles: Cape St. Vincent, Corsica, Tenerife, Copenhagen, The Nile, and Trafalgar. Note that Naples is not among the list of celebrated conflicts. While he recreates the various sea battles, he dictates portions of his biography to Miss Lily of the Avon Secretarial Service, Ltd. Miss Lily has only a passing interest in Nelson, but fixates on Cleasby’s obsession with her simple question, “What does it all mean?” Obsessive-compulsive behavior is the focus of this story, and it is grandly told in a way that the reader will not forget soon. The novel was short-listed for the Booker Prize. Recommended.
Contemporary novel with elements of historical fiction and biography. Charles, disabled by some mix of agoraphobia and crippling anxiety, is fixated on the British naval hero Lord Nelson, obsessively commemorating the events of Nelson's life and reenacting his military triumphs with model ships in his basement. He is also writing a biography of Nelson, with the help of a transcriber, Lily, who punctures his gauzy hero worship with sharp questions about Nelson's motives and conduct. He is particularly troubled by the events in Naples in 1799, when Nelson either betrayed or ignored an amnesty given to defeated Jacobin rebels, and allowed them to be summarily executed. Charles remains tortured by the Naples episode, trying desperately to construct a chain of events that would exonerate his hero. By the end, Charles travels to Naples to determine the truth firsthand, with tragic results.Losing Nelson mixes historical commentary with fiction in a way I haven't experienced before: a daring, and in large part, successful experiment. In many ways, the accounts of Nelson's career -- including his relationship with wife Fanny and love affair with Lady Hamilton -- prove more compelling that desperate workings of Charles's mind. The debunking of the Nelson myth, largely through Lily's skepticism, is deft, if predictable ... there are no heroes anymore, we get it. Nelson may have been a consummate naval strategist and charismatic leader whose personal bravery is beyond doubt; he was also a vain man obsessed with the need for personal fame and aggrandizement, and willing to sacrifice the lives of many men to achieve it. Still, this viewpoint is a contemporary take on a figure who lived by an older code, one that is perhaps as alien to us today as that of the Greek warriors of the Iliad.
What do You think about Losing Nelson (1999)?
Unsworth dissects the mind of a hysterical neurotic whose sanity is saved by his identification with a hero. Clearsby is a covincing and sad creation. The back story of Nelson seems him also revealed as a damaged individual whose heroism had to be understood as a by-product of his arrested emotional development (as was his relationship with the dreaful Emma Hamilton). The history of the events of 1799 is fascinating. Unsworth's character also reads as an allegory for nations which need heroes - their fate seems to be a stumbling descent into paranoia as deep as the dubious hero(es?) of this book.
—Don
This book had the dubious honor of longest shelf time while unread in my house. Not sure when I picked it up, but it was long, long ago. I think it was when I was besotted with the Booker Prize. I also like naval history so it seemed natural. Then it just sat there, mocking me on the shelf. I purged a number of books this summer, but something stayed my hand in this book's case.I am happy I chose to keep this one. It's a study of an obsessed academic wrestling with an event that calls into question the heroism of his idol, Horatio Nelson. His obsession is at start mildly comical as is his old fashioned defense of Nelson, but it becomes increasingly tragic as you see how damaged he is.The book is crisply written, but does require some close reading at times. A number of clues as to what is happening are doled out, but often in less than obvious ways.
—Tripp
I read Unsworth’s Sacred Hunger less than a month ago and was ready for more.In Losing Nelson, an obsessive-compulsive man copes with life by reliving that of England’s famous Admiral Nelson. This is a slow novel. It loops through similar patterns of obsessive thought and rehashes scenes of Nelson’s heroics/not-so-heroics again and again. I only say this as a warning for those who want plot and action–as a psychological/historical novel, this book is amazing. The writing is stunning, the characters a beautifully flawed and realistically rendered and Unsworth creates yet another book focused on the realities of a sea life that no longer exists.The journey through this book is slow and winding, but if you like a relaxing read that takes you somewhere without the story necessarily going anywhere, I’d say pick this one up–but make sure you grab Sacred Hunger first, as that book shares the quality and history contained in Unsworth’s books yet creates an even more moving and engaging novel.
—Al
