Jack Aubrey is such a dunderhead. He really should not be allowed abroad on land without a keeper.At sea, he is authoritative, knowledgable, decisive, charismatic, a man of action that other men delight in following. He is "Lucky Jack."But on land, he is decidedly unlucky. He is "Dunderhead Jack," an easy mark for any scam artist.A scam artist is just what he meets on his way home from his duties of protecting whalers off the South American coasts. This well-spoken, well-dressed gentlemen convinces Jack that he has inside information that peace is going to break out in just a few days and that certain investments in the City, made before the news becomes public, are bound to make the lucky investors a fortune. Jack, who is always only half a step ahead of bankruptcy and ruin, jumps at the chance to make his fortune. He never considers who the man is or why he might be giving him this information or if the information might have been planted by his enemies to bring him down.It doesn't take long for everything to fall apart. Jack has only just made it home and his beloved Sophie has just returned from a trip north and they are reunited when the bailiffs show up to arrest him for manipulating the market, in effect, for insider trading. Clapped in prison and not allowed bail, it is up to his friends to try to extricate him from the mess.His particular friend, Dr. Stephen Maturin, works tirelessly to achieve that extrication. He visits all the important people of influence who owe him favors to ask for their help in freeing Jack. But things look bleak. None of them seem to have sufficient influence to achieve what is needed. It seems certain that Jack will at least be fined and pilloried and possibly even sent to prison for an extended period. Worst of all, he could be "struck off" and lose his naval career. It is an ill omen that the judge in his case is a political creature who is bent on punishing Jack's father, the loudmouthed Radical Gen. Aubrey, through his son.Stephen has his own worries as well. His beloved Diana has run away to Sweden with another man, because she believed, wrongly, that her husband had been unfaithful to her and had flaunted his red-headed "mistress" all around the Mediterranean. The enemies of Aubrey/Maturin strike again. Meantime, Jack is unworried. He maintains an innocent trust in British justice, "the best system of justice in all the world." He believes that if the jury hears him tell his story, they will believe him and free him. Even when told that he will not be allowed to tell his story because of the rules of evidence, his faith is unshaken.If Aubrey's faith in British justice is misplaced, his faith in his men, the men of the Surprise and in all the men he has served with in his long naval career is not misplaced. When he is at his lowest ebb, they are his shield, his lifeboat.This was a quick and easy read because it was all about the characters and the characters' relationships. It didn't have a lot of the nineteenth century naval jargon and descriptions of naval battles that often slow my reading of these books. It focused, in fact, on the main thing that I read the series for - the relationship between Aubrey and Maturin.As the book ends, that relationship is at a turning point and Maturin, the spy, has just learned some very valuable information, the result of which will (perhaps) be revealed in the next book. O'Brian did have the knack for keeping his readers turning those pages - and those books.
These novels are maddeningly, consistently, entertainingly four-star novels. Until now. O'Brian's writing is as incisive as ever, his well-developed sense of irony as sharp here as in any of the previous books. But from almost the first word through the incredibly thrilling conclusion, this entry is just a slightly more brilliantly plotted work than what has come before. There are more surprises and amazing turns of narrative here than in perhaps the last two or three combined--and that is really saying something. Most of the novel takes place on land, in London, among the world of stockbrokers and law courts. As ever, O'Brian is more than up to the demands historical fiction makes, and renders this part of his world as completely as he does so very many others. There are at least two or three moments of genuine beauty where one is compelled almost to stop and just savor how the plot and the writing come together (the first (surely?) appearance of Samuel Panda, the long-awaited reunion with Sophie and Jack's experience in the pillory, to name three). In this novel as well, one has the sense that O'Brian is getting ever more ambitious with how he focuses the text. Sometimes he locates the narrative in the conversations between Maturin and Aubrey, and very often he will locate the focus in the conscious thoughts of one of the two. Perhaps consistently more often than in any entry to this point, we see the two main characters through the eyes of others. It's a very deft move; at this juncture both Aubrey and Maturin have significant reputations. One senses that future entries will play more on the public-private distinction; clearly O'Brian is more than equal to this shift in narrative focus. The characters continue to develop in interesting and surprising ways. Much of this book takes place in Maturin's element, yet he is deeply fallible here. More importantly, he is conscious of his mistakes: they deepen his friendship and sense of obligation to Aubrey, which, ultimately, is the linchpin on which all of these magnificent novels turn. What else? One almost always has a tendency to rush the endings of these novels because the suspense gets wound up to fever pitch--this time O'Brian really outdoes anything he has accomplished before in that line. While he seems to still regard the novel as a discrete unit of narrative measurement, here guns cocked two and three novels before finally go off. The control and talent to sustain suspense over such a very long stretch of narration without ever slackening the pace or interest is really hard to fathom. And this one ends even more thrillingly than anything that has come before--the last sentence leaves one in agony for the next. The highest peak in a chain of impressive mountains. So far.
What do You think about The Reverse Of The Medal (1992)?
Reverse of the Medal(Note: not a review of the audio book. There is no listing I can find for the straight print version)This episode of the long Aubrey-Maturin series has one of the most moving scenes in literature. Those who have read the book will know which one I mean. I won't detail it for those who haven't had the pleasure of diving into Patrick O'Brian (I'm on my sixth trip through the twenty book series). One marvels at the writing talent that makes this scene so emotional. At this point in my voyage I can get choked up just thinking about it and while reading will start to have little sobs several pages in advance of the event in anticipation. By this time in the series of books one has gotten to know Jack Aubrey well. We know his strengths and weaknesses. He is a genius on board ship but a naive on land and his naiveté has landed him in a very precarious position resulting in a trial and adverse judgement. The punishment to be meted out is unthinkable for a naval officer with his resume and standing. The reaction of his peers and the rank and file is what brings the reader to tears. We've all been to a banquet where someone has been honored for their service. Believe, it's nothing to compare to what happens in Reverse of the Medal when Jack, bent low, is honored in a way that will make the hair on your arms stand up and send chills down your spine no matter how many times you revisit it. I've tried reading it out loud to my wife and can't get through it.And, just to get on Peter Weir's case one more time (the film director who famously mangled Master and Commander and ruined the opportunity to have O'Brian serialized on film) why didn't that narcissistic asshole pick this book to film which would have given him one of the most dramatic scenes in history?
—Randy
Never expected one of O'Brian's tales that contained not one sea battle to be so exciting and suspenseful but, oh my, this one was all that and more. And what an almighty cliffhanger he leaves at the end. I wasn't intending to read the next for maybe a month or more, but I ordered it from our lending library immediately. Readers of the series know what the characters do not, how vile and traitorous is Andrew Wray, so I smelled the rat that was 'Mr. Palmer' giving Jack tips for a big killing in t
—Em
A novelistic equivalent of a bridge in a piece of music. As such, it relies heavily on the the reader's love of the main characters, Aubrey and Maturin, to retain interest. This stands in stark contrast to the previous books in which the naval engagements provided the action and climax. This being the 11th book, this is no great assumption of risk on O'Brian's part, because anyone who's followed these two this long will gladly tag along for the largely land-based plot, rich with landsmen's intrigue. This shift allows Maturin to come away with more of the spotlght in this one, and poor Jack becomes something of a hapless victim. All in all, O'Brien's ability to craft a masterful work without falling into the formulaic sea-faring novel, is absolutely delightful.
—Kellen Mcgee
