Aubrey–Maturin series

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of historical novels — 20 completed and one unfinished — by Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centering on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, who is also a physician, natural philosopher, and secret agent. The 21st novel of the series, left unfinished by O'Brian's death in 2000, appeared in print in late 2004.

The 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World took material from books in this series, notably Master and Commander, HMS Surprise, The Letter of Marque and particularly The Far Side of the World. Russell Crowe played the role of Jack Aubrey, and Paul Bettany that of Stephen Maturin.

[edit] The series

1. Master and Commander (1970)
2. Post Captain (1972)
3. HMS Surprise (1973)
4. The Mauritius Command (1977)
5. Desolation Island (1978)
6. The Fortune of War (1979)
7. The Surgeon's Mate (1980)
8. The Ionian Mission (1981)
9. Treason's Harbour (1983)
10. The Far Side of the World (1984)
11. The Reverse of the Medal (1986)
12. The Letter of Marque (1988)
13. The Thirteen Gun Salute (1989)
14. The Nutmeg of Consolation (1991)
15. Clarissa Oakes (1992) - (The Truelove in the USA)
16. The Wine-Dark Sea (1993)
17. The Commodore (1995)
18. The Yellow Admiral (1996)
19. The Hundred Days (1998)
20. Blue at the Mizzen (1999)
21. The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey (2004) - (21 in the USA)

[edit] Internal Chronology

O'Brian's books were written and published in the same chronological sequence as the events as they describe, beginning with Master and Commander in 1800 and carrying through to the final novels, set shortly after Waterloo.

However, they do not strictly describe history; the first six books quickly move through twelve years of the Napoleonic Wars, with The Fortune of War ending on 1 June 1813, but the series takes another dozen to progress from 1813 to 1814. Much of this period is spent at sea, with little or no connection to "real-world" events, and the events of the novels take up substantially more time than the two years 'available'. O'Brian wrote that he had "made use of hypothetical years, rather like those hypothetical moons used in the calculation of Easter: an 1812a as it were or even an 1812b"^[1]; in effect, the period 1813-14 (not including 1812 despite O'Brian's mention of that year) is stretched out to accommodate events.

[edit] Narrative style

These novels use a narrative voice contemporary with their setting; thus the author-narrator speaks with the same idioms and vocabulary as the characters would have during the years in which the novels are set. This contrasts with many modern historical novels, in which the reader might expect a more modern narrative style or at least a bit less jargon of the period.

O'Brian's use of naval jargon provides a second noteworthy stylistic feature, with little or no translation for the "lubberly" reader. The combination of the historical-voice narration and naval terms may seem daunting at first to some readers; but most note that after a short while a "total immersion" effect results. However, the naval lexicon can baffle any reader, and many devotees of the "POB" canon (Patrick O'Brian's work) find support in numerous companion-books. Dean H. King's A Sea Of Words provides a notable example of this type of work (other publications appear in the bibliography). An explanation given to the non-naval Maturin during his first sailing best sums up the style: Maturin asks a midshipman if he could describe the rigging and ship without using sea-terms, to which the midshipman says he would be puzzled to do that, and Maturin replies: "No, for it is by those names alone that they are known, in nearly every case, I imagine" (Master and Commander, pg. 111, 1990 Norton Paperback Edition).

O'Brian's writing has an unusual stylistic quirk. He quite often does not describe even fairly significant events directly. Instead he either indicates that they occurred by having characters discuss them as part of the background to the next chapter or book, or he leaves it up to the reader to make their own conclusions as to the actual backstory behind an event which has occurred. An example of this would be the mysterious deaths of the two English traitors, Ledward and Wray, in the Thirteen-Gun Salute which are only clarified in the next book, The Nutmeg of Consolation. Another would be the opening pages of The Hundred Days, in which the conversation between two incidental characters informs the reader of the sudden death of two major characters - Maturin's wife and Aubrey's mother-in-law - who have both featured in the series since its inception.

O'Brian's abrupt conclusions make for another unusual feature of the Aubrey-Maturin novels. Typically a final short sentence, usually dialogue, delivers the last plot-turn or indicates a resolution at hand. O'Brian employs no dénouement or epilogue whatsoever in most of the earlier books of the canon. Since the Aubrey-Maturin novels form a canon, readers know they will have to proceed to the next volume to uncover the details of the resolution for the one they have just finished; and some of the editions include extensive additional material (typically literary or personal comments from O'Brian) that make the ending even more abrupt by concealing how many pages remain. As he progressed past the tenth volume, O'Brian's conclusion-style became more varied. For example, The Thirteen Gun Salute ends more like a very long chapter in an ongoing tale than an independent plotline.

[edit] Characters

See also Recurring characters in the Aubrey–Maturin series

The series portrays the rise of Jack Aubrey from Lieutenant to Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Many of his exploits and reverses reflect the chequered career of Thomas Cochrane. However, his character and his politics differ markedly from those of his model.

Aubrey's friend Stephen Maturin, an Irish-Catalan physician, operates as a naturalist and spy. In his role as a naturalist he resembles Sir Joseph Banks. Maturin's long pursuit of the beautiful but unreliable Diana Villiers provides a recurring theme.

[edit] Humour

Much of the humour in the series come from the two principal characters' malapropisms. Aubrey, though a genius at sea and with practical matters, has large gaps in his understanding of everything else, and should never be allowed within twelve fathoms of a metaphor.

Maturin, by contrast, though extremely erudite and a linguist, remains perpetually doomed in his occasional attempts to use naval slang, or to explain the working of a ship to someone — though his ignorance of naval maneuvers often serves as a useful device for some more experienced sailor to come up with a more correct technical description of the whole thing, suited "to the meanest understanding" — something that a reader who doesn't know starboard from larboard will come to appreciate over time.

So we have for example Aubrey's attempting to use the occasional word of French and describing a patois as a putain; and Maturin saying "if the Admiral proves inquisitive, I may toss him off with a round turn" (as opposed to the correct phrase: to bring someone up with a round turn). This also works as a bawdy modern-day double entendre, because "to toss off" is modern-day British slang for "masturbate." For similar examples, see the section Toilet and sexual humour, below.

Furthermore, O'Brian sets up an extensive but subtle humorous contrast between Aubrey and Maturin. Aubrey, a masterful sailor and naval tactician, usually proves inept and unlucky in his affairs ashore; often needing to quickly take to sea to avoid his troubles on land. Maturin, on the other hand, while showing extraordinary subtlety and tact while on land, demonstrates clumsiness and ignorance when it comes to seafaring; contriving to fall out of various ships and boats and hopeless as regards the art of sailing.

O'Brian's bone-dry and cutting wit, present throughout all his novels, provides another principal source of humour in the canon. The delivery, whether in the form of narration or dialogue, seems often so forthright that the reader (or listener) may not perceive it at first. At times, however, O'Brian will spend a considerable portion of a volume setting up comedic sequences, perhaps most notably Jack's "debauchery" (by inadvertently making it drunk) of Maturin's pet sloth in HMS Surprise.

O'Brian will often have one character comment on another character's level of humour as a prime indicator of that character's emotional state. However, Aubrey's character seems much more complex. He has an almost oafish sense of humour with a heavy reliance on laborious puns, and a near complete ignorance of literature, natural philosophy and painting. On the plus side, he shows devotion to the more popular kind of opera, and plays the violin as a skilled amateur.

Frequently, O'Brian uses humour and jokes spoken or written by the characters to illustrate or develop character. Aubrey's delight in small witticisms, such as inducing Maturin to choose between "the lesser of two weevils," recurs in the series, as does Maturin's concealed, acerbic wit — such as his statement that the shortest watches of duty on board the ship, the dogwatches, take their name because they are "curtailed" ("Cur Tailed", "cur" meaning "dog"). In another book, he suggests naming the bosun's cat "Scourge," a play on an entirely different cat, one used by bosuns to administer punishment.

When Stephen points out an interesting bird or animal to Aubrey, he sometimes asks, Can it be ate?' In Post Captain, on viewing a painting of Mary Magdalene hovering over a seascape, Aubrey notices (apart from her scantily covered bosom) that the direction of the wind indicated by her flowing garments means that a small craft detailed in the painting, "somewhat like a pink," with "absurd lateens," will soon find itself on a lee shore.

Similarly, in Treason's Harbour, when sailing past Ithaca and requested to stop there so various fans of Homer's epics can visit it, Aubrey rejects the idea, describing Ulysses as no seaman, having taken far too long to sail home to Ithaca from Troy, even with no chronometer but just log, lead and lookout. Besides, he behaved like "a very mere scrub" to Queen Dido, a reference to Aeneas' actions in Virgil's Aeneid.

While Jack often makes forcedly conscious attempts at humour, sometimes abandoned altogether as too strenuous, he will occasionally toss a witticism off with ease. After rescuing a sailor fallen overboard he minimizes the action to Maturin, "It don't signify" and then adds, "I might dive in after a dog. If the water was warm I might even go in after a surgeon. Ha Ha Ha!"

O'Brian also assigns to Jack (instead of Maturin) the speaking role for authorial acerbic wit once in a while. After swimming to an island shore to assist Stephen in dragging his boat back to the water he responds to Maturin's astonishment in seeing his skiff high and dry, "Yes, I believe it is the tide. They say it happens twice a day in these parts." To this Stephen delivers his standard reply of vexation when caught "by the lee" in naval matters, "Your soul to the devil, Jack Aubrey!"

A sort of black humor appears even in perfectly ordinary situations. For example, it is mentioned that a strict nun, Sor (or Sister) Luisa, in charge of Maturin's education when he was a boy, was from a good family - a branch of the Torquemadas of Valladolid.

[edit] Toilet and sexual humour

O'Brian inserts some toilet humour into the narrative, as for example when Jack, severely constipated and in no shape for a long series of official dinners, gets a dose of Blue Pill and Black Draught purgative from Maturin. He decides for himself that his huge frame requires a larger dose, and gets himself a second dose from Maturin's colleague Martin, leading to his spending several hours in the toilet, something that tickles his steward Killick's delight - "Which he's taken a ninety year lease of the quarter gallery" and "he's in his cabin now, snoring as loud as ever he..." Killick stops himself before the next word because the comparison is "not genteel."

Killick frequently expresses the hope that he might be able to serve out people he dislikes by shoving something up their anuses — in Desolation Island he fumes at the dockyard workers who improperly caulked the ship, making it wet and leaky, by wishing that he could "caulk them, with a red hot caulking iron, right up their _____ ." In another book, Maturin gives a purser whom Killick dislikes a clyster, and Killick says "How I wish I could have given it him, the b_____ ."

O'Brian occasionally makes use of dashes to express supposedly unprintable words, a device that 18th- and 19th-century authors frequently used, sometimes to excess. Patrick Tull's recorded versions of the entire canon for audio-publisher Recorded Books replaces these dashes by the words they obviously represent.

O'Brian also uses double entendre to good effect. He derives humour from words now thought of as "dirty," but quite acceptable in the early 19th century, or factually correct in a much different sense. In Master and Commander, O'Brian casually introduces his readers to the cunt splice. Again in Master and Commander, Lt. Dillon mentions that the Sophie's sailing master has a latent homosexual longing for Aubrey, and if Aubrey doesn't realize it, he is perhaps "lacking in penetration." In Post Captain, with the Lively about to begin exercising the great guns, a midshipman charged with the safety of a lady guest asks her if she "mind[s] a bang' as he takes her below, and she replies "Oh no, I love it."

In The Fortune of War, Jack meets a British Admiral in the Dutch East Indies, and beautiful, bare-bosomed young women, whom the Admiral introduces as his native cooks, serve him drinks. As he says, "they answer very well for Country Dishes." Here, O'Brian uses a variant of the sexually charged pun that Shakespeare used in Hamlet, Act III Scene II, Do you think I meant country matters? (cunt-ry).

In The Ionian Mission, Babbington rescues several women from a pirate and gets scolded by Aubrey for "whoremongering." Babbington at once replies: "Oh no, Sir — they are Lesbians." Indeed, they hail from the Greek island of Lesbos, whose association with the poetess Sappho gave its name to sex between women. Another humorous term appears with complete seriousness in The Ionian Mission as a device much discussed by the scientifically-minded gentlemen aboard ship: the piece of sugar-refining equipment known as the "double-bottomed defecator."

Similarly, in Treason's Harbour Stephen describes the mechanism of a diving-bell to a pretty Italian double-agent and at one point offers to amplify his explanation with a sketch of the part which lets water in and out: "Will I draw you my little cock?" In another reference to the diving-bell, Stephen offers to search for a lost object with the quiet statement "It is well known that I am an urinator." "Urinator," of course, in the little-used sense of "diver."

Also, throughout the books, Stephen demonstrates a continuing predilection for boobies, that is, a genus of marine birds. Stephen expresses his fascination and scientific interest in them at some odd times and in odd ways, including during a visit to St. Peter and Paul Rocks, where a naked Maturin comments, "I believe this booby would suffer me to touch it."

O'Brian takes the funny-words theme a step further, introducing similarly "funny" names of real or imagined people into the narrative, mostly puns on buggery and other sexual themes.

In Master and Commander, Jack and his crew stop a Danish brig called the Clomer, whose captain rejoices in the name of Ole Bugge. Jack barely stops himself from filling in an obligatory r at the end of Captain Bugge's surname. In the same book, Jack mentions his bankers: Hoares — while the midshipmen listening can barely restrain their glee at how the name puns with "whores."

More humorously-named bankers occur in The Thirteen Gun Salute where Stephen, seated at dinner with Jack and another (quite austere and religious) Post-Captain with a known distaste for swearing, laments the poor service his bankers give him — and wishes he could find a better banker — "another Fugger." This references the famous family of 15th- and 16th-century bankers of that name, with various members of the family getting themselves nicknames like The Fugger of the Deer and The Rich Fugger.

In The Ionian Mission, Jack meets a Post-Captain, the son of a Canon of Windsor. He immediately puns "Canon" with "cannon," jokingly labelling the man a "son of a gun." Not too surprisingly, this joke, with its implication of bastardy, doesn't quite amuse the captain concerned.

In The Surgeon's Mate, Maturin's godfather, the Catalan colonel in charge of Grimsholm island, has a party-piece — a long poem about his grandfather's campaign with Lord Peterborough, where he keeps mispronouncing "borough" to "rhyme with mugger" ... Lord Peterbuggah.

Jack's shipmates share his tastes in the "punning on names" line - M. Dutourd, in The Wine Dark Sea becomes not too popular with the old man-of-war hands on the Surprise, and Killick immediately shortens his name to Turd. In Desolation Island, the crew of an American brig, the Asa Foulkes, hail Barrett Bonden; and he hails them back, with, as O'Brian puts it, a deliberate mispronunciation of the brig's name.

[edit] Music

Music pervades the novels: indeed the entire novel sequence begins with Aubrey meeting Maturin for the first time at a performance of a string quartet by Locatelli. Jack Aubrey's musicality considerably exceeds Maturin's earliest assessment of it and becomes one of the primary bases of their enduring friendship. Maturin himself plays the cello, and throughout the novels the two characters perform duets together, usually in the privacy of Aubrey's cabin, sometimes allowing other characters of some (little) musical gift to take part. In music they often seem to be most in harmony. O'Brian displays a fairly wide knowledge of the music of the period. He makes frequent allusions to such composers as Corelli, Mozart, Molter, Hummel, Johann Christian Bach and indeed his father Johann Sebastian Bach. Correctly for the period, the name 'Bach' means J.C. rather than J.S. to both Aubrey and Maturin, but in The Ionian Mission Aubrey finds himself in the somewhat unlikely situation of trying to learn a work from manuscript that is clearly J.S. Bach's then-obscure but now famous D minor chaconne from the Solo Violin Partita No. 2. In the same novel Aubrey hopes to get a choir of seamen in HMS Worcester to perform choruses from Handel's Messiah. Aubrey and Maturin often improvise on favourite themes, folksongs or operatic airs, and passing references suggest that Maturin sometimes composes small pieces of his own.

[edit] Literary significance and criticism

In a cover-story in The New York Times Book Review published on January 6, 1991, Richard Snow characterised Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin naval adventure novels as:

And in a Washington Post article published August 2, 1992, Ken Ringle wrote,

Patrick O'Brian once said of himself,

[edit] See also

• Frederick Marryat, a 19th-century pioneer of the nautical novel, who wrote under the name "Captain Marryat" — a real-life successful naval officer in the Napoleonic Wars, and thus a contemporary of Aubrey and Maturin.
• C. S. Forester, 20th-century novelist whose Horatio Hornblower series in many ways prefigured O'Brian's sea-tales.
• Thomas Cochrane, dashing and controversial captain in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars whose exploits and reverses inspired many events in the fictional careers of both Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] Bibliography

• Richard O'Neill (2003). Patrick O'Brian's Navy: The Illustrated Companion to Jack Aubrey's World. Running Press. ISBN 0762415401. 
• Dean King (2001). A Sea of Words: Lexicon and Companion for Patrick O'Brian's Seafaring Tales. Henry Holt. ISBN 0805066152. 
• Dean King (2001). Harbors and High Seas: Map Book and Geographical Guide to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels of Patrick O'Brian. Henry Holt. ISBN 0805066144. 
• Brian Lavery (2003). Jack Aubrey Commands: An Historical Companion to the Naval World of Patrick O'Brian. Conway Maritime. ISBN 0851779468. 
• Anne Chotzinoff Grossman, Lisa Grossman Thomas (2000). Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which It's a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels. W W Norton & Co Ltd. ISBN 0393320944. 
• David Miller (2003). The World of Jack Aubrey: Twelve-Pounders, Frigates, Cutlasses, and Insignia of His Majesty's Royal Navy. Running Press Book Publishers. ISBN 0762416521. 
• A.E. Cunningham (Editor) (1994). Patrick O'Brian: A Bibliography and Critical Appreciation. British Library Publishing Division. ISBN 0712310711. 
• Anthony Gary Brown (2006). The Patrick O'Brian Muster Book: Persons, Animals, Ships and Cannon in the Aubrey-Maturin Sea Novels. McFarland & Company Inc.. ISBN 0786424826. 

[edit] External links

• Harper-Collins Aubrey-Maturin site
• The Gunroom, a web-site and e-mail list devoted to the series. Many resources appear here.
• "Patrick O'Brian's Last"
• Patrick O'Brian Mapping Project - A Google Maps mashup project to chart the course of ships and track the movements of the main characters in all 21 books in the series.
• "The Aubrey-Maturin Appreciation Society" [1] - fan site for the books on Facebook.