Date: 25 April 2021
Location: Joyce
‘Oh, the joy!’
After more than a year the Happy Bookers were finally able to meet again in person.
All of us had been vaccinated, and 14 of us met in Joyce’s backyard and porch, where we could maintain reasonable social distancing without being too standoffish. Even though we were able to continue with our meetings during the pandemic via Zoom, it is clear that we all badly missed the in-person social interactions. Our meeting this month was a most welcome event for us all. The weather was ideal and, needless to say, it was an absolutely delightful afternoon.
The book this month was Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander, the first in O’Brian’s 20 volume series featuring British naval officer Jack Aubrey and his friend and ship surgeon Stephen Maturin. The series is set in the early 19th century and mainly deals with the British Royal Navy in conflict with Napoleonic France. The Bookers had previously read a different book in the series, Desolation Island, back in October, 2000, and we thought we would give his first book a try.
In Master and Commander Aubrey and Maturin first meet and, after a few rocky moments, become close friends and shipmates. Aubrey is named captain of the 14-gun sloop Sophie, and they conduct a number of highly successful raids on enemy French and Spanish ships, including the capture of the much larger 36-gun frigate Cacafuego. The novel and its main protagonists are fictional; however, O’Brian’s depictions of the major ship encounters were derived from the logs and records of actual naval engagements. Sophie‘s victory over the Caccafuego was based on the actual capture of the Spanish El Gamo by the British HMS Speedy under the command of Thomas Lord Cochrane.
Unfortunately, in terms of how many read the book, this was not the most successful of our readings. I think only four of us actually completed the book, due to a large extent to the unfamiliar naval terminology for the sailing ships of that era. Also, there are some violent passages describing the bloody ship-to-ship conflicts that some found upsetting. For a couple of us, however, O’Brian’ series is an outstanding literary achievement. As one New York Times reviewer wrote, “The best historical novels ever written.”
While we did have a little discussion about the book, it was clear that most of us were more interested in socializing and just chatting with each other after such a long hiatus. And as usual we finished the meeting with some wonderful food from our hostess and lots of other goodies brought by the other Bookers. It was so very, very nice to be able to get back together again!
— Bob