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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 823.914 EAN: 9780393060256 ISBN: 039306025X Label: W. W. Norton & Company Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 144 Publication Date: October 30, 2004 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Studio: W. W. Norton & Company Editorial Review: Product Description: In response to the interest of millions of Patrick O'Brian fans, here is the final, partial installment of the Aubrey/Maturin series. Blue at the Mizzen (novel #20) ended with Jack Aubrey getting the news, in Chile, of his elevation to flag rank: Rear Admiral of the Blue Squadron, with orders to sail to the South Africa station. The next novel, unfinished and untitled at the time of the author's death, would have been the chronicle of that mission, and much else besides. The three chapters left on O'Brian's desk at the time of his death are presented here both in printed version—including his corrections to the typescript—and a facsimile of his manuscript, which goes several pages beyond the end of the typescript to include a duel between Stephen Maturin and an impertinent officer who is courting his fiancée. Of course we would rather have had the whole story; instead we have this proof that O'Brian's powers of observation, his humor, and his understanding of his characters were undiminished to the end. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Unfinished business is a perfect endingThe perfect ending to the series, left unfinished when O'Brian died at age 85, shortly after the death of his wife. 21 is 21st in the series, and O'Brian never gave it a title. Now-Admiral Aubrey takes over his flag-ship and his small (but as Maturin learned, don't tell HIM that, unless he says it first) squadron, Surprise is sent home for repairs and refitting, and Mrs Aubrey and children, Brigid and Mrs. Wood, and Padeen are brought to the ship to sail with Aubrey. When the story ... Read More Rating:  - Comfortable ClosureIt was good to see that the author was still working on continuing the outstanding Aubrey - Maturin series. We're all disappointed that the series has ended. 21 was interesting both from the story and procedure viewpoints. Rating: - Literary must read for everyoneIt took me a year, but I couldn't put down a single copy of the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. This literary masterpiece tells a wonderful story, with every character brought to life. The writing is so visual, one actually feels that they have been on the very ship he writes about. I do recommend that readers obtain "A Sea of Words", which is basically a glossary of all the nautical terms used in the novels. Universities should devote a literature course to these novels, since they are ... Read More Rating:  - For Family And Friends OnlyAs others have noted, the book goes only three chapters into the story. I want to add that these chapters are far from complete. It jumps so quickly from one scene to the next, something like those half-hour television westerns from the sixties. Stephen advises Jack to have a look from the top, and in the very next sentence, there he is, in the top. The Ringle crosses the Atlantic twice, but leaves little sense of time passage. Do not expect any closure here. The value is seeing how the ... Read More Rating:  - 3 Chapters? What a lazy author!Boy, talk about resting on your laurels! Three chapters and some after-dinner scraps of writing and that's it? O'Brian's got a lot of explaining to do if you ask me. As far as I can tell Aubrey makes admiral but still has to put up with the blow-hard antics of an even higher officer and Maturin, getting soft in his old age, DOESN'T kill some impetuous officer in a duel. And what's with Maturin's homicidal fascination with honor and dueling? Small manly parts, methinks. "Captain, ... Read More |
