Flying Colours

[anteros_lmc]

Forester, C.F., (1972), Flying Colours, Penguin Books, Middlesex.

I read Flying Colours while I was traveling recently and I have to confess I didn't get on too well with it. I wrote this review at the time but have held off posting it in case I changed my mind. I haven't, so here it is.

Ho hum. I don’t know. Maybe it was jet lag, maybe I was just in the wrong mood but for the first time in the series I really lost patience with Hornblower in Flying Colours. There were several times I wanted to chuck the book at the wall and yell “For god’s sake stop whinging man!” And if I didn’t it was only out of respect for Bush and Brown who already had more enough to put up with. My reading experience may also have been coloured by partner, who was reading O’Brian’s The Nutmeg of Consolation and Clarissa Oakes while I was ploughing my way through Flying Colours. So while I was gritting my teeth in the face of Hornblower’s relentless negativity partner was laughing heartily at Aubrey and Maturin’s adventures. Don’t get me wrong, I think Flying Colours is brilliantly written and plotted and it’s a great story that provides many valuable insights into the fundamental duality of Hornblower’s character, however any empathy I had with the man himself petered out half way through.

One of the things that particularly annoyed me was Hornblower’s fear of his impending court martial. Now I know that the man has the bleakest outlook but even he must have known that no court martial ever executed a captain for the loss of a ship in battle.* (Byng, who Forester acknowledges, is a spurious example in this case.) This is one of the few instances in the entire series where I felt Forester sacrificed historical accuracy for dramatic license. Even a man as despondent as Hornblower must surely have known he would be honourably acquitted for the loss of the Sutherland.

On the plus side the incidental characters in Flying Colours really carry the story. Bush is wonderful throughout and Brown is a magnificent. The scene where Bush tries out his wooden leg for the first time accompanied by a running commentary of nautical commands is priceless.

Lieutenant Bush was watching Brown fastening the last strap of his new wooden leg, and Hornblower, from across the room, was watching the pair of them.
"'Vast heaving," said Bush. "Belay." Bush sat on the edge of his bed and moved his leg tentatively. "Good," he said. "Give me your shoulder. Now, heave and wake the dead." Hornblower saw Bush rise and stand; he watched his lieutenant's expression change to
one of hurt wonderment as he clung to Brown's burly shoulders. "God!" said Bush feebly, "how she heaves!" It was the giddiness only to be expected after weeks of lying and sitting. Evidently to Bush the floor was pitching and tossing, and, judging by the movement of his eyes, the walls were circling round him. Brown stood patiently supporting him as Bush confronted this unexpected phenomenon. Hornblower saw Bush set his jaw, his expression hardening as he battled with his weakness.
"Square away," said Bush to Brown. "Set a course for the captain."

I also loved the fact that Brown’s grasp of French equalled if not excelled his captain’s. Bet he was more entertaining company too!

I also really warmed to the Comte and Comtesse de Gracay. And I found Marie de Gracay one of the more believable female characters in the series; neither as pitiable as Maria nor as picture perfect as Barbara. I adore Lady B’s sharp wit but I was also rather impressed by the swift kick in the ego that is Marie’s parting gift to Hornblower.

"You are the sort of man," she went on, "whom women love very easily. I do not expect that I shall be the last. I don't think that you will ever love anybody, or know what it is to do so."

Hornblower could have said nothing in English in reply to these two astonishing statements, and in French he was perfectly helpless. He could only stammer.

"Goodbye," said Marie.
"Goodbye, madame," said Hornblower, lamely.

There are occasional moments of humour at Hornblower’s expense though fewer than in previous books. One that did make me laugh was Hornblower choosing to wear his embroidered silk nightshirt the first time he shares a room with Brown and Bush. Awww bless. Another was Hornblower’s “ridiculous pleasure about waking up to find Bush snoring beside him with a protective arm across him.” What can I say?!

All in all though I found Flying Colours to be a rather frustrating read. Perhaps because I couldn’t help contrasting it with the previous book I had read Escape from the French in which one Midshipman Maurice Hewson relates his account of escaping from the French prisons of Verdun and Bitche with a stoicism, honesty and candour that would put Hornblower to shame.

*ETA Since writing this I have come across the unfortunate Lieutenant Phillips who was actually court martialed and shot in 1745 for striking his ship, the Anglesey, 44, after his captain had taken her into an engagement with the French ship Apollon, 50, unprepared. The court martial found that:

Lieutenant Baker Phillips, late second lieutenant of the said ship, by not endeavouring to the utmost of his power after Captain Elton's death to put the ship in order of fighting, not encouraging the inferior officers and common men to fight courageously, and by yielding to the enemy, falls under part of the tenth article. They do sentence him to death, to be shot by a platoon of musqueteers on the forecastle, ... but ... having regard to the distress and confusion the ship was in when he came to the command, and being a young man and unexperienced, they beg leave to recommend him for mercy."

Phillips was shot regardless and it has subsequently been suggested that he was executed for having Jacobite sympathies. However my point stands. Hornblower is being a drama queen!

Lt Phillips Shot on the Forecastle
http://home.planet.nl/~pdavis/Phillips.htm

Comments

[azdak.livejournal.com]

Book!Hornblower as the kind of man women love very easily is something I have always found incredible. I can see why Maria falls for him - if she were a fangirl she would write woobie!fic, and she loses her heart to his worn coat and empty pockets. Barbara I'm less sure about, but then Barbara reminds me so much of my stepmother that I have trouble seeing why anyone would fancy her, so she and Hornblower make a good match (on the Churchillian principle that it is is very kind of Forrester to make Mr and Mrs Hornblower marry, thus only making two people miserable instead of four). But women in general? Fancy a man as stiff as a hatstand, who's so worried about the impression he's making that he does his best not to say a word?

Brown's success with women I can understand. And I'm certain he's better in bed than Hornblower, too - Hornblower would need constant reassurance about his performance, whereas Brown would just get on wiht it and a good time would be had by all.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Book!Hornblower as the kind of man women love very easily is something I have always found incredible.
Just speculating....Do you think it's something to do with the fact that Hornblower presents more than a bit of a challenge? That some women might think that they will be the only one who is able to get through him?

And I'm certain he's better in bed than Hornblower, too
ROFL! Can we look forward to Brown PWP in the not too distant future?! Perhaps Hornblower could learn something form his coxswain XD

[esteven]

I tried the Phillips link, and it did not seem to work.

I admit to have my difficulties with Mr Hornblower. It is fine that he needs constant reassurance in his earlier years, but wondering if he might trip over his sword, when he had been successful and worshipped for decades is a bit much. Still, he can be thankful for his friends and fellow officers. :D

As ou knew I would...
*thinks immediately of Jack Aubrey's court martial in Master and Commander which is really that of Thomas, Lord Cochrane*

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads up! Link fixed, back with comments later tonight.

[esteven]

Thankee!
*bows*

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Still, he can be thankful for his friends and fellow officers. :D
I certainly wouldn't argue with that. It's the people around Hornblower who are his saving grace.

I haven't read Master and Commander but Cochrane himself certainly faced his own court martial with a considerably more brass neck.

[esteven]

Cochrane himself certainly faced his own court martial with a considerably more brass neck.

The minutes of the court martial show that his officers and men spoke for him and his zeal, so there was no doubt he would be honourably acquitted. :D (as was Jack Aubrey)

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

nodbear and I have been reading court martial records as part of the research we're doing. One fo the most gratifying is Captain Reynold's court martial for the wreck of the Amazon following the engagement with the Droits de L'Homme. Unsurprisingly both Reynolds and his crew are acquitted with the highest honours.

[esteven]

Wonderful!

As I said, I like Tom C.s courtmartial, esp since I can also read the relevant parts in Master and Commander ;D

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Calm yourself my dear! You're almost making me feel sorry for the poor fellow. Which is something Forster never managed! XD

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I am quite deliberately not reading O'Brian until I finish Forester, otherwise I fear I will never go back! Partner kept reading bits of The Nutmeg of Consolation to me as I was wading through the quagmire of Hornblower's self doubt. Perhaps that's why I lost patience!

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I have read so much about O'Brian's playful use of language, I'm certainly looking forward to reading the series!

Interesting point about Forester showing his hand, you could be on to something there. One of the things I usually really like about Forester is that has has a very sly ones of humour but I felt that was rather lacking here. He just laid the angst on a bit thick in places. Although I know that's a bit rich coming from an Archie / Horatio fangirl!! ;)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_likimeya/]

Awful, isn't it, how everything always revolves around Hornblower's insecuriity and self-loathing? Funny, though, that you got fed up with it at this point. I never found it endearing, but I found the first two books (The Happy Return and A Ship of the Line, I mean) far worse, and Flying Colours rather more entertaining than them. It's finally some real drama! :)

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I think of the those three books I like A Ship of the Line best, primarily because it's really just a sequence of naval engagements. It reminds me very much of some of the histories I've read and enjoyed.

[esmerelda-t.livejournal.com]

Well I liked it and I like Horatio the misery guts too! :P

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

There always has to be one.... ;)

[idler-1814.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I have to agree with all the comments regarding Hornblower's shortcomings, but for me, it's those same flaws and foibles that make him interesting as a fictional character. Were he human, I'm certain I wouldn't like him as a man and would surely loathe him as a husband...still, in his paper-and-ink incarnation I'd find him utterly insufferable if his character were as exemplary as his intellect.

Flying Colours has to be one of my favorites. In it we see Hornblower taken out of his element: unable to maintain the fiction that he is completely in control, and forced by both proximity and emotion to close the distance he has carefully constructed between himself and his only real friend.

I found it intriguing just to sit back and watch Hornblower react. Sometimes he comes through with..er..flying colors, and sometimes he makes a royal hash of things. Interesting, too, to observe the comparison between Hornblower and Bush in this book. In every other, Bush is always the inferior, always just that much less. Not here, I think, at least in terms of strength of character: Bush copes with real and tangible loss, whereas Hornblower is tormented and almost undone by his imagination.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Oh thank you so much for taking the time to write such a considered response. I was hoping that someone would speak up on behalf of Hornblower here, I felt so mean posting such a negative review! And in actual fact I agree with much of what you say.

I'm particularly intrigued by your point about seeing Hornblower out of his element and the effect that has on his self image and his relationship with his companions. I hadn't really considered his reactions in these terms.

And I absolutely agree with your comments about Bush. He, and Brown to a lesser extent, really are the heart of this book.

I certainly won't let my impatience with Hornblower put me off reading the rest of the series, particularly as I enjoyed A Ship of the Line so very much. Thanks again for your comments!

[idler-1814.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting your thoughts! There's no need to thank me: Hornblower discussion is always a pleasure! I shouldn't have wandered away from it for so long.

I wonder if we readers were ever even intended to truly like and admire Hornblower....or, at least, every aspect of him? He was surely written with a dark and strange side. I'll have to read CSF's Hornblower Companion sometime--hard to imagine that I haven't yet--perhaps Forester addresses his interpretation of Hornblower's character to some extent.

I'd love to see someone rewrite Flying Colours from Brown's POV. Things might look considerably different from a perspective outside of Hornblower's head!

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome! I didn't want to sound like I was character bashing :}

I haven't read the Hornblower Companion yet but I would love to know more about Forester's motivation for creating a character as idiosyncratic as Hornblower. He often seems to go out of his way to paint such an un-sympathetic picture of him.

Flying Colour's from Brown's POV would be fascinating, and highly entertaining too I should imagine!

[ioanite.livejournal.com]

If you don't like this one, wait until "Lord Hornblower..." That one just made me feel...weird.

I didn't see Horatio as particularly annoying in this (except for the whole Marie thing), but then again, I'm biased.

To be honest, though, if Ioan hadn't been Horatio, he probably would be a lot harder to tolerate. I can be brooding myself, but I don't think I've ever taken it to the degree Horatio has.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I actually thought the affair with Marie brought a little warmth to Hornblower's character, despite the fact that he's cheating on his unfortunate wife. It seemed like a very human failing, and consequently a very believable one.

If you don't like this one, wait until "Lord Hornblower..."
Ooh that sounds very intriguing! I must bump Lord Hornblowerup my reading list!