...a heap of trash with a boat-cloak thrown over it.

[anteros_lmc]

Well that's not a very auspicious introduction is it?! :)

I finally caved in and read some CSF today. I was determined to finish Melville and at least one of the PO'B books I got for Christmas before I went anywhere near Forester. What can I say? I was on a very long cold train journey and willpower deserted me.

I only read the first chapter of Mr Midshipman Hornblower and was intrigued that Horatio in his youngest incarnation simultaneously manages to be both a poor truaghan* and almost preternaturally self-possessed. To my fic-addled mind he also seemed painfully lost and lonely without Archie :(

From the brief snip I've read, I like Foresters writing style, somehow its not quite what I imagined it would be, but I can't really say why. And I adored the bit about the tea!

"Give me another cup," he said, and was proud of himself that he could think about tea at that moment.

Oh, and I couldn't follow the game of whist even though I used to play with my grandfather. I was only five at the time and I suspect now that he simplified the rules for me ;)

*truaghan - poor wretched creature (Gaelic)

Comments

[sarlania.livejournal.com]

Huzzah for starting the books! I don't suppose you've got up to the bit where Kennedy is mentioned, have you?

I think it is one of the last books that CSF wrote. IMO it's not his best, but that's just personal taste. =)

[black-hound.livejournal.com]

*encourages more of that sort of caving in*

[gayalondiel.livejournal.com]

Congratulations for caving! I'm reading them again myself, having taken a long hiatus between Hotspur and Atropos, and I find them a very enjoyable and comforting read.

I know what you mean about missing Archie, though. Lt. Horatio Hornblower is bizarre to read in light of Mutiny and Retribution.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I don't suppose you've got up to the bit where Kennedy is mentioned
No I haven't, and I shall probably cry when I do :( *hopeless case*

I did wonder whether to read chronologically or in the order they were written. I had gathered from other's comments that Mr Midshipman is not quite so highly rated as CSF's earlier works.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Of course you know who I hold responsible for this! ;)

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about missing Archie, though
*sniff* I just _so_ wanted him to be there. *hopeless*

Lt. Horatio Hornblower is bizarre to read in light of Mutiny and Retribution.
I can quite imagine!

[esmerelda-t.livejournal.com]

I couldn't finish that one as Mr. Midshipman Hornblower came across as such an a arse in it. In the later ones he's the adorkable Horatio I recognise, know, and love though.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower came across as such an arse
Main thing that came across for me was the lack of Archie! ;)

In the later ones he's the adorkable Horatio I recognise, know, and love though.
Can't wait to meet him again!

[thehappyreturn.livejournal.com]

*cheers you on*

What's interesting about the books is that they weren't written in order. Apart from the fact that CSF ends of contradicting his own dates/histories a little, this is in fact him filling in HH's own backstory well after he's been invented as a character in the first book.

I think it's done excellently, really explaining why and how he is and became such a - a freak, and how that manifested itself when he was basically a nobody.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

*cheers you on*
:) Really I _must_ finish my other books though, otherwise they might sit there till doomesday!

such a - a freak
Hmm, so far the poor lad has been described as "an arse" and "a freak" and that's by the fans! *intrigued* I'm rather looking forward to getting to know this unique individual!