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A review by leesmyth
The Far Side of the World by Patrick O'Brian
5.0
In no particular order, this one involves:
* ultra-feminist Polynesian cannibals;
* shipwrecks and castaways;
* trickery, bluffs, and counter-bluffs with the enemy;
* dramatic rescues;
* whalers and whaling talk;
* the Galapagos Islands;
* murder, suicide, and a love triangle....
It's a wonderful story, complete with sailors named Macbeth and Macduff who ruin Jack's attempt at quoting Shakespeare to lighten Stephen's mood.
And, of course, close observations of the human condition.
"From the fore-cabin came the youngsters' chorus of hic haec hoc and their mirth, mildly checked by Mr Martin, at the final his his his, his his his...." p. 109
"[I]n the course of his [medical] career by land he had seen many and many a husband, and even some lovers, angry at a woman's sickness, impatient, full of blame: quite devoid of pity, and angry that it should be expected of them." p. 183
"Stephen noticed, not without irritation, that as he ate and drank his civility was growing less artificial, his deliberately urbane expression more nearly a spontaneous smile, and that he was in danger of enjoying himself." p. 251
* ultra-feminist Polynesian cannibals;
* shipwrecks and castaways;
* trickery, bluffs, and counter-bluffs with the enemy;
* dramatic rescues;
* whalers and whaling talk;
* the Galapagos Islands;
* murder, suicide, and a love triangle....
It's a wonderful story, complete with sailors named Macbeth and Macduff who ruin Jack's attempt at quoting Shakespeare to lighten Stephen's mood.
And, of course, close observations of the human condition.
"From the fore-cabin came the youngsters' chorus of hic haec hoc and their mirth, mildly checked by Mr Martin, at the final his his his, his his his...." p. 109
"[I]n the course of his [medical] career by land he had seen many and many a husband, and even some lovers, angry at a woman's sickness, impatient, full of blame: quite devoid of pity, and angry that it should be expected of them." p. 183
"Stephen noticed, not without irritation, that as he ate and drank his civility was growing less artificial, his deliberately urbane expression more nearly a spontaneous smile, and that he was in danger of enjoying himself." p. 251