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A review by leesmyth
The Hundred Days by Patrick O'Brian
3.0
It was good, though not my favorite.
Interesting interactions with a culture marked by double-crossing, ruthless violence, and slavery.
"There was not a hand aboard who had not seen one of the rowers – slave or unransomable captive – thrown screaming into the sea, the bloody sea, and there was not one who did not hate and loathe those that did it." (p. 269)
Certainly, by the time they gain the upper hand (thereby inducing the enemy to slay their leader and surrender), they are more than wary enough to sniff out opportunities for betrayal. Dr Jacob won't give himself away by appearing or translating, so the enemy send forward several British subjects as go-betweens. Those men's status is a little ambiguous, perhaps – they were captured and bear whip marks, but were still "in" enough not to be jettisoned with the slaves – but they recognize an opportunity for redemption and escape and do their part to disarm the rest.
There's also something interesting about Lady Clifford's immediate refusal, in Algiers, to take in two Irish children Stephen has purchased to send home to their families, ostensibly because her husband the consul could not abide children. This is contrasted with Lady Keith's near-immediate decision to put them up with with her chief gardener's family.
Interesting interactions with a culture marked by double-crossing, ruthless violence, and slavery.
"There was not a hand aboard who had not seen one of the rowers – slave or unransomable captive – thrown screaming into the sea, the bloody sea, and there was not one who did not hate and loathe those that did it." (p. 269)
Certainly, by the time they gain the upper hand (thereby inducing the enemy to slay their leader and surrender), they are more than wary enough to sniff out opportunities for betrayal. Dr Jacob won't give himself away by appearing or translating, so the enemy send forward several British subjects as go-betweens. Those men's status is a little ambiguous, perhaps – they were captured and bear whip marks, but were still "in" enough not to be jettisoned with the slaves – but they recognize an opportunity for redemption and escape and do their part to disarm the rest.
There's also something interesting about Lady Clifford's immediate refusal, in Algiers, to take in two Irish children Stephen has purchased to send home to their families, ostensibly because her husband the consul could not abide children. This is contrasted with Lady Keith's near-immediate decision to put them up with with her chief gardener's family.