Source of book: I own this.
It is always sad to come to the end of a series, particularly one I have enjoyed as much as Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey and Maturin adventures. (Yes, I know he left a partially written one behind, but this is the last fully realized book.) Because the books tell a continuous story, it is definitely best to read them from the beginning. Here are the ones that I have written about on this blog. You might want to read those in order too.
One of the fascinating things about this series is that the characters age in time and temperament as it goes on. Since I started reading the books as a young man, and am finishing them in middle age, I have sort of paralleled the life of Jack Aubrey in some ways. I understand the difference between the brash youth and the seasoned veteran. Stephen Maturin is a little harder to imagine as young, even though he was once. His harder life and employment as a spy make him more jaded from the beginning, and he never seems quite as exuberant as Jack. Which is why they make such an amazing pair.
Since reading the previous book, my 13 year old has discovered these books, and from there has gone on to devour everything about seafaring in the Age of Sail as he can get his hands on, from Moby Dick on down. In addition, he has built a series of Lego ships and boats with the correct masts and sails (he makes the sails himself.)
This particular book starts after Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo. Indeed, there is an interesting description of the battle related by a soldier early in the book. Fortunately, it is a lot shorter than the endless one in Les Miserables. The defeat is great news for England as a nation, but a catastrophe for many in the Royal Navy, who are now out of jobs. It is particularly problematic for Jack, because he has yet to make the rank of Admiral, and could be essentially retired, with no future ahead of him.
But first, he has what may be a final mission: take the Surprise and Stephen to Chile, where rebels are asserting independence from Spain. The mission is supposedly a mapping and scientific expedition, but in reality, Jack is expected to assist the rebels and train the Chilean navy.
But first, everything goes wrong. The Surprise is run down and almost sunk by a timber ship on a rainy night. So they have to return for repairs. In the meantime, Stephen runs back to London to get further instructions from his boss, Sir Joseph Blaine. Then, after repairs, they put in Freetown on the African coast for further supplies before heading to Rio. At Freetown, Stephen, widowed unexpectedly at the start of the last book, proposes to Christine Wood, a widow and fellow naturalist. She turns him down at first, citing a hatred of sex stemming from her last marriage. However, she decides to think things over more, as she and Stephen are certainly kindred spirits.
After a brutally difficult trip around Cape Horn, the ship arrives in Chile, to find the political situation difficult at best. Jack decides to resolve the issues in his usual way, by finding some military action he can take. So, we get a pretty dramatic capture of a key town, and the defeat and capture of a Peruvian man-of-war. And, as the title suggests, Jack finally gets to fly the Blue at the Mizzen - the sign of an admiral. In this way, it is a fitting end to the series. The Chile episode is based pretty directly on a real life occurrence, in this case, one involving Sir Thomas Cochrane, the character that O’Brian based Jack Aubrey on in the first place. For the most part, the series draws on real events, but this one seems particularly true to the history, with a plethora of historical figures making appearances.
A kind of melancholy pervades the book, as Jack assumes his career is ending, and Stephen, struggling with his own grief, is lured back into his laudanum addiction. While Stephen is still very much Stephen, there is a difference in his wooing of Ms. Wood from his earlier romance with Diana Villiers. This one is more one sided, for one thing. But also, it doesn’t feel like a youthful passion, but like an autumn friendship.
We also get to meet a promising new character, Horatio Hansen, a new midshipman eager to learn the ways of the sea. Alas, with the series at an end, we have to imagine that his career proceeds apace. We also lose another long-time character, Mr. Woodbine, who dies of some unknown ailment enroute. (It is probably related to general age and wear and tear - he is quite old by this time.)
Early in the book, Jack is faced with trying to keep his crew – newly flush with prize money – from going on a drunken bender and deserting. The young Jack would have probably caroused with them, but he has matured. And, tellingly, he is less quick to assume that sailors are naturally better than the soldiers who misbehaved after Waterloo.
There is one particular line that I wanted to quote, just because it is humorous, and representative of how Jack in particular describes battles.
“May I beg you to place a bottle or two, or some pieces of bread, in the vital places, so that we mere sailors can follow the manoeuvers?”
This is a hallmark of the series: Jack or another captain reenacting a battle using whatever foodstuffs are on hand, from cheese to wine bottles.
It struck me that the series, with the exception of a few inconsistencies in the first book, is remarkably consistently good throughout. Although I have my favorites, to be sure, and there are parts of some books that drag a bit, O’Brian is able to keep the world of the series alive and vibrant to the very end. He never just mails it in, but works to find interesting events, and fresh psychological perspectives on the characters the entire time. To do that for twenty books is impressive, particularly when writing about the same characters, and within the bounds of historical events. The series never, to use a modern term, jumps the shark. And really, the way O’Brian subtly changes and ages the characters is believably natural. It has been quite the ride over the years, and I have savored every minute.
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