The Wine-Dark Sea, by Patrick O'Brian

[rowyn]

This is #16 of the Aubrey-Maturin series. I liked this one, in fine O'Brian style with lots of ups and downs and sea action and naturalism. It also finally sees the end of the mission Aubrey and Maturin set out on five books ago, so that was cool. I am wondering if they'll make it home in the next book sometime? I am quite anxious to see how their families are. There is an annoying allusion to events off-camera at one point: a character notes he saw 'poor X's widow' and I am like wait what X is dead what happened to him? No one else asks. COME ON. I know this is a minor character from a prior book but STILL.

Anyway, looking forward to reading #17, though I'm gonna take a break and read something else first. For variety. And also I am running out of Aubrey-Maturin books now anyway. c.c

Comments

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Pick a random battle in which unnamed people died and assume he was one of them?

[rowyn]

He was alive and on a different ship from the protagonists the last time I heard about him, so all I know is "he didn't die in any action that took place in the books".

[alltoseek.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's announced kind of baldly like that - I think the way real life back then worked; because a character who traveled from the one place to the other arrived before the news would have appeared and then arrived in any formal publication, and since he was such a minor tangential character the death wasn't broached carefully like that of a close friend or family member.

There's some more references to how she became widowed in the next book. You don't get a lot of details, but enough.

Hazards of naval life during wartime.

[rowyn]

Yeah, the lack of preamble didn't bother me, but I was surprised that no one asked what happened to him at the time. I mean, obviously it's not shocking when people die, but the lack of interest was startling.

I keep thinking about Jack picking up those two stranded awkward young midshipmen and giving them a place, even if he did demote them temporarily, and for a little while it looked like they'd make something of themselves. But now they're both dead. :(

[alltoseek.livejournal.com]

Do not become attached to the redshirts middies.

[rowyn]

But ... but ... Babbington! Reade! ;_; DON'T TELL ME IF HORRIBLE THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM I DON'T WANT TO KNOW.

[alltoseek.livejournal.com]

OK, won't tell you.

;-)

Babbs is safe - he's a post-captain now! It's just in the middie stage of life they are so vulnerable *g*

[rowyn]

Oakes was a lieutenant when he was last on camera, I think, and it sounds like master-and-commander when he got killed. :(

I kinda figure the motto of these books is "no one is safe but Stephen and Jack", really. c_c

[alltoseek.livejournal.com]

He would have been only acting lt, and I don't even think that, because you can send middies to take prizes home. I think he was lt on the ship when he died. Pretty sure not m&c.

But anyway. Yes lt's die. But never after you've grown attached (Babbs, Pullings, and Mowett all survive the whole series - there, I've spoiled you ;-) It's only middies who are Too Cute To Live (which ought to be a tvtrope, but isn't :P)

[rowyn]

I remember Jack saying he was promoting Oakes before sending him off (remember he wanted to promote Oakes earlier, until Pullings explained that having Oakes and Clarissa mess with the gunroom would just make things worse?) And in The Commodore, Sir Blaine says he got Oakes "his promotion and a ship". I don't know if that's meant to indicate 'm&c and a ship to command' or just 'promotion to lieutenant and a ship to serve on'.

He'd also stopped being cute by the time he gave Clarissa a black eye and then kept her in his room so no one else would see. :6 Still, it was sad to hear he'd died.

[rowyn]

GODDAMMIT BONDEN DIES IN BOOK 19 F U POB WHO'S NEXT KILLICK?

;_;

(I'd be more ticked about Diana dying -- off camera! SHEESH -- but her death was spoiled for me so I've been waiting for it for 12 books now.)

[alltoseek.livejournal.com]

Yeah, people are pretty upset about the way Bonden is offed - so random, which kinda makes sense, because it was just a bit earlier that I had been thinking about how none of the repeating characters get killed off, just new ones, and that's not how it would go in RL, esp for a gunner like Bonden - and then Whoops! there he goes D: Just when we were getting to know him too (the whole boxing thing, and the head injury).

But what upsets people is how he is barely mourned. Jack gives him a fleeting thought later and then that's it.

Diana gets mourned by Stephen for pretty much an entire book.

Yeah, I got spoilt for Diana's death early on too - like FoW. All I heard was something about a carriage, so every time she went traveling I went yay this is it we don't have to deal with her anymore! Only to be disappointed. I hate that POB offed her just when she was finally getting fun to have around :P :P :P

Doing it between books like that was cheap too. But POB lost his own beloved wife about the same time; I think that was part of the reason Diana died. POB himself felt a lot like Stephen did; prolly easier to write that way.

You asked about Killick - Shall I spoil you for future deaths?
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spoiler: there aren't any. of anyone we know & love. there's an admiral that dies but we didn't love him and anyway i think you got to that part already.

[rowyn]

I didn't really expect a big fuss over him because POB never does -- I kind of feel like that's part of POB's image of the time period, that death was so common in the Navy that you could not really mourn when it happened. I was a little surprised at how much grief Stephen was permitted.

I'd started liking Diana several books ago, so I wasn't looking forward to her death. v_v