What do you think?
Rate this book
Hornblower Saga: Chronological Order #6
Beat to Quarters
June 1808, somewhere west of Nicaragua-a site suitable for spectacular sea battles. The Admiralty has ordered Captain Horatio Hornblower, now in command of the thirty-six-gun HMS Lydia, to form an alliance against the Spanish colonial government with an insane Spanish landowner; to find a water route across the Central American isthmus; and "to take, sink, burn or destroy" the fifty-gun Spanish ship of the line Natividad or face court-martial. A daunting enough set of orders-even if the happily married captain were not woefully distracted by the passenger he is obliged to take on in Panama: Lady Barbara Wellesley.
324 pages, Paperback
First published February 4, 1937
About the author
C.S. Forester
568 books925 followersCecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of adventure and military crusades. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, about naval warfare during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen (1935; filmed in 1951 by John Huston). His novels A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours were jointly awarded the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 508 reviews
May 27, 2019
I have a great affection for the Hornblower books, not least because when I read them as a child they awoke a life-long passion for the age of sail that is still with me today. The Happy Return (called Beat to Quarters in the US) was the first Hornblower book written by CS Forester, although it is the sixth book in the series chronologically. This shows in the book in several subtle ways. The structure is more of a standalone work, rather than a planned stepping stone to the next book in the series. The character of Hornblower is still work in progress, with several traits quietly dropped for subsequent books in the series.
There is much to admire in this book. For its time (it was published in early 1937) it’s a surprisingly fast, action-filled romp that presents no difficulty stylistically to a modern reader. The nautical passages are very well done, and have set the benchmark for all subsequent age of sail fiction, including my own. The trick that Forester pulls off is to supply descriptions that are full of authentic colour and detail, yet are still always comprehensible to the layman. The lengthy battle sequence with the Natividad is also exceptionally well written.
Hornblower himself is a particularly interesting hero. Supremely competent, yet full of self-loathing and doubt, he is almost autistic in his inability to form relationships with those around him. An outsider, thanks to his humble origins, his flawed personality makes us root for him all the more.
The book is not, in my opinion the best of the Hornblower canon. For one thing his main protagonist, El Supremo, is too crude to be truly menacing. Where Hornblower is cleverly drawn, and believable, his opponent is not. An enemy with no redeeming features ultimately lacks any real terror. Also readers should be aware that there are some racial attitudes in the book that will jar for the modern reader. CS Forester was brought up in Imperial Britain, and this is apparent in his descriptions of Hispanics that can, at times, make this Englishman’s toes curl with embarrassment.
There is much to admire in this book. For its time (it was published in early 1937) it’s a surprisingly fast, action-filled romp that presents no difficulty stylistically to a modern reader. The nautical passages are very well done, and have set the benchmark for all subsequent age of sail fiction, including my own. The trick that Forester pulls off is to supply descriptions that are full of authentic colour and detail, yet are still always comprehensible to the layman. The lengthy battle sequence with the Natividad is also exceptionally well written.
Hornblower himself is a particularly interesting hero. Supremely competent, yet full of self-loathing and doubt, he is almost autistic in his inability to form relationships with those around him. An outsider, thanks to his humble origins, his flawed personality makes us root for him all the more.
The book is not, in my opinion the best of the Hornblower canon. For one thing his main protagonist, El Supremo, is too crude to be truly menacing. Where Hornblower is cleverly drawn, and believable, his opponent is not. An enemy with no redeeming features ultimately lacks any real terror. Also readers should be aware that there are some racial attitudes in the book that will jar for the modern reader. CS Forester was brought up in Imperial Britain, and this is apparent in his descriptions of Hispanics that can, at times, make this Englishman’s toes curl with embarrassment.
September 17, 2022
The first Hornblower book I've read and I'm suitably impressed and may read another in a few months.
The big scene for me is the battle between the Lydia and the Natividad but the book then continues with a potential love affair between the Captain and the Duke of Wellington's sister.
Hornblower seems to 'snap' at the crew a lot but they still revere him, so he must be getting something right. I marvel at the accuracy of the battle scenes and the careening of the Lydia on a Pacific island.
The big scene for me is the battle between the Lydia and the Natividad but the book then continues with a potential love affair between the Captain and the Duke of Wellington's sister.
Hornblower seems to 'snap' at the crew a lot but they still revere him, so he must be getting something right. I marvel at the accuracy of the battle scenes and the careening of the Lydia on a Pacific island.
September 26, 2015
I started reading these years ago and still enjoy them. I've recently been trying to fill in gaps in my reading of the story (chronologically speaking). This is the story where Hornblower first meets Lady Barbara.
In the book Hornblower is thrown into an untenable political situation where (again) his lack of self confidence convinces him that his career is ruined (as I said, again).
As always good narration, good plot, good characters. These are excellent books.
Recommended.
In the book Hornblower is thrown into an untenable political situation where (again) his lack of self confidence convinces him that his career is ruined (as I said, again).
As always good narration, good plot, good characters. These are excellent books.
Recommended.
December 14, 2021
After recently finishing Obama's 700 page tome I needed something lighter, physically and mentally, to read. I didn't have a lot on my TBR shelf but I do have a stack of all the Hornblower books in a corner for just such emergencies. I haven't read a Hornblower book in quite awhile and this seemed like the time to renew my acquaintance with the Age of Fighting Sail genre. This particular entry in the series was better than average and I am, therefore, giving it 3.5 stars.
In the this book the now Captain Hornblower is in command of the 36 gun frigate Lydia and is ordered to endeavor to advance some fictional English meddling into the weakened Spanish Empire's affairs along the Pacific coast of Central America. He is to supply a local rebel leader with money, guns, and powder and such assistance as will aid this rebel in his attempts to seek independence for his country. While there Hornblower is also to locate and either capture or sink the 50 gun Spanish ship of the line that is the sole enforcer of Spanish authority in these Pacific waters. These orders are carried out to the letter by Hornblower even though he finds the rebel leader to be nothing short of a lunatic madman. An unforeseen change of circumstances results in some significant and enjoyable naval action between the Lydia and the 50 gun Spanish ship. Oh, and did I mention that the sister of the future Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, is on board the Lydia during all of this? Like I said a better than average Hornblower book and just what I was looking for. Enjoy.
In the this book the now Captain Hornblower is in command of the 36 gun frigate Lydia and is ordered to endeavor to advance some fictional English meddling into the weakened Spanish Empire's affairs along the Pacific coast of Central America. He is to supply a local rebel leader with money, guns, and powder and such assistance as will aid this rebel in his attempts to seek independence for his country. While there Hornblower is also to locate and either capture or sink the 50 gun Spanish ship of the line that is the sole enforcer of Spanish authority in these Pacific waters. These orders are carried out to the letter by Hornblower even though he finds the rebel leader to be nothing short of a lunatic madman. An unforeseen change of circumstances results in some significant and enjoyable naval action between the Lydia and the 50 gun Spanish ship. Oh, and did I mention that the sister of the future Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, is on board the Lydia during all of this? Like I said a better than average Hornblower book and just what I was looking for. Enjoy.
November 3, 2020
*Updated-politically corrects patriarchal language.*
We meet Horatio Hornblower. The first of Forester's classic sea tales of the Napoleanic Wars and introducing Hornblower, Bush and Lady Barbara. It's still among the best of his novels, creating a thinking person's hero. Hornblower is wracked by perpetual self doubts over his abilities and has a sympathetic attitude towards his crew, in spite of the rigid class system of the day. Forester's great strengths are his ability to create realistic settings and characters using an admirable economy of language and strong pacing.
The plot sees Hornblower in command of the frigate HMS Lydia in Pacific waters, charged with fomenting rebellion in Spain's Central American colonies. Forester had spent time in Central America and was able create believable, exotic backdrops for his adventures. Likewise, his knowledge of sailing lent verisimilitude to the technical portions of the book (my own knowledge ends at "Avast, ye lubbers").
I first read this in the early 70's and have lost count of the rereads. I still find it fresh and greatly entertaining. The mark of a superior story teller.
We meet Horatio Hornblower. The first of Forester's classic sea tales of the Napoleanic Wars and introducing Hornblower, Bush and Lady Barbara. It's still among the best of his novels, creating a thinking person's hero. Hornblower is wracked by perpetual self doubts over his abilities and has a sympathetic attitude towards his crew, in spite of the rigid class system of the day. Forester's great strengths are his ability to create realistic settings and characters using an admirable economy of language and strong pacing.
The plot sees Hornblower in command of the frigate HMS Lydia in Pacific waters, charged with fomenting rebellion in Spain's Central American colonies. Forester had spent time in Central America and was able create believable, exotic backdrops for his adventures. Likewise, his knowledge of sailing lent verisimilitude to the technical portions of the book (my own knowledge ends at "Avast, ye lubbers").
I first read this in the early 70's and have lost count of the rereads. I still find it fresh and greatly entertaining. The mark of a superior story teller.
September 16, 2022
2022 reads, #47. THE GREAT COMPLETIST CHALLENGE: In which I revisit older authors and attempt to read every book they ever wrote
Currently in the challenge: Margaret Atwood | JG Ballard | Clive Barker | Christopher Buckley | Jim Butcher's Dresden Files | Lee Child's Jack Reacher | Philip K Dick | Ian Fleming | CS Forester's Horatio Hornblower | William Gibson | Michel Houellebecq | John Irving | Kazuo Ishiguro | Shirley Jackson | John Le Carre | Bernard Malamud | Cormac McCarthy | China Mieville | Toni Morrison | VS Naipaul | Chuck Palahniuk | Tim Powers | Terry Pratchett's Discworld | Philip Roth | Neal Stephenson | Jim Thompson | John Updike | Kurt Vonnegut | Jeanette Winterson | PG Wodehouse
Finished: Isaac Asimov's Robot/Empire/Foundation
I recently had a chance to watch again all eight of the "Horatio Hornblower" television movies produced by the British ITV in the late 1990s and early '00s, regarding the derring-do adventures of an officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars; and my big enjoyment of them all over again finally convinced me to try reading at least one of the original books by CS Forester these are based on, first published in the 1930s through '60s. I've put it off until now, frankly, because it feels like a real grandpa move to me; and that's primarily because when I was a kid in the '70s, these were exactly the kinds of books my actual grandfathers and all the grandfather-types around me used to read, along with unending amounts of Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, James A. Michener and other such "manly men" genre thrillers about cowboys and conquistadors and square-jawed sailing ship captains, screaming "FIRE!!!" to their dutiful crew shooting a 50-pound cannon out a hole in the side of their wooden ship at those damned dirty Frenchies.
On the other hand, however, I am trying to get in more easy-reading genre thrillers in my life these days, or at least during the summer, to nostalgically honor my pleasant memories of being in my public library's childhood Summer Reading Camp each year; and it's not like I had to sign on for the entire eleven-book series just to check out one of them, and not like I even had to finish the first book if I wasn't jibing with it, given that I just got it from the Chicago Public Library for free anyway. And so I tried it, and I suddenly discovered why grandpas the world over have been falling in love with these books for the last 80 years and still counting, because this turned out to be a lot easier for a non-sailing enthusiast like me to read and understand than I had been expecting, a real corker of a swashbuckler that not only delivers action-movie thrills but also gives you a lot to philosophically think about when it comes to human nature, why we admire the people we do, and the age-old question of whether the severe stoicism of military life erodes our fundamental humanity or not.
Here in the first book of the series, originally published in 1937 during the interregnum of the World War (which, as sci-fi author Ada Palmer has inspired me to do, I now treat as just one big war that lasted from 1914 to 1945, not a War 1 and War 2), we are introduced to our series hero already as a middle-aged captain of a major naval ship in the year 1808, in the middle of the war years when the people of Spain and its Central American colonies rose up against French occupation, declared independence and suddenly became the allies of Great Britain. That's what takes Hornblower and the HMS Lydia not just to Central America but to the western, Pacific side of Central America, where British ships almost never went (this is long before the Panama Canal, mind you, when the only way over there from Europe was to sail all the way around the southern tip of South America), to help out a former member of the Nicaraguan nobility who has decided to enact a military coup of the occupying French forces.
This nicely also helped Forester solve the challenge he faced each time with every new book, which is that he didn't want to have to deal with the Mid-Century Modernist equivalent of snotty Comic Book Guy leaving rants at Amazon about how he got tiny details of actual Napoleonic battles wrong, so he instead set each Hornblower book far away from any of the actual battles that were taking place in the real world at that time. In the 1808 of this book, these were mostly back in Spain and Portugal, so Forester instead places Hornblower literally thousands of miles away, which allows him to be both geographically accurate in the book but also take a lot of liberties when it comes to what actually happens. That's what lets him stuff this first one to overflowing with fascinating developments that, while fanciful, did actually happen occasionally in these years; the Central American noble he's sent to help turns out to be a dictatorial psychopath who literally crucifies his enemies, while Hornblower's ship ends up in a rare turn of events picking up a woman for part of its trip, an important noble back in Britain who's also unusually forward and independent, and unusually has training in treating the sick and injured (and so helps out after a major battle in which half the ship is injured or killed, gaining her a lot of admiration among the all-male crew). And that's not even counting the chasing of a fabled ship filled with Spanish gold; the idyllic pause at a sandy South Pacific island while they tip the entire ship sideways, repair the hole-filled bottom, and create a brand-new 125-foot-tall main mast; and the bragging contest on board over which sailor ate the most amount of rats during a period at sea when they ran out of food.
Yeah, Forester's packing in every detail he can get away with in a tale about the Napoleonic British Navy, including introductory lessons on sailing terms and how ships navigated in the 1700s using only a sextant and the night sky. That's what makes this so memorable, because it's everything and the kitchen sink, not just exciting but thought-provoking and instructive, and so scratches that very specific older male itch that modern authors like Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton do in our own times. That makes it all the more the surprise that it's so relatable and easy to follow as well, and that Forester really squeezes as much as he can out of this milieu by making Hornblower an unusual character on top of everything else, unusually caring and sensitive but who overcompensates by always maintaining a stony arms-length demeanor with his men, ironically celebrated by them for this as an exemplary example of the True British Man. That's beating in the heart of any grandpa nerd who still tears through a book every couple of days like they did when younger, but whose tastes have simply gravitated towards the more traditional, more historical and more conservative as they've gotten older; underneath the fascination with guns and vehicles and other inventions is the heart of a romantic, and this Hornblower novel lets this tech-obsessed military-friendly male reader vicariously see himself in our admirably tender captain, who feels much more deeply for his men than the infamously insular discipline of a naval ship would ever allow him to display publicly.
Forester actually wrote five novels in a row depicting Hornblower at the height of his powers, a dashing and wise Jean-Luc Picard type who is never less than brave, honest, even-tempered, and most often the smartest one in the room, which got us in his fictional timeline to July 1815 and Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo; but public demand for more stories was so vociferous, Forester then turned to Hornblower's early years in the Navy as a bumbling teenager who was constantly making mistakes but still acting with guts and bravery, set way back in the 1790s when Napoleon was still just a military commander and not yet emperor. Those turned out to be equally as popular, so much so that some people now read them in the chronological order of the character, not the order Forester originally wrote them. (Certainly this is what the ITV movie series did, following an adventurous Hornblower in his teens and twenties as he rises from a lowly midshipman [basically a cadet] to eventually the captain of his own warship; star Ioan Gruffudd, who moved to Hollywood at the end of the series to star in the ill-fated "Fantastic Four" movies, has publicly stated in many interviews since that he'd be very enthusiastic about doing a contemporary big-budget adaptation of this first Hornblower adventure now, in that he's currently middle-aged himself and thus naturally ready to take on the part.)
Whatever the case, with there being only eleven books in the whole series, I think for sure that I'll be tackling at least one more of them, and I imagine unless they suddenly go horrible that I'll probably be incorporating the rest into my summer reading challenges over the next decade, when I tackle such other summer-friendly beach and airport authors as Lee Child, Jim Butcher, Elin Hilderbrand, Terry Pratchett and more. For now, I very enthusiastically recommend this first book of the series, at least for those of you who also have at least a theoretical interest in Clancy, Crichton, Michener, Grey, L'Amour and others. I'm 53 this year, so I'm just officially old enough now to start unironically embracing the "grandpa-lit" category out there (eat your heart out, chick-lit); and this first Hornblower novel is a super-solid entry in this category, exactly the gift for the silver-haired technothriller fan in your own life.
CS Forester "Horatio Hornblower" books being reviewed in this series: Beat to Quarters (1937) | Ship of the Line (1938) | Flying Colours (1939) | Commodore Hornblower (1945) | Lord Hornblower (1946) | Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (1950) | Lieutenant Hornblower (1952) | Hornblower and the Atropos (1953) | Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies (1958) | Hornblower and the Hotspur (1962) | Hornblower During the Crisis (1967)
Currently in the challenge: Margaret Atwood | JG Ballard | Clive Barker | Christopher Buckley | Jim Butcher's Dresden Files | Lee Child's Jack Reacher | Philip K Dick | Ian Fleming | CS Forester's Horatio Hornblower | William Gibson | Michel Houellebecq | John Irving | Kazuo Ishiguro | Shirley Jackson | John Le Carre | Bernard Malamud | Cormac McCarthy | China Mieville | Toni Morrison | VS Naipaul | Chuck Palahniuk | Tim Powers | Terry Pratchett's Discworld | Philip Roth | Neal Stephenson | Jim Thompson | John Updike | Kurt Vonnegut | Jeanette Winterson | PG Wodehouse
Finished: Isaac Asimov's Robot/Empire/Foundation
I recently had a chance to watch again all eight of the "Horatio Hornblower" television movies produced by the British ITV in the late 1990s and early '00s, regarding the derring-do adventures of an officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars; and my big enjoyment of them all over again finally convinced me to try reading at least one of the original books by CS Forester these are based on, first published in the 1930s through '60s. I've put it off until now, frankly, because it feels like a real grandpa move to me; and that's primarily because when I was a kid in the '70s, these were exactly the kinds of books my actual grandfathers and all the grandfather-types around me used to read, along with unending amounts of Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, James A. Michener and other such "manly men" genre thrillers about cowboys and conquistadors and square-jawed sailing ship captains, screaming "FIRE!!!" to their dutiful crew shooting a 50-pound cannon out a hole in the side of their wooden ship at those damned dirty Frenchies.
On the other hand, however, I am trying to get in more easy-reading genre thrillers in my life these days, or at least during the summer, to nostalgically honor my pleasant memories of being in my public library's childhood Summer Reading Camp each year; and it's not like I had to sign on for the entire eleven-book series just to check out one of them, and not like I even had to finish the first book if I wasn't jibing with it, given that I just got it from the Chicago Public Library for free anyway. And so I tried it, and I suddenly discovered why grandpas the world over have been falling in love with these books for the last 80 years and still counting, because this turned out to be a lot easier for a non-sailing enthusiast like me to read and understand than I had been expecting, a real corker of a swashbuckler that not only delivers action-movie thrills but also gives you a lot to philosophically think about when it comes to human nature, why we admire the people we do, and the age-old question of whether the severe stoicism of military life erodes our fundamental humanity or not.
Here in the first book of the series, originally published in 1937 during the interregnum of the World War (which, as sci-fi author Ada Palmer has inspired me to do, I now treat as just one big war that lasted from 1914 to 1945, not a War 1 and War 2), we are introduced to our series hero already as a middle-aged captain of a major naval ship in the year 1808, in the middle of the war years when the people of Spain and its Central American colonies rose up against French occupation, declared independence and suddenly became the allies of Great Britain. That's what takes Hornblower and the HMS Lydia not just to Central America but to the western, Pacific side of Central America, where British ships almost never went (this is long before the Panama Canal, mind you, when the only way over there from Europe was to sail all the way around the southern tip of South America), to help out a former member of the Nicaraguan nobility who has decided to enact a military coup of the occupying French forces.
This nicely also helped Forester solve the challenge he faced each time with every new book, which is that he didn't want to have to deal with the Mid-Century Modernist equivalent of snotty Comic Book Guy leaving rants at Amazon about how he got tiny details of actual Napoleonic battles wrong, so he instead set each Hornblower book far away from any of the actual battles that were taking place in the real world at that time. In the 1808 of this book, these were mostly back in Spain and Portugal, so Forester instead places Hornblower literally thousands of miles away, which allows him to be both geographically accurate in the book but also take a lot of liberties when it comes to what actually happens. That's what lets him stuff this first one to overflowing with fascinating developments that, while fanciful, did actually happen occasionally in these years; the Central American noble he's sent to help turns out to be a dictatorial psychopath who literally crucifies his enemies, while Hornblower's ship ends up in a rare turn of events picking up a woman for part of its trip, an important noble back in Britain who's also unusually forward and independent, and unusually has training in treating the sick and injured (and so helps out after a major battle in which half the ship is injured or killed, gaining her a lot of admiration among the all-male crew). And that's not even counting the chasing of a fabled ship filled with Spanish gold; the idyllic pause at a sandy South Pacific island while they tip the entire ship sideways, repair the hole-filled bottom, and create a brand-new 125-foot-tall main mast; and the bragging contest on board over which sailor ate the most amount of rats during a period at sea when they ran out of food.
Yeah, Forester's packing in every detail he can get away with in a tale about the Napoleonic British Navy, including introductory lessons on sailing terms and how ships navigated in the 1700s using only a sextant and the night sky. That's what makes this so memorable, because it's everything and the kitchen sink, not just exciting but thought-provoking and instructive, and so scratches that very specific older male itch that modern authors like Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton do in our own times. That makes it all the more the surprise that it's so relatable and easy to follow as well, and that Forester really squeezes as much as he can out of this milieu by making Hornblower an unusual character on top of everything else, unusually caring and sensitive but who overcompensates by always maintaining a stony arms-length demeanor with his men, ironically celebrated by them for this as an exemplary example of the True British Man. That's beating in the heart of any grandpa nerd who still tears through a book every couple of days like they did when younger, but whose tastes have simply gravitated towards the more traditional, more historical and more conservative as they've gotten older; underneath the fascination with guns and vehicles and other inventions is the heart of a romantic, and this Hornblower novel lets this tech-obsessed military-friendly male reader vicariously see himself in our admirably tender captain, who feels much more deeply for his men than the infamously insular discipline of a naval ship would ever allow him to display publicly.
Forester actually wrote five novels in a row depicting Hornblower at the height of his powers, a dashing and wise Jean-Luc Picard type who is never less than brave, honest, even-tempered, and most often the smartest one in the room, which got us in his fictional timeline to July 1815 and Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo; but public demand for more stories was so vociferous, Forester then turned to Hornblower's early years in the Navy as a bumbling teenager who was constantly making mistakes but still acting with guts and bravery, set way back in the 1790s when Napoleon was still just a military commander and not yet emperor. Those turned out to be equally as popular, so much so that some people now read them in the chronological order of the character, not the order Forester originally wrote them. (Certainly this is what the ITV movie series did, following an adventurous Hornblower in his teens and twenties as he rises from a lowly midshipman [basically a cadet] to eventually the captain of his own warship; star Ioan Gruffudd, who moved to Hollywood at the end of the series to star in the ill-fated "Fantastic Four" movies, has publicly stated in many interviews since that he'd be very enthusiastic about doing a contemporary big-budget adaptation of this first Hornblower adventure now, in that he's currently middle-aged himself and thus naturally ready to take on the part.)
Whatever the case, with there being only eleven books in the whole series, I think for sure that I'll be tackling at least one more of them, and I imagine unless they suddenly go horrible that I'll probably be incorporating the rest into my summer reading challenges over the next decade, when I tackle such other summer-friendly beach and airport authors as Lee Child, Jim Butcher, Elin Hilderbrand, Terry Pratchett and more. For now, I very enthusiastically recommend this first book of the series, at least for those of you who also have at least a theoretical interest in Clancy, Crichton, Michener, Grey, L'Amour and others. I'm 53 this year, so I'm just officially old enough now to start unironically embracing the "grandpa-lit" category out there (eat your heart out, chick-lit); and this first Hornblower novel is a super-solid entry in this category, exactly the gift for the silver-haired technothriller fan in your own life.
CS Forester "Horatio Hornblower" books being reviewed in this series: Beat to Quarters (1937) | Ship of the Line (1938) | Flying Colours (1939) | Commodore Hornblower (1945) | Lord Hornblower (1946) | Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (1950) | Lieutenant Hornblower (1952) | Hornblower and the Atropos (1953) | Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies (1958) | Hornblower and the Hotspur (1962) | Hornblower During the Crisis (1967)
October 18, 2010
Long ago I read the first Aubrey Maturin book and absolutely hated it. Easily one of my most hated fiction books of all time. To this day I am baffled at the popularity of the series. Maybe later books are vastly better. Maybe people didn't read them in order. I don't know.
The Hornblower books are one of those things that I've always been vaguely aware of. I had always associated them with bad, mindless best seller pablum. Like a 1930s James Patterson, all action, no nuance. For some reason I came across a copy of this and decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did because it was nothing like what I expected.
There is some action -- quite a bit of it -- but there was far more characterization of Hornblower than I expected. Forester does a tremendous job of giving us someone who is, outwardly, the pinnacle of British captaincy during the Napoleonic era. But, because we are privy to his inner thoughts and feelings, we understand how much of it is a facade and how deep his inner turmoil runs.
The Hornblower books are one of those things that I've always been vaguely aware of. I had always associated them with bad, mindless best seller pablum. Like a 1930s James Patterson, all action, no nuance. For some reason I came across a copy of this and decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did because it was nothing like what I expected.
There is some action -- quite a bit of it -- but there was far more characterization of Hornblower than I expected. Forester does a tremendous job of giving us someone who is, outwardly, the pinnacle of British captaincy during the Napoleonic era. But, because we are privy to his inner thoughts and feelings, we understand how much of it is a facade and how deep his inner turmoil runs.
November 18, 2021
I came to this story with several assumptions: one was that it would mostly be something akin to a boy’s own adventure lionizing a great fictional British hero; another was that said famous hero, Horatio Hornblower, would prove to be an obvious model for another Napoleonic captain with whom I am much more familiar, Jack Aubrey; finally, that there wouldn’t really be much to surprise me. I was (mostly) wrong on all counts.
Perhaps it was unfair of me to have come to the book immediately drawing comparisons between Forester and Patrick O’Brian. Indeed, it’s unclear to me how much O’Brian may (or may not) have been influenced by Forester in his writing and any perceived similarities I observed may have simply been due to the fact that both men were writing of the English navy of the 18th and 19th centuries which not only required the use of the same jargon, but had them both casting their heroes as participants in the same pan-European war(s). I have to admit that thus far, however, it does seem a bit unfortunate that I have come to Forester after O’Brian as the latter does appear to me to be the superior writer. That said, I consciously came to Forester in publishing, as opposed to chronological, order partly in the hopes that any narrative infelicities or weaknesses might be mitigated in later volumes as the author (presumably) hit his stride.
The basic plot of the story is certainly something that could have been dropped into any of the Aubrey-Maturin novels as our hero sails to Central America under orders from the British Admiralty in order to foment rebellion against Spain. Aside from the broad strokes of this sea-faring plot and a liberal use of the aforementioned sea jargon I found that in the end both authors were quite different…and I must admit that I don’t know if there can be two men more dissimilar than Hornblower and Aubrey. At this point I have admittedly only had the acquaintance of one of them for a single volume, but I can’t help but compare the two captains of His Britannic Majesty’s navy. Right off the bat, Hornblower came across as a much pricklier fellow than Lucky Jack. Indeed, I wasn’t expecting Hornblower to be so snappish, or so keen to always appear in control (while internally he was a mass of uncertainty and insecurity). He displays a superior attitude towards everyone around him in an attempt to shore up his constant self-doubt and is certainly a far cry from the affable Jack Aubrey who seems to do his best to at least try and give everyone he meets the benefit of the doubt. This air of superiority, coupled with his internal insecurities, presents a much more calculating hero than I had expected to find - one who gauges his every word and action to project the proper image and manipulate those around him (especially his crew) to best advantage. There is, in a word, something a bit cold-blooded about Hornblower that I did not at all expect and so while I would freely admit that he is presented as a ‘hero’ in the British navy I’m not sure that ‘lionizing’ would be the correct term to apply to what Forester is doing. Ultimately, Hornblower comes across as a rather high-strung man riddled with insecurities that are mostly kept in check by a strong will. Aubrey, who tends to wear his heart on his sleeve, can be a taskmaster when he must, but he exudes a sense of (real) confidence and self-assurance that is totally unlike Hornblower. This lack of confidence on Hornblower’s part is not really justified, as we come to see that he is as capable and sharp a captain when it comes to the handling of his ship or managing a crisis as Jack Aubrey (who is no slouch in these matters). Indeed, one strong commonality that both captains share is an almost mystical ‘sailor’s sense’ coupled with an incredible mathematical mind: the former letting them know the condition of their ship, crew, and the weather almost instinctually, and the latter allowing them to make split-second tactical decisions in regard to navigation and combat.
The character of Hornblower was thus a much more complicated one than I thought I would be meeting in this tale and proved to be a rather compelling protagonist as a result. Alas, there were only two other characters that came anywhere close him in interest: the strong willed and independent Lady Barbara Wellesley, unforeseen passenger, possible obstacle to smooth-sailing (both literally and figuratively), and putative love interest; and Don Julian Maria de Jesus de Alvarado y Moctezumo (or El Supremo for short), the Kurtz-like villain whose certainty of his own divinity and willingness to plumb any depravity to maintain his power was intriguingly presented as both a villain and a victim. Alas, I keenly felt the absence of a Maturin against whom Hornblower could play off. Perhaps the closest among his crew was his Lieutenant Bush, but his hero-worship of Hornblower (thus far at least) was far too sycophantic to allow him to be very compelling…it actually would have been more interesting to have seen someone like the lady-killer Gerard becoming something of a foil to the captain, but even here, like all the crew, he was just too enamoured of his captain for this to occur.
Having said that I thus far prefer the Aubrey-Maturin tales to Hornblower should not be taken as a slight. It would take a lot for a naval series to eclipse O'Brian's work in my eyes and I still found much to be enjoyed, and even a bit surprised about, in this tale. I'll definitely be returning to Forester's work to see where he takes Hornblower as the series progresses.
Perhaps it was unfair of me to have come to the book immediately drawing comparisons between Forester and Patrick O’Brian. Indeed, it’s unclear to me how much O’Brian may (or may not) have been influenced by Forester in his writing and any perceived similarities I observed may have simply been due to the fact that both men were writing of the English navy of the 18th and 19th centuries which not only required the use of the same jargon, but had them both casting their heroes as participants in the same pan-European war(s). I have to admit that thus far, however, it does seem a bit unfortunate that I have come to Forester after O’Brian as the latter does appear to me to be the superior writer. That said, I consciously came to Forester in publishing, as opposed to chronological, order partly in the hopes that any narrative infelicities or weaknesses might be mitigated in later volumes as the author (presumably) hit his stride.
The basic plot of the story is certainly something that could have been dropped into any of the Aubrey-Maturin novels as our hero sails to Central America under orders from the British Admiralty in order to foment rebellion against Spain. Aside from the broad strokes of this sea-faring plot and a liberal use of the aforementioned sea jargon I found that in the end both authors were quite different…and I must admit that I don’t know if there can be two men more dissimilar than Hornblower and Aubrey. At this point I have admittedly only had the acquaintance of one of them for a single volume, but I can’t help but compare the two captains of His Britannic Majesty’s navy. Right off the bat, Hornblower came across as a much pricklier fellow than Lucky Jack. Indeed, I wasn’t expecting Hornblower to be so snappish, or so keen to always appear in control (while internally he was a mass of uncertainty and insecurity). He displays a superior attitude towards everyone around him in an attempt to shore up his constant self-doubt and is certainly a far cry from the affable Jack Aubrey who seems to do his best to at least try and give everyone he meets the benefit of the doubt. This air of superiority, coupled with his internal insecurities, presents a much more calculating hero than I had expected to find - one who gauges his every word and action to project the proper image and manipulate those around him (especially his crew) to best advantage. There is, in a word, something a bit cold-blooded about Hornblower that I did not at all expect and so while I would freely admit that he is presented as a ‘hero’ in the British navy I’m not sure that ‘lionizing’ would be the correct term to apply to what Forester is doing. Ultimately, Hornblower comes across as a rather high-strung man riddled with insecurities that are mostly kept in check by a strong will. Aubrey, who tends to wear his heart on his sleeve, can be a taskmaster when he must, but he exudes a sense of (real) confidence and self-assurance that is totally unlike Hornblower. This lack of confidence on Hornblower’s part is not really justified, as we come to see that he is as capable and sharp a captain when it comes to the handling of his ship or managing a crisis as Jack Aubrey (who is no slouch in these matters). Indeed, one strong commonality that both captains share is an almost mystical ‘sailor’s sense’ coupled with an incredible mathematical mind: the former letting them know the condition of their ship, crew, and the weather almost instinctually, and the latter allowing them to make split-second tactical decisions in regard to navigation and combat.
The character of Hornblower was thus a much more complicated one than I thought I would be meeting in this tale and proved to be a rather compelling protagonist as a result. Alas, there were only two other characters that came anywhere close him in interest: the strong willed and independent Lady Barbara Wellesley, unforeseen passenger, possible obstacle to smooth-sailing (both literally and figuratively), and putative love interest; and Don Julian Maria de Jesus de Alvarado y Moctezumo (or El Supremo for short), the Kurtz-like villain whose certainty of his own divinity and willingness to plumb any depravity to maintain his power was intriguingly presented as both a villain and a victim. Alas, I keenly felt the absence of a Maturin against whom Hornblower could play off. Perhaps the closest among his crew was his Lieutenant Bush, but his hero-worship of Hornblower (thus far at least) was far too sycophantic to allow him to be very compelling…it actually would have been more interesting to have seen someone like the lady-killer Gerard becoming something of a foil to the captain, but even here, like all the crew, he was just too enamoured of his captain for this to occur.
Having said that I thus far prefer the Aubrey-Maturin tales to Hornblower should not be taken as a slight. It would take a lot for a naval series to eclipse O'Brian's work in my eyes and I still found much to be enjoyed, and even a bit surprised about, in this tale. I'll definitely be returning to Forester's work to see where he takes Hornblower as the series progresses.
May 24, 2015
Another good Hornblower novel, a bit shorter than some. This one concentrates on the hardship of a long time at sea. What the sailors would put up with is incredible. The food is enough to gag a maggot &, surrounded by water, they barely get enough 'fresh' water (7 months in a cask!) to live. When repairs are needed, the efforts are truly heroic. They empty the ship entirely, refit & fix her as if she were in a refit yard, & sail off in 2 weeks!
Hornblower's navigation is fantastic. Twice he managed to hit tiny targets after months at sea. Latitude is one thing. It can be checked fairly often, but longitude relies on clocks & the knowledge of speed - the distance covered. How he managed that after 7 months with the old clocks, all the currents & storms, is nothing short of miraculous.
There are plenty of other wild adventures & issues that come up. It's packed with adventure. It ends rather abruptly, though. Can't wait to read the next. There's a thread dangling that holds some real promise. Glad I didn't read any of the short stories or books further along in the chronology.
Hornblower's navigation is fantastic. Twice he managed to hit tiny targets after months at sea. Latitude is one thing. It can be checked fairly often, but longitude relies on clocks & the knowledge of speed - the distance covered. How he managed that after 7 months with the old clocks, all the currents & storms, is nothing short of miraculous.
There are plenty of other wild adventures & issues that come up. It's packed with adventure. It ends rather abruptly, though. Can't wait to read the next. There's a thread dangling that holds some real promise. Glad I didn't read any of the short stories or books further along in the chronology.
July 19, 2024
I feel it’s necessary to start this review with a confession: until I came across a copy of Mr. Midshipman Hornblower in a secondhand bookstore I had no interest in reading C. S. Forester’s series. My decision to purchase it was driven more by desperation than anything else, as I finished the book I had taken with me on vacation more quickly than I had anticipated and was in need of something else with which to while away the hours. With few other options that were as promising, I decided to set aside whatever preconceived notions I had and give Forester’s novel a chance.
It didn’t take long before I was hooked. By the time I finished the book I had resolved to read the full series which, having started with Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, I decided to do in chronological order. This is why it has taken me until now to reach the inaugural book in the series, which I approached with considerable curiosity. Foremost in my thoughts was the question of how this book would compare with the others, which were centered around a character who had already been fleshed out by Forester well before he wrote the books in which I had been introduced to him.
In some ways my approach to the works was vindicated, as Forester drops his reader right into the action. We meet Forester just as he and his crew have completed a long voyage to the Pacific coast of Central America, where he has been sent with orders to foment trouble for Napoleon Bonaparte’s ally, Spain, by encouraging rebellion in their empire. Meeting up with the self declared “El Supremo,” a local tyrant, Hornblower is soon carrying out his mission, only for the mission to change midway through. Suddenly enemies are allies and Hornblower must face the very men he has done so much to empower. And then there is the problem of the lady . . .
The ploy moves briskly through these events, as Hornblower and his crew adapt to an ever-changing situation. Yet as exciting as the plot is, it is the character of Hornblower himself who is at the center of Forester’s narrative. Throughout the narrative the reader is shown Hornblower’s internal struggles, particularly his effort to maintain he façade of the leader he believes is necessary to command the respect of his men. That wearing this mask of command is such a challenge for Hornblower adds both to the depth of the character and the tension of the tale. Complicating matters further for Hornblower is the presence of Lady Barbara Wellesley, whose presence poses a challenge both professionally and personally for the married captain. How Hornblower meets the challenges is every bit as entertaining as the naval battles and the details of ship handling that Forester provides, all of which make for a gripping read. By the end, it's easy to this how this book spawned a series that remains in print today, one that has often been imitated but never surpassed.
It didn’t take long before I was hooked. By the time I finished the book I had resolved to read the full series which, having started with Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, I decided to do in chronological order. This is why it has taken me until now to reach the inaugural book in the series, which I approached with considerable curiosity. Foremost in my thoughts was the question of how this book would compare with the others, which were centered around a character who had already been fleshed out by Forester well before he wrote the books in which I had been introduced to him.
In some ways my approach to the works was vindicated, as Forester drops his reader right into the action. We meet Forester just as he and his crew have completed a long voyage to the Pacific coast of Central America, where he has been sent with orders to foment trouble for Napoleon Bonaparte’s ally, Spain, by encouraging rebellion in their empire. Meeting up with the self declared “El Supremo,” a local tyrant, Hornblower is soon carrying out his mission, only for the mission to change midway through. Suddenly enemies are allies and Hornblower must face the very men he has done so much to empower. And then there is the problem of the lady . . .
The ploy moves briskly through these events, as Hornblower and his crew adapt to an ever-changing situation. Yet as exciting as the plot is, it is the character of Hornblower himself who is at the center of Forester’s narrative. Throughout the narrative the reader is shown Hornblower’s internal struggles, particularly his effort to maintain he façade of the leader he believes is necessary to command the respect of his men. That wearing this mask of command is such a challenge for Hornblower adds both to the depth of the character and the tension of the tale. Complicating matters further for Hornblower is the presence of Lady Barbara Wellesley, whose presence poses a challenge both professionally and personally for the married captain. How Hornblower meets the challenges is every bit as entertaining as the naval battles and the details of ship handling that Forester provides, all of which make for a gripping read. By the end, it's easy to this how this book spawned a series that remains in print today, one that has often been imitated but never surpassed.
June 11, 2013
The ITV series of Hornblower telemovies arguably constituted one of the high points of my childhood. That's the first point. The second point is that I recently read several installments in Patrick O'Brien's excellent Aubrey-Maturin series, and developed a fondness for the Napoleonic period and all its accoutrements (the Sharpe series is another example of the Napoleonic page-turner). Thirdly, the publication date helpfully informs me that "Beat to Quarters" was copyrighted in 1938, which puts it at the tail end of the interwar period, a time during which I believe some of the very best literature ever to be produced was being written and published on both sides of the Atlantic.
So, imagine my surprise when I found that I loathed Horatio Hornblower - or, at least, his first literary incarnation. It is said that O'Brian, writing thirty years later, drew much inspiration from C.S. Forester's Hornblower series. But O'Brian did better than that; he improved Forester's concept immeasurably.
"Beat to Quarters" reads very much like a child's impression of an Aubrey-Maturin novel. It has a smaller dose of naval jargon, which I might have once welcomed, but the simplified treatment of life on board HM frigate Lydia seems like a cop-out or a charicature. We are never shown something when we can be told it; we can't properly appreciate the complexity of commanding a warship because, instead of laying out the complexity for all to see, Forester resorts to telling us repeatedly how very, very, awfully, jolly difficult it is to be a captain, and that you must have a heart of gold and nerves of steel and so forth. This oversimplification also manifests itself in the narrative voice, which persistently intrudes on the narrative with Forester's editorial asides, which should have been turned into footnotes in the second draft and then thrown out altogether in the third. Take this beauty, for example, and tell me if you can maintain a sense of total narrative immersion when faced with such writing:
"Any woman who could transfer herself in that fashion from boat to ship in an open roadstead, and could ascend a rope ladder unassisted, must be too masculine for his [Hornblower's] taste. Besides, an Englishwoman must be unsexed to be in Panama without a male escort - the phrase "globe trotting" with all its disparaging implication, had not yet been invented, but it expressed exactly Hornblower's feeling about her." [pg. 125-126]
Three thing about that passage. Well, four. The first is that I have been pulled by my thesis supervisors - two historians - about using anachronistic language. I use it sometimes because I'm from the 21st century and I try very hard to forget that I am. /but it is often jarring - and occasionally, OCCASIONALLY defensible - and I eliminate it where I can. I don't draw attention to it by launching into a little "nudge-nudge, wink-wink, women-these-days-eh?" discourse with my reader.
Which brings me to the second point: I don't think Forester is joking. I have previously commented on this site that i consider myself to be unoffendable - sex, violence, drug use, swearing, whatever - the part of my brain that is supposed to rail against these things has packed up and left and has left all its duties up to whichever hemisphere or cortex says things like, "Oh, isn't that fascinating!" I don't get in a huff, about anything. Except for other people getting in a huff. But here's the thing: Forester is recording an attitude towards women here that is attributable entirely to his character, and it appears to be a very histoorically accurate rendering of a Napoleonic English naval captain's internal dialogue. But it's also self-evidently Forester's internal (or, now, external) dialogue, and the reader then begins to suspect very strongly that what they are witnessing is not an excellent rendering of contemporary social norms, but rather a boorish modern writer with retrogressive views using his creation as convenient cover. In short. Forester makes no attempt to conceal his authorial presence, and at times I found that presence to be quite odious.
Along that vein, let us consider the literary implications of this passage and others. This is not a good book, in the conventional sense of the word, because it aspires to qualities it does not have. Maybe Forester's authorial asides were attempts at a more knowing, cozy, postmodernist style of writing where the readership is invited to participate (in a limited way) in the narrative by responding to asides and being directly addressed by the author. I've read a few books that pull this trick off convincingly, and a few which do not. While I haven't read it, Italo Calvino's "If On a Winter's Night a Travaller" seems to fit the bill perfectly. "Beat to Quarters" does not. It all feels very hackneyed - stylistically tired; vague on details in a childrens' literature kind of way; boring even when it's exciting; full of "love" themes apparently written by someone with a favourite cat, but nothing more.
That's the third point. The fourth is that if I had read this in, say, 1939 - newly published and exciting and whatnot - the take-home message for me would be that, by Jove, the British Empire is a place well worth defending and I'm going to toddle off down to the local recruiting station and join the RAF in case Jerry ever decides to have another crack at Blighty. Bish bosh! Tally ho! It has dated very poorly. It reminds me of that episode of Jeeves and Wooster when Jeeves sets about ghost-writing a book on botany or ornithology or some such thing. The resultant text is laden with pedagogical asides along the lines of, "Now remember, children, that if you really want to knwo about the North American barking swallow, you should put this modest volume aside and pick up SIr Ernest Beedlewomp's "Birds and Bees..." etc etc. There aren't any specific or direct appeals, but one gets the distinct impression that "Beat to Quarters" is an educational tool as well as a piece of entertainment. It's the kind of artform that peaked in the late Victorian era but continued until the Empire had been completely dismantled, whose aim is not aesthetic beauty or intellectual daring, but to produce an idealised version of society. "Beat to Quarters" is like socialist realism (you know- all the painting of Stalin sitting with cherubic children on his lap while combine harvesters bring in a bumper crop in the background), just with a late-imperial bias.
I may have completely gotten the wrong end of the stick in this last point, and "Beat to Quarters" may well be a brilliant piece of satire, or a perfectly pitched and formulated period drama. But I doubt it. When Forester's pomposity is the most believable thing in the whole book, I know it's time to revisit the Hornblower DVDs and see the naval hero as he should be seen: uninhibited by the inadequacies of his creator.
So, imagine my surprise when I found that I loathed Horatio Hornblower - or, at least, his first literary incarnation. It is said that O'Brian, writing thirty years later, drew much inspiration from C.S. Forester's Hornblower series. But O'Brian did better than that; he improved Forester's concept immeasurably.
"Beat to Quarters" reads very much like a child's impression of an Aubrey-Maturin novel. It has a smaller dose of naval jargon, which I might have once welcomed, but the simplified treatment of life on board HM frigate Lydia seems like a cop-out or a charicature. We are never shown something when we can be told it; we can't properly appreciate the complexity of commanding a warship because, instead of laying out the complexity for all to see, Forester resorts to telling us repeatedly how very, very, awfully, jolly difficult it is to be a captain, and that you must have a heart of gold and nerves of steel and so forth. This oversimplification also manifests itself in the narrative voice, which persistently intrudes on the narrative with Forester's editorial asides, which should have been turned into footnotes in the second draft and then thrown out altogether in the third. Take this beauty, for example, and tell me if you can maintain a sense of total narrative immersion when faced with such writing:
"Any woman who could transfer herself in that fashion from boat to ship in an open roadstead, and could ascend a rope ladder unassisted, must be too masculine for his [Hornblower's] taste. Besides, an Englishwoman must be unsexed to be in Panama without a male escort - the phrase "globe trotting" with all its disparaging implication, had not yet been invented, but it expressed exactly Hornblower's feeling about her." [pg. 125-126]
Three thing about that passage. Well, four. The first is that I have been pulled by my thesis supervisors - two historians - about using anachronistic language. I use it sometimes because I'm from the 21st century and I try very hard to forget that I am. /but it is often jarring - and occasionally, OCCASIONALLY defensible - and I eliminate it where I can. I don't draw attention to it by launching into a little "nudge-nudge, wink-wink, women-these-days-eh?" discourse with my reader.
Which brings me to the second point: I don't think Forester is joking. I have previously commented on this site that i consider myself to be unoffendable - sex, violence, drug use, swearing, whatever - the part of my brain that is supposed to rail against these things has packed up and left and has left all its duties up to whichever hemisphere or cortex says things like, "Oh, isn't that fascinating!" I don't get in a huff, about anything. Except for other people getting in a huff. But here's the thing: Forester is recording an attitude towards women here that is attributable entirely to his character, and it appears to be a very histoorically accurate rendering of a Napoleonic English naval captain's internal dialogue. But it's also self-evidently Forester's internal (or, now, external) dialogue, and the reader then begins to suspect very strongly that what they are witnessing is not an excellent rendering of contemporary social norms, but rather a boorish modern writer with retrogressive views using his creation as convenient cover. In short. Forester makes no attempt to conceal his authorial presence, and at times I found that presence to be quite odious.
Along that vein, let us consider the literary implications of this passage and others. This is not a good book, in the conventional sense of the word, because it aspires to qualities it does not have. Maybe Forester's authorial asides were attempts at a more knowing, cozy, postmodernist style of writing where the readership is invited to participate (in a limited way) in the narrative by responding to asides and being directly addressed by the author. I've read a few books that pull this trick off convincingly, and a few which do not. While I haven't read it, Italo Calvino's "If On a Winter's Night a Travaller" seems to fit the bill perfectly. "Beat to Quarters" does not. It all feels very hackneyed - stylistically tired; vague on details in a childrens' literature kind of way; boring even when it's exciting; full of "love" themes apparently written by someone with a favourite cat, but nothing more.
That's the third point. The fourth is that if I had read this in, say, 1939 - newly published and exciting and whatnot - the take-home message for me would be that, by Jove, the British Empire is a place well worth defending and I'm going to toddle off down to the local recruiting station and join the RAF in case Jerry ever decides to have another crack at Blighty. Bish bosh! Tally ho! It has dated very poorly. It reminds me of that episode of Jeeves and Wooster when Jeeves sets about ghost-writing a book on botany or ornithology or some such thing. The resultant text is laden with pedagogical asides along the lines of, "Now remember, children, that if you really want to knwo about the North American barking swallow, you should put this modest volume aside and pick up SIr Ernest Beedlewomp's "Birds and Bees..." etc etc. There aren't any specific or direct appeals, but one gets the distinct impression that "Beat to Quarters" is an educational tool as well as a piece of entertainment. It's the kind of artform that peaked in the late Victorian era but continued until the Empire had been completely dismantled, whose aim is not aesthetic beauty or intellectual daring, but to produce an idealised version of society. "Beat to Quarters" is like socialist realism (you know- all the painting of Stalin sitting with cherubic children on his lap while combine harvesters bring in a bumper crop in the background), just with a late-imperial bias.
I may have completely gotten the wrong end of the stick in this last point, and "Beat to Quarters" may well be a brilliant piece of satire, or a perfectly pitched and formulated period drama. But I doubt it. When Forester's pomposity is the most believable thing in the whole book, I know it's time to revisit the Hornblower DVDs and see the naval hero as he should be seen: uninhibited by the inadequacies of his creator.
October 17, 2011
This review is for the complete 11-book series of THE HORNBLOWER SAGA by C.S. Forester, which I just finished reading last night.
[Note: Individual books have individual star ratings (mostly 5-star, a few 4-star), but the descriptive review will be the same for each, and encompass the entire series, as follows.]
Actually, I just finished reading the complete series for the second time, the first being as a teenager some 30 years ago.
It's remarkable to me that I have only just this moment realized that my own timeline regarding the two readings corresponds almost exactly to the age progression experienced by the main character in the course of these 11 novels.
It's a 30-year journey unlike any other I have ever taken in books - full and deep and satisfying.
This is the epic saga of fictional British naval hero HORATIO HORNBLOWER, who goes from a 17-year-old midshipman to a 46-year-old admiral during the "golden age of sail" which encompasses the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century.
I'll list the 11 books in chronological order (not the order they were written), which is the best way, I believe, to read them:
- MR. MIDSHIPMAN HORNBLOWER
- LIEUTENANT HORNBLOWER
- HORNBLOWER AND THE HOTSPUR
- HORNBLOWER DURING THE CRISIS
- HORNBLOWER AND THE ATROPOS
- BEAT TO QUARTERS
- SHIP OF THE LINE
- FLYING COLOURS
- COMMODORE HOWNBLOWER
- LORD HORNBLOWER
- ADMIRAL HORNBLOWER IN THE WEST INDIES
I've read other sea-faring novels, but to me, Forester earns the crown.
Why?
Many reasons, but I'll list just three:
1. All the rousing action you could ask for in a well-paced adventure series...
2. ...coupled with a complex main character. This is the true secret of the Hornblower books - that Hornblower himself is not some one-dimensional, infallible, faultless hero. On the contrary, he is filled with self-doubt and doesn't always choose the best course, especially in personal matters. But by building the main character this way, Forester allows you to recognize, empathize, and eventually care deeply about him - rooting for his success rather than merely expecting it. It's this complex characterization that complements and actually allows for the heroics of the plot - because it all comes at a price.
[One price is so high that, as a teenager, I couldn't believe that Forester had actually done it. I can't go into detail because this is a spoiler-free review, but something happens that is so devastating that literally for entire books afterwards, I kept expecting Forester to make amends. But it doesn't happen. And finally, as an older adult - knowing it will happen, knowing there will be no reprieve - I realize Forester was saying, "This is the price of war."]
3. The Language of Sailing Ships: I'm not nautically-minded, and there is much use of nautical language in these books. But rather than being annoyed, I had a very different reaction. First, I learned a few things. But much more importantly, I also grew to appreciate the language itself, whether I understood its technical details or not. To me, it became like poetry. Or even music.
And I loved it.
All 11 books.
It's an investment, to be sure.
But, for those "able-bodied", a wonderfully entertaining journey awaits.
Should you set sail?
Aye-aye!
[Note: Individual books have individual star ratings (mostly 5-star, a few 4-star), but the descriptive review will be the same for each, and encompass the entire series, as follows.]
Actually, I just finished reading the complete series for the second time, the first being as a teenager some 30 years ago.
It's remarkable to me that I have only just this moment realized that my own timeline regarding the two readings corresponds almost exactly to the age progression experienced by the main character in the course of these 11 novels.
It's a 30-year journey unlike any other I have ever taken in books - full and deep and satisfying.
This is the epic saga of fictional British naval hero HORATIO HORNBLOWER, who goes from a 17-year-old midshipman to a 46-year-old admiral during the "golden age of sail" which encompasses the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century.
I'll list the 11 books in chronological order (not the order they were written), which is the best way, I believe, to read them:
- MR. MIDSHIPMAN HORNBLOWER
- LIEUTENANT HORNBLOWER
- HORNBLOWER AND THE HOTSPUR
- HORNBLOWER DURING THE CRISIS
- HORNBLOWER AND THE ATROPOS
- BEAT TO QUARTERS
- SHIP OF THE LINE
- FLYING COLOURS
- COMMODORE HOWNBLOWER
- LORD HORNBLOWER
- ADMIRAL HORNBLOWER IN THE WEST INDIES
I've read other sea-faring novels, but to me, Forester earns the crown.
Why?
Many reasons, but I'll list just three:
1. All the rousing action you could ask for in a well-paced adventure series...
2. ...coupled with a complex main character. This is the true secret of the Hornblower books - that Hornblower himself is not some one-dimensional, infallible, faultless hero. On the contrary, he is filled with self-doubt and doesn't always choose the best course, especially in personal matters. But by building the main character this way, Forester allows you to recognize, empathize, and eventually care deeply about him - rooting for his success rather than merely expecting it. It's this complex characterization that complements and actually allows for the heroics of the plot - because it all comes at a price.
[One price is so high that, as a teenager, I couldn't believe that Forester had actually done it. I can't go into detail because this is a spoiler-free review, but something happens that is so devastating that literally for entire books afterwards, I kept expecting Forester to make amends. But it doesn't happen. And finally, as an older adult - knowing it will happen, knowing there will be no reprieve - I realize Forester was saying, "This is the price of war."]
3. The Language of Sailing Ships: I'm not nautically-minded, and there is much use of nautical language in these books. But rather than being annoyed, I had a very different reaction. First, I learned a few things. But much more importantly, I also grew to appreciate the language itself, whether I understood its technical details or not. To me, it became like poetry. Or even music.
And I loved it.
All 11 books.
It's an investment, to be sure.
But, for those "able-bodied", a wonderfully entertaining journey awaits.
Should you set sail?
Aye-aye!
August 23, 2022
Age cannot wither these Hornblower books, nor custom stale. I read Hornblower And The Hotspur for probably the 5th or 6th time, just for the pleasure of it, and had to go straight on to The Happy Return. It’s just as good.
Newly promoted to Captain, Hornblower is in command of the frigate Lydia in the Pacific, dealing with tricky diplomatic matters with Spain and with a half-mad tyrant whom he has orders to assist. It’s another superbly told tale, full of fascinating detail which is never ponderous, and with some absolutely spellbinding battle sequences. C.S. Forester’s portrait of Hornblower’s psyche is as acute and believable as ever and the whole thing is just a pleasure from start to finish.
Written in 1937 (it is actually the first Hornblower book Forester wrote), some of the racial language used does grate on the modern ear – but that’s always a factor in reading books of earlier periods and sensibilities and it didn’t spoil things for me at all.
Many of my very well-worn 1970s paperbacks of the series carry an endorsement from Winston Churchill: “I find Hornblower admirable, vastly entertaining.” Well, I’m with Churchill on that one, and this is up there with the best of them. Very warmly recommended.
Newly promoted to Captain, Hornblower is in command of the frigate Lydia in the Pacific, dealing with tricky diplomatic matters with Spain and with a half-mad tyrant whom he has orders to assist. It’s another superbly told tale, full of fascinating detail which is never ponderous, and with some absolutely spellbinding battle sequences. C.S. Forester’s portrait of Hornblower’s psyche is as acute and believable as ever and the whole thing is just a pleasure from start to finish.
Written in 1937 (it is actually the first Hornblower book Forester wrote), some of the racial language used does grate on the modern ear – but that’s always a factor in reading books of earlier periods and sensibilities and it didn’t spoil things for me at all.
Many of my very well-worn 1970s paperbacks of the series carry an endorsement from Winston Churchill: “I find Hornblower admirable, vastly entertaining.” Well, I’m with Churchill on that one, and this is up there with the best of them. Very warmly recommended.
September 19, 2019
Of all the Hornblower books so far, I’ve most looked forward to reading Beat to Quarters (or The Happy Return in the UK) because it is the very first Hornblower book. I was very curious about what differences there might be between the earlier and later Hornblower books, and it turned out there were many. It was immediately apparent to me that Beat to Quarters was written many years before the prequels. It was not that Forester’s writing style was substantially different – no, it was that Hornblower felt dramatically different than the character I had grown fond of in the previous five books. Whereas in the previous books, young Hornblower’s reclusive and awkward behavior is a result of his shyness and self-doubt (and thus is easily empathized with by the reader) the captain that we meet in Beat to Quarters is often deliberately frigid and isolated. These qualities combined with the petty displays of pique make Hornblower a very human character, but just as importantly a not very likable one either – at least for the first segment of the novel. Reading Forester’s essay in The Hornblower Companion gave me some insight into these discrepancies (Forester was interested in exploring the concept of the “Man Alone”) but it was still unsettling to experience the abrupt shift in Hornblower’s personality.
There were also several inconsistencies, which, however understandable given the gap between the originals and the prequels, are nonetheless jarring for the reader who is making their way through the series in terms of Hornblower’s chronology. For example, Hornblower treats Captain Bush – that competent and devoted friend – quite coldly, especially so for reader who is not far off from reading Lieutenant Hornblower or Hornblower and the Hotspur.
Despite all of this, Beat to Quarters is a great story of adventure on the high seas. This book is set in a unique location for Hornblower – off the Pacific coast of Central America. The main antagonist in this story is the enemy ship Natividad which outguns and outmans Hornblower’s frigate Lydia. The battles that these two ships engage in are captured marvelously by Forester. In fact, these battles just might be the best action sequences in the whole series. I was enthralled by the drama and tension as I read about the maneuvering of the ships and the broadsides that were relentlessly traded.
As I mentioned above, I was rather unsettled while reading the first bit of the book, but Beat to Quarters gradually won me over thanks to Forester’s excellent writing.
There were also several inconsistencies, which, however understandable given the gap between the originals and the prequels, are nonetheless jarring for the reader who is making their way through the series in terms of Hornblower’s chronology. For example, Hornblower treats Captain Bush – that competent and devoted friend – quite coldly, especially so for reader who is not far off from reading Lieutenant Hornblower or Hornblower and the Hotspur.
Despite all of this, Beat to Quarters is a great story of adventure on the high seas. This book is set in a unique location for Hornblower – off the Pacific coast of Central America. The main antagonist in this story is the enemy ship Natividad which outguns and outmans Hornblower’s frigate Lydia. The battles that these two ships engage in are captured marvelously by Forester. In fact, these battles just might be the best action sequences in the whole series. I was enthralled by the drama and tension as I read about the maneuvering of the ships and the broadsides that were relentlessly traded.
As I mentioned above, I was rather unsettled while reading the first bit of the book, but Beat to Quarters gradually won me over thanks to Forester’s excellent writing.
August 25, 2020
I've been reading these novels in chronological order (as opposed to in the order in which they were written) and there is a jarring difference between the Hornblowers I've been devouring so far and this, the first Hornblower ever published. The character is not quite the same. The style of writing is not quite so fluent, so all-engrossing. I'm hoping to see these books get better from this point on.
Perhaps it is this, too, that made the period-appropriate racism and misogyny harder to read. I read a lot of historical fiction and have got used to reading attitudes that are really gross to a modern reader, and usually I try to just read past it, but here I must say it really affected my enjoyment of the story, and particularly of the character of Lady Barbara. I think I was supposed to find her admirable, but in fact I thought less of Hornblower for liking her.
Oh well. The action scenes are still interesting.
Perhaps it is this, too, that made the period-appropriate racism and misogyny harder to read. I read a lot of historical fiction and have got used to reading attitudes that are really gross to a modern reader, and usually I try to just read past it, but here I must say it really affected my enjoyment of the story, and particularly of the character of Lady Barbara. I think I was supposed to find her admirable, but in fact I thought less of Hornblower for liking her.
Oh well. The action scenes are still interesting.
May 17, 2011
I adore the Hornblower books for their intricate plots; for their chaotic naval engagements that Forester was so very adept at describing; and for their inside look into the twists and turns of the strategic, singular mind that is Horatio Hornblower's. Through his mounting exploits, Hornblower's character achieves heroic proportions. Beneath this stature, however, is a wellspring of doubt, ambition, and anxiety that courses through Hornblower at the onset of crisis. For their sheer weight in story alone, Forester's Hornblower books set themselves well apart from other adventurous fictions: that Forester substituted a priori heroics with careful portraiture makes them all the more fascinating reads.
This volume is the first that Forester wrote in his eleven book series--and it is not one of my favorites. It is broken into three parts, the first two of which are wonderful episodes that feature daring feats amidst insane odds and violent combat. Sadly, the third part releases the tensions raised in these previous two by drawing out the ending and introducing a romantic entanglement that I cared for not much at all. Certainly, Forester showed a better hand in his later Hornblower tales for wrapping up a story and leaving the reader mostly sated.
I still enjoyed this chapter in Hornblower's career, and I will still pick up the next with avid appetite.
This volume is the first that Forester wrote in his eleven book series--and it is not one of my favorites. It is broken into three parts, the first two of which are wonderful episodes that feature daring feats amidst insane odds and violent combat. Sadly, the third part releases the tensions raised in these previous two by drawing out the ending and introducing a romantic entanglement that I cared for not much at all. Certainly, Forester showed a better hand in his later Hornblower tales for wrapping up a story and leaving the reader mostly sated.
I still enjoyed this chapter in Hornblower's career, and I will still pick up the next with avid appetite.
September 9, 2015
Read this again over the weekend. It's fun and engaging, and a much lighter read than O'Brian, although I've been reading about Jack Aubrey for so long that it's hard to sympathize with Hornblower's insecurities - the way his insecurities make him behave, anyway. He's only redeemed when you see him through Lieutenant Bush's eyes.
Hornblower's internal commentary when he meets Lady Barbara is just awful. An Englishwoman must be unsexed to be in Panama without a male escort. Her disregard for her complexion explains her unmarried state. He's glad when a misuse of naval terminology revealed her to be "only a feeble woman after all", although that last smug impulse reveals his suspicion that she may in fact be an admirable character.
I was so pleased when she mocked his habitual throat-clearing.
Hornblower's internal commentary when he meets Lady Barbara is just awful. An Englishwoman must be unsexed to be in Panama without a male escort. Her disregard for her complexion explains her unmarried state. He's glad when a misuse of naval terminology revealed her to be "only a feeble woman after all", although that last smug impulse reveals his suspicion that she may in fact be an admirable character.
I was so pleased when she mocked his habitual throat-clearing.
April 23, 2018
Anyone who is in love with the great Age of Sail will adore this book and the rest in the series.
Captain Horatio Hornblower locks horns with a Spanish ship-of-the-line and an insane Central American landowner who has been persuaded to revolt against the Spanish Empire by Great Britain. He captures the ship and gives it to his mad ally . . . . . only to find out that Spain has changed sides in the war against Napoleon and is now with England fighting France.
The battle scenes are superbly written; sometimes you fell like you are actually there! You can almost smell the salty sea-air.
June 7, 2008
I quite enjoyed "Beat to Quarters" and thought it was a fine sea-adventure tale; I didn't understand most of the nautical terms used so some of the action probably went over my head--however, I never felt lost or completely confused.
I enjoyed the writing style, which was pleasant and easy to read, with plenty of humorous touches. The ocean battles were exciting and dramatic; Hornblower was a good character, and the strategies he uses were interesting and never boring.
I enjoyed the writing style, which was pleasant and easy to read, with plenty of humorous touches. The ocean battles were exciting and dramatic; Hornblower was a good character, and the strategies he uses were interesting and never boring.
April 22, 2020
Short version: if you watched Master and Commander and were enthralled and entranced, this book is for you. If not, abort! Abort!
Long version: This first novel by Forester (first in composition, not chronology) tells the story of Horatio Hornblower, an English frigate captain with a complicated mission and even more complicated psychology. It's quite fun to see Hornblower's inner workings, adding character depth to what otherwise might devolve into a mere tale of High Adventure on the High Seas. Hornblower's conflicted feelings about the job and the girl are fun to chronicle and to trace.
Sorry, did I say 'devolve'? 'Cause the high adventure is thrilling and compelling! The detail of nautical terms may seem unnecessarily exhaustive if you're only there for the plot, but the intricacies of the workings of the ship, sails, etc. all serve to immerse you in the world, so that when the battle is joined (and believe you me, it be joined!) you feel like you're on the ship with the crew and watching Hornblower desperately try anything to survive and triumph. It's easily the equal of the classic adventure stories by Haggard, Conan Doyle, and Kipling, and explains why Hornblower's 11 novels rank only second behind Sherlock Holmes in the action heroes of British literature.
It's an exhilarating ride, and all the more so because it harkens back to a time in two senses: first, the setting of the novel, Napoleonic Wars, and second, the 1930s when it was written. One gets more of a sense of the former than the latter, but some things that might be considered questionable nowadays are matter-of-fact when Forester was writing. He's concerned merely with telling the story as it may have been told back in the day, heedless of any political correctness, so if that bothers you, well, this isn't your bag. But if you're here for a tale of adventure, of exotic locations, of naval combat, of complicated relationships (both politically and personally), then settle in for a whale of a tale!
Long version: This first novel by Forester (first in composition, not chronology) tells the story of Horatio Hornblower, an English frigate captain with a complicated mission and even more complicated psychology. It's quite fun to see Hornblower's inner workings, adding character depth to what otherwise might devolve into a mere tale of High Adventure on the High Seas. Hornblower's conflicted feelings about the job and the girl are fun to chronicle and to trace.
Sorry, did I say 'devolve'? 'Cause the high adventure is thrilling and compelling! The detail of nautical terms may seem unnecessarily exhaustive if you're only there for the plot, but the intricacies of the workings of the ship, sails, etc. all serve to immerse you in the world, so that when the battle is joined (and believe you me, it be joined!) you feel like you're on the ship with the crew and watching Hornblower desperately try anything to survive and triumph. It's easily the equal of the classic adventure stories by Haggard, Conan Doyle, and Kipling, and explains why Hornblower's 11 novels rank only second behind Sherlock Holmes in the action heroes of British literature.
It's an exhilarating ride, and all the more so because it harkens back to a time in two senses: first, the setting of the novel, Napoleonic Wars, and second, the 1930s when it was written. One gets more of a sense of the former than the latter, but some things that might be considered questionable nowadays are matter-of-fact when Forester was writing. He's concerned merely with telling the story as it may have been told back in the day, heedless of any political correctness, so if that bothers you, well, this isn't your bag. But if you're here for a tale of adventure, of exotic locations, of naval combat, of complicated relationships (both politically and personally), then settle in for a whale of a tale!
April 23, 2010
Hornblower was the inspiration for Star Trek's Captain James Kirk, as well as Cornwell's Sharpe. Hornblower is more cerebral and socially awkward than Kirk, more educated and refined than Sharpe. In his own right, Hornblower is certainly an engaging and complex character and the series is an interesting study in leadership, and a fascinating portrait of life at sea in the age of sail. Beat to Quarters (The Happy Return in British editions) is sixth chronologically, but was the first one published, and a strong case could be made for starting with this one. For one, the first two books really are outliers, the first more a collection of short stories than a novel and the second told from a point of view other than Hornblower's. The friend who recommended these to me told me to at least start with the story of Hornblower's first command, Hornblower and the Hotspur. I'm also rather fond of Lady Barbara, who is introduced in this novel--not many opportunities in a series about adventures at sea in the Age of Sail for female characters to make their mark. I think the writing and delineation of Hornblower's character got sharper in the ensuing novels though.
November 26, 2008
I have never thought about the total allegiance a crew would need to have towards their captain and how the captain would go about establishing such respect.
This book was a little heavy on the 'ship' side for me (descriptions of ship life - running a ship, steering a ship, etc) so I skipped over some pages. Overall it is a good read. For some reason, I really liked the El Supremo character, a crazy, maniac of a leader but kind of fun for me to picture. Maybe my kids should call me "La Suprema".
This book was a little heavy on the 'ship' side for me (descriptions of ship life - running a ship, steering a ship, etc) so I skipped over some pages. Overall it is a good read. For some reason, I really liked the El Supremo character, a crazy, maniac of a leader but kind of fun for me to picture. Maybe my kids should call me "La Suprema".
February 24, 2018
This was the first book written by Forester in the Hornblower series. At first I found it lifeless and boring- compared to the other ones I had read. But soon enough it got going and turn d into the rollicking, fast paced action the series is known for. Unlike the first four books in the series, HH is given more human qualities. This book started out with him as a stoic, naval Captain with unfeeling ice water in his veins. He mellowed and even became a romantic by the end of the book. Will he leave his wife Maria for Lady Barbara? Let’s see in the next book!
April 13, 2024
"Beat to Quarters" was written to capture a time in the early 19th century when Brittania ruled the waves, when anyone who wasn't English was to be either pitied, denigrated, and most likely ruled, and when Englishmen and Englishwomen lived in fear of a social system that could build or ruin a reputation with a whispered rumor. That being said, few writers captured period naval warfare like C.S. Forester. I read him as a child. I saw the movie (Gregory Peck as Hornblower) and watched the television series (Ioan Gruffold as Hornblower). Nothing comes close to the action as depicted in Forester's work. You can feel the seas rolling, hear the cannon belch smoke and shot, and even imagine being below deck as overworked surgeons deal with the screams of the wounded. The action leaps off the page. What's also apparent is the struggle to maintain order on a ship that's at sea for months, thousands of miles from home, and cut off from the rest of the fleet. Hornblower has his hands full, and the task becomes even harder when Lady Barbara steps aboard. Titled, with a sense of entitlement, she adds another wrinkle to a story which involves completion of a secret mission which could determine the outcome of the war against Napoleon.
December 31, 2018
The first time I read Beat to Quarters I was 15 years old, and I loved it. I loved the adventure of a seven month voyage to Central America’s western coast, I loved the murderous and megalomaniacal villain, I loved the sound of all the nautical terms I didn’t understand, and I loved the action, especially the epic final battle between the Lydia and the Natividad.
Coming back to it more than two decades later, it is a pleasure to discover that I like it even better at 43. I now appreciate just how well drawn Hornblower is, how tough it is for him to hide his humanity under the mask of command, how his fear of failure and feelings of inadequacy drive him to excellence. Also, I still love the action, adventure, and naval jargon.
Coming back to it more than two decades later, it is a pleasure to discover that I like it even better at 43. I now appreciate just how well drawn Hornblower is, how tough it is for him to hide his humanity under the mask of command, how his fear of failure and feelings of inadequacy drive him to excellence. Also, I still love the action, adventure, and naval jargon.
April 14, 2024
Audiobook read by Christian Rodska.
Hornblower and the Lydia are sent to the Americas to deliver armaments to El Supremo, a potential ally of the British in Central America, an insane Spanish landowner fomenting rebellion against the Spanish. Hornblower has to take, sink or destroy the 50 gun Spanish ship of the line, the Natividad, though Lydia is only a frigate and outmatched. Then in Panama, he is obliged to take on board Lady Barbara Wellesley, sister to THAT Wellesley (Duke of Wellington). Sailing details abound, especially those of being at sea for seven months with the 'fresh' water in the casks growing green. There's a lot of fighting at sea as Hornblower defies all odds yet again, but there's also some resent,ent, followed by passion between Hornblower and his lovely passenger. Apparently this was the first Hornblower book Forester wrote, thougyh sixth in chronological order. It's a book of its time, 1937, with racial attitudes that would not be acceptable today, but try not to look at it through today's lens and there is much here to enjoy. Hoenblower is an intriguing character, clever and resourceful, though always doubting himself and hotly aware of his humble origins. It makes him prickly and defensive, even with faithful Mr Bush.
Hornblower and the Lydia are sent to the Americas to deliver armaments to El Supremo, a potential ally of the British in Central America, an insane Spanish landowner fomenting rebellion against the Spanish. Hornblower has to take, sink or destroy the 50 gun Spanish ship of the line, the Natividad, though Lydia is only a frigate and outmatched. Then in Panama, he is obliged to take on board Lady Barbara Wellesley, sister to THAT Wellesley (Duke of Wellington). Sailing details abound, especially those of being at sea for seven months with the 'fresh' water in the casks growing green. There's a lot of fighting at sea as Hornblower defies all odds yet again, but there's also some resent,ent, followed by passion between Hornblower and his lovely passenger. Apparently this was the first Hornblower book Forester wrote, thougyh sixth in chronological order. It's a book of its time, 1937, with racial attitudes that would not be acceptable today, but try not to look at it through today's lens and there is much here to enjoy. Hoenblower is an intriguing character, clever and resourceful, though always doubting himself and hotly aware of his humble origins. It makes him prickly and defensive, even with faithful Mr Bush.
June 9, 2023
This was the first Hornblower novel published. The publication happened in 1937 starting several decades of Hornblower novel prequels and sequels. The final novel was published posthumously in 1967.
In this novel we're introduced to a freakish megalomaniac narcissist named El Supremo. I hope this man will never again be seen in any of the other Hornblower novels. He hailed from Nicaragua.
This is the sixth novel, chronologically. I am reading them in chronological order this year with a small group from Booktube. Because they weren't written in this order it is common to find writing styles varied according to the skill of the writer at different times in his Hornblower career.
This novel, the first he wrote, did not please me as much as some of the others. At times it portrayed Hornblower as weak, or at least weaker than he seems to be in some of the other novels that were written later on.
Also in this novel a woman is onboard during the return journey. That of course brings challenges.
In this novel we're introduced to a freakish megalomaniac narcissist named El Supremo. I hope this man will never again be seen in any of the other Hornblower novels. He hailed from Nicaragua.
This is the sixth novel, chronologically. I am reading them in chronological order this year with a small group from Booktube. Because they weren't written in this order it is common to find writing styles varied according to the skill of the writer at different times in his Hornblower career.
This novel, the first he wrote, did not please me as much as some of the others. At times it portrayed Hornblower as weak, or at least weaker than he seems to be in some of the other novels that were written later on.
Also in this novel a woman is onboard during the return journey. That of course brings challenges.
July 18, 2020
The opening novel in the Hornblower series introduced the character of Horatio Hornblower and set him in Central American waters during the Napoleonic Wars. Its an easy read and a good story, which in this day and age is rarer than it should be.
March 11, 2024
This is the first book about Hornblower. I was on a sailing ship, and decided to reread this book.
The book was not as good as I remembered it. I think the problem is that Patrick O"Brian's books have set the bar so high for sailing books once you have read them.
The book was not as good as I remembered it. I think the problem is that Patrick O"Brian's books have set the bar so high for sailing books once you have read them.
August 11, 2017
Chronologically, The Happy Return is the sixth book of the adventures of Horatio Hornblower by C.S. Forester. It was the first book of Hornblower adventures written by Forester, published in 1937. It's the eighth book I've read so far, so as you can see, I've not been following either sequence. lol
With all that preamble, The Happy Return, like most of the Hornblower stories, was an excellent adventure. In this story, we find Horatio in a new location, in the Pacific, off the coast of Nicaragua. His secret mission is to provide arms and assistance to a colonial revolutionary, El Supremo, in his battle against the Spanish colonizers. It turns out that El Supremo is quite mad. Hornblower captures a Spanish two-decker and is ordered to turn it over to El Supremo and his crew. Hornblower then escorts El Supremo's army to Managua, or nearby, and then continues to Panama.
His orders are there changed as England and Spain are now allies in the war against Napoleon. Hornblower with a passenger on board, Lady Barbara Wellesley, must now go and try to keep El Natividad, the Spanish ship from capturing Spanish cargo ships headed to Panama. The battle with El Natividad is a fascinating story in its own right and so well described.
All in all it's a great adventure tale. You still have to deal with Hornblower's many moods; especially his self-criticism. This is compounded with the presence of Lady Barbara. However, his crew loves Hornblower, for his tactical flair and his sailing skills and his fairness (for the most part) to them. You take the good with the bad in a Hornblower tale. Well worth reading if you want to get a feel for the time period and also like a rollicking good adventure. (4 stars)
With all that preamble, The Happy Return, like most of the Hornblower stories, was an excellent adventure. In this story, we find Horatio in a new location, in the Pacific, off the coast of Nicaragua. His secret mission is to provide arms and assistance to a colonial revolutionary, El Supremo, in his battle against the Spanish colonizers. It turns out that El Supremo is quite mad. Hornblower captures a Spanish two-decker and is ordered to turn it over to El Supremo and his crew. Hornblower then escorts El Supremo's army to Managua, or nearby, and then continues to Panama.
His orders are there changed as England and Spain are now allies in the war against Napoleon. Hornblower with a passenger on board, Lady Barbara Wellesley, must now go and try to keep El Natividad, the Spanish ship from capturing Spanish cargo ships headed to Panama. The battle with El Natividad is a fascinating story in its own right and so well described.
All in all it's a great adventure tale. You still have to deal with Hornblower's many moods; especially his self-criticism. This is compounded with the presence of Lady Barbara. However, his crew loves Hornblower, for his tactical flair and his sailing skills and his fairness (for the most part) to them. You take the good with the bad in a Hornblower tale. Well worth reading if you want to get a feel for the time period and also like a rollicking good adventure. (4 stars)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 508 reviews