Customer Reviews

Desolation Island

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Desolation Island is one of the richest, and at the same time most easily approached, titles in the Aubrey Maturin series. I'm an avid Patrick O'Brian reader, one who's been through the series more than once, and I'm running through this one again right now at spare moments.

Maybe it's heretical to suggest not starting with the first book, but Desolation Island, H.M.S. Surprise, and The Far Side of the World are the ones I recommend to people when I'm trying to get them hooked. Master and Commander is excellent, but it seems to me like O'Brian was writing for a genre audience to start with. (The historical setting is truly wonderful and the characters are a delight, but he was writing for readers who were already interested, say, in the detailed workings of the royal shipyards.) By the time he got to Surprise he had hit his stride, at least for me. The books had stopped being "Another variation on sea life during the Napoleonic age" for him, and the world he was writing just feels complete and right.

Also, those three books all feature long, solo voyages. It's a simple point, but that plotline is easier for a beginning fan to understand and follow. In some ways it gets at the heart of O'Brian's writing best, too. The ship's community as a close, isolated society, the complex nature of Jack's choices as captain, Stephen's isolation with his secret life, the consolation they take in their friendship -- those elements all shine during the long voyages throughout the series.

Desolation Island, as a starting point, also includes one of the most exciting, tense chases in the series. It has a full set of complex minor characters whose fates you really do care about, and it's one of those O'Brian plots that gives you a double-take or two if you don't know where it's going. Highly recommended.

One of the more suspenseful books in O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series. Also one of the grimmest. Much of the book details a naval chase in perilous seas with a gut-wrenching outcome. O'Brian's shipboard characterizations are further deepened. Jack's brief recollection of how the sailors once convinced young Babbington he was pregnant is a howl. And it is a throw away idea caught in a brief paragraph. O'Brian seems to have an infinite supply of nuance and human insight. Desolation Island is more than seafaring genre, this is a masterful work that can stand with some of the best contemporary fiction.

Some critics have referred to the Aubrey/Maturin books as one long novel united not only by their historical setting but also by the central plot element of the Aubrey/Maturin friendship. Having read these fine books over a period of several years, I decided to evaluate their cumulative integrity by reading them consecutively in order of publication over a period of a few weeks. This turned out to be a rewarding enterprise. For readers unfamiliar with these books, they describe the experiences of a Royal Navy officer and his close friend and traveling companion, a naval surgeon. The experiences cover a broad swath of the Napoleonic Wars and virtually the whole globe.
Rereading all the books confirmed that O'Brian is a superb writer and that his ability to evoke the past is outstanding. O'Brian has numerous gifts as a writer. He is the master of the long, careful description, and the short, telling episode. His ability to construct ingenious but creditable plots is first-rate, probably because he based much of the action of his books on actual events. For example, some of the episodes of Jack Aubrey's career are based on the life of the famous frigate captain, Lord Cochrane. O'Brian excels also in his depiction of characters. His ability to develop psychologically creditable characters through a combination of dialogue, comments by other characters, and description is tremendous. O'Brien's interest in psychology went well beyond normal character development, some books contain excellent case studies of anxiety, depression, and mania.
Reading O'Brien gives vivid view of the early 19th century. The historian Bernard Bailyn, writing of colonial America, stated once that the 18th century world was not only pre-industrial but also pre-humanitarian (paraphrase). This is true as well for the early 19th century depicted by O'Brien. The casual and invariable presence of violence, brutality, and death is a theme running through all the books. The constant threats to life are the product not only of natural forces beyond human control, particularly the weather and disease, but also of relative human indifference to suffering. There is nothing particularly romantic about the world O'Brien describes but it also a certain grim grandeur. O'Brien also shows the somewhat transitional nature of the early 19th century. The British Navy and its vessals were the apogee of what could be achieved by pre-industrial technology. This is true both of the technology itself and the social organization needed to produce and use the massive sailing vessals. Aubrey's navy is an organization reflecting its society; an order based on deference, rigid hierarchy, primitive notions of honor, favoritism, and very, very corrupt. At the same time, it was one of the largest and most effective bureaucracies in human history to that time. The nature of service exacted great penalities for failure in a particularly environment, and great success was rewarded greatly. In some ways, it was a ruthless meritocracy whose structure and success anticipates the great expansion of government power and capacity seen in the rest of the 19th century.
O'Brian is also the great writer about male friendship. There are important female characters in these books but since most of the action takes place at sea, male characters predominate. The friendship between Aubrey and Maturin is the central armature of the books and is a brilliant creation. The position of women in these books is ambiguous. There are sympathetic characters, notably Aubrey's long suffering wife. Other women figures, notably Maturin's wife, leave a less positive impression. On board ship, women tend to have a disruptive, even malign influence.
How did O'Brian manage to sustain his achievement over 20 books? Beyond his technical abilities as a writer and the instrinsic interest of the subject, O'Brien made a series of very intelligent choices. He has not one but two major protagonists. The contrasting but equally interesting figures of Aubrey and Maturin allowed O'Brien to a particularly rich opportunity to expose different facets of character development and to vary plots carefully. This is quite difficult and I'm not aware of any other writer who has been able to accomplish such sustained development of two major protagonists for such a prolonged period. O'Brian's use of his historical setting is very creative. The scenes and events in the books literally span the whole globe as Aubrey and Maturin encounter numerous cultures and societies. The naval setting allowed him also to introduce numerous new and interesting characters. O'Brian was able to make his stories attractive to many audiences. Several of these stories can be enjoyed as psychological novels, as adventure stories, as suspense novels, and even one as a legal thriller. O'Brian was also a very funny writer, successful at both broad, low humor, and sophisticated wit. Finally, O'Brian made efforts to link some of the books together. While a number are complete in themselves, others form components of extended, multi-book narratives. Desolation Island, Fortune of War, and The Surgeon's Mate are one such grouping. Treason's Harbor, The Far Side of the World, and The Reverse of the Medal are another. The Letter of Marque and the ensuing 4 books, centered around a circumnavigation, are another.
Though the average quality of the books is remarkably high, some are better than others. I suspect that different readers will have different favorites. I personally prefer some of the books with greater psychological elements. The first book, Master and Commander, is one of my favorites. The last 2 or 3, while good, are not as strong as earlier books. I suspect O'Brian's stream of invention was beginning to diminish. All can be read profitably as stand alone works though there is definitely something to be gained by reading in consecutive order.

The Aubrey/Maturin books aren't the easiest in the world to read. O'Brian doesn't baby the reader -- you just have to plunge in (sometimes with a dictionary at your side) and immerse yourself in the language of these novels. But if you stick with the series, Desolation Island (along the book immediately following it, The Fortune of War) offers a thrilling payoff. By the time you're through with this book, you'll resolve to read every book in the series.

After the disjointed Mauritius Command, I found Desolation Island a refreshing change to the plot devices that maked this series worthwhile. Instead of loosely commanding a squadron of ships as in the prior novel, Captain Jack Aubrey is again commanding a single ship here, the Leopard, accompanied by his good friend (and fascinating character), Stephen Maturin. Stephen really takes center stage in the novel, since his on-again off-again relationship with Diana is explored early, and Stephen (with his intelligence background) is intricately involved in the action of the novel as American agents are aboard the Leopard, on the verge of the outbreak of the War of 1812.

Since the entire novel takes place, more or less, on board the Leopard we see more of the interaction among the characters, especially Aubrey-Maturin, an odd American stowaway, and a pretty female prisoner with ties to both Diana and the American stowaway. There is a tremendous naval battle involving a much larger Dutch ship, and a desperate detour towards the Antarctic as Aubrey fights to save his ship among calamity and possible mutiny as the Leopard races to rescue the infamous Captain Bligh. For fans of the series, there is a great deal here to like, and I thought the book was as good as anything I have read thus far by O'Brian.

In "Desolation Island", Patrick O'Brian begins what can be considered a miniseries within the larger arc of his Aubrey/Maturin Novels. This miniseries continues through "Fortune of War", and is concluded in "The Surgeon's Mate". It is preceeded by the stand alone "Mauritius Command". So if you are considering purchasing books in this arc, make sure you read them in order to get the most enjoyment. And while I'm at it- go back to the first novel, "Master and Commander" and read the series in its entirety if you are a newcomer. You will become hooked in no time, and it is well worth the time commitment - my father and I initially read the series over the course of several months.

Back to the story at hand. "Desolation Island" begins with CPT Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin being dispatched to rescue CPT Bligh of the HMS Bounty notoriety from colony that has rebelled against him in Australia. However, this initial mission is quickly subsumed in a variety of mishaps and adventures that conspire to throw the two friends on one of their greatest stories, spanning three novels mentioned above.

This book includes what I consider the most intense and greatest ship to ship battle that I have ever read. As Aubrey commands the HMS Leopard, a decrepit old ship of the line, he is pursued by a larger, more heavily armed and fully manned Dutch ship of the line - the Waakzamheid. Their chase leads them through the trecharous waters of the southern hemisphere, where the slightest mistake is fatal, putting Jack Aubrey's legendary sailing prowess and gunnery skills to the test.

The story contains Stephen Maturin's struggle with his dangerous addiction to laudanum; as well as his covert intelligence battle with a dangerous and seductive spy being transported to the penal colonies of Australia. When their ship is struck on a rogue ice berg and begins to flounder far from land and any aid, the crew begins to show signs of mutiny, led by an aged Lieutenant who served under Bligh himself. So in addition to the overt action on the high seas, "Desolation Island" also succeeds as a psychological thriller.

All in all, this novel is an exceptional entry in Patrick O'Brian's masterpiece series.

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series is a special genre unto itself. I can only compare it to Jane Austen with sea legs and a jolt of testosterone! O'Brian offers a unique and realistic insight on human nature.

In this book, Maturin's fruitless pursuit of love has brought his spirit to new lows. His friends fear for him; even he, as a physician, fears for himself. But his secret agent role brings a new lease on life. He is assigned to get the details of the newly fledged American intelligence service from a convicted American agent - who just happens to be a beautiful woman, strongly resembling Diana, the object of Maturin's hopeless love.

In the course of this voyage, Captain Aubrey comes to a sudden realization of the true horrors of war, and Dr. Maturin finds the generosity of spirit to enjoy and mentor vicarious love. With a long and suspenseful chase on the water, a witch on board, and a "Jonah" to boot, this is one of the best yet.

Just finished all 20 books in the O'Brian series and am heading straight back to "Desolation Island," my personal favorite of the lot (although I loved them all). This one just took my breath away. The chases, the shipwreck, the weird Arctic world provided many an interesting night of reading for me as I ate my usual snack of Raisinettes and flipped the pages. Just superlative writing with a superlative plot.

I'm an old dame, never into army-war-fighting-military-type books, but after finishing the O'Brian series, I'm ready to join the navy (as long as I don't get sent to Iraq).

In the fifth in Patrick O'Brian's brilliant nautical series, old friends Captain Jack Aubrey and ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin are aboard the Leopard sailing the Atlantic bound for Cape Town and beyond. However, their mission is interrupted by the appearance of a nemesis, the Dutch ship Waakzaamheid, more powerful in guns and men than the Leopard, whose captain seems to read Aubrey's mind and stays one move ahead in a long-running tensely-scripted chase through the south Atlantic and into the frigid `forties'. As usual, O'Brian's spare prose and mature style effortlessly summon the sense and spirit of life aboard a British man o'war in the early nineteenth century. The characters, all of them, are fully drawn with human weaknesses and occasional bursts of greatness. Like many of O'Brian's tales, "Desolation Island" is rooted in true nautical history. It is a taut and compelling story, full of tense naval action, with a subtext of espionage and the smile-raising scientific activities of Stephen Maturin.

Volume 5 is O'Brian at his most adventurous and thrilling. In blessed escape from shore duty, Capt. Aubrey is tasked to carry convicts and a captured spy to the penal colony of Australia in the old Leopard. This story (the first in the long Pacific voyage sub-series) contains what I think is the most memorable and thrilling chapter in the Aubrey-Maturin saga. It's an exhausting stern chase by a "Flying Dutchman" that reaches a nightmarish peak through monstrous gale-wracked waves in an iceberg-laden sea, the Leopard threatening at any moment to be pooped or to broach to at the slightest error of judgment or chance. The cover painting hardly catches the terror of this episode, prodigiously evoked by O'Brian. The rest of the story isn't too shabby, either, as we see life ashore at home and shipwrecked, with Maturin pursuing love and his best natural studies. You must, of course, start with Volume 1 (Master and Commander) or even the two earlier and pre-Aubrey sea novels (Golden Ocean and Unknown Shore). The first five Aubrey-Maturin novels may also contain the onshore romance and domesticity matters of keenest interest to readers of historical novels who are not enamored of heroic seafaring and salty sailors.

I get these books in hardcover because I plan on reading them again, but the pb seem good quality, too, and both printed in an attractively antique typeface.