Mr. Midshipman Easy (Classics of Naval Literature) [Hardcover]

Frederick Marryat (Author), Evan L. Davies (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1990 | Series: Classics of Naval Literature

The coming-of-age story of a naive but intelligent and courageous midshipman during the Age of Sail.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

With this duo, published in 1829 and 1836, respectively, McBooks launches its new "Classics of Nautical Fiction." Marryat was a skipper in the British Navy, and the action here is based on his real experiences before the mast. When all your Patrick O'Brians are out, recommend Marryat.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

Rousing good sea adventure by a master of nautical literature. A 19th-century British Royal Navy captain, Frederick Marryat offers contemporary readers plenty of cannonfire, battle strategy, peril and passion-liberally sprinkled with wit and fine turns of phrase. A sure-fire hit for Patrick O'Brian fans! --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 472 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press; Reprint edition (March 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870215906
• ISBN-13: 978-0870215902
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,128,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Philosophical Nautical Romantic Farce, February 17, 2006

By 

Bob Carpenter (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr Midshipman Easy (Classics of Naval Fiction) (Paperback)

This book's an odd kettle of fish. It focuses on Jack Easy, starting at his birth, following him through school and into the Navy. He joins to press his socialist philosophy of the "equality of man". The book was first published in 1836, when Karl Marx was 18. Zeitgeist, perhaps?

In tone, the book's half nautical fiction along the lines of O'Brian, Forester, Pope, etc., and half 17th century romantic farce that sees a rival found out in women's clothing, diabolical happenings at a costume ball, the come-uppance of a conniving father-confessor, a hilarious three-way duel, and more. The situations will be all the funnier if you've read more "serious" nautical fiction before this.

Oddly, even though the author was himself a retired British naval post-captain (who served under Cochrane when he was himself a midshipman!), there is relatively little focus on the nautical details, and a whole lot of focus on the characters. Sure, there's a gale (and quite a good one), and some beam to beam broadside action, but mostly it's about the characters. In every situation, there's little tension as we know our hero will make good a Hornblower-like escape by some indirect means.

The author jumps in as the omniscient narrator from time to time. For instance, there's one chapter that's an odd repetition of an argument made in a previous book against overly harsh punishment in the service.

The wisdom's along the lines of "spare the rod, spoil the child" and the character "development" sees Mr. Easy move from channeling Marx to channeling Ayn Rand. As the earlier positions are argued as hard as the latter, it's actually hard to see the author's position here, which is quite interesting.

Overall, though, the book just doesn't hang together as a continuous, tense story about the sea, which is one of the main reasons to read nautical fiction. On the other hand, if you've run out of the better nautical fiction, this one's well worth a read. A more interesting genre piece from this era is Wilkie Collins's mystery "The Moonstone".

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Midshipman Exremely Easy, October 16, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Mr. Midshipman Easy (Wing-&-Wing) (Paperback)

Great book in that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Great tongue-in-cheek view of life aboard a British man-of-war. Of course its not too realistic, which O'Brian attempts and Forrester accomplishes, still, a real hilarious adventure tale. Easy leads an unbelievably charmed life, to the point of delightful reading but not incredulity. Characters are real yet outstandingly rich and beautiful. Find yourself putting your head back now and then and laughing in a most horse-like fashion... In regard to sea stories of this nature, I put C.S. Forrester 1st (He is the master, and will always be 1st just as Tolkien will always be 1st for fantasy readers), Marryat 2nd, O'Brian 3rd (too much pontificating...) and Alexander Kent and others a distant, distant, distant 4th.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Humor, adventure & social commentary, December 15, 2000

By 

E. Tobias "Safety_Queen" (Minneaoplis, Minn., USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr Midshipman Easy (Classics of Naval Fiction) (Paperback)

While digging through the treasure trove of nautical fiction available, I found this gem.

Written in the 1830s, this story is a sharp social commentary combined with the adventure of a midshipman in the Royal Navy. I found this a delightful observation of society, which from today is even more humorous than it might have been 200 years ago.

The language isn't far off from today's (the sailing vocabulary hasn't -obviously- changed). A good read for just about any age. Footnotes (in the Heart of Oak edition) to help those unfamiliar with some 19th C. idioms or semi-obscure sailing terminology.

If you haven't read Marryat's work yet, this is a good one to get your feet wet.