The Rendezvous and Other Stories [Paperback]

Patrick O'Brian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 1995

A collection of startlingly vivid short stories from Patrick O'Brian, author of the highly acclaimed Aubrey/Maturin series.

Patrick O'Brian has emerged, in the opinion of many, as one of the greatest novelists now writing in English. His fame rests mainly on the achievement of the epic Aubrey/Maturin novels, but few readers know that O'Brian first made his reputation as a writer of short fiction. Collected here for the first time are twenty-seven stories that O'Brian wishes to preserve: stories of uncommon lyricism and beauty that will confirm his rightful place in the front rank of short-story writers as well as of novelists.

Although the tone of this collection ranges effortlessly from the humorous to the dramatic, the most characteristic and memorable stories often have to do with a glimpse of savage, destructive forces through the fragile shell of human civilization. The threatened chaos may be psychological, as in "On the Wolfsberg," or it may be lurking in the natural world, as in "A Passage of the Frontier," or, as in the dark masterpiece "The Chian Wine," it is suddenly discovered in the ancient, irrational impulses of human nature.

The setting may be the marshes of western Ireland, the Pyrenees, or the claustrophobic confines of a clockmender's house, but each story is a showcase for Patrick O'Brian's fresh and meticulous prose; each story reaffirms his sympathetic understanding of human passion and suffering. This collection proves that O'Brian is not simply the master of a genre, but an author who will long be honored as one of our most eminent literary figures.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Relentlessly detailed exposition and naturalistic description are the strengths of British novelist O'Brian, esteemed for his Aubrey/Maturin nautical adventure historicals ( Master and Commander ; Post Captain ). The author's rather monochromatic technique doesn't translate well to short form, however, and these 27 tales, many of which date back to the '50s and the dawn of O'Brian's career, often lack narrative drive and any semblance of character development. Moreover, they frequently close with surprise endings that are apparently meant to be deep and profound but emerge instead as borderline non sequiturs. On the plus side, O'Brian's prose is often beautiful and always impeccably crafted, and his eye for detail in the wild gives a number of the stories considerable power and rural charm. The bright spots include "The Last Pool," a brief yet epic account of a fisherman's struggle with an oversize salmon, and the explosive "On the Bog," in which a hunting trip taken by two friends ends in unanticipated violence. Readers with a bent for British fiction that describes village life and the characteristics of the land may enjoy this collection, but others will find it not up to O'Brian's usual snuff.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

O'Brian is the author of the famed Aubrey/Maturin novels (e.g., The Wine-Dark Sea, LJ 10/15/93), great depictions of the 18th-century seafaring world and considered among the best of historical fiction. This collection of obscure stories, written between the 1950s and 1970s, shares little with his acclaimed novels. Except that here, too, our characters-nearly always lone men-are also often journeying, albeit now to the mountains for trout fishing. There is a feeling throughout of quiet desperation, although we usually don't know why. More lost, however, are the characters themselves, who often don't know who or where they are. In the end nature often turns nasty. It's all very much like an L.L. Bean catalog gone awry. Better are the tales of marital unrest like the title story, in which a woman believes her husband to be unfaithful. Unlikely to appeal to either O'Brian's fans or to short story enthusiasts, this can be safely skipped by most libraries.
Brian Kenney, Brooklyn P.L.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (November 17, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393313808
• ISBN-13: 978-0393313802
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,087,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In addition to twenty volumes in the highly respected Aubrey/Maturin series, Patrick O'Brian's many books include "Testimonies," "The Golden Ocean," and "The Unknown Shore". O'Brian also wrote acclaimed biographies of Pablo Picasso and Sir Joseph Banks and translated many works from the French, among them the novels and memoirs of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Lacouture's biographies of Charles de Gaulle. He passed away in January 2000 at the age of 85.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Road Not Taken, February 12, 2008

By 

Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Rendezvous And Other Stories (Hardcover)

Ahoy, shipmates! I enjoyed the Aubrey-Maturin books as much as any of you. I was introduced to them by a Medieval musicologist, not someone you'd expect to swash his buckle much, and I read the whole series in one summer. I'm still hoping that another all-concluding volume will be discovered in a secret cask somewhere in Provence. I wouldn't want O'Brian to have been another writer than he was. Nevertheless, his early short stories display the fact that he COULD have been a very different writer, and perhaps a very great different writer. I rather lament the writer that he wasn't as much as I value the writer he was.

The stories in The Rendezvous apparently represent O'Brian's own selection, and thus part of his literary testament. Most of them would be impossible to regcognize as his work if one encountered them anonymously. They are terse, dark, evocative, elusive, and beautifully crafted. Another reviewer has already identified the masterpiece of the collection, "The Chian Wine", a story about ritualized Jew-baiting in an otherwise idyllic village. It's a story that will knock you out of yourself. A classic. But there are other stories of almost equal power, and then there are graceful flirtations with an aesthetic never exposed in the Aubrey-Maturin books. Too bad cloning hadn't been perfected in time to create two Patrick O'Brians - one to write the great sea novels that he wrote, and another to write the great psychological novels that he could have written.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best short story writer in the language, November 28, 2003

By 

R. Fields (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rendezvous and Other Stories (Paperback)

This is a compilation of short stories, written by Mr. O'Brian over many years. They are emotionally dark, speaking to man's helplessness against the forces of nature and emotion, but they are masterpieces of characterization and understatement.

Read "The Chian Wine" first and you will be astounded.

3.0 out of 5 stars Be prepared to be confused...., April 22, 2009

By 

Mike (Orange County Ca) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Rendezvous and Other Stories (Paperback)

I am a Aubrey addict. I also just finished Patrick O'Brian's biography by Dean King which is pretty decent and worth reading. It gives you some interesting insight as to how he developed as a writer and the early development of the Aubrey characters.

So I ordered this collection of his early short stories. I can see why O'Brian was not particularly successful until later in his career.

Only one has anything to do with sailing. Most of these stories end, trail off, or just sort of stop suddenly, with the reader wondering ...what...what just happened?

One of them, the Billabillian really perplexed me. I could not figure out the surprise ending - why the young man was suddenly in big trouble. So I googled the story, found a discussion forum and - what a surprise - none of them had a clue as to what was going on either.

Most of them were complaining about the stories. One of the forum members said, "This book is beginning to sap me." I thought to myself, that describes me exactly: why am I reading this?

Lots of other great collections of short stories out there. I would give this a pass.