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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A historico-scientific bodice-ripper? Nay, think not so!,
By
This review is from: This Thing of Darkness (Hardcover)
I picked up this title in London because it was long-listed (i.e., nominated but not a finalist) for Britain's famed Booker Prize for fiction.Do not let the title put you off - this is not some kind of bodice-ripper romance. Rather, this massive and engaging novel entwines the real-life stories of the 1820s-era HMS Beagle's famous passenger, the naturalist Charles Darwin, and its unfairly forgotten captain, Robert FitzRoy. In the first three sections of this six-section book, author Harry Thompson does a most excellent imitation of a Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin novel - all near-death adventures at the hand of the vicious seas off South America, strange encounters with the natives, and the like. The leads even bear a passing resemblance to O'Brian's heroes: , Captain FitzRoy is a natural sailor whose men are devoted to him (like O'Brian's Jack Aubrey). He has impeccable "leave no man behind" values and heaps and heaps of derring-do. Darwin is lean and eccentric, and obsessed with the natural world (like O'Brian's Maturin). One almost suspects that O'Brian had FitzRoy and Darwin in mind, so close seems the resemblance. In sections 4 through 6, however, Thompson runs up against the common curse of the novelist who bases his plot on historical events - he feels obliged to include scenes, characters, and entire plotlines because the historical record requires them, rather than because they make dramatic or literary "sense." So, if FitzRoy is appointed Governor of New Zealand and makes a mess of it, you're going to hear about it for 30 pages or so. If FitzRoy's career is sabotaged by political enemies and he spends the rest of his life managing a minuscule weather-forecasting department in a back corner of the Navy, this will take perhaps 200 pages to tell. The birth and death of Fitzroy's and Darwin's many many children must be told. This back half of the novel is actually fairly interesting - Thompson is a very engaging writer - but it lacks the dash and drive of the first half. Still, quite gripping, and, despite 700+ pages, definitely worth your time.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Recognizing a Forgotten Hero,
By
This review is from: This Thing of Darkness (Hardcover)
Before the publication of this epic work by Harry Thompson, the novel that best described the famous voyage of H.M.S. Beagle was Irving Stone's The Origin: A Biographical Novel of Charles Darwin. Stone's work also portrayed Darwin's voyage from a youthful amateur naturalist through his development as a scientist, to his attainment of the pinnacle of fame as the primary developer of the theory of evolution by means of natural selection. Stone based his novel on considerable research into Darwin's works, those of his supporters and critics, and visits to the places where Darwin lived and worked. The impression he gave of Darwin was of a generous Victorian gentleman who found it difficult to publish his theory of evolution because of the criticism he knew it was likely to provoke, as well as his love for his wife (and cousin) Emma, who remained a traditional Christian who believed in the Biblical account of creation, which did not provide for creation of new species.In Thompson's novel, Darwin is not the protagonist. This leading role goes to Captain (later Rear Admiral) Robert Fitz Roy. Yet while Fitz Roy is the hero of this novel, Thompson weaves a double fictional biography--yet one grounded on consummate research--of Fitz Roy and Darwin, counterpoising the characters of the two men skillfully, both during the second voyage of the Beagle from 1831-1836 and in their subsequent careers following the Beagle's return to England. In Darwin, Thompson portrays the young scientist already given to detailed observation and abstraction of hypotheses as he encountered more adventures in his exploration of South America than the overwhelming majority of men encounter in their lifetimes. Yet, as depicted by Thompson, Darwin also seeks fame, sometimes neglecting obligations to his shipmates as he seeks to make a name for himself. Fitz Roy, by contrast, embodies the qualities of the military gentleman servant of the Crown. Staunch, firm in his beliefs, loyal to and fiercely supportive of his shipmates, Fitz Roy even draws on his own funds to buy additional boats to meet the requirements of mapping the coasts of the southern cone of South America when this proves impossible on the budget provided by the Admiralty. Darwin and Fitz Roy have some strong disagreements while on the Beagle, and their differences only grow stronger after the Beagle's return to England and Darwin begins to publish his findings. As we know, Darwin went on to worldwide fame, while Fitz Roy was relegated to a series of minor posts and knocked about by the bureaucracy and politicians. He was a true hero who was denied fame in his lifetime, and has only recently been accorded a measure of tribute, among other things, for developing the world's first system of weather forecasting. Thompson's work has to rank as a major historical novel, based on the development of its characters, faithful historical representation of the people and cultures of its time, and the clash of ideas as the provocative concept of evolution interacts with religious and traditional models of how the world was established and how it works. All that, and a rousing adventure as well. I recommend it most highly
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining history of contentious science!,
By
This review is from: This Thing of Darkness (Hardcover)
Charles Darwin was training to be a Minister of the Church when he took a journey on The Beagle, but his true passion was natural history. It was an opportunity of a lifetime, and it was to change the way the world was viewed, and gave birth to a new science - evolution.Along the way he befriended the ship's Captain, Robert FitzRoy, himself a remarkable young man, who was beset with crippling bouts of depression and uncertainty. The story of their journey around the world, the people they meet and the creatures they see is utterly fascinating. You can feel Darwin questioning all that he has been taught, and you agonise with FitzRoy as he struggles with his own inner demons. All of the characters are believable, the narrative well researched, and the adventure typical of any tale of the high seas. However, if I have any crticism, it is that the momentum of the novel stops almost the minute The Beagle returns to port. It's not that they story is any less fascinating, it's just that there is far less excitement, and after the daring adventures on The Beagle, it is a bit of a let down. It is almost like another book - perhaps the author should have finished the story at the dock in Plymouth. This is a fine book, beautifully researched and easy to read. A historical travellogue if you like, set in times of great change. I recommend it highly.
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