The Wine-Dark Sea [Paperback]

Patrick O'brian (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: W.W. Norton and Co.; Trade Paperback Edition edition (1993)
• ASIN: B000K3L8BW
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,001,879 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

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AUTHENTIC GOLD, March 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wine-Dark Sea (Vol. Book 16) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels) (Paperback)

I once had a creative writing instructor who insisted all ofhis students read one of O'Brian's novels to learn what truly superiorwriting was all about. I chose The Wine-Dark Sea and am I glad I did. O'Brian is truly a master! The Wine-Dark Sea opens with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin in pursuit of an American privateer sailing the South Sea. The British, already engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, have made the mistake of also blundering into war with a young upstart, the United States. Maturin, in the Wine-Dark Sea, desires to relieve the pressure on the British government by inciting the revolutionaries of South America, more specifically, Peru. O'Brian, a master storyteller, also has a sharp eye for detail. His descriptions of the landscape, the sea, life on board the midgit man-of-war and even the Andes are no doubt the best in all of literature. The spine-tingling barbarity and bloody battle scenes are so real, they'll make you glad you're only reading a book (although the writing is so good you may forget that at times)! I really can't praise O'Brian highly enough. He is both artist and perfect craftsman and beside him, most authors rapidly pale. If you love the sea, if you love adventure, if you just love a good book, you absolutely can't go wrong with The Wine-Dark Sea or any of O'Brian's other novels. All of them are just perfect. END

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Aubrey chases a privateer through the South Seas, May 25, 2001

By 

Joseph H Pierre "Joe Pierre" (Salem, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wine-Dark Sea (Vol. Book 16) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels) (Paperback)

Another incomparable tale by that master of sea stories, the late Patrick O'Brian. Part of the Aubrey/Maturin series, this one follows the book "The Truelove," which led His Majesty's Hired Vessel "Surprise" to the Hawaiian (Sandwich) Islands to protect British whaling interests there, which were threatened by a pioneer of communism, Monsieur Dutourd, who was endeavoring to set up his own idealistic society there at the expense of British interests.

As this book starts, Dutourd's ship, the "Franklin," is being pursued by Aubrey in the "Surprise," on a strange, wine-colored sea in unusual weather. Soon the reason for the strange sea and weather becomes evident as an erupting volcano causes damage to both ships. The story revolves around British intelligence agent Dr. Maturin's attempt to influence political events in Peru, several battles at sea with the concomitant taking of prizes, battle with a pirate, deaths and injuries in battle, and the nearly deadly struggle of Dr. Maturin's medical assistant, the Rev. Martin, with his conscience.

No one knew nautical lore and the square-rigged vessels of the Napoleonic era (ca. 1800) as well as Patrick O'Brian. Many of his sea battles are taken directly from the annals of the British Admiralty, and his dialogue is replete with period expressions that lend even greater authenticity to his tales.

I recommend that a newcomer to this series start with "Master and Commander," the first book of the series. Untold hours of pleasure await you. ...

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please do not read this book - YET, July 30, 2000

By 

Stephen P. Kemp (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wine-Dark Sea (Vol. Book 16) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels) (Paperback)

Why would I recommend not reading this book? The answer is simple; I urge you to start at the beginning and buy Master and Commander, the first book. I say this because the odds are you have not read O'Brian before, if you had, you would scarcely need a recommendation for a book in the middle of the series. No, if you had read O'Brian before you would have either decided not to read more or as so many have before you, would have read the series, devouring one book after another in the order they were intended to be read. The Wine-Dark Sea is a section of one of the greatest examples of nautical fiction ever written, don't deny yourself the joy of watching these characters grow and develop over the course of the opus.