Perhaps the most astonishing sentence in the fascinating "A Sea of Words" appears on p. xix: "Our survey of O'Brian's books found more than 8,000 words that could use defining for modern readers, including the names of some 400 ships, 500 people, and 1,200 places." No wonder we wondered as we wandered with Jack & Stephen! After reading this almost 500 page book, many of us will be wandering considerably less. It even has translations from French, Spanish, and Latin together (for the Latin) with full attribution to the author (such as Horace) and the poem.
Two reader alerts:
1. The book is a fine mixture of biography, geography, biology, botany, naval battles, ships, shoes, sealing wax, cabbages and kings. There are good reproductions of portraits & etchings, mini-essays on notable ships & battles, an informative 30 page chapter on the Royal Navy & French wars and a masterful 20 page section on naval medicine at the time. This array of richness is in addition to the more usual lexicon entries such as "Jones, Tom: the boisterous hero of Henry Fielding's novel, 'Tom Jones,'" and "close to the wind: When a ship's BOW is pointing as far into the wind as possible without LUFFING the sails." Readers who like this variety and detail will find every page fascinating. Readers who expect a brief-entry dictionary format may be surprised.
2. The words selected reflect Dr. Maturin's enthusiasm for medicine, botany & biology as well as Jack Aubrey's nautical world. Thus, entries such as "clouded yellow: A butterfly of the genus Colias, especially c.edusa" are well-represented along with "coaming: A raised border around HATCHES and SCUTTLES that prevents water on deck from running below." Again, thoroughly appropriate selection in a companion to the complete tales, but perhaps also a surprise to those expecting a more exclusively nautical array.
"A Sea of Words" is well-worth having, almost like a 21st book in the series, bringing readers vividly into the world O'Brian created. It has additional merit in making clear part of the magic of this world is brilliant reporting of actual events & personages such as Christie-Palliere, Lord St. Vincent, and the determined Queenie Thrale who was the beauteous daughter of no less than Dr. Johnson's Hester Thrale. There are extensive, helpful quotes from letters & naval dispatches, including Lord St. Vincent's exasperation at Queenie's importunings on behalf of one of the real world inspirations for Jack Aubrey.
And merit in addition to merit, reading "A Sea of Words" can enrich not only the glorious Aubrey-Maturin canon but also can improve splendidly a reader's delight in other work of the age of sail, such as the Gilbert-Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" and "Pinafore." For example, "Though related to a peer,I can hand, reef and steer" may have extra meaning after considering the drawing of sailors dizzyingly shown 100 feet aloft & reading the nautical details of competing approaches to reefing.
Here and there, a few minor questions. Perhaps a few of the citations could be more useful if more complete, such as indicating "white letter" or Roman type was used in contrast to the Germanic "black letter" style and perhaps including the slightly saltier meanings (where called for by the text) to terms such as "rove" and "roving."
And yes, part of the continued pleasure is the authors' respect for their readers' abilities & at least basic naval knowledge. This makes for participatory rather than passive reading. I'd a USCG Captain's license for under 100 ton sail but reading "A Sea of Words" is still a long, welcome, wonderful voyage of discovery.
Authors: sail on, blue pennant at the mast. Many readers already have appreciated your book and new readers are likely to enjoy most thoroughly this splendid companion & lexicon for O'Brian's Glorious Series.
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- Clare SussexReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2024
What a labour of love
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A wealth of interesting information!
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