The Far Side of the World (Book 10)

published	April 1992 by W. W. Norton & Company
first published	1984
binding	Paperback
isbn	0393308626 (isbn13: 9780393308624)
ebook
pages	366
description	Captain Jack Aubrey sets sail for Cape Horn, determined to intercept an American frigate before it can wreak havoc on the British whaling trade. As al...more [close] Captain Jack Aubrey sets sail for Cape Horn, determined to intercept an American frigate before it can wreak havoc on the British whaling trade. As always, he is accompanied by intelligence operative Stephen Maturin, and as always, Aubrey has no idea of what his companion is up to. Another impeccably written adventure, by the end of which you should be able to identify a mizzen topsail in your sleep. [close]
date added	04-19-07 edit book

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Siria rated it:

(review of isbn 0393324761)

06/05/07

bookshelves: 20th-century, british-fiction, historical-fiction

Read in October, 2005

Yet another intensely satisfying installment in the series. It's one of the books of the series least capable of standing by itself, both because it is intricately bound up with nine previous books full of characters and events, and because, as with the rest of the Aubrey-Maturin books, it functions much more as a chapter within a longer saga than as an individual novel. The pacing is certainly much different than one would normally expect from a novel; it takes them 200 pages to leave port in o...more Yet another intensely satisfying installment in the series. It's one of the books of the series least capable of standing by itself, both because it is intricately bound up with nine previous books full of characters and events, and because, as with the rest of the Aubrey-Maturin books, it functions much more as a chapter within a longer saga than as an individual novel. The pacing is certainly much different than one would normally expect from a novel; it takes them 200 pages to leave port in order to give chase to the Norfolk, and the denouement is unexpected and rather abrupt. I still found myself enjoying it immensely; I would have done so if all the novel had done was to reacquaint me with Jack and Stephen, who are like old friends at this stage. The quality of the writing is fine enough, though, that I could enjoy this book for other reasons than solely the fact that it is another book in the A-M series.

The period detail is as exacting and as precise as ever, as are the descriptions of the various cultures with which the crew cross paths, and I really do appreciate that. The dialogue is gorgeously textured, and all too often extremely funny. I found myself laughing over several parts this morning on the bus into college, which did frighten the woman next to me somewhat. I particularly enjoyed the method by which Stephen was awoken after his concussion, which was more than a little surreal, and yet so utterly Stephen.

One of the most interesting parts of the book for me was comparing it mentally to the plot of the Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World movie, because that is how I originally came to the book series. They really are nothing alike; for all that M&C:tFSotW is a very fine movie indeed, it is much more typically Hollywood in tone and content than the book is. One is a chase movie; one is a book which records a voyage, however exciting and however dull that may be at times. They're both creations which I love, just in different ways. Also in connection with the movie, I was very entertained by the fact that in the movie, the crew of the Surprise are chasing a French frigate, but in the book, they're chasing an American ship. I'm sure that change wasn't occasioned by commercial bias at all....less

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The Far Side of the World (Book 10)

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