Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
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Anyone else LIKE the A&E series - despite the weirdly rearranged plots?
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I love these books and have kept the series even though I am 'all digital' with a Kindle Fire.Patrick O'Brian is amazing as well.
I liked both the books and the series very much.
The TV show was my introduction to Hornblower, actually. I have read the Midshipman and Lieutenant books; I felt the characters seemed better on screen, and the plots better in the book.
Actually, the first two books, Mr. Midshipman Hornblower and Lieutenant Hornblower made up the first 6 two hour Hornblower episodes. I think that that's an amazing amount of screen-time considering the length of the books. I understand that there's a Hornblower 3 film that I haven't seen yet that is based on C.S. Forester's unfinished book Hornblower During the Crisis. It's a hell of a lot more screen-time than the old Hollywood movie with Gregory Peck that squeezed several of the books down into one 2 hour movie.
I became a lover of books at a very young age due to the fact that my Dad was a voracious reader all his life.So at the age of maybe 8 0r 9, when I ran out of Hardy Boys, Tom Swifts, and then, out of desperation, my sister's Nancy Drew books, I would turn to my father's book shelves.Dad had the complete Hornblower series,(amongst many other adult novels ,history books, bios, etc) and I gluttonously gobbled those up as well,often under the covers with a carefully deployed flash light ! Anyway,it's a bit funny that I noticed this thread, because I recently borrowed the first episode of the TV series from the library,and never got around to watching it....because I was too busy reading books.I seldom re-read any book, because there are so many I haven't read yet, and so little time to read them all.Often, after I've read the book,(& loved it) I don't bother to watch the movie because I feel it would be almost impossible to live up to such a brilliant, nuanced story.
The television series is very good. The books are very good. Why take sides? Embrace them both.
I loved the series, I own all nine DVD's and I've read nearly all the books for the second time. The books and the movies are similar, yet different enough to be enjoyable.I tried reading Patrick O'Brian's series, but couldn't get past the first book. Not enough sea action. Perhaps I'll try another one later.
I thought that the whole series was a fun rear and stories just the way I like them.The series was to me what reading is all about and why I enjoy it!
Loved the film adaptation. Love the books tremendously.
I have the full series and the TV series and love both of them. My favorite of the series that I have read more than I can count is HH and the Hotspur. The A&E series I liked because it did not try to do too much per episode like the Gregory Peck movie did and I liked the small screen almost BBC production feel to it.
HH's doubts about his looks are consistent with his self-doubts in his command ability and may not be a good indicator as to his real looks. He certainly did not have to go to great lengths to attract a woman.
Re-reading Lt Hornblower, and I know in the movies they went into a lot more detail about Captain Sawyers death. I 'remember' this same sort of detail being in the book, but apparently not. Its weird that I remember it wrong because I read the books first.
Michelle wrote: "I read the first couple of books and watched the TV series at around the same time. I really enjoyed both. ..."Thanks for replying to this thread.
It's been five years since I initially asked the question but I'm glad that people keep answering.
I still do think both the books and the TV series are enjoyable and I like them both. I also liked the 1951 movie though they did cram an awful lot of plot into a relatively short movie.
I'd have been curious to see the TV series handled the whole El Supremo thing. And I do think we should have seen more of HH's whist playing and his poverty when on half pay but I'll take what we can get
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Lieutenant Hornblower (other topics)
Hornblower During the Crisis (other topics)
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Hornblower During the Crisis (other topics)
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (other topics)
The books are among my life-long favorites and I've re-read them many times. I love the detail of the world that is re-created and the way that shy, introspective HH becomes such a swashbuckling hero (on the outside) while always being a whist-loving thinking person who's full of self-doubt.
Of course I expected that much of that could not be translated to film (and I was right) but overall I was surprised to find that I liked the filmed series as well.
This was despite the film-makers' strange "cuisineart" screenwriting style, twisting the story-line in bizarre ways that seemed to have nothing to do with bringing the cerebral parts to life. e.g. Jack Simpson's extended role instead of just being the bully who HH duels with.
And before anyone else says it...Yes, Ioan Gruffudd was way too "pretty" to play the self admittedly homely Hornblower. (Though, given the number of women that found the books' Hornblower attractive - perhaps Hornblower's opinion of his looks was wrong)