Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


While O'Brian is clearly thorough about his research and is passionate about the subject matter, I just could not get into this story. I listened to this book on an audio download, and that may have been part of the problem, but O'Brian's focus on the riggings of a ship and his detailed descriptions of Aubrey's sea battles and escapades left me caring little for the characters themselves. I still don't understand the whole point of Mr. Dillon. He was there. There seemed to be conflict between him and Jack Aubrey, and then suddenly he wasn't there. I suppose if you want to know something about 18th century British ships, this is the book the read. If you're looking for a great story, though...maybe not. Or at the very least, don't listen to this on one audiotape unless you already know a lot about the above.

View all my reviews >>