» Cashing In On Christmas. Start A Successful Christmas Light Installation Business And Earn A 6-Figur... (more) |
» Gluten Free Christmas Cookbook. 29 Gluten Free Christmas Recipes From The GlutenFreeKiwi. com. All Tried A... (more) |
» Christmas Light Business Package & Training Video. Earn Over $100,000 In 90 Days Installing Christmas Lights! We Guide You Thr... (more) |
» Christmas Classics And Clip Art. Classical Christmas Books, Such As 'Old Christmas', 'a Visit From St. Nicho... (more) |
» The Dwarf Hamster Book Christmas Edition $8.97 This is the Christmas edition with a price drop and an extra bonus!... (more) |
| Do U skaDoogle? |
5 Comments on The Young Hornblower Omnibus: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, Lieutenant Hornblower, and, Hornblower and the Hotspur
Leave a Reply
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is the prequel to the Horatio Hornblower series. Written as the sixth book chronologically, it covers the very first times when Hornblower served in His Majesty’s navy. My recommendation is that you read it first, so that you can follow Hornblower chronologically along over his career as it develops.
Since much of service aboard a naval vessel is routine, C.S. Forester gives us the high spots of Hornblower’s first years in the form of short stories beginning at age 17 when he entered the navy.
Each story is nicely balanced among the following qualities: Hornblower’s inexperience; the rapid shift of circumstances that can occur at sea; Hornblower’s physical and psychological weaknesses and courage to overcome them; the demands of honor; the importance of thinking clearly, getting good information, and making a swift decision; the benefits of discipline; and the brotherhood of all seaman before the dangers they face.
Those who are interested in the war between Britain and France after the French Revolution in 1789 will find the material to bring those events to life in a vivid way. I learned a lot about the details of naval warfare as it was conducted then.
The weakness of most short story writers is that their plots and resolutions often become overly predictable. These short stories are predictable only in their originality and unpredictability. As such, I found myself drawn forward, wondering what rabbit Forester would next pull out of the hat.
This is just the sort of book that I loved to read as a teenager, and I could feel the years peeling off as I raced through the stories. This book would be a wonderful gift to a teenager who likes adventure tales based on historical events. Readers will be reminded of how embarrassing and emotionally daunting it can be to launch off to operate in the adult world at age 17.
Unlike many adventure books, Hornblower serves the dual role of hero and morally-inspired man. It’s too bad that so much modern fiction chooses to develop the action without developing any character in the process.
Rating: 4 / 5
Hornblower and the Hotspur is just the sort of book to inspire youngsters to want to do the right thing. The temptations of doing the wrong thing, of looking the other way, or of chasing the golden fleece are all present. You see Commander Hornblower dealing with these temptations, and enjoying the rewards and pains of pursuing the right course. Also, he is often rewarded for taking the time to do his homework (such as his never-ending charting of the coastal inlets in Brittany). Few modern novels create some upright and forthright heroes for young people to model themselves after.
Older fans of C.S. Forester and the Hornblower series will also be rewarded by the fascinating details of how a small sloop can successfully challenge all comers! If you are a sailor or have some interest in the subject, you will be richly rewarded by the many fine details that Mr. Forester provides about the special challenges of storms, the European coast, and running a long-term blockade of Europe after the Peace of Amiens breaks down in 1803.
Those who have been waiting for Hornblower to “get a life” will be pleased to see that his attachments to shore, family, and to those nearest to him increase greatly in this book. As a result, he has to think about the consequences more carefully as he faces death . . . and what will happen to others if he fails.
In a fascinating series of “almost asides” Hornblower has great problems with his personal servants in this novel. These scenes help establish Hornblower’s lack of priority for personal comfort, and the vulnerability that can be created for you if those close to you fail to do their duties.
To me, the most rewarding part of the book came in the many sections that explored what it means to be courageous. Hornblower certainly doesn’t see himself that way. In fact, in some cases he merely sees himself as having noticed the problem and having acted faster than others. In other cases, his physical weaknesses (including a propensity to seasickness) make his duty difficult. He gives himself no credit for soldiering on under the circumstances, but rather feels inferior for his vulnerability. An unfortunate incident leaves him in a quandary about whether to do his duty “by the book” or to deal with the situation with compassion. The message seems to be that courage is overcoming your obstacles and limitations, regardless of the price, but is not something that one should rejoice in. The term “stiff upper lip” kept coming to mind as I read this novel.
The ultimate appeal of Hornblower is that he is a slightly brighter, more determined version of “everyone” out there who ever wanted to do the right thing, make a way in the world, and build a rewarding life. His weaknesses, foibles, and doubts simply serve to make his concerns and himself real to all of us who read about him . . . and secretly yearn to keep the French bottled up in Brest by our outstanding seamanship.
If the Star Trek holodecks were really available, I’d like to create a program to be Hornblower on the Hotspur (as long as I didn’t have to suffer too much from seasickness). I would certainly want to have the trustworthy Mr. Bush (from the novel) along side me.
After you finish the book, I suggest that you think of Hornblower’s experiences as a metaphor for making the right choices in a career and personal life. What challenges have you found that are similar to those that Hornblower dealt with in this book? How do you think that Hornblower would have responded to these challenges? What can you learn from these “thought experiments” that could help you in the future?
When choosing among life’s routes, be sure to consider the stern, rocky paths for the rewarding challenges they provide!
Rating: 4 / 5
Worth reading every 10 years or so to remind us what a truly entertaining author CSF was. As good a command of the english language as Conrad, CSF takes us through a man’s glorious naval career, occasionally tinged with tragedy but never dull. The ideal introduction to an examination of the Napoleonic era which has spawned so many good books by inspired authors…
Rating: 5 / 5
The first three Hornblower stories in one volume make for a very fine introduction to this greatest of English naval heroes. Take yourself back in time and marvel at the exploits of His Majesties navy.
Rating: 5 / 5
As a sailor myself, and having recently read all through Patrick O’Brien’s Jack Aubrey novels, comparisons were drawn with C.S.Forester and Hornblower. I read all the Hornblower novels years ago, and now that I am re-visiting them, I find I read them at a more moderate pace, enjoying and relishing the detail: Hornblower’s own character, those of Bush and the rest of the ‘cast’. But it is only by considering the details of weather and wind conditions, in relation to a careful look at a map of the relevant coast, that Hornblower’s activities – whether clawing off a lee shore or navigating skillfully off Brest – really bite! Whereas I read these before as a young man, at a gallop, they reward sitting comfortably with a fine glass of red wine – somehow it enlivens the image of a creaking vessel of the early 1800’s complete with dark spaces lit only by spluttering tallow candles in jars. Especially true in this respect is the superbly written night action in Hotspur- so easily skipped over without concern for the finer detail, but masterly when you use your imagination to see what Forester wanted you to see. And when you have read the last of Horny, and need more of the same, turn to O’Brien – I think that the two authors are out of prety much the same mould.
Rating: 4 / 5