Hornblower was later scolded by the Chief Commissary for wasting a bull per day while at sea while there were provisions aboard. Midshipman takes Hornblower from his first naval assignment through his early experiences – from a quiet, shy and often seasick seventeen year old to someone who can get through his ship sinking and being captured by the French. Since Spain becomes officially neutral, the British ship of war is forced to leave, passing prisoner-rowed galleys still maintained by the conservative Spanish navy.

Hornblower, jumping for the weather mizzen–shrouds, saw the eager grins on half a dozen faces—battle and the imminent possibility of death were a welcome change from the eternal monotony of the blockade. the eve of the Napoleonic Wars, and Midshipman Horatio Hornblower receives his first command … As a seventeen-year-old with a touch of sea sickness, young Horatio Hornblower hardly cuts a dash in His Majesty’s navy. Hornblower an intelligent human would rather die than having his crew mates and fellow warriors, believe incorrectly that he's afraid, men strangely think like this. However, instead of taking credit for the fire, Hornblower suggests that there may have been spontaneous combustion in the paint locker, as a way of punishing himself for losing Marie Galante in the first place. Hornblower's fear of heights terrifies him, but tries to assure himself that he was courageous in his situation with Hales.Even in the frigates, the eyes and claws of the blockaders, boredom had to be endured, the boredom of long periods with the hatches battened down, with the deck seams above dripping water on the men below, long nights and short days, broken sleep and yet not enough to do. Masters notes "with a slight stirring of interest that the eyes, despite their owner's seasickness, were looking about keenly . Anticipating capture Hornblower prepares to throw his dispatches overboard, but is persuaded by the Duchess, who also reveals her true identity as a popular actress, to allow her to conceal them under her clothes, as she is sure to be repatriated immediately. Story 9: “Hornblower and Noah’s Ark” – This chapter reminds me a lot of The Pirate Coast by Richard Zachs, a book I read many years ago, long before starting this book-review blog. Also, if Forester ever explained the basic nautical terms of a sail-driven ship and its rigging and operations, he doesn't do it here; technical terms are used abundantly and you glean (or sometimes, don't glean) an approximation of the meaning from the context, unless you've picked up a definition elsewhere.

takes his first, brief command of a French ship which the British have captured—and boy is he nervous! I can't resist including another quotation that shows the depth of description that we receive from Forester: "Winter had come to the Bay of Biscay. Hornblower hightails it back to Edrington to report and the 43rd takes position to cover the French retreat. This chapter opens with Hornblower as midshipman of the watch aboard HMS Indefatigable while at anchor in Cadiz, when he observes an eight-oared pinnace approaching. His course to weather Ushant was nor'–east by north, he knew, and the boat close hauled would not lie closer than eight points off the wind—he had lain–to to the sea anchor all night because the wind had been coming from too far north to enable him to steer for England.

I spend a lot of my reading time struggling through dense prose, trying to understand philosophical jargon or, in the case of my recent Ulysses failure, trying to understand anything at all. Mentre O'Brian ci presenta un Aubrey già adulto che si aspetta la nomina a capitano, Forester ci fa conoscere il suo protagonista da diciassettenne spilungone, dapprima deriso dal resto dell'equipaggio in quanto soffre di mal di mare già in porto, e in seguito, grazie a qualche colpo di testa e qualche botta di fortuna, ribattezzato di man in mano con nuovi nomignoli, come ad esempio "angelo volante" grazie ad un fortunoso volo da un pennone all'altro.