The Nutmeg of Consolation - Patrick O'Brian

An agreeable history lesson

The Nutmeg of Consolation is a welcome return to form by O'Brian after 'The Thirteen Gun salute' which I still consider to be the weakest instalment of the entire Aubrey/Maturin series. The latter part of this latest book especially, set in the infamous penal colony of Botany Bay, is surely an object lesson in writing historical fiction. The reader is delivered a sizeable & shockingly accurate history lesson almost unnoticed, such is the skill, power & emotional intensity of the narrative. Dr Maturin, one of the two principal characters, takes centre stage here. Appalled & saddened by the systematic abuse of both convicts & aboriginees, he allows his somewhat irascible nature to get the better of him with, at least for the reader, thrilling & satisfying results. He also comes to the aid of an old shipmate in as moving & poignant an episode as I've ever read. But, as usual, there are lighter moments to the story & the whole thing adds up to one of O'brian's very best of this series & one of my favourites.

Quite convincing

The richness and complexity of this tome of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is well brought out by this unabridged reading from Graham Roberts. On the whole, he succeeds in the difficult task of - literally - giving all the characters a plausible and distinctive voice. My reservation lies with Stephen Maturin's voice: it seems to me both overly Irish for a man of such cosmopolitan antecedents and unecessarily squeaky for a man of such gravitas. I think that Robert Hardy's readings - available, unfortunately only as abridged versions - are more successful in creating the Stephen Maturin that Patrick O'Brian intended. Having said that, this unabridged version is a most enjoyable reading.

An agreeable history lesson

The Nutmeg of Consolation is a welcome return to form by O'Brian after 'The Thirteen Gun salute' which I still consider to be the weakest instalment of the entire Aubrey/Maturin series. The latter part of this latest book especially, set in the infamous penal colony of Botany Bay, is surely an object lesson in writing historical fiction. The reader is delivered a sizeable & shockingly accurate history lesson almost unnoticed, such is the skill, power & emotional intensity of the narrative. Dr Maturin, one of the two principal characters, takes centre stage here. Appalled & saddened by the systematic abuse of both convicts & aboriginees, he allows his somewhat irascible nature to get the better of him with, at least for the reader, thrilling & satisfying results. He also comes to the aid of an old shipmate in as moving & poignant an episode as I've ever read. But, as usual, there are lighter moments to the story & the whole thing adds up to one of O'brian's very best of this series & one of my favourites.

Quite convincing

The richness and complexity of this tome of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is well brought out by this unabridged reading from Graham Roberts. On the whole, he succeeds in the difficult task of - literally - giving all the characters a plausible and distinctive voice. My reservation lies with Stephen Maturin's voice: it seems to me both overly Irish for a man of such cosmopolitan antecedents and unecessarily squeaky for a man of such gravitas. I think that Robert Hardy's readings - available, unfortunately only as abridged versions - are more successful in creating the Stephen Maturin that Patrick O'Brian intended. Having said that, this unabridged version is a most enjoyable reading.

An agreeable history lesson

The Nutmeg of Consolation is a welcome return to form by O'Brian after 'The Thirteen Gun salute' which I still consider to be the weakest instalment of the entire Aubrey/Maturin series. The latter part of this latest book especially, set in the infamous penal colony of Botany Bay, is surely an object lesson in writing historical fiction. The reader is delivered a sizeable & shockingly accurate history lesson almost unnoticed, such is the skill, power & emotional intensity of the narrative. Dr Maturin, one of the two principal characters, takes centre stage here. Appalled & saddened by the systematic abuse of both convicts & aboriginees, he allows his somewhat irascible nature to get the better of him with, at least for the reader, thrilling & satisfying results. He also comes to the aid of an old shipmate in as moving & poignant an episode as I've ever read. But, as usual, there are lighter moments to the story & the whole thing adds up to one of O'brian's very best of this series & one of my favourites.

Quite convincing

The richness and complexity of this tome of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is well brought out by this unabridged reading from Graham Roberts. On the whole, he succeeds in the difficult task of - literally - giving all the characters a plausible and distinctive voice. My reservation lies with Stephen Maturin's voice: it seems to me both overly Irish for a man of such cosmopolitan antecedents and unecessarily squeaky for a man of such gravitas. I think that Robert Hardy's readings - available, unfortunately only as abridged versions - are more successful in creating the Stephen Maturin that Patrick O'Brian intended. Having said that, this unabridged version is a most enjoyable reading.

An agreeable history lesson

The Nutmeg of Consolation is a welcome return to form by O'Brian after 'The Thirteen Gun salute' which I still consider to be the weakest instalment of the entire Aubrey/Maturin series. The latter part of this latest book especially, set in the infamous penal colony of Botany Bay, is surely an object lesson in writing historical fiction. The reader is delivered a sizeable & shockingly accurate history lesson almost unnoticed, such is the skill, power & emotional intensity of the narrative. Dr Maturin, one of the two principal characters, takes centre stage here. Appalled & saddened by the systematic abuse of both convicts & aboriginees, he allows his somewhat irascible nature to get the better of him with, at least for the reader, thrilling & satisfying results. He also comes to the aid of an old shipmate in as moving & poignant an episode as I've ever read. But, as usual, there are lighter moments to the story & the whole thing adds up to one of O'brian's very best of this series & one of my favourites.

Quite convincing

The richness and complexity of this tome of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is well brought out by this unabridged reading from Graham Roberts. On the whole, he succeeds in the difficult task of - literally - giving all the characters a plausible and distinctive voice. My reservation lies with Stephen Maturin's voice: it seems to me both overly Irish for a man of such cosmopolitan antecedents and unecessarily squeaky for a man of such gravitas. I think that Robert Hardy's readings - available, unfortunately only as abridged versions - are more successful in creating the Stephen Maturin that Patrick O'Brian intended. Having said that, this unabridged version is a most enjoyable reading.

An agreeable history lesson

The Nutmeg of Consolation is a welcome return to form by O'Brian after 'The Thirteen Gun salute' which I still consider to be the weakest instalment of the entire Aubrey/Maturin series. The latter part of this latest book especially, set in the infamous penal colony of Botany Bay, is surely an object lesson in writing historical fiction. The reader is delivered a sizeable & shockingly accurate history lesson almost unnoticed, such is the skill, power & emotional intensity of the narrative. Dr Maturin, one of the two principal characters, takes centre stage here. Appalled & saddened by the systematic abuse of both convicts & aboriginees, he allows his somewhat irascible nature to get the better of him with, at least for the reader, thrilling & satisfying results. He also comes to the aid of an old shipmate in as moving & poignant an episode as I've ever read. But, as usual, there are lighter moments to the story & the whole thing adds up to one of O'brian's very best of this series & one of my favourites.

Quite convincing

The richness and complexity of this tome of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is well brought out by this unabridged reading from Graham Roberts. On the whole, he succeeds in the difficult task of - literally - giving all the characters a plausible and distinctive voice. My reservation lies with Stephen Maturin's voice: it seems to me both overly Irish for a man of such cosmopolitan antecedents and unecessarily squeaky for a man of such gravitas. I think that Robert Hardy's readings - available, unfortunately only as abridged versions - are more successful in creating the Stephen Maturin that Patrick O'Brian intended. Having said that, this unabridged version is a most enjoyable reading.