dublinka

I just finished Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander, the first in a series of twenty novels following the adventures at sea of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. Lauded as the greatest historical novelist of all time by The Times, O'Brian had also previously translated, one of my favourite writers, Simone De Beauvoir, so I was determined to give him the once over. Of interest to Dublinka, he introduces the chirpy character of Mowett, one of the ships crew, and aspiring poet, who is given to spontaneous bursts of verse:

O're the ship the gallant bosun flies,
Like a hoarse mastiff through the storm he cries,
Prompt to direct th'unskilful appears,
The expert he praises and the timid cheers

Two or three other snippets can be found in the Master and Commander, which though not exactly addictive, holds some promise, and may stir your curiosity - if poetry and sea faring is your thing. Mowett appears in more of the novels, so it could be fun to track him. But be warned, as a minor character, he if of course at risk from the whim of the God with the pen. As for the book itself, such is its historical accuracy that having read it, you are unlikely to walk past any kind of sailing ship, ever again, without naming every mast and sail.