The Book Blog - Learning Resources at St. Johns River State College

For this entry, I am not going to talk about a book I have read. Instead, I want to share a book series I am interested in trying out: Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series.

The Aubrey-Maturin series is a historical fiction series set during the Napoleonic Wars which follows Captain Jack Aubrey of the British Royal Navy and Stephen Maturin, the ship’s doctor, as they serve on various warships. The Aubrey-Maturin series took its inspiration from C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower books which also follows the titular character’s growth in the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.

The first book of the Aubrey-Maturin series, Master and Commander, was made into a film in 2003 starring Russell Crowe as Aubrey and Paul Bettany as Maturin. While the movie features a cat-and-mouse game between Aubrey’s ship and a French warship that fired upon them at the beginning of the story, the friendship between Aubrey and Maturin takes center stage. Aubrey is a typical British naval officer, duty bound and mission driven, while Maturin is more intellectual and introspective about the world around him.

Despite these opposite personalities, the characters gravitate toward each other. The relationship between the main characters and the ship as the primary setting reminded me of Star Trek, especially the original series, which also explored relationships among the three diverse characters – Captain James T. Kirk, Dr. Leonard McCoy, and Lieutenant Commander Spock – as they serve on the Starship Enterprise.

I am looking forward to trying the Aubrey-Maturin series out. If the books are as good as the movie, I think I will be in for a treat.

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

Call Number: PR6029.B55 M37 1990b

ISBN: 0393325172

Publication Date: 2003-10-17

It is the dawn of the nineteenth century; Britain is at war with Napoleon's France. Jack Aubrey, a young lieutenant in Nelson's navy, is promoted to command of H.M.S. Sophie?, an old, slow brig unlikely to make his fortune. But Captain Aubrey is a brave and gifted seaman, his thirst for adventure and victory immense. With the aid of his friend Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and secret intelligence agent, Aubrey and his crew engage in one thrilling battle after another, their journey culminating in a stunning clash with a mighty Spanish frigate against whose guns and manpower the tinynbsp;?Sophie? is hopelessly outmatched.

Master and commander

Call Number: PN1997 Master C66 2014 DVD

ISBN: B0001HLVS2

Publication Date: 2014

During the Napoleonic Wars, a British frigate, the HMS Surprise, and the larger French warship, Acheron, stalk each other off of the coast of South America. Lucky Jack, as he is referred to by his crew, is well regarded by his men, who trust him implicitly, even after the first devastating battle and an apparent personal vendetta against the French captain. The ship’s surgeon balances the violence of his chosen life with the quiet demeanor of the scientist. He is the captain’s friend and confidant, the two frequently playing violin and cello duets together.

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By the pricking of my thumbs... A review of this year's three 'Macbeth' retellings

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Bright Young Women defeat a law school drop-out

Top left: Bright, young women Lisa Levy, Margaret Bowman, both murdered by Bundy.Bottom left: Bright, young women Cheryl Thomas, Karen Chandler, Kathy Kleiner, all injured by BundyNita Neary, a member of the Chi Omega sorority, came home to find Ted Bundy (Left-artist’s rendition with Neary’s description; Right-photo of Ted Bundy) running from the house.Chi Omega Sorority House description of Bundy’s attack On January 1, 1978, at 4:00 am, serial killer Ted Bundy brutally murdered two women and injured three others (see first photo above) at the Chi Omega Sorority House on the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee, Florida. Nita Neary, sorority sister to the women, saw Bundy run past her and out the front door. Later, she would become a witness for the prosecution at the trial that convicted what the judge would call at his sentencing a “bright young man.” Seeking to correct the judge’s ridiculous and erroneous description of the sadistic murderer who kidnapped, raped, and killed at least 30 women, Luckiest Girl Alive author Jessica Knoll wrote Bright Young Women. When I re-watched the judge at Bundy’s trial attributing those compliments to Bundy, I am in disbelief, and I have always felt sickened by the positive adjectives heaped on this killer. After finishing graduate school and moving to South Florida in 1989, I worked in a high school where Bundy’s crimes were still on the faculty and staff’s minds. Buried deep in my subconscious, I was reminded of his murders when a fellow teacher recalled dropping her daughter off at FSU. “You remember what happened [at FSU] when Bundy killed those sorority girls.” No, I hadn’t remembered, and she reminded me admitting that parents were still haunted by the killings and dropping their bright young daughters off at FSU scared them to death.I was in eighth grade when Bundy killed these bright young women, but I wasn’t aware of the stranglehold that his crimes had on a nation mired in Vietnam fatigue and Watergate. Today, viewers can’t get enough of true crime, and I counted 30 shows currently on Netflix alone that will quench viewers’ thirsts, including “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.” Googling “shows about Bundy” displays the following hit: Present-day interviews, archival footage and audio recordings made on death row form a searing portrait of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. Watch all you want. Knoll destroys his “bright young man [ness]” when she refuses to call him by name; instead, she refers to him as the defendant. When the judge referred to him as “bright,” she reminds the reader that he was in the bottom fifth of law school, and he wasn’t accepted to ANY of his top choices. He also attended the University of Utah School of Law, but only because of falsified documents. Few people know that although Bundy did represent himself at his murder trial, he had a “team” of lawyers at his side to act as advisers. Knoll surmises that he acted as his own attorney so that he could “relive his crimes.” And finally, he NEVER earned his law degree. Spending his time as a serial killer may have hindered his studying for exams.Knoll reminds the reader how the New York Times played a part in wrongly characterizing the defendant referring to the serial killer as a “terrific looking young man with beautiful eyes, light brown hair…Kennedy-esque.”When the defendant stuffed his prison cell keyhole with toilet paper to cause his tardiness to the courtroom during his trial, reporters called him “clever.” Knoll’s response: “I have a dog who rips up toilet paper when he doesn’t get his way, too.” I’ll allow the reader to connect the dots here.All too often, the victims of crimes are shoved to the background, while the perpetrators occupy the foreground. Reading Bright Young Women reminds the reader that honoring the lives of Lisa Levy, Margaret Bowman, Cheryl Thomas, Karen Chandler and Kathy Kleiner eclipses the scores of TV shows and movies devoted to a not-so-bright sadistic murderer. ...

Aubrey-Maturin Series: Master and Commander

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