What would O’Brian have thought of ‘Commander’?

Patrick T. Reardon Says Patrick O’Brian would have hated “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.” He says It’s a wonderful film, But, as he knows from interviewing him, O’Brian was a prickly coot, and, when it came to his writing, his characters and just about anything, he was quick to take offense. With no control over the movie, O’Brian would have been aghast at the liberties the filmmakers took, such as the way they cherry-picked scenes from the long run of novels to give the movie a near-constant flow of action. That continuous action, too, went against the general tenor of his novels, which focused much more on the everyday routines and challenges of shipboard life than on events such as storms and battles.

But how would he have felt about his URL?

Another good look at the movie/book connection at smh.com.au.

November 19, 2003 by Uncategorized

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1 Response

  1. Karl says:
    November 20, 2003 at 1:55 am

    Interesting…
    I agree that his books are less about action and more about interpersonal life on board ship. That’s why I have never been able to finish an Aubrey/Maturin novel, even though I’ve read Forester’s Hornblower books multiple times. Hearing this about the movie makes it more likely that I’ll see it, since my general dislike of O’Brian was holding me back.

    Chalk up O’Brian/Forester next to Mac/Windows, Liberal/Conservative, and vi/emacs as one of the great dichotomies.

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