Hornblower and the Atropos
Just before I went on holiday I read Hornblower and the Atropos. I have to confess that I didn't exactly rush to pick up Atropos as a couple of people had said they found it one of the least inspiring of the series, although I know others, such as ioanite, have said it's their favourite. On reflection I fall into the latter camp, I really liked Atropos :)
Sure the plot is rather bitty and episodic but somehow that doesn't matter. There is something unhurried about Atropos that gives the characters, particularly Maria and Hornblower himself, time to develop. Although the uncommented absence of Mr Bush is rather odd to say the least.
I particularly loved the canal scenes at the beginning and, having once attempted to navigate a 52 foot narrowboat along a very twisty contour canal with way too many bridges, I can sympathise with Hornblower! And I could also recognise the rare feeling of peace he experiences at the tiller.
It was all very lovely; Hornblower had the feeling that he did not want this moment ever to end. This was happiness, as his earlier feelings of well-being changed to something more peaceful, just as the surface of the river had changed below the eddy.
Although I must say that I am shocked that a man of Hornblower's standing and a captain to boot should treat the waterways with such disrespect!
He took Maria's platter and his own, and stepped out into the bows of the boat in the darkness. It was the work of a moment to give the platters a quick rinse overside; the work of another moment to drop overside the sausage from his pocket,
Littering the water ways, tsk, shocking behaviour!
Nelson's funeral procession is a glorious piece of farce. Forester's writing is brilliant here, he builds the humour slowly and slyly until by the time the funeral barge springs a leak I had almost slid off my seat laughing.
Of course the main action takes place in Marmaris Bay, (which also happens to be where the Grand Turk aka The Bloody Indy was built I believe) and I loved the technicalities of the salvage operation and the preparation of the underwater explosives. And of course you just know that things can't possibly continue going smoothly in Hornblower's favour for long.
The other scenes that have really struck with me are Hornblower's meetings with Collingwood. The image of Collingwood smiling wistfully at the daffodils and hyacinths growing in his cabin is so very touching.
He walked over and tilted up a daffodil bloom with sensitive fingers, looking down into its open face. "They are beautiful, aren't they? Soon the daffodils will be flowering in England - some time, perhaps, I'll see them again. Meanwhile these help to keep me contented. It is three years since I last set foot on land."
There is only one thing about Atropos that I remain undecided about and that's Maria. I find her quite a troubling character. She is often so pitiful that I squirm when reading but at the same time there is a steeliness to her core that could rival her husband. Forester certainly created a fascinating and ambiguous character in Maria.
One last reason I am very fond of Atropos is that I read most of it on a trip to London when I met up with nodbear and esmerelda_t and it will always remind me of that lovely afternoon by the Thames!
Sure the plot is rather bitty and episodic but somehow that doesn't matter. There is something unhurried about Atropos that gives the characters, particularly Maria and Hornblower himself, time to develop. Although the uncommented absence of Mr Bush is rather odd to say the least.
I particularly loved the canal scenes at the beginning and, having once attempted to navigate a 52 foot narrowboat along a very twisty contour canal with way too many bridges, I can sympathise with Hornblower! And I could also recognise the rare feeling of peace he experiences at the tiller.
It was all very lovely; Hornblower had the feeling that he did not want this moment ever to end. This was happiness, as his earlier feelings of well-being changed to something more peaceful, just as the surface of the river had changed below the eddy.
Although I must say that I am shocked that a man of Hornblower's standing and a captain to boot should treat the waterways with such disrespect!
He took Maria's platter and his own, and stepped out into the bows of the boat in the darkness. It was the work of a moment to give the platters a quick rinse overside; the work of another moment to drop overside the sausage from his pocket,
Littering the water ways, tsk, shocking behaviour!
Nelson's funeral procession is a glorious piece of farce. Forester's writing is brilliant here, he builds the humour slowly and slyly until by the time the funeral barge springs a leak I had almost slid off my seat laughing.
Of course the main action takes place in Marmaris Bay, (which also happens to be where the Grand Turk aka The Bloody Indy was built I believe) and I loved the technicalities of the salvage operation and the preparation of the underwater explosives. And of course you just know that things can't possibly continue going smoothly in Hornblower's favour for long.
The other scenes that have really struck with me are Hornblower's meetings with Collingwood. The image of Collingwood smiling wistfully at the daffodils and hyacinths growing in his cabin is so very touching.
He walked over and tilted up a daffodil bloom with sensitive fingers, looking down into its open face. "They are beautiful, aren't they? Soon the daffodils will be flowering in England - some time, perhaps, I'll see them again. Meanwhile these help to keep me contented. It is three years since I last set foot on land."
There is only one thing about Atropos that I remain undecided about and that's Maria. I find her quite a troubling character. She is often so pitiful that I squirm when reading but at the same time there is a steeliness to her core that could rival her husband. Forester certainly created a fascinating and ambiguous character in Maria.
One last reason I am very fond of Atropos is that I read most of it on a trip to London when I met up with nodbear and esmerelda_t and it will always remind me of that lovely afternoon by the Thames!