Nautical Bits and Bobs
Aug. 5th, 2003 04:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ealgyldenThere's a monkey sitting on my computer, staring at me. Which means not that I've decided to torment my cats with exotic pets, but that my magazine-snitching mailman decided that the package from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
castalianspring wasn't worth hiding from me. Ha! Little did he know that it held a Little Bit of Lovely British Comedians and a (LEGO) monkey. Three cheers for Castalia, provider of wonderful Hugh, Stephen and Monkey! (And you never know, maybe he'll inspire me to actually write the adventures of Captain Jack Monkey and his crew of fearsome simian buccaneers instead of just joking about it. He can be my muse. Ook, ook.)
~*~*~*~*
With any luck I'll be able to see Pirates again tomorrow, but meanwhile I've finally gotten around to reading my long-ignored copies of James L. Nelson's "Revolution at Sea Trilogy", which is five books long (oops). It's interesting, the reading experience as much as the series itself. The majority of my nautical fiction reading has been concentrated on the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Era, so it's a bit jarring to be immersed suddenly in a series where the British are the bad guys. Takes a bit of mental readjustment, though the earlier time period helps me avoid messy mental crossovers where Isaac Biddlecomb meets up with Hornblower and they kill each other. The first "Revolution" book (By Force of Arms) is set in 1775, and Horatio wasn't even born until 1776**. Jack Aubrey's a little older (O'Brian wasn't as helpful as Forester in such matters as character ages, though there has been some discussion on the question), but not nearly old enough to have been at sea yet, so I don't have a single qualm rooting for, well, us. The fictional equivalents of my father's ancestors, anyway. Show those British tars what for, boys!
The books themselves won't win any literary awards, that's for sure, but they're solid and fun and Nelson has a knack for writing battles and action scenes. His Captain Isaac Biddlecomb is an interesting character. He was well-trained as a merchant seaman and so he's a clever, talented sailor and captain, but he lacks the necessary mindset to deal with ordering his crew into danger and possible death; he can't yet think like a naval commander. One hopes he'll make the unhappy adjustment soon (I'm only a third of the way through Book Two), or he'll be a wreck by the end of the series.
The two main British antagonists so far have been the competent, condescending Captain James Wallace of the H.M.S. Rose (think, Norrington without his charms) and the rich, cruel, incompetent, idiot Captain James Pendexter of H.M.S. Icarus (think, the various movie Captain Blighs crossed with your basic goggle-eyed inbred aristocrat, like, say, Robert Ferrars in Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility). Pendexter is taken care of by the end of Book One (though I doubt if it's permanent), but I can't wait until Biddlecomb whomps Wallace for once and for all. Arrogant English bastard (see what I mean about needing a new mindset to read these?). Who wins the war in the end, huh? Oh wait, that hasn't happened yet in the books. Darn it.
So while they aren't high art, it's certainly a readable series. Lots of nautical fun, and an interesting change of pace from my usual diet of Brits vs. French vs. Spaniards and back again. I recommend them. Nelson has also written a trilogy about piracy, the "Brethren of the Coast Trilogy," which is next on my list. With luck, that'll be as enjoyable as the "Revolution" series.
**July 4th, 1776, in fact, which is rather amusing. It's in the books somewhere (in Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, I imagine), but I found it more quickly in my copy of C. Northcote Parkinson's The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower. If you ever see this book for cheap, grab it. Not only is it a great, useful book, it's very reassuring for those times when you start thinking, "Am I too fannish? Do I spend too much time concerned with the lives and histories of imaginary people?". You can just look at Northcote and be comforted in either of two ways (your choice of which): 1) at least you aren't so far gone that you've written a full biography, complete with multiple appendices and genealogical charts, about someone else's fictional character, or 2) no, you can never be too fannish! See? People can write full biographies blah blah, and get them published and even reissued in shiny new editions! Embrace your fannish self; C. Northcote Parkinson obviously did!
~*~*~*~*
Look,tiamatschild has written my PotC OTP in her drabble Only a Paper Moon! No, not that OTP. Not that one either (man, I am so fickle). Jack/Black Pearl! Love, true love. Hie thee hence and read!
~*~*~*~*
The downside to all of my current ocean-oriented reading/viewing/dreaming is that I would sell my sister for a lobster roll or some fried whole belly clams (with onion rings and french fries, naturally). I love the North Country, really I do, but it is too darned far from the shore. If a genie popped up and offered me three wishes right now, forget world peace and a cure for stupid people. I'd use all three to zap down to the North Shore (maybe Essex, though I've always had a weakness for Salem), with enough money in my pockets to eat lobster rolls and clams, oh, and codfish cakes (and all the trimmings) until I never wanted to think about fish again. Mmmm...
~*~*~*~*
I've had a stack of comics sitting here for two weeks because I want to talk about them, and it's just too hot to overcome my interia. I can think of exactly what I want to say, and when I go to type it, my brain melts. It's really frustrating, too- I do have thoughts that go beyond "Scurvy Dogs good, Red Star disappointing, Age of Bronze and Artesia works of art," but while I obviously haven't lost the ability to blather about nothing, I apparently can't get it together enough to talk about something. And that obviously won't be changing today, since the siren call of fic and raspberry-custard pie is a lot more alluring than the comic pile. Meh, they're not going anywhere anyway.
castalianspring wasn't worth hiding from me. Ha! Little did he know that it held a Little Bit of Lovely British Comedians and a (LEGO) monkey. Three cheers for Castalia, provider of wonderful Hugh, Stephen and Monkey! (And you never know, maybe he'll inspire me to actually write the adventures of Captain Jack Monkey and his crew of fearsome simian buccaneers instead of just joking about it. He can be my muse. Ook, ook.)~*~*~*~*
With any luck I'll be able to see Pirates again tomorrow, but meanwhile I've finally gotten around to reading my long-ignored copies of James L. Nelson's "Revolution at Sea Trilogy", which is five books long (oops). It's interesting, the reading experience as much as the series itself. The majority of my nautical fiction reading has been concentrated on the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Era, so it's a bit jarring to be immersed suddenly in a series where the British are the bad guys. Takes a bit of mental readjustment, though the earlier time period helps me avoid messy mental crossovers where Isaac Biddlecomb meets up with Hornblower and they kill each other. The first "Revolution" book (By Force of Arms) is set in 1775, and Horatio wasn't even born until 1776**. Jack Aubrey's a little older (O'Brian wasn't as helpful as Forester in such matters as character ages, though there has been some discussion on the question), but not nearly old enough to have been at sea yet, so I don't have a single qualm rooting for, well, us. The fictional equivalents of my father's ancestors, anyway. Show those British tars what for, boys!
The books themselves won't win any literary awards, that's for sure, but they're solid and fun and Nelson has a knack for writing battles and action scenes. His Captain Isaac Biddlecomb is an interesting character. He was well-trained as a merchant seaman and so he's a clever, talented sailor and captain, but he lacks the necessary mindset to deal with ordering his crew into danger and possible death; he can't yet think like a naval commander. One hopes he'll make the unhappy adjustment soon (I'm only a third of the way through Book Two), or he'll be a wreck by the end of the series.
The two main British antagonists so far have been the competent, condescending Captain James Wallace of the H.M.S. Rose (think, Norrington without his charms) and the rich, cruel, incompetent, idiot Captain James Pendexter of H.M.S. Icarus (think, the various movie Captain Blighs crossed with your basic goggle-eyed inbred aristocrat, like, say, Robert Ferrars in Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility). Pendexter is taken care of by the end of Book One (though I doubt if it's permanent), but I can't wait until Biddlecomb whomps Wallace for once and for all. Arrogant English bastard (see what I mean about needing a new mindset to read these?). Who wins the war in the end, huh? Oh wait, that hasn't happened yet in the books. Darn it.
So while they aren't high art, it's certainly a readable series. Lots of nautical fun, and an interesting change of pace from my usual diet of Brits vs. French vs. Spaniards and back again. I recommend them. Nelson has also written a trilogy about piracy, the "Brethren of the Coast Trilogy," which is next on my list. With luck, that'll be as enjoyable as the "Revolution" series.
**July 4th, 1776, in fact, which is rather amusing. It's in the books somewhere (in Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, I imagine), but I found it more quickly in my copy of C. Northcote Parkinson's The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower. If you ever see this book for cheap, grab it. Not only is it a great, useful book, it's very reassuring for those times when you start thinking, "Am I too fannish? Do I spend too much time concerned with the lives and histories of imaginary people?". You can just look at Northcote and be comforted in either of two ways (your choice of which): 1) at least you aren't so far gone that you've written a full biography, complete with multiple appendices and genealogical charts, about someone else's fictional character, or 2) no, you can never be too fannish! See? People can write full biographies blah blah, and get them published and even reissued in shiny new editions! Embrace your fannish self; C. Northcote Parkinson obviously did!
~*~*~*~*
Look,
tiamatschild has written my PotC OTP in her drabble Only a Paper Moon! No, not that OTP. Not that one either (man, I am so fickle). Jack/Black Pearl! Love, true love. Hie thee hence and read! ~*~*~*~*
The downside to all of my current ocean-oriented reading/viewing/dreaming is that I would sell my sister for a lobster roll or some fried whole belly clams (with onion rings and french fries, naturally). I love the North Country, really I do, but it is too darned far from the shore. If a genie popped up and offered me three wishes right now, forget world peace and a cure for stupid people. I'd use all three to zap down to the North Shore (maybe Essex, though I've always had a weakness for Salem), with enough money in my pockets to eat lobster rolls and clams, oh, and codfish cakes (and all the trimmings) until I never wanted to think about fish again. Mmmm...
~*~*~*~*
I've had a stack of comics sitting here for two weeks because I want to talk about them, and it's just too hot to overcome my interia. I can think of exactly what I want to say, and when I go to type it, my brain melts. It's really frustrating, too- I do have thoughts that go beyond "Scurvy Dogs good, Red Star disappointing, Age of Bronze and Artesia works of art," but while I obviously haven't lost the ability to blather about nothing, I apparently can't get it together enough to talk about something. And that obviously won't be changing today, since the siren call of fic and raspberry-custard pie is a lot more alluring than the comic pile. Meh, they're not going anywhere anyway.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-05 09:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 02:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 03:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 06:19 am (UTC)Someday, ideally not decades from now, I need to move back down to the shore. After I win the lottery, considering what it costs to live down there these days.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-05 09:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 03:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 07:58 am (UTC)Dammit, now I want stone crab claws! It's all your fault. ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 12:54 pm (UTC)(heh, kidding, I'd never be that cruel. Deliberately inducing fresh seafood cravings in those unable to satisfy them is banned by the Geneva Convention anyway.)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 03:39 am (UTC)Thanks for the great review of the "Revolutionary" series. I like that time period, but haven't read much fiction about it. I'll have to add those to my list.
What a fabulous ficlet! Hurrah for Jack/Black Pearl!
Mmm, fish. I can't get good seafood here either (only catfish). Now you've got me pining.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 06:06 am (UTC)Yeah, the "Revolution" series is a lot of fun, even though the writing (in the first book anyway, which I think was Nelson's first) isn't quite as polished as that of some other writers in the genre. The setting and time period makes a nice change, though (I've always liked that era), and the characters are interesting and likeable (well, except Pendexter and his buddies. Boo!). Plus there are all sorts of great New Englandy names, like Isaac Biddlecomb, Erza Rumstick, Abraham Whipple... I love names like that. It's a hobby of mine to explore old cemeteries (odd but fun), and I'm especially fond of cemeteries that have lots of those sorts of names. My favorite that I've found so far is "Capt. Hesketh Pierson," who's buried with his wife and six children (!) near Mystic, CT.
I'll probably dream about monkeys eating fried clams tonight. Mmm. Darn the shore for being so far away.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 08:58 pm (UTC)Ooh, cool 18th century names! I've always liked Ezra, and Hesketh is indeed very nifty. The surnames are nice too, the old names like that have such character.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 07:44 am (UTC)*blushgrin* Thank you! *waves shyly* Hullo, you're the person with the lobsterslash icon. I love those two.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 09:02 pm (UTC)Oh, thanks! I just love my gay lobsters, they were so cute in the movie. Nice to meet another fan of Murtogg and Mullroy :) Mind if I friend you?
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-06 09:47 pm (UTC)Murtogg and Mullroy were certainly one of the cutest things about the movie. I have a weakness for the hapless ones in uniform. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-08-07 01:49 am (UTC)