The Final Unfinished

This unfinished but quite readable portion of what would have been the 21rst Aubrey/Maturin novel consists of the first three chapters of a book that was cut short by Patrick O’Brian’s death in late 2000. The opening closes out the adventures of the previous book assisting the struggle of Chile is freeing itself from Spain. Jack Aubrey finally receives his long desired and much earned promotion to Admiral with orders to join a larger force headed for south Africa. The intro and thats all three chapters really can do sets up what appears to be a typical O’Brian read. Family squabbles,a cranky commanding admiral,a potential future duel of honor,Maturin’s rumination as he writes to the woman he’s courting,Killick lamenting the state of Jack’s uniform-if you’ve made it this far you know the drill. The typical and enjoyable O’Brian mishmash that made his series one of delight for so many fans is alive and well. Its done, he’s gone and once read for the first time there will be no repeating that experience. Fortunately we have his other the twenty novels and they give good promise of being timeless. The author is dead,long live his work.

This un-started novel should never have been offered for sale. I duped myself thinking there might be some content but it is not even a morsel of a story. To charge full Kindle price is a crime.

Best to exit this excellent series with the memory of “Blue at the Mizzen”.

All in all, the “Aubrey and Maturin” novels by Patrick O’Brian are among the finest historical fiction pieces ever written.

I was prepared to be disappointed by this book. When I first read about it, I thought it smacked of commercial opportunism to sell an unfinished manuscript. Yet as a devoted, repeated reader of the the 20 volume series, I ordered it anyway. I found this fragment deeply moving. Being able to see Mr. O’Brian’s creative process at work in the changes between the facsimile manuscript and the typescript was fascinating, and made his accomplishments in bringing this remote world alive all the more impressive. Some of his manuscript sentences and scenes simply could not be improved. There are passages here that still make me laugh out loud after three readings. That O’Brian could write this well in the midst of great personal suffering is inspiring. The afterward by Richard Snow is also a jewel. Snow captures beautifully and succinctly what makes O’Brian’s writing so valuable, and his closing sentence will bring tears to the eyes of anyone who has followed the series. Geoff Hunt’s drawing of Surprise in Mourning was also moving, though he shows Surprise slightly by the head, never her best trim for sailing on a bowline.

For some unknown reason whoever published this book decided not to have it typeset. At least not the important including chapters. And Patrick O’Brien scribbling is impossible to discern. It’s a complete waste of time. I tried to have my money refunded but Amazon does not make that possibility available. The first three chapters were fine, but the concluding chapters are just an impossible scribble. Who could ever have thought this was a good idea?

Not sure if I’m writing a book review or a product/vendor review. If the latter, everything was excellent: book arrived when scheduled, packed well, and in new condition.
If a book review, this is only a book for O’Brian fans. I am one, and the author gets his hero to “the islands of the blessed” without the usual Sturm und Drang. The Sturm is clearly on the horizon, though. Seriously, if you loved the Aubry Maturin books, this is an insight into O’Brian’s (I just wanted two apostrophes in one word) process and the facsimile of the longhand manuscript is fascinating although mostly illegible.

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