Mixed Pickles - the Book log 2012

Moving from the pupil to the master.


The earliest stories in the career of Hornblower, Cornwell's model for his own Napoleonic era character, but written to meet the demand for more stories of the hero, and thus perfectly polished. Not only did Forester have the voice off pat, but also knew exactly who Hornblower was going to grow into, so there are no false notes here (compare with Richard Sharpe who starts off a Cockney and then becomes the Sheffield blade). Essentially a series of short stories, and familiar to anyone who watched the TV series with Mister Fantastic stretching himself into the role of a seventeen year old, seasick midshipman.

You wonder why simple seafaring tales are still on the shelves more than fifty years after they were originally published, then you open one of the Hornblower books and you understand; great writing, great story-telling, transcends time and fashion and remains eternally readable.