I can't recommend this, except to O'Brian fans looking to read his complete works, but neither can I claim this to be an outright failure. The book is not entirely directionless, but the point of it all is elusive at best. However, at this point in his writing career O'Brian seemingly hadn't discovered plot yet. Truly, you will say, this is a master wordsmith. His prose flows like a breeze over grassy downs, occasionally whipping through a craggy pass atop some barren rise. Since the book is set in the hilly wilds of Wales and because O'Brian is an expert scene describer, these pages often make for gorgeous reading. That name must have been somewhat deflated by these meandering pages of character sketches and setting description. He had written a few as a boy and made a name for himself. Testimonies is O'Brian's first adult novel. I was sure there would be a payoff, and there was, but it came in the third to last chapter with no preamble, no teasing along, not even the tiniest of tidbits to make a reader's hope linger. O'Brian died in January 2000.Īlmost 200 pages into a 224 paged book and now something finally happens?! Jeez Louise! The only reason I muscled through all that nothing is because I love Patrick O'Brian's work. He translated many works from French into English, among them the novels and memoirs of Simone de Beauvoir, the first volume of Jean Lacouture's biography of Charles de Gaulle, and famed fugitive Henri Cherriere's memoir Papillon. In addition to the Aubrey-Maturin novels, Patrick O'Brian wrote several books including the novels Testimonies, The Golden Ocean, and The Unknown Shore, as well as biographies of Joseph Banks and Picasso. The books are now available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book format.

The film was nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture. The Far Side of the World, the tenth book in the series, was adapted into a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir and starring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. Set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, O'Brian's twenty-volume series centers on the enduring friendship between naval officer Jack Aubrey and physician (and spy) Stephen Maturin. Reardon, Chicago Tribune), and 'the best historical novels ever written' (Richard Snow, New York Times Book Review), which 'should have been on those lists of the greatest novels of the 20th century' (George Will). Patrick O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series of historical novels has been described as 'a masterpiece' (David Mamet, New York Times), 'addictively readable' (Patrick T.

The Unknown Shore by Patrick O'Brian