VANITY - "Master And Commander" Movie Inspired by Books

Murph's Place : Russell Crowe - The Far Side of the World - Premiere Mag article ^ | 10-31-03 | Alkhin

[Alkhin]

MASTER AND COMMANDER : THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD

Avast ye swabs who have been searching the seas for a Man's Captain and a ship to sail.

Coming to theatres on November 14 is Peter Weir's adaptation of Patrick O'Brien's series of books chronicling the adventures and lives of two extraordinary men living in extraordinary times : Stephen Maturin and Jack Aubrey.

I have just begun reading these books and am completely taken in. I am beginning this thread in the hopes of garnering other fans who are either long time afficianados of O'Brien's writing, or bookworms (like me) who are always looking for something new to read. While I am on the rather neutral side of fandom for Russell Crowe himself, am lookign forward to his portrayal of Aubrey, because I have developed this crush on the character, and wish to share! "Lucky Jack Aubrey" is a character that is hard to find nowadays and I am loving every book I read (I am up to "Ionian Mission" at this time)

A Glass of Wine With You!

[Mercat]

Which I've read all the books twice, ain't I?

[Alkhin]

PINGPING!

[Alkhin]

Which I've read all the books twice, ain't I?

AAAAaaaand...started on your third pass...RIIIIiiiight??????????

LOL

I'm just wanting to start a chat forum for this on Free Republic. The other forum I am on they are wont to make their tacky political statements, and then get all superior about "staying on topic" and "avoiding arguments."

JACK wasn't shy about stating what he thought...why should I be???

[Sam Cree]

Well, you didn't ping me, but I'm excited about seeing this. SuziQ wants to see it too, I think.

I am planning to make drowned baby or spotted dog for Thanksgiving.

Only a little more than 2 weeks. Cool.

[tet68]

If you can find them....try James Fenimore Cooper's
Homeward Bound or The Crater, both cracking good sea yarns written at a time when sail was still known.
A good seamans glossary is necessary however.

Most everybody knows of the Last of the Mohicans and his Leather stocking tales,"Oak Openings" etc. but he wrote many stories dealing with the sea life, these are hard to read being couched in the rather different style of those days but after a few chapters, one finds it not difficult and in some ways oddly comfortable.

If anyone out there has a set of "Coopers Works" I might be interested, I only have four volumes of the I believe 9 volume set. These were printed in the later 1800s with very
nice engravings to illustrate, generally three or four stories per volume.

[Dog Gone]

It's probably going to be a fine movie and Crowe is an excellent actor. It would be nice, though, if Crowe hadn't gone out of his way to put himself squarely into the Barbra Streisand spectrum of politics.

I don't want to spend the first 15 minutes of a movie trying to forget that I hate the actor's guts.

[Alkhin]

I am so sorry Sam!! I am trying to compile a ping list, and had only the names that showed up in the "My Comments" roll that I get....unfortunately, I never make it past the "B's"...and the rest I remember is haphazard.

Have you made drowned baby or spotted dog before???!!! If so, tell us what it is like! Is spotted dog like bread pudding??

[Sam Cree]

"Is spotted dog like bread pudding??"

No, they are both suet puddings, with some kind of syrup or molasses. I think I can get the suet from a butcher.I remember getting them over in England, in 1960, when I was a kid. We loved them.

[Wneighbor]

Hey Alkhin! Thanks for the ping. I've been waiting to see this movie also. But, haven't read the books. Will have to start that now! Been looking for something new and good.

[Alkhin]

WOW!! Sounds terrific...am scribbling these suggestions into a notebook...thats tet68!!!

[Alkhin]

I KNOOOOOW what you mean!! Which is why I have decided to not "fall in love" with actors NO MORE...just book characters....that way they wont "rise up" and tell me how to live my life while being stupendously insulated in their own, nor will they claim to "speak FOR me" when they haven't done diddlysquat to earn that merit. Book characters stay EXACTLY where they are supposed to stay...

...and I must confess to you I am working up a serious warmth for Jack Aubrey.

[USNBandit]

The books are extremely addictive. If you read the first one you will have to read the other 19. O'Brian is an extremely good writer. You will really enjoy them.

[Alkhin]

HI W!!! I'm a practical newbie as I am only making my first pass through. I began liking Aubrey within the first couple of pages!

[John H K]

I'm really looking forward to the movie; applied for an early screening (along with two new A & E "Horatio Hornblower" episodes) from Entertainment Weekly but I didn't get in. The trailer looks really cool.

Might be of interest to FReepers that they changed the ship that the British are chasing from American (in the book "Far Side of the World") to French; probably correctly divining that's far more marketable :-).

I've read all the books. They're well worth reading and Aubrey and Maturin are great characters, but they get a bit more worship than they actually deserve; they're actually riddled with historical innacuracies and O'Brian is far less of an expert on the period than he's made out to be. I have a close friend who has designed a naval miniatures game based on Napoleonic sailing ship combat, who probably knows more about the period than anyone else around today, who basically is indifferent to the Master and Commander series and actually likes the Horatio Hornblower books much more.

The quality of the books declines towards the end; and I was simply apalled at the "off-screen" death of a MAJOR character that is basically covered in a couple paragraphs (those who have read the books know who I mean; won't ruin it for those of you that haven't.)

I'm a bit sad they were not able to get Ralph Fiennes to play Maturin; he would have been absolutely perfect.

[Alkhin]

Well I am hitting the sack for now, but if anyone wants to carry on about the books, characters, writer, movie, actors etc....I look forward to seeing what everyone has to say!!!

I guess one way to get the ball rolling is :

For those who HAVE read the books, even just the first five or so, what scenes made you laugh out loud?

[Your Ilk]

I started reading this series back in the mid-ninties, and devoured the last four or five books as they came out over the last 7 years. Also available, (and very necessary for me anyway) is "A Sea of Words" which defines a lot of the common words, phrases, and terms used back in the early 1800s which are used throughout this series of books. Also published was a cook book which gave the recipies for all the food Jack and good Doctor ate. Each recipe was tested, including "millers" (rats),wevels, etc. with the exception of one recipe called "boiled shit" which the doctor was forced to consume while marooned on an atoll.

I am really looking forward to this movie. In my wildest dreams, all 20 in the series would be made into movies.

[Right Wing Professor]

I've read through the series 3 times. Great books; you can read them quickly, for the action, or slowly for the language, humor, and attention to detail. What amazes me is that he only started writing them after he was 65 years old.

By the way, his two books about the Anson voyages are worth reading, as is his biography. An interesting character.

[tet68]

When you check back in later here is a link for some copies.
and rather good prices too.

Wing and wing, the crater (my favorite) and miles Wallingford, Jack Tier all great stories.

The partial set I have were all numbered from one edition these seem to be from another publisher.

http://www.bookgarden.com/catalog/category/Classics.html

[Wneighbor]

Well, I've already been to order it. Should arrive next week! I hope. Alkhin got me all excited about those books a couple of months ago but I forgot to go pick one up. Decided to just order on-line while it's on my mind. I'll be right with ya'll I guess when this gets here!