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Mr. Midshipman Hornblower - Novel

Quick Summary: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is very well-written, fast-moving, fun, and exciting. The first of the Horatio Hornblower stories to occur chronologically, this volume chronicles the adventures of a very young Horatio in his first few years in the Navy. There are plenty of battles, a duel, and some truly entertaining chase scenes. The real selling point of the book, however, is the main character.

Title: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower

Author: Forester, C. S.

Imprint: Penguin Books

Date of Publication: 1950

When I came upon this book, I wasn't sure that I would like it. Although I enjoy historical fiction, I am usually bored silly by military books and movies. Thus, although I found the back-of-the-book blurb intriguing, it was with some trepidation that I began to read this book.

It turns out that I had nothing to worry about. Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is  very well-written, fast-moving, fun, and exciting. The first of the Horatio Hornblower stories to occur chronologically (though it was the 6th written by Forester), this volume chronicles the adventures of a very young Horatio in his first few years with His Majesty's Navy.  There are plenty of naval battles, a duel, and some truly entertaining chase scenes. By the end of the novel, Horatio has captured people and been taken prisoner himself; taken orders and commanded ships to admirable and disastrous results; and finally been promoted to lieutenant.

The real selling point of the book, however, is not the adventures or even the writing style. It is Horatio Hornblower himself. We first meet Horatio as a 17 year old new recruit. He is lonely, naive, and has a tendency to get seasick in harbour, much to his own dismay. Horatio is melancholy, miserable, even quite literally depressed. He's also clever, kind, and honourable - characteristics which get him into trouble as often as they get him out of it!

His intelligence and naivety in particular combine to cause issues on a regular basis. For instance, he is the only one of the midshipmen to correctly complete a trigonometry exercise with a bearing on navigation, which makes one of the older midshipmen jealous. Hornblower then proceeds to soundly beat the man at whist, igniting the man's ire. This sort of thing seems to happen to Horatio fairly often.

Horatio is not just an unwise child, however. He is a thoughtful, kind, and honourable man, who is shocked by the casual cruelty of his colleagues and is willing to risk his own life to save drowning enemies. In short, Horatio is a realistic, and quite frankly, adorable, young man.

Despite my initial reservations, I will most certainly be seeking out later volumes of Horatio's adventures. This was a great  book.

Originally Written: November 10, 2010

I'm a little shocked to see that I first read this book only in 2010 - it feels like it's been part of my life forever. And yes, of *course* I've read the whole set since.

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