Mr Midshipman Hornblower by C. S. Forester

[regshoe]

At long last I've made it to the start! Mr Midshipman Hornblower (1950), sixth of the Hornblower books by publication order, is the first chronologically, and thus the point where it's generally recommended one should start the series. I don't regret reading in publication order instead, but I'm beginning to see why this is so.

I got this book from the library in a TV tie-in omnibus edition of the three 'prequel' Hornblower books titled The Young Hornblower (subtitles/blurbs 'A MAJOR NEW ITV SERIES, HORNBLOWER' and 'THE YOUNG HORNBLOWER—A TRULY FORMIDABLE FORCE IN HIS MAJESTY'S SERVICE'). The Young Hornblower as portrayed in the TV series is on the cover, looking dashing and handsome as he wields a cutlass while climbing up the side of a ship. This may or may not be the character in the book.

We're introduced to Hornblower as a 'huddled figure in the sternsheets looking more like a heap of trash with a boat-cloak thrown over it' than a naval officer, who then turns out really to be a sad, bedraggled, seasick and nervous seventeen-year-old new midshipman, Our Hero. (Seventeen is, as is pointed out, an unusually late age to begin a naval career; I don't think it's explained why Hornblower didn't start younger?) Soon afterwards, Hornblower responds to a bullying senior midshipman who's making his life miserable by taking unnecessary proud offence to a comment made over the card table, challenging the senior to a duel and devising a novel solution to the choice of weapons: he and his opponent will get a choice of two apparently-identical pistols, one loaded and one unloaded, and then shoot each other at point-blank range without knowing who has which pistol, letting chance decide the outcome. I think if this had been my first introduction to the character I would have warmed up to him much sooner than I did.

Like A Ship of the Line, this book is a series of related short stories rather than a novel, showing various episodes from Hornblower's first few years in the Navy. The structure and pacing felt a bit oddly disconnected sometimes as a result, but there is a lot of good stuff in there, and I enjoyed the stories very much (even though Bush wasn't in any of it!). Hornblower sinks his first ever independent command, narrowly avoids failing an examination for promotion to lieutenant when Events intervene, gets involved in the Quiberon Bay disaster of 1795 (there's a great bit towards the end where he muses on how this could have been the turning point of the war, but now it's a footnote of history that no one will remember in a hundred years; No!, said I, someone did, because I recognise it from Sir Isumbras at the Ford!), learns how to manage a large herd of cattle on board a ship while not catching bubonic plague, etc. etc. I feel bad for laughing as hard as I did at the story title 'The Man Who Felt Queer', given what it means in context. I think we've had some mentions before of how Hornblower spent two years in captivity in Spain early in his career, and in the last story here we learn exactly what happened and get a beautiful example of the importance of gentlemanly honour in the context of parole.

Well, anyway, I found Hornblower here—with his punctilious and innovative honour, his talent for ingenious problem-solving, his mathematical skills and his general teenagerishness—really quite endearing. (Also he has no love interests in this book, so one major unpleasant aspect of a lot of the later-set ones was not present, which I think improved the appeal of both him and the book.) I don't think I'll ever be really fannish about Hornblower, but I am getting to like him quite a lot. I felt a bit emotional already having read the later books about him; not that I could really have expected a happy future for this young person given everything, but knowing exactly how happy his future isn't...

I was also surprised and slightly alarmed to realise during this book that I could more-or-less follow the descriptions of ship parts and manoeuvres. There you go: in seven Hornblower books, three Aubrey-Maturins, Men of War and various bits of fanfic, I've started picking up the lingo.

So now I have to decide whether to re-read Lieutenant Hornblower (which I've already read out of order) before going on to the next book, Hornblower and the 'Hotspur'. I'm inclining towards yes, because I remember it being a really good one and I'd like to get it in context. So I'll be seeing The Young Hornblower again before very long, I hope. :D

Comments

[luzula]

I do remember liking this one, too! And I have that omnibus volume on my bookshelf. : )

[regshoe]

I've been debating whether to commit to buying the Hornblowers at this stage of the read-through, so perhaps I'll get my own copy too :D

[sanguinity]

The Young Hornblower as portrayed in the TV series is on the cover, looking dashing and handsome as he wields a cutlass while climbing up the side of a ship. This may or may not be the character in the book.

Heh. I have thoughts about that (as you may well imagine!), and they hinge on how the tv show chooses to work around Hornblower's extreme interiority in the novels. But I shall not trouble you with those thoughts unless you're interested.


Like A Ship of the Line, this book is a series of related short stories rather than a novel, showing various episodes from Hornblower's first few years in the Navy.

Yup. The written-for-serialization is very apparent in this one. We were talking about this on tumblr just this week, what it would have been like to read these one chapter a week via serialization, rather than blowing through all twelve novels in a couple of weeks, the way so many of us currently in the fandom did.


(Seventeen is, as is pointed out, an unusually late age to begin a naval career; I don't think it's explained why Hornblower didn't start younger?)

We're never told, no. We do know that as a small child he dreamed of being a naval captain, but why and how that became "new midshipman at seventeen" is anyone's guess.

And yes, he really is much more endearing when he's young. Part of it, I think, is that he has so much less power to determine his fate, and so his misery is more something that happens to him, rather than something he creates himself? And of course there's no love interest in this one. Mostly, though, he's such a desperately earnest and awkward teenager! I just want to give him a hug and tell him it'll get better. (Even though we know very well that it doesn't.)


I was also surprised and slightly alarmed to realise during this book that I could more-or-less follow the descriptions of ship parts and manoeuvres. There you go: in seven Hornblower books, three Aubrey-Maturins, Men of War and various bits of fanfic, I've started picking up the lingo.

Hee! There's a companion glossary to the Aubreyad novels (A Sea of Words) that many find helpful for all the Nelson's Navy book series, but yes, one does just pick it up after a while. I can't remember ever not knowing this lingo, but then I've been reading maritime fiction for as long as I've been choosing my own reading material...


I'm hoping you'll do Lieutenant next, partially because I love it, and partially because it's such a departure from the other novels and I'd love to hear your take on it now that you know just how much of a departure it is...

(btw, here's an upload of the Saturday Evening Post's serialization of Lieutenant, complete with artwork, if the original context is interesting to you.)

[regshoe]

But I shall not trouble you with those thoughts unless you're interested.

I am interested, but I'm now vaguely planning to watch the TV show myself once I've read all the relevant books, so let's talk about it then!

Hmm, would a serial Hornblower Weekly done along Dracula Daily lines work, I wonder? :D

why and how that became "new midshipman at seventeen" is anyone's guess.

Is that something people have explored much in fic? Aww, and fic is also surely a good chance to give Hornblower an authorial hug and make the future better for him (at least after the suffering of canon).

Thinking back to Lieutenant now, yeah, it is pretty different from the rest, isn't it? (Though they're quite variable in structure generally, especially with the more novel-ish ones vs. the more serial-ish ones). Thank you for the link! Those are some quality magazine illustrations, and would make a great accompaniment to a re-read. :D

[sanguinity]

I am interested, but I'm now vaguely planning to watch the TV show myself once I've read all the relevant books, so let's talk about it then!

Oh, that'll be fun! You probably already know, but the relevant books for the TV show are Midshipman, Lieutenant, and Hotspur.

Do you have any interest in the Gregory Peck film? It's based on the original three novels: The Happy Return, Ship of the Line, and Flying Colours.

Hmm, would a serial Hornblower Weekly done along Dracula Daily lines work, I wonder? :D

I don't see why not! It's still in copyright in the US, so it might be the sort of thing where you tell people to go access their own (ahem) perfectly legal copy instead of emailing it out. But it could be fun. I don't think I've seen a read-along that worked along the original serialization scheme. (There was supposed to be one for Three Musketeers, but it never came to pass.)

Midshipman at seventeen: I haven't seen it explored, but there's a lot of Midshipman fic that I haven't read. (A lot of Midshipman-era fic is for the TV show, and I am disinterested in one of the popular characters.)

Yes, fic is very interested in giving Hornblower an authorial hug! And a happier future, too.

[regshoe]

Do you have any interest in the Gregory Peck film?

Yes, quite possibly! I don't think I'd realised it was based entirely on books I've already read—I shall consider watching it soon :)

I am disinterested in one of the popular characters.

Oh, is that Midshipman Kennedy? I was surprised to see him (very briefly!) turn up in the book, because I'd misremembered that he was series-only. And then was puzzled about why they went with this character to role-expand into a main character and not Bracegirdle?

[sanguinity]

Yup, Midshipman Kennedy! He has two brief scenes in the book, as I recall. There's a whole thing with TV-first fans getting excited to read the books, then disappointed to learn Kennedy isn't in there, then getting briefly excited that he is in there after all, although still mostly-disappointed that he's mostly not... People who have been through the cycle then try to warn people new to the books of how it's gonna go, but the warning doesn't appear to actually dampen the cycle much. And then there's a little lull, and then we watch a whole new crew of people go through the cycle all over again.


And then was puzzled about why they went with this character to role-expand into a main character and not Bracegirdle?

As I understand it, Kennedy was never planned to be a main character; he was supposed to be a one episode only, but proved to be hugely popular. Consequently, show-Kennedy got some of book-Bracegirdle's material, even though Bracegirdle is in the show, too. (It happened with Bush, too: some of his material ended up with Kennedy. Yes, I'm salty about it.)

Presumably in another universe there's a "Frogs and Lobsters" TV episode where it was Bracegirdle who was at the bridge with Hornblower? Hell, it might even have been the original plan in this universe, before they decided to make Kennedy recurring.

[regshoe]

Oh dear, yeah, that must be annoying for TV-first fans, but equally annoying for book fans who like Bush to watch the adaptation and find some of his material given to another character!

[garonne]

I have not yet read Midshipman Hornblower (I went for "chronological order starting with Lieutenant") but very much enjoyed reading your thoughts about it.

Well, anyway, I found Hornblower here—with his punctilious and innovative honour, his talent for ingenious problem-solving, his mathematical skills and his general teenagerishness—really quite endearing

Aw, I'm even more looking forward to reading it now.

Even though, as you say, there will be an element of "my goodness, what a difficult life is ahead of this poor kid."

[regshoe]

Aww, glad you enjoyed the review! It is a good one, though perhaps there'll be even more of that element if you read it last (where I suppose it would go reading in that order?).

[hyarrowen]

I remember being startled when the series came out and Hornblower was so good-looking. It seemed to undercut so much of his characterisation in the books. But I enjoyed the series nonetheless, not least because we didn't get his later choices in the books.

I still remember those short stories in Midshipman, decades after reading them: a sign of how well-written they were. Not a word wasted.

[regshoe]

I'm intrigued to see what the series is like, once I've read all the relevant books! I can kind of see a handsome Hornblower working, in that it's important to his characterisation that he thinks he's not good-looking but that's not necessarily incompatible with actually being good-looking, but I am sceptical—we'll see...

[sanguinity]

In the novels, you would think he's at least tolerably good-looking, given the way women throw themselves at him. I refuse to believe it's for his personality. ;-)

[osprey_archer]

As someone who did just start with Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, I agree with everyone who told you this is a great place to start the series! Our Hero is brave and cool and quick-witted and all of that, but also resembles a trash heap with a boat clock thrown over it and gets seasick in Spithead. Who couldn't love him?

I also think that laughing inappropriately at Hornblower is simply a Hornblower mood tbh. There's a bit in the first movie where another midshipman walks up to him and Hornblower, apropos of absolutely nothing, says "Death." And, okay, this is because he's feeling suicidal over Simpson's bullying, it's actually quite dramatic and sad and I felt bad for laughing so hard... but I was laughing SO hard.

I also recognized Quiberon from Sir Isumbras at the Ford! For a bit I was trying to envision a Broster/Forester crossover, because I think the two authors have a shared interest in honor (especially parole) that could be interesting, but I think at least in fictional form the idea doesn't have enough juice. Might come up in reviews of later Hornblower books though.

[regshoe]

In a way it feels like more of an introduction—certainly to the character—than the actual first-published book, really.

There's a bit in the first movie where another midshipman walks up to him and Hornblower, apropos of absolutely nothing, says "Death."

*giggling* Yeah, that sounds like him all right. :D

A little while ago I was contemplating a Hornblower/Kidnapped crossover (they both involve boats! What if they were somehow the same boat??), and I think it has potential, maybe.