Through the device of Stephen being new to the Navy and not knowing any of the specialist terminology, O'Brian manages to explain some of it to the similarly-ignorant reader, which I appreciated!
That is in fact my main memory of the first book (which I read thirty years ago), but my feeling was precisely the opposite of yours: ANYTIME anything was about to happen, the story would come to a dead halt so that someone could explain it all in small words to Stephen. Halfway through the book I was ready to pitch Stephen overboard myself, in the hope that that would let anybody actually get ON with anything! :-P
As I recall, the tutorials stop after book one, but I couldn't say now whether it's because the reader has been given their lessons and are now expected to remember them, or whether it's because the explanations become less intrusive.
BTW, there's a good companion reference to the O'Brian books called A Sea of Words, if you can lay hands on it. It's a combo glossary and encyclopedia of the nautical terms in the novels (plus maybe some of the natural history?), with explanations and pictures.
Lobscouse and Spotted Dog is good, too, which is a culinary reference to the novels: recipes and commentary for many of the dishes described in the text.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: Aug. 1st, 2022 08:11 pm (UTC)That is in fact my main memory of the first book (which I read thirty years ago), but my feeling was precisely the opposite of yours: ANYTIME anything was about to happen, the story would come to a dead halt so that someone could explain it all in small words to Stephen. Halfway through the book I was ready to pitch Stephen overboard myself, in the hope that that would let anybody actually get ON with anything! :-P
As I recall, the tutorials stop after book one, but I couldn't say now whether it's because the reader has been given their lessons and are now expected to remember them, or whether it's because the explanations become less intrusive.
BTW, there's a good companion reference to the O'Brian books called A Sea of Words, if you can lay hands on it. It's a combo glossary and encyclopedia of the nautical terms in the novels (plus maybe some of the natural history?), with explanations and pictures.
Lobscouse and Spotted Dog is good, too, which is a culinary reference to the novels: recipes and commentary for many of the dishes described in the text.