When I think about the books that touched me most, or the books that opened my eyes to something new or even changed my life, I always come back to the Master and Commander series by Patrick O'Brian. The first book I read of O'Brian's was POST CAPTAIN. I picked it up after seeing the Master and Commander movie starring my most favorite actor, Russell Crowe.
Intrigued with West Indies history and the Golden Age, POST CAPTAIN exposed me to the Age of Sail from the British perspective and opened doors that led me into the wonder of wooden ships, exploration and the admirable, rugged and clever sea captain. It was a wonderful balance against the piracy I had read, giving me a look at the other side of the coin.
O'Brian has a flair for description that puts the reader in the scene. His ability to color every detail in language, mannerism, setting, tone, and emotion is extraordinary. So enticing are his stories about the chunky, bumbling but brilliant and courageous, Captain Jack Aubrey, that I read the entire collection of over twenty books in a year. I couldn't put them down, so immersed was I in the past lives of men of the sea. This was a world I would have never known or understood without his brilliance. I would have loved to have met the man.
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