''The Wine-Dark Sea'' is the sixteenth
historical novel
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
in the
Aubrey-Maturin series by British author
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...
, first published in 1993. The story is set during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
and the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
.
This novel constitutes the fourth of a five-novel circumnavigation of the globe; other novels in this voyage include ''
The Thirteen Gun Salute
''The Thirteen-Gun Salute'' is the thirteenth historical novel in the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1989. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
This novel constitutes the first of a ...
'', ''
The Nutmeg of Consolation
''The Nutmeg of Consolation'' is the fourteenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by British author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1991. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
Building a schooner on ...
'', ''
Clarissa Oakes
''Clarissa Oakes'' (titled ''The Truelove'' in the United States) is the fifteenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by British author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1992. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the W ...
/The Truelove'', and ''
The Commodore
''The Commodore'' (published 1945) is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. It was published in the United States under the title ''Commodore Hornblower''.
Plot summary
Having achieved fame and financial security, Captain Sir ...
''.
The chase of the ''Franklin'' brings the ''Surprise'' to Peru and the undercover mission so long delayed. Aubrey navigates through an undersea volcanic eruption, which decides him as winner of the chase. Captain Aubrey's illegitimate son, Father Panda, provides crucial help to Maturin in Lima and for his long walk along the Andes Mountains to meet the ''Surprise''. Aubrey is unable to beat to windward during a hard blow while trying to reach Maturin to warn him of Dutourd's escape and is nearly starved.
This novel received enthusiastic positive reviews on its release. The writing is "literate, leisurely, and as charming as the rest of the series"
while the story is "a real hair-raiser".
Another review noted reading the novel "induces a rueful awe at the depth and intensity of the author's determination to make his characters authentic creatures of their time",
and praises the "nuanced handling of everyone's political and religious beliefs and how these relate to the war they are fighting."
The plot and the writing style were praised: "The naval actions are bang-on and bang-up--fast, furious and bloody--and the Andean milieu is as vivid as the shipboard scenes."
It is this novel that elicited the observation that "The best way to think of these novels is as a single 5,000-page book."
The battles are intense and the storms riveting, but it is the "meticulously recorded mundane moments of the story (and of the sea journey) that bring the novel to full life."
Another reviewer quotes some of the dialogue between Aubrey and Maturin, and remarks that the "painstakingly researched details about 19th-Century life aboard ship, that elevates his tales into heady escapism.
[ O'Brian won the Heywood Hill Literary Prize, with a cash award, for his writing and for this novel in 1995.]
Plot summary
The ''Surprise'', with bow guns blazing, is in close pursuit of the American privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
''Franklin'' in the wine-dark waters of the South Pacific. The chase is interrupted by a submarine volcanic eruption that completely disables the ''Franklin'', with lesser damages to the ''Surprise''. At sunrise, Aubrey sends Reade to take the ''Franklin''; Maturin and Martin separate the dead from wounded aboard the prize. Jean Dutourd, the owner, is taken aboard ''Surprise''. A wealthy philanthropist, his plan to colonise a South Pacific island, Moahu, was stopped by the appearance of the ''Surprise'', and her support for the successful queen of Moahu in a battle for supremacy on the island. The ''Franklin'' took prizes of British ships en route to Moahu, proved by ransomers aboard, seamen taken as security, along with cargoes taken. The American sailing master is dead, killed by shots from the ''Surprise''. Aubrey finds that Dutourd does not have a letter of marque permitting him to operate the ''Franklin'' as a privateer; the sailing master did, but Dutourd is not listed on his muster. Aubrey views Dutourd as a pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
, while Maturin considers him a risk ashore to his mission. Aboard ship, his utopian talk appeals to some of the seamen. They take an American whaler as prize. A British sailor on the whaler tells Aubrey of the ''Alastor'', a privateer turned true pirate, flying the black flag and demanding immediate surrender or death of its victims. In their ultimately successful encounter with the ''Alastor'', Aubrey receives severe wounds to his eye and his leg.
The ships reach Callao
Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists o ...
, the port for Lima. Maturin's mission begins now, done under cover of ''Surprise'' not being a Royal Navy ship, but perceived as a privateer, and she is again in this port with Pullings as her captain, with many prizes in tow. Maturin's goal is to assist the movement for independence of Peru from Spain, with aid from English gold as needed. Father Sam Panda is assigned here, and he proves a useful contact in Maturin's work. Another of Maturin's tasks ashore is to find suitable care for his longtime assistant, Nathaniel Martin, who is too ill for his work at sea. Maturin sees his old friend Dr Geary, surgeon of ''The Three Graces'' merchantman, who offers to take Martin home. Martin mistook salt sores (from a period of low fresh water aboard) to be the pox, treating himself with harsh medicines, which in turn made him truly ill. As the hospital in Callao is inadequate, Maturin yields up his patient to Geary.
Maturin meets with Gayongos, revolutionary sympathiser, and departs on a mule into the mountains, to meet with Father Don Jaime O'Higgins. The plan is agreed and will be set in motion in a couple of days. Gayongos reports at the Benedictine monastery that Dutourd is in Lima; Maturin says, let the Inquisition have him. Maturin sends a message to Pullings that he is gone botanizing in the mountains. He meets Eduardo, knowledgeable Inca guide, and the two trek in the higher altitudes. Eduardo receives a message from Gayongos that the revolution has failed before it began. Maturin must flee by land to Chile. Dutourd is arrested as a heretic, but the damage is done. When Aubrey discovers that Dutourd escaped, he sails in a cutter with a few crewmen to Callao to retake Dutourd or to warn Maturin. After many days of hard sailing against the wind, they reach the harbour and are taken aboard the ''Surprise'' by Captain Pullings barely alive. Aubrey welcomes Sam Panda who updates him on the political situation and the plan to meet with Maturin. Trekking over the Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
Mountains with llamas, Maturin and Eduardo are caught in a ''viento blanco'' (blizzard
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling b ...
), their lives saved by the shelter Eduardo found, though Maturin loses some toes to frostbite.
Maturin makes his way to Arica
Arica ( ; ) is a Communes of Chile, commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The ...
with help from Eduardo, and then takes ship to Valparaíso
Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
, where Aubrey picks up Maturin and his collections. Maturin informs him of three American China ships sailing from Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. The ''Surprise'' sails to intercept them off Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...
but, as she prepares to engage them, is herself fired upon by a thirty-eight gun US frigate and her brig. After a very close encounter with an ice island, the ''Surprise'' is again chased until her pursuer sails into a dead end in the ice field. The ''Surprise'' sails out, losing her main mast and rudder to a lightning strike. The crew of the jury-rigged ''Surprise'' spot a ship hull-down on the horizon. The ship, recognized by Maturin as having two rows of cannon, is HMS ''Berenice'' under Captain Heneage Dundas, accompanied by her tender, and carries Aubrey's much younger half-brother Philip. Dundas has provisions to repair the ship and pepper for Maturin to preserve his specimens from moths. Dundas has precious news from home, as he visited Ashgrove Cottage before he sailed, seeing Sophia and their children, but not Diana, only her horses. He met Clarissa Oakes there, who is now a widow. Aubrey and Maturin are happily homeward bound.
Characters
''See also Recurring characters in the Aubrey–Maturin series
This is a list of recurring characters in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. As is noted in the articles about each novel, some of these characters are based on real historical persons, while others are purely fictional. Bec ...
''
*Jack Aubrey
John "Jack" Aubrey , is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series portrays his rise from lieutenant to rear admiral in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The twenty (and one incomple ...
: Captain of HM Hired Vessel ''Surprise'', and its owner.
*Stephen Maturin
Stephen Maturin () is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series portrays his career as a physician, naturalist and spy in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and the long pursuit of hi ...
: Ship's surgeon, physician, natural philosopher, friend to Jack and an intelligence officer.
*Sophia Aubrey: Wife of Jack and mother of their three children.
*Diana Villiers
Diana Villiers is a fictional character in the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. Described as beautiful, mercurial, and entirely unreliable, she is the great love and great sorrow of Stephen Maturin's life.
Character histo ...
: Wife of Stephen and mother of their young daughter Brigid.
*Clarissa Oakes: Living at the Aubrey home, widow of young Oakes; introduced in ''Clarissa Oakes
''Clarissa Oakes'' (titled ''The Truelove'' in the United States) is the fifteenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by British author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1992. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the W ...
''.
;The chase and the prizes
*Thomas Pullings: Commander in the Royal Navy, Captain by courtesy, he is a volunteer aboard ''Surprise''. He acts as its first officer when Aubrey is aboard. He takes command of the ''Franklin'' when it is seized.
*Mr West: Second Mate on HM Hired Vessel ''Surprise''. He had been a Royal Navy lieutenant, discharged for duelling, and would like to be one again. He is killed by the volcanic eruption. He was introduced in ''The Letter of Marque''.
*Reverend Nathaniel Martin: assistant-surgeon, natural philosopher, clergyman and friend to Maturin. He becomes ill en route to Peru and is sent home from Callao on a merchantman to recover. He is a beneficed clergyman now, with two livings on Aubrey's holdings. He was introduced in ''The Ionian Mission
''The Ionian Mission'' is the eighth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1981. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars.
The plot begins with the marriage of Dr Maturin and Diana Villiers. ...
''.
*Mr William Reade: Midshipman, now age 14, on the ''Surprise'' who lost an arm in battle; introduced in ''The Thirteen Gun Salute
''The Thirteen-Gun Salute'' is the thirteenth historical novel in the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1989. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
This novel constitutes the first of a ...
''. His voice is breaking now. With young Norton promoted to the midshipman's berth, he has a friend to go skylarking.
*Mr Sam Norton: Promoted to midshipman to fill the vacancy of Oakes, who sailed the prize ''Truelove'' from Moahu.
*Mr Arthur Wedell: Ransomer taken from the ''Franklin'', who stays with the ''Surprise'' and is promoted to acting midshipman. He is near the age of Reade and very lively. The three midshipmen are punished after Wedell falls through the skylight into the Captain's cabin.
*Jean Dutourd: Owner of the ''Franklin'', now a prisoner under Aubrey. He is an idealist and a talkative man, who planned to use Moahu to set up his notion of a utopian community. That plan is ended by the capture of his ship. He is considered a pirate by Aubrey but his talk attracts some of the crew, and later contributes to waylaying Maturin's mission.
*Mr William B Chauncy: The Sailing Master aboard the ''Franklin'', who holds a letter of marque from the US, but does not list Dutourd on the muster. He is killed, along with all his skilled seamen, by a cannonball from the ''Surprise'' during the chase.
*Mr Bulkeley: Bosun on the ''Surprise''. At Callao, Aubrey discharges him for capabarre, a habit he learned too well when in the Royal Navy.
*Barret Bonden: Captain's Coxswain
The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boat ...
on the ''Surprise''.
*Preserved Killick: Captain's Steward on the ''Surprise''.
*Awkward Davies: Able Seaman
An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...
on the ''Surprise''.
*Joe Plaice: Cousin to Bonden and able seaman
An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...
.
*Mr Grainger: Acting mate or Lieutenant joining the Gun room. He is promoted from forecastleman due to vacancy from battle at Moahu; he sailed his own brig before joining ''Surprise'' at Shelmerston for this voyage (which began back in ''The Thirteen Gun Salute'').
*Henry Vidal: Acting Second Lieutenant on the ''Surprise''; by religion, he is a Knipperdolling from Shelmerston. While Maturin walks the Andes, he is put off the ship by Aubrey for having let Dutourd escape to shore.
*Ben Vidal: Nephew to Vidal who is taken on the cutter with Aubrey when trying to reach Callao to recapture Dutourd or warn Maturin.
*Mr Adams: Skilled captain's clerk
A captain's clerk was a rating, now obsolete, in the Royal Navy and the United States Navy for a person employed by the captain to keep his records, correspondence, and accounts. The regulations of the Royal Navy demanded that a purser serve at ...
.
*William Sadler: Replaces Vidal as acting second mate or lieutenant on ''Surprise''.
*Sarah and Emily Sweeting: Melanesia
Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.
The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...
n girls rescued earlier by Maturin in ''The Nutmeg of Consolation
''The Nutmeg of Consolation'' is the fourteenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by British author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1991. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
Building a schooner on ...
'', rated as ship's boys. Jemmy Ducks tends them and they work in the sick berth as well as help Maturin with his collections.
*Edward Shelton: One-time Royal Navy serving on the American whaler since the peace, joins ''Surprise'' as able, and shares information about the pirate ship with Aubrey.
*Fabien: Apothecary's assistant from New Orleans, was aboard the ''Franklin'', taken by Maturin as an assistant in the sick bay and for drawings of fauna in his collections.
*Zeek: American whaler on the ship taken by ''Surprise'', who killed his captain with the whaling spear, because he was about to abandon him in a small boat.
;In Peru
*Dr Francis Geary: Surgeon of ''The Three Graces'' merchantman, once a classmate of Maturin, who agrees to care for Martin on their return to England.
*Sam Panda: Young Catholic priest, illegitimate son to Aubrey and now grown taller and larger than his father, raised by Irish missionaries in southern Africa, now a rising star in the Catholic church. Maturin is a good friend to him. Introduced in ''The Reverse of the Medal
''The Reverse of the Medal'' is the eleventh historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1986. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
Returning from the far side of the world, ...
''.
*Eduardo: Maturin's Inca guide in the Andes, notable naturalist, fluent in Spanish and Quechua
Quechua may refer to:
*Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru
*Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language
**So ...
.
*Don Jaime O'Higgins: Vicar-General in Peru, abolitionist and supporter of the split from Spain.
*Joselito: Mule belonging to Don Bernardo O'Higgins and loaned to Maturin for his botanizing walk.
*Pascual de Gayongos: Wealthy Catalan merchant and revolutionary sympathiser in Peru with whom Maturin makes a strong link. He supplies the boat to take Maturin from Arica along the coast near Valparaiso.
*General Hurtado: High-ranked Peruvian General who made the decision that the revolution could not proceed with the charges of foreign gold in the air.
*Castro: Low level official in Lima who is the unstable figure trying to gain benefit from Dutourd's noisy talk.
;Howmeward bound
* Heneage Dundas: Captain of HMS ''Berenice'' and longtime friend of Aubrey.
*Philip Aubrey: Much younger half-brother of Jack, who has been sailing with Captain Dundas as a midshipman. His birth is mentioned in ''Post Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy.
The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:
* Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...
''.
Ships
*British
** HM Hired Vessel ''Surprise'' - an elderly twenty-eight gun frigate
**''The Three Graces'' merchantman
**HMS ''Berenice'' - sixty-four-gun man-of-war
**A Baltimore clipper
A Baltimore Clipper is a fast sailing ship historically built on the mid-Atlantic seaboard of the United States of America, especially at the port of Baltimore, Maryland. An early form of clipper, the name is most commonly applied to two-masted ...
(''Berenices tender), not named in this book but name given as ''Ringle'' in ''The Commodore''
*French
**''Alastor'' - pirate ship
**''Alastors launch - used by Aubrey to sail to Callao
*American
**''Franklin'' (captured)
**American whaler - captured by the ''Surprise'' and ''Franklin''
**Nootka fur trader - captured by the ''Franklin''
**Unnamed thirty-eight gun frigate and brig in convoy
Title
The novel's title is the English translation of an oft-repeated description from Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
. Example of Homer's verse: “And if some god should strike me, out on the wine-dark sea, I will endure it,”
Series chronology
This novel references actual events with accurate historical detail, like all in this series. In respect to the internal chronology of the series, it is the tenth of eleven novels (beginning with ''The Surgeon's Mate'') that might take five or six years to happen but are all pegged to an extended 1812, or as Patrick O'Brian says it, 1812a and 1812b (introduction to ''The Far Side of the World'', the tenth novel in this series). The events of ''The Yellow Admiral'' again match up with the historical years of the Napoleonic wars in sequence, as the first six novels did.
Continuity
In this novel, the voyage begun in ''The Thirteen Gun Salute'', with a covert mission (first mentioned in ''The Reverse of the Medal'') in Peru for Maturin, comes finally to Peru. Because of the demands of the Spanish government not to interfere with their colonies in South America, the ''Surprise'' sailed under Captain Pullings as a privateer, west to Peru, sailing until she met up with Aubrey in the Salibabu Passage in the South China Sea on the other side of the world. Aubrey and Maturin sailed on HMS ''Diane'' to complete a mission to the east, in Pulo Prabang and Maturin eliminates two traitors to the British cause. Aubrey sails again in the ''Surprise'', sending the ''Nutmeg'' back to Batavia, where the Governor had given it to him (''The Nutmeg of Consolation''). ''Surprise'' proceeds to Australia, picking up a friend and a stowaway. The Governor at Sydney sends Aubrey on a mission to Moahu, successfully completed (''Clarissa Oakes / The Truelove''). ''Surprise'' chases and takes the American privateer ''Franklin'' in this novel, bringing ''Surprise'' to Peru, where Maturin's mission, so close to success, is jeopardized, and Maturin walks the Andes Mountains until he can reach the coast safely and rendezvous with ''Surprise''. They sail around the Cape Horn, suffering damage from lightning, but meet with HMS ''Berenice'', with supplies to repair her, and Aubrey and Maturin are ready to be home after the long voyage around the world.
Reviews and awards
By the time of the publication of this novel by WW Norton jointly with HarperCollins, reviewers have read the series in order and have caught up with the plot, ending the confusion seen in reviews of novels earlier in the series, reviews written at the time of re-issue, not at first publication. There are more reviews in newspapers of note.
''Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
'' said this novel is literate, leisurely, and as charming as the rest of the series. Sending Maturin to deal with the tottering Spanish vice regency in South America is a good choice, aboard the privateer ''Surprise''. "Maturin's mission, complicated enough by the various revolutionary factions, becomes a real hair-raiser involving an arduous transit of the Andes, where he is spit on by llamas and sees the great condors."
Thomas Fleming writing in the ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' noted that "O'Brian's persistence . . . eventually induces a rueful awe at the depth and intensity of the author's determination to make his characters authentic creatures of their time. It is life aboard the ''Surprise'' that mainly animates O'Brian. His narrative of the proto-revolution in Peru is sketchy at best. . . . This deficiency is more than balanced by the intricate intimacy with which the reader comes to know the ''Surprise''. . . . Equally fine is O'Brian's nuanced handling of everyone's political and religious beliefs and how these relate to the war they are fighting."
''Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
'' remarks that If O'Brian hasn't quite had a break-out book yet, then this deserves to be it. In an enthusiastic review, they describe the writing: "The naval actions are bang-on and bang-up--fast, furious and bloody--and the Andean milieu is as vivid as the shipboard scenes. As usual, readers can revel in the symbiotic friendship of Jack and Stephen, who make for a marvelous duo, whether in their violin and cello duets or in their sharp dialogue."
Patrick T Reardon writing in the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' describes how the author brings this story to full life: "The best way to think of these novels is as a single 5,000-page book. But this is no overstuffed epic. It is, if you can imagine such a thing, an intimate book that just happens to be 5,000 pages long. . . . As usual, O'Brian's battle scenes are engrossing, and his storm chapters are even more riveting. But it's the in-between times, the closely observed and meticulously recorded mundane moments of the story (and of the sea journey) that bring the novel to full life."
Paul D Colford, writing in the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', cites a quote from the story as an example of the fine prose and painstaking research by the author that elevates this book, and the series to a higher level.
Here, in ''The Wine-Dark Sea'', are the two old friends as they puzzle from the quarterdeck at a "strange-coloured" swirling sea:
Aubrey: "I have never seen anything like it."
Maturin: "It is much thicker now than it was when I went below. And now an umber light pervades the whole, like a Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in It ...
run mad."
It's this kind of passing historical reference (to the 17th-Century landscape artist known for his rendering of light), as well as O'Brian's painstakingly researched details about 19th-Century life aboard ship, that elevates his tales into heady escapism.
Author Patrick O'Brian won the Heywood Hill Literary Prize
The Heywood Hill Literary Prize was awarded yearly to a writer, editor, reviewer, collector or publisher for a lifelong contribution to the enjoyment of books. Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire
Andrew Robert Buxton Cavendish, 11th Duke ...
in 1995, the first such prize offered, for his literary contributions and this novel. In his acceptance speech in July 1995, O'Brian, then age 80, said it was the first literary prize of his adult life, in the amount of 10,000 pounds.
Allusions to history, natural science, real places and persons
Crew members recruited from Shelmerston, the fictitious port on the west coast of England, report a large number of religious sects. One such is the group called Knipperdollings, a group who do not hold to the precepts of the first such group centuries earlier, but took the name to identify their beliefs apart from others. Martin gives Aubrey a full detailed history of the Knipperdolling beliefs then and on the ship.
Maturin mentions the Viennese treatment for the pox (venereal diseases), saying it relies on ''murias hydrargi corrosivus'', which is a corrosive compound of mercury.
Dutourd asks Maturin if he knew Georges Cuvier
Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...
, a well-known anatomist and natural philosopher in Paris.
In his botanizing walks up into the high Andes Mountain peaks, Maturin is delighted to see numerous condor
Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere.
They are:
* The Andean condor (''Vult ...
s, a puma, huge flowering bromeliads
The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...
and to see and then learn the difference between guanaco
The guanaco (; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids, the other being the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations.
Etymology
The guanaco g ...
s and vicuña
The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the guanaco, which live ...
s. In the long trek out of Peru, llama
The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era.
Llamas are social animals and live with othe ...
s are used, a domesticated breed, which took some time to stop spitting at Maturin.
The Vicar General (a Catholic priest) with whom Father Sam Panda works has the last name O'Higgins, and is suggested to be a relative of Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Althou ...
, who was fighting for Chilean independence from Spanish colonial rule since 1810.
Aubrey mentions the Spanish Disturbance in Nootka Sound
, image = Morning on Nootka Sound.jpg
, image_size = 250px
, alt =
, caption = Clouds over Nootka Sound
, image_bathymetry =
, alt_bathymetry =
, caption_bathymetry = Map of Nootka So ...
(off Vancouver Island) in 1789 as being a year with good effects in his life. After the loss in the American Revolution, the Royal Navy left midshipman and officers "on the beach". The Nootka crisis took some years to be resolved, on the question of which European power has rights to North and South American lands, if there is no settlement from that European power on the land. The Royal Navy stepped up its ship making, and in 1792 allowed master's mate Aubrey to pass for Lieutenant and get a berth on ship, at the same time readying the Royal Navy for the long war against France.
The port town at Callao
Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists o ...
is real, as is Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
, up higher in the mountains from Callao; in current times, the two are part of one urbanized area. The Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
Mountains are noted for many high peaks and passes, with an average height throughout the long range of 4,000 m (13,000 ft). Maturin and Eduardo viewed Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, ...
and its wildlife. Such high altitudes can strain breathing; the coca
Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine.
The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, Al ...
leaves that Maturin liked to chew, something he learned on his first visit to Peru, make it easier to stand the altitude. Maturin and Eduardo drank mate
Mate may refer to:
Science
* Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in:
** Mate choice, intersexual selection
** Mating
* Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins
Person or title
* Friendship ...
as they walked, which is a tea made from the coca leaf. Maturin came down from the mountains at Arica
Arica ( ; ) is a Communes of Chile, commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The ...
, a port now in Chile but then considered part of Peru. He made his way to the appointed meeting place at Valparaiso, a major port city in Chile.
Publication history
As listed
*1993 HarperCollins hardback / 978-0-00-223826-7 (UK edition)
*1993, November W. W. Norton hardback / 978-0-393-03558-2 (USA edition)
*1994, April Thorndike Press paperback / 978-0-7862-0133-4 (USA edition)
*1994, October W. W. Norton paperback / 978-0-393-31244-7 (USA edition)
*1994 Recorded Books audio cassette edition / 978-0-7366-2657-6 (USA edition)
*1995, March Chivers Large print / 978-0-7451-3576-2 (UK edition)
*1995, September Isis Audio cassette edition / 978-1-85496-922-4 (UK edition)
*1997, July HarperCollins paperback / 978-0-00-649931-2 (UK edition)
*2000, March HarperCollins audio cassette edition / 978-0-00-105579-7 (UK edition)
*2001, January Books on Tape audio CD edition / 978-0-7366-6166-9 (USA edition)
*2002, January Random House Audio cassette edition / 978-0-375-41602-6 (USA edition)
*2006, November Blackstone Audiobooks Audio CD edition / 978-0-7861-5978-9 (USA edition)
*2008 Playaway audio edition / 978-1-60775-420-6 (USA edition)
*2008, June Harper Perennial paperback edition / 978-0-00-727559-5 (UK edition)
*2011, December W. W. Norton E-Book edition (USA edition)
*2011, December Harper E-book edition (Canada & UK edition)
*2013, October Audible Studios audio edition (UK edition)
It is in this book that the drawing of a sailing ship of this era is added to the print copies. "Far more confusing to newcomers may be some of the nautical and scientific dialogue the characters exchange. O'Brian's publishers have equipped the book with a drawing of the ''Surprise'', numbering 21 sails, from the flying jib to the mizzen topgallant staysail. But that hardly prepares the unwary for Captain Aubrey and his crew's discussions of recondite items like cross-catharpins, dumb-chalders, side-trees, heel-pieces, side-fishes, cheeks, front-fish and cant-pieces."[
The popularity of the series has expanded beyond a small group of devoted fans, as the author is invited to visit the US, where many distinguished readers of his newly discovered series wait to meet him. Paul D. Colford notes that when he "visited the United States a few weeks ago, fans waiting to meet, lunch and have tea with him included ]Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...
, Sen. Dirk Kempthorne
Dirk Arthur Kempthorne (born October 29, 1951) is an American politician who served as the 49th United States Secretary of the Interior from 2006 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a ...
(R-Idaho) and Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy
Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Presid ...
, who invited O'Brian to attend a session of the high court. Hollywood also wants a piece of the press-shy storyteller." The activities of US publisher W. W. Norton & Company are mentioned as part of the increase in popularity: "Norton also plans to keep stoking interest in O'Brian by reissuing all his books in hardcover starting in the spring and by bringing out two additional titles in April."[ This process of discovery by W. W. Norton was begun in 1990, and mentioned in the article on '']The Nutmeg of Consolation
''The Nutmeg of Consolation'' is the fourteenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by British author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1991. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
Building a schooner on ...
''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wine-Dark Sea, The
1993 British novels
Aubrey–Maturin series
Fiction set in the 1810s
HarperCollins books