Flying Colours

Good book and good reading

I have read all eleven Hornblower books years ago and gave them away.Now I am enjoying them again, especially Flying Colors.

This is a fine outing for Hornblower fans. It keeps a slower pace than some of his novels but overall was a joy to read.Having said that, I wish the author had been more on point with making sure his books retained authenticity by making sure info in his books matched across the board. The first few books, chronologically, were written after the middle of the pack yet there are inconsistencies when this middle pack references stuff from latter material but came chronologically before "Beating Quarters", "Ship of Line", and "Flying Colour's"....... It's as though the author failed to fact check his own writings, and/or simply relied on faulty memory, when he wrote the newer books.This book itself feels a little more consistent with the books written later than the couple he wrote first off. I hope the rest of the books represent more of this fair than that of the first two where Hornblower just seemed a different bloke altogether. This book was good to ready though and I recommend it highly.

This is the third book in the original Hornblower trilogy, starting with "Beat to Quarters", written in 1935, followed by "Ship of the Line" and this book, in 1938 or so. The point of view of the narrator is racist, sexist, and greatly biased in favor of the British, but if we can possibly ignore the bygone attitudes of a writer about to witness the rise of Fascism in Germany and just concentrate on the story, we will find Hornblower to be a perfect hero who manages to just get things right, no matter what the circumstances, or the odds against him. And certainly someone to remember and emulate when times get tough!But if you've enjoyed Patrick O'Brian, do not miss C.S. Forester's Hornblower tales. The setting is exactly the same; the method of operating is different. My guess is O'Brian set out to improve on Hornblower, and did so, by creating a much wider panoply of characters, both aboard ship and on land, and a more complete fictional configuration with the addition of the ship's surgeon who is an incipient naturalist as well as a spy for the British! Finally, O'Brian imbues his characters with the emotional and intellectual problems and challenges of the 20th century at times, which makes Aubrey and Maturin multi-dimensional and somehow much more real than Hornblower ever gets.But for the pure pleasure of cinematic storytelling, where everything works out well, you can't beat Horatio Hornblower!

Flying ColoursThis is the seventh book in the eleven volume Hornblower Saga following Ship of the Line (Hornblower Saga). Hornblower had been is the captain of the two decker, seventy-four gun, Dutch Built, HMS Sutherland. Today, we would refer to this ship as a Ship of the Battle Line or Battle ShipSome might consider the following to be spoilers+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++During the battle in the previous book Lieutenant Bush lost his foot and had to have a stump amputated. While I am not a physician, I have had substantial background in the health care field. It is obvious to me that the author has done some research on both amputations and rehabilitation (Physical Therapist might find those portions interesting (P.T. during the Napoleonic era).The next book in this series is Commodore Hornblower (Hornblower, 9). I guess the titles give away some information. If Hornblower made Commodore things must have worked out rather well.I really didn't expect to enjoy this volume as much as the first six. I'm not a big fan of a lot of introspectionAs Plato asked, "...why should we not calmly and patiently review our own thoughts, and thoroughly examine and see what these appearances in us really are?" My response to Plato is because it is typically boring to read about it.I should have known better. The author interspersed plenty of action in the book and even included a little romance.I highly recommend this book and the entire series to fans of adventure stories, naval historians, and French historians and to anybody who just wants to be entertained with good writing.Gunner April, 2014

This was an especially good our book With plenty of action And intrigue I would recommend it To anyone who is looking for an action field adventure.

A great fight a great escape a court martial what more do you want well women fall in love with him and his men love him too

Yet another classic tale of Hornblowers adventure and the human touch at the end on prospects and position. Went through very fast regretfully

著者の性格かどうかわからないが、文章が結構わかりにくい。人物描写が面白い。

I can't resist sea stories of the early 19th c in British sailing ships; it's in my blood I think. I cut my teeth on Patrick O'Brian (note the "a" in the family name, not to be confused with the Patrick O'Brien with an "e"). Forrester is the best, a good writer, the tales are based loosely on earlier events of those distant times, very accurate, tho I have to give O'Brian the nod for accuracy. I think Forrester is a better writer but not quite as meticulous in his historical minutiae, and Hornblower's constant and deep self deprecation is a bit off-putting for a good tale, but probably more real. None-the-less! A great tale (maybe intended as a movie script?) and I will continue to work my way through the series.

Ich habe den Hornblower-Zyklus auf Deutsch schon an die 10 Mal gelesen. Das erste mal jetzt auf Englisch. Und es sind vele Details einfach viel besser zu begreifen und der Slang der Zeit kommt viel besser rüber.