Hornblower and the Hotspur (original 1962; edition 1962)

Thick, but it gives a psychological insight into our hero. ( )

שטות, אבל כתובה בחן ובמקצועיות ( )

The third Hornblower novel (chronologically) follows Forester's young sea-captain on his first command, of the sloop Hotspur in the opening years of the war with Napoleon following the breakdown of the Peace of Amiens in 1803. The privations of life at sea are vividly recounted as Hotspur takes part in the blockade of the French port at Brest on the Norman coast. Yet we see once again that Hornblower's integrity and devotion to duty call themselves to the attention of his commanders, even as his plans for action against an on-shore telegraph station display a military genius. The battles are bloody, and while not shied away from they are neither graphically recounted. This book is somewhat slower than the first two, Mr Midshipman Hornblower and Lieutenant Hornblower, but Hornblower and his faithful Lieutenant Bush nevertheless manage to carry the day. Another great sea yarn from Forester, and while hardly the sort of thing that I would have expected to enjoy merely a few years ago, it seems as though some switch has clicked in my head. Or perhaps it's just the lure of the sea...

Full review to follow. ( )

Hornblower in his first captaincy. The plot deals with reconnaissance of the French at Brest and a delivery to Cadiz. In the beginning, he gets married...where did that come from? Read some reviews and found out that I did miss some action, despite being numerically in line--there were some intervening booklets. He spends over two years on this tour of duty--dealing with espionage, discipline, avarice, politics, bad weather, homesickness, and, once or twice, actual war. The characters seem true to form, including Lord Cornwallis as the admiral, as a historic character who was the brother of the dude who Washington whipped at Yorktown. I had out my maps of the French coast to try and follow the battle action, but couldn't locate all the spots mentioned around Brest. Add that to a very large dose of 18th century sailor talk and some parts of the read became confusing. Overall, a swashbuckler in line for the next adventure. ( )

Chronologically, this is the fourth book in Hornblower series, telling the tale of Horatio Hornblower's command of the Sloop-of-war HMS Hotspur. He spends over two years on this tour of duty--dealing with espionage, politics, bad weather, homesickness, and, once or twice, actual war. ... That didn't sound too exciting, did it? Well, that was my writing. Mr. Forester made it all quite interesting. It was very easy to put my feet up and lose myself in Hornblower's world of 1803.

As I enjoyed the book, I occasionally mused over Star Trek. (I've read that Horatio Hornblower was part of the inspiration for Captain Kirk.) I think one reason I'd rather pick up this novel rather than one of the multitude of Trek novels out there is that Hotspur shows the challenges of not only fighting a war but the regular hardships of keeping a warship afloat and functioning. It's a depth of setting and character that you don't get in lesser works. Anyway, that's why Hornblower and the "Hotspur" goes on my shelf, and will undoubtedly be followed by the other books in the series.
--J. ( )