My traveling hours to KC on Thursday were mostly taken up with reading C. S. Forester's Lieutenant Hornblower. I also took along the Stoker, but I think I got about a page of it read. The Forester was definitely the best choice. It turned out that the bus was packed full with shoppers (my sister is a real estate agent and one of the title companies she works with invited her and a guest on this shopping trip). With so many people it was inevitable that it would be a bit loud, and it was. While I didn't finish Hornblower, I managed to read through most of it saving the last 50 or so pages for yesterday.
I have to say (though I have only read the first two so far) that the Forester books are seriously gulpable! You know how you feel when you are thirsty and are presented with a nice, icy cold glass of water and you just gulp it down. That is how I feel about these books. Delicious. Dorothy recenly posted about an author's use of "spare languge", and though I am not sure that Forester qualifies for that, his writing is fairly simple. This is not to say it is not excellently done, as it is. I don't want to equate simple with unsophisticated--as it most certainly is not! But the books read quite fast. There is detail, but he is not flowery in describing it. The books are packed with adventure and with seafaring/sailing descriptions which put you right there--the Bay of Samana (near Santo Domingo) in 1802 on the HMS Renown.
The book is written from the perspective of Lieutenant Bush, who will become Hornblower's good friend. It is interesting to see Hornblower from another person's perspective. In the first book (which is a group of short stories) you see him just starting out as a Midshipman--one who is very "green"--doesn't yet know all the sailing lingo and actually gets seasick. Several years later (perhaps 8-9) he is coming into his own as a sailor and fighting man. It is interesting to see how he is able to control his emotions, and can juggle dealing with superiors and subordinates with just the right touch. While Bush knows the ropes of the mechanics of running a smooth ship, he lacks this ability to deal with others with the panache of Hornblower. It will be this that sets him and Hornblower apart. Hornblower will rise in the ranks as he is a born leader. He is able to present his superiors with the right idea for a course of action, without them realizing it was not their idea to begin with. And he is an excellent whist player. Hornblower is one of the most likeable characters I have yet to meet in literature!
I have already brought the next book, Hornblower and the Hotspur, up to set next to my bed! I could easily dip into it right now (and gulp it down as well), but I want to read a few other books first which have been waiting so patiently. I have finally started Daphne Du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek. How long have I been wanting to read this? Am I the only one that has a mental queue going in my head? Must finish this one before I start that one...Of course there are then books that get bought and read spontaneously, which mess the mental queue up. That was a nice little interlude, but now back to Stoker. Less than 100 pages. Normally this would not be a problem to finish 100 pages in a weekend, but I am not sure about this one...