Posted by Richard Anderson on June 23, 1998 at 20:30:35:
In Reply to: Re: Patrick O'Brian compared to Vance posted by Lyall Simmons on June 23, 1998 at 13:54:45:
: : Some of you are replying to the Patrick O'Brian thread in the "archive" section, which doesn't work, so I'm starting a new thread here.
: : I read about a third of "The Wine-Dark Sea", and it was like wading through molasses. I also didn't see any comparison to Vance's style.
: : I have to agree. Although I enjoyed the O'Brian narrative , its hard to see any connection with Vance. Forester's Hornblower series (yes I've read the lot!) show a far greater grasp of the technical details of sailing in that era than O'Brian so add a satisfying dimension of reality that(IMHO) O'Brian lacks. This detail probably has more in common with Vance than O'Brian.
Although both Vance and O'Brian are distinctive stylists, they are not similar. I enjoy both. In fact, I've just finished rereading most of Vance's oeuvre for the third? fourth? time, and I've read the O'Brian and Hornblower series twice each (the latter about 20 years ago). My observations as a fan of all three writers: Vance tends towards caricature, broad satire. His work, recent work especially, doesn't seem very deep with regard to character or plot. (Throy, Nightlamp, Ports of Call -- they seem to me sort of similar coming-of-age stories.) Which ain't a ding -- to me, Vance is one of the most entertaining writers I've come across, but substance-wise he's more of a McDonald's Happy Meal, and there are times when I want Steak Diane. Which is where O'Brian comes in. Once you're drawn into his books (which takes time), you're wholly enveloped in a long-gone era -- O'Brian writes in an archaic manner which fits very well with the formal beahvior and speech patterns of his characters, and his wit, when exercised, is sly and hilarious. And there is depth here: The main characters, Captain Aubrey and the surgeon Maturin, seem to me to respectively represent the conflict of values and philosophy between the ancien regime and modernism. Fascinating stuff. With regard to C.S. Lewis's Horblower, O'Brian's books, to my ear, are psychologically and historically dense, and I would even argue that the sea battles are better technically described in O'Brian, although they're harder to%