Horatio Hornblower in Space

[plynch]

So, anybody else out there ever read the Horatio Hornblower books that GR modeled the Ent. and TOS on? I have read elsewhere he re-read them throughout his life.

I picked up a set at St Vinnie's and they are GREAT! I really dislike most fiction (no, not b/c I'm a techie, which I'm not, but a former English major), and I'm lovin' em. Literally can't stop reading at night. Hemingway liked 'em too, if that matters to anyone.

I've reads the first two (in story order, not writing order) and can't wait to see what happens to our hero in the next one.

Any other like-minded folk out there?

 

[MikeH92467]

I've never read the books, have enjoyed some of the TV series, but certainly Hornblower is a model just about any writer would want to consider when building the ideal captain. While Hornblower is cited by GR as an influence on the way he built Kirk, it seems to me that Picard was actually the closer match, although the one definite match was that I gather Hornblower became a Captain at a very young, which we tend to forget about Kirk. He was at the time the youngest Captain in the fleet.

 

[Basil]

Read some as a child and also saw the Gregory Peck film on TV -- enjoyed what I read immensely. They're not great literature, but they are fun, straightforward adventure stories with stronger character development than readers might expect for the type of stories.

 

[scotpens]

Haven't read the books, but enjoyed the TV miniseries that aired on the A&E Network a few years back.

For those who haven't seen this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m-xZ4gz4MM

 

[Brutal Strudel]

Star Trek is directly responsible for my reading Hornblower and Hornblower led me to Aubrey/Maturin (once I got over the comparisons to Jane Austen--never liked Jane Austen...). It was my desire to read Trek novels that led me to conquer my (admittedly mild) childhood dyslexia. I now have an MA in English Literature from Rutgers and teach high school English and the occasional college classes.

Gee. Thanks, Star Trek.

Oh, and I really do need to re-read Hornblower.

 

[Admiral Shran]

I've haven't read any, but do own the entire set. One of these days I plan to actually get around to reading them.

I loved the A&E miniseries, so I hope I enjoy the books just as much.

 

[Caliburn24]

I read the Hornblower books years ago, and some of the O'Brien books. Both series were excellent, although later in life I get more enjoyment out of the Flashman Chronicles.

Part of the strength of Hornblower is that he ages, faces hardships and changes as a result, all told by a single author. Kirk and Picard by comparison are stuck in the deja vu world of episodic television where all character development is static and then they move on to the world of movies where they are written differently by each different writer.

 

[T'Girl]

When through them all years ago. "Beat to quarters" really stands out, if anyone is going to read just one, make it that one.

 

[Warped9]

I've read some of the Hornblower books and they were quite good. I wouldn't say GR captured that in TOS, but there is some sort of resonance. I think the A&E Hornblower movies resonate more with TOS than the original books.

In extension I think the film Master And Commander: The Far Side of the World really resonates with TOS more so than the Hornblower books.

 

[Dragonfare]

I haven't read them yet, but I will. They're on my "must read" list, partly because of the ST comparison, but also because they were recently recommended to me by one of my bosses, a highly educated and intelligent man who is also one of the world's biggest Trek fans.

 

[trevanian]

The first 3 (5, 6 &7 in chronology) are what the film used and are the most fun and best IMO, the only ones I reread in fact.

The early years ones, which were mostly written late in Forester's life, are actually a real grind as I recall.

 

[AJBryant]

I love Hornblower.

I also love the Dudley Pope (Adm. Nicholas Ramage, Earl of Blazey) and Alexander Kent (Adm. Sir Richard Bolitho) series. There are more books in each series (both in the double-digits around twenty-something titles) and I think they are better, too.

 

[MANT!]

Excellent adventure fiction..
Now if you wish..the nearest Trek actually came to doing Hornblower, was STWOK..at least in the "Hornblower In Space" aspect..

 

[Warped9]

Excellent adventure fiction..
Now if you wish..the nearest Trek actually came to doing Hornblower, was STWOK..at least in the "Hornblower In Space" aspect..

Not in a million freakin' years. The Hornblower books had some intelligence in them. ST09 had ZILCH! TWoK, as flawed as it is is, is LIGHT YEARS ahead of ST09.

 

[ahkyahnan]

Excellent adventure fiction..
Now if you wish..the nearest Trek actually came to doing Hornblower, was STWOK..at least in the "Hornblower In Space" aspect..

Not in a million freakin' years. The Hornblower books had some intelligence in them. ST09 had ZILCH! TWoK, as flawed as it is is, is LIGHT YEARS ahead of ST09.

I'm confused. Goldbug doesn't mention "ST09" anywhere in his post. He mentions "STWOK" which I'd assume is the same as the "TWoK" you mention in your post.

Aren't you two saying the same thing?

Mark

 

[Warped9]

^^ My apologies! My bad!

I THOUGHT he said the newest rather than the nearest Trek.

 

[ahkyahnan]

Oh OK, I see it now. I was like, "where the heck is that coming from?!"

Mark

 

[Ssosmcin]

Star Trek is directly responsible for my reading Hornblower and Hornblower led me to Aubrey/Maturin (once I got over the comparisons to Jane Austen--never liked Jane Austen...). It was my desire to read Trek novels that led me to conquer my (admittedly mild) childhood dyslexia. I now have an MA in English Literature from Rutgers and teach high school English and the occasional college classes.
.

That's great. I love hearing the smaller stories of individuals, not just the "society changing breakthroughs" of how people's interest in Star Trek helped to overcome personal obsticles.

More than anything, that justifies the show to me. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

Thanks, man. I get a kick out of the irony: comic books and a tv show are directly responsible for making me literate.

 

[Rackon]

I've always had a thing for "tall ship" tales. Indeed, I've often wondered if my love of the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars had anything to do with my love of Trek...probably.

Reading through the Hornblower series as a child one summer totally kept me sane. I was stying at my grandmother's home while my own mother took care of gran during an illness. The eleven year old Rackon was required to be quiet while in the house. Thank God one of my uncles had left his set of HH behind when he left home!

The HH books are highly enjoyable - if not great literature they are (at minimum) cracking good adventure tales, and the characters are memorable and well drawn. Much to my delight, the first four A&E episodes with Ioan Gruffudd are excellent. The later ones are OK but not quite as good as the first series. TWOK is indeed very Hornblowerish, one of the things about it I loved most.

My interest in HH led me to Patrick O'Brien and his Aubrey/Maturin series - those books are literature, quite beautifully written and terrific in every way. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoyed HH.

As a young girl, I loathed Jane Austen - what was it with all the house parties and dances and visiting back and forth as if it were life and death? But I re-read Austen in my twenties and suddenly understood - it was life and death, at least as it was for women in that time. And how could I missed how brilliant the characters were first time around? Moreover, since I wasted no time being annoyed with 19th century British social life, I could appreciate how terribly funny the books were. I now adore Austen. I used to hate George Elliot as well, only to discover lately that Middlenarch is one of my favorite books of all time.