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Losing Nelson
In the basement of a large Victorian house in London, Charles Cleasby painstakingly re-enacts the great sea battles of his hero, Horatio Nelson. He is also writing a faithful biography of the great man, as a true English hero for an age without idols, a 'bright angel' to Charles' dark shadow. But as Charles' visiting typist, Miss Lily, begins to question Nelson's heroism, and as Charles unearths evidence which tarnishes the image of his icon, his own precarious sense of identity is undermined and the battle raging inside him - between darkness and light, reality and fantasy - threatens to overwhelm him.
313 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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About the author
Barry Unsworth
56 books187 followersBarry Unsworth was an English writer known for his historical fiction. He published 17 novels, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, winning once for the 1992 novel Sacred Hunger.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
June 3, 2021
Unsworth has been an author whose name catches my eye ever since I read his Booker winner Sacred Hunger, and more particularly the excellent Morality Play. This book also demonstrates his interest in history and the depth of his research.
The narrator Charles Cleasby is an obsessive loner, given license to pursue his interests by a generous inheritance from his now dead father. Since childhood, he has been interested in Nelson, and has also developed an unhealthy reliance on the heroic aspects of his story. In the course of writing a book, he employs a typist Miss Lily, who starts to question both Nelson's heroism and the nature of Cleasby's obsession. This creates a crisis of confidence, and at the centre of this is his increasingly desperate attempts to exonerate Nelson over his betrayal of the Sicilian republican rebels in 1799, a story which Unsworth rather cleverly uses to undermine the underlying concept of heroism.
The narrator Charles Cleasby is an obsessive loner, given license to pursue his interests by a generous inheritance from his now dead father. Since childhood, he has been interested in Nelson, and has also developed an unhealthy reliance on the heroic aspects of his story. In the course of writing a book, he employs a typist Miss Lily, who starts to question both Nelson's heroism and the nature of Cleasby's obsession. This creates a crisis of confidence, and at the centre of this is his increasingly desperate attempts to exonerate Nelson over his betrayal of the Sicilian republican rebels in 1799, a story which Unsworth rather cleverly uses to undermine the underlying concept of heroism.
August 22, 2013
A nuanced tour de force that unfurls slowly and malignantly. Unsworth seems incapable of writing an inelegant sentence; each is to be savored -- and the whole bears re-reading. However, this would be a challenging read without at least a little knowledge of Nelson.
This is a memoir of a terrible decline from dysfunction and obsession into something far worse, triggered by a humiliation and the withdrawing of support (literal and figurative) by the sanest character in the story.
It's all foreshadowed: An unsettling scene aboard HMS Victory; the constant, ominous presence of Naples; the over-identification with the dead.
Kismet, indeed.
This is a memoir of a terrible decline from dysfunction and obsession into something far worse, triggered by a humiliation and the withdrawing of support (literal and figurative) by the sanest character in the story.
It's all foreshadowed: An unsettling scene aboard HMS Victory; the constant, ominous presence of Naples; the over-identification with the dead.
Kismet, indeed.
April 21, 2012
Contemporary novel with elements of historical fiction and biography. Charles, disabled by some mix of agoraphobia and crippling anxiety, is fixated on the British naval hero Lord Nelson, obsessively commemorating the events of Nelson's life and reenacting his military triumphs with model ships in his basement.
He is also writing a biography of Nelson, with the help of a transcriber, Lily, who punctures his gauzy hero worship with sharp questions about Nelson's motives and conduct. He is particularly troubled by the events in Naples in 1799, when Nelson either betrayed or ignored an amnesty given to defeated Jacobin rebels, and allowed them to be summarily executed. Charles remains tortured by the Naples episode, trying desperately to construct a chain of events that would exonerate his hero. By the end, Charles travels to Naples to determine the truth firsthand, with tragic results.
Losing Nelson mixes historical commentary with fiction in a way I haven't experienced before: a daring, and in large part, successful experiment. In many ways, the accounts of Nelson's career -- including his relationship with wife Fanny and love affair with Lady Hamilton -- prove more compelling that desperate workings of Charles's mind.
The debunking of the Nelson myth, largely through Lily's skepticism, is deft, if predictable ... there are no heroes anymore, we get it. Nelson may have been a consummate naval strategist and charismatic leader whose personal bravery is beyond doubt; he was also a vain man obsessed with the need for personal fame and aggrandizement, and willing to sacrifice the lives of many men to achieve it.
Still, this viewpoint is a contemporary take on a figure who lived by an older code, one that is perhaps as alien to us today as that of the Greek warriors of the Iliad.
He is also writing a biography of Nelson, with the help of a transcriber, Lily, who punctures his gauzy hero worship with sharp questions about Nelson's motives and conduct. He is particularly troubled by the events in Naples in 1799, when Nelson either betrayed or ignored an amnesty given to defeated Jacobin rebels, and allowed them to be summarily executed. Charles remains tortured by the Naples episode, trying desperately to construct a chain of events that would exonerate his hero. By the end, Charles travels to Naples to determine the truth firsthand, with tragic results.
Losing Nelson mixes historical commentary with fiction in a way I haven't experienced before: a daring, and in large part, successful experiment. In many ways, the accounts of Nelson's career -- including his relationship with wife Fanny and love affair with Lady Hamilton -- prove more compelling that desperate workings of Charles's mind.
The debunking of the Nelson myth, largely through Lily's skepticism, is deft, if predictable ... there are no heroes anymore, we get it. Nelson may have been a consummate naval strategist and charismatic leader whose personal bravery is beyond doubt; he was also a vain man obsessed with the need for personal fame and aggrandizement, and willing to sacrifice the lives of many men to achieve it.
Still, this viewpoint is a contemporary take on a figure who lived by an older code, one that is perhaps as alien to us today as that of the Greek warriors of the Iliad.
June 5, 2007
Charles Cleasby is a tremendously eccentric character, afflicted with a severly obsessive personality. But a flawed protagonist does not prohibit author Barry Unsworth from inspiring a reader with sincere sympathy for Charles in Losing Nelson. Unsworth's task is precisely the feat of Vladamir Nabokov with Humbert Humbert of Lolita. Like Humbert, Charles is antisocial and awkward, unable to forge real connections with other characters, eternally evaluating and reevaluating his actions. It goes against embeded social structures for us to sympathize with these characters who are not normal, not endearing, not inspiring- and yet- we are thus compelled. Unsworth seemlessly blends Cleasby's character with the life of Lord Nelson (the historical figure with whom Cleasby is intensly infatuated). And although Cleasby's interaction with other members of the novel's cast is limited, each relationship is intricately developed through tacit but potent dialogue along with Cleasby's perpetual internal ramblings. One easily becomes so fascinated by his character that we feel intensely involved in his struggles- struggles that one might never otherwise have imagined suffering. I was terrifically impressed with this book, and look forward to other of Unsworth's work.
July 7, 2018
The first thing I noticed when I began reading “Losing Nelson” was the amount of research Unsworth needed to do on Nelson’s life, accomplishments, and correspondence. This is evident practically from the first sentence of the book. We are also introduced to the main character (Charles Cleasby), although we don’t know his full name until quite a few pages later. However, we do have enough information almost right away to conclude that he is odd, to say the least, that he has been ill, that the illness was mental, and that he is an obsessive. In typical Unsworth fashion, the writing in the first few chapters is tight (this proves to be the case throughout the book), and everything is under the author’s exquisite control. A reader is well aware of being in the hands of a master.
This background work that Unsworth needed to do extended also to the geographical and strategic details of Nelson’s various battles (Cape Vincent, Nile, Copenhagen, Trafalgar), and the documentation that records so much of Nelson’s professional life. Unsworth has said in interviews that an important element in dealing with history is to understand what it meant to live at a certain place during a certain time. In “Losing Nelson”, Unsworth has carried this to an extreme by having the present day protagonist in the book attempt the impossible, that is, actually to understand Nelson and his times in a way that could be done only by someone who really was present and who knew Nelson intimately.
The central element in the story, the point from which all the conflict arises for Cleasby, flows from the events in June 1799 in Naples, when the aristocratic, or at least non-peasant, supporters of the Parthenopean Republic were tricked into surrendering to British forces, thinking they were about to be exiled to France, when in reality they were all doomed to be executed. The question Cleasby yearns to answer, but cannot, is whether Nelson was just an innocent tool as part of the process of sending these people to their doom. He wants to believe that is the case. There are two authors, historians, who have opposing views on this, Mahan and Badham. Mahan says that Nelson was just an innocent tool. Badham says that Nelson was not at all innocent, that he was a demon who took an active part in the whole nasty process. The evidence that Unsworth has Cleasby consider is ambiguous. Cleasby can’t decide, and it is his inability to declare Nelson innocent of knowing involvement in the Naples slaughter that gives the story its central tension. Nelson viewed the French through a deep visceral hatred, and since the French supported the Parthenopean cause, perhaps some of Nelson’s hatred spilled over onto the prominent Italians who supported it. Nelson also viewed duty and loyalty as very high ideals, not to be compromised. In attempting to break free from King Ferdinand’s Kingdom of Naples, the Parthenopean supporters had violated these ideals. Could this have caused Nelson to consider that they deserved the gruesome fate they met, and that in helping bring this about he, Nelson, had been true to his own ideals?
There is plenty of material in ‘Losing Nelson’ to paint a realistic and unflattering picture of Cleasby and his life in London. His pathetic involvement in the Nelson Club, culminating in the virtual non-attendance at the presentation on Nelson to that group, a presentation which he thought would be seminal but which led ultimately to his resignation from the Club, indicates either that Cleasby was totally out of touch with a general view of Nelson, that he was trying to resurrect a history that was well and truly dead, or that he was simply wrong and delusional. Cleasby’s efforts to relive in minute detail all the important aspects of Nelson’s life and career, every year, show not only that he had no reality of his own to cling to, but that he felt he shared a joint and intimate reality with Nelson in a very real way. Cleasby’s inability to counter even the most elementary objections raised about Nelson by Miss Lilly, about his character, and his actions, indicates that Cleasby likely was suppressing quite a bit of information about Nelson that he really didn’t want to face. Cleasby’s inability to define the nature of the relationship that develops between him and Miss Lilly just compounds the problem he has in assessing Nelson’s actions. There is a nice contrast here, as well, between Cleasby’s indecisiveness with respect to Miss Lilly, and Nelson’s direct but socially disastrous relations with Emma. It appeared that Nelson was unaware of any criticism or impropriety his liaison raised, or that he just didn’t care.
We can never meet Nelson himself, of course, even though he plays a dominant role in the story. But information on that role comes to us (nominally) through Cleasby, and as readers we have to interpret what we can about Nelson from the various sources, contemporaries of both Nelson and of later times, that Unsworth chooses to place before us. Among these, we have access to two yin and yang, or chiaroscuro, representations of Nelson.
First there is Cleasby, who somehow manages to unify in his own person what he refers to as the ‘angelic’ aspect of Nelson (which Cleasby regards as part of Nelson’s actual nature), and the ‘non-angelic’ aspect, which is Cleasby himself. Cleasby considers himself and Nelson to be two aspects of the same being, so Nelson-Cleasby represents an interesting psychological picture, a sort of Freudian conscious and unconscious amalgam. Once the reader realises that something like this is in play, it is clear that the story has suddenly become darker.
Second, there are the two historical authors whom Cleasby considers to have hunkered down in opposing positions: Mahan, the American naval historian who takes a positive view of Nelson, his actions, and his motives, and Badham, the English sceptic, who considers that Nelson was fully aware of his unpleasant role in ending the Parthenopean Republic, that he took on that role consciously, and that in no way was he tricked or duped.
In the end, Cleasby fails and succeeds. He must succeed, because Nelson is his hero, a person without whom Cleasby would become a non-entity. Cleasby travels to Naples, meets a man called Sims, someone he believes can give him the missing piece, the silver bullet, that will permit Cleasby to exonerate Nelson. But at the same time, Cleasby must fail, because he operates in a fantasy world. Sims trashes Cleasby’s dream of being able to vindicate Nelson, but Cleasby then suffers a complete break from reality. He begins seeing everyone around him as part of a comprehensive conspiracy, and he heads off toward a place called Posillopo, where he believes he will find the answer he needs. He commits an egregious act of violence, and then slips into a final delusion that he has vindicated Nelson, and that he and Nelson will never again be separated.
“Losing Nelson”, therefore, is a story about obsession, and the book is supplied generously in irony, contrast, and a close study of what ‘history’ is, what it means, and how it might be perverted. But “Losing Nelson” can also be seen as a study in human inadequacy. Nelson and Cleasby both come across as warped human beings. The difference between them is that Nelson was given an eighteenth century ‘licence to kill’. Despite the trail of death he left behind him, he was a national hero, a man who really delivered the goods. Despite Cleasby’s utter conviction that he and Nelson were joined at the hip and fully attuned with one another, he accomplishes nothing, he is a sick recluse, and if he can escape the consequences of his actions in Naples, he is doomed to vanish without a trace.
To what extent are Nelson and Cleasby just foils for one another? To what extent is the book a savage attack on the heroic image of Nelson? To what extent are they equally inept and unsuccessful in love?
And finally, who actually loses Nelson? Is it us?
This background work that Unsworth needed to do extended also to the geographical and strategic details of Nelson’s various battles (Cape Vincent, Nile, Copenhagen, Trafalgar), and the documentation that records so much of Nelson’s professional life. Unsworth has said in interviews that an important element in dealing with history is to understand what it meant to live at a certain place during a certain time. In “Losing Nelson”, Unsworth has carried this to an extreme by having the present day protagonist in the book attempt the impossible, that is, actually to understand Nelson and his times in a way that could be done only by someone who really was present and who knew Nelson intimately.
The central element in the story, the point from which all the conflict arises for Cleasby, flows from the events in June 1799 in Naples, when the aristocratic, or at least non-peasant, supporters of the Parthenopean Republic were tricked into surrendering to British forces, thinking they were about to be exiled to France, when in reality they were all doomed to be executed. The question Cleasby yearns to answer, but cannot, is whether Nelson was just an innocent tool as part of the process of sending these people to their doom. He wants to believe that is the case. There are two authors, historians, who have opposing views on this, Mahan and Badham. Mahan says that Nelson was just an innocent tool. Badham says that Nelson was not at all innocent, that he was a demon who took an active part in the whole nasty process. The evidence that Unsworth has Cleasby consider is ambiguous. Cleasby can’t decide, and it is his inability to declare Nelson innocent of knowing involvement in the Naples slaughter that gives the story its central tension. Nelson viewed the French through a deep visceral hatred, and since the French supported the Parthenopean cause, perhaps some of Nelson’s hatred spilled over onto the prominent Italians who supported it. Nelson also viewed duty and loyalty as very high ideals, not to be compromised. In attempting to break free from King Ferdinand’s Kingdom of Naples, the Parthenopean supporters had violated these ideals. Could this have caused Nelson to consider that they deserved the gruesome fate they met, and that in helping bring this about he, Nelson, had been true to his own ideals?
There is plenty of material in ‘Losing Nelson’ to paint a realistic and unflattering picture of Cleasby and his life in London. His pathetic involvement in the Nelson Club, culminating in the virtual non-attendance at the presentation on Nelson to that group, a presentation which he thought would be seminal but which led ultimately to his resignation from the Club, indicates either that Cleasby was totally out of touch with a general view of Nelson, that he was trying to resurrect a history that was well and truly dead, or that he was simply wrong and delusional. Cleasby’s efforts to relive in minute detail all the important aspects of Nelson’s life and career, every year, show not only that he had no reality of his own to cling to, but that he felt he shared a joint and intimate reality with Nelson in a very real way. Cleasby’s inability to counter even the most elementary objections raised about Nelson by Miss Lilly, about his character, and his actions, indicates that Cleasby likely was suppressing quite a bit of information about Nelson that he really didn’t want to face. Cleasby’s inability to define the nature of the relationship that develops between him and Miss Lilly just compounds the problem he has in assessing Nelson’s actions. There is a nice contrast here, as well, between Cleasby’s indecisiveness with respect to Miss Lilly, and Nelson’s direct but socially disastrous relations with Emma. It appeared that Nelson was unaware of any criticism or impropriety his liaison raised, or that he just didn’t care.
We can never meet Nelson himself, of course, even though he plays a dominant role in the story. But information on that role comes to us (nominally) through Cleasby, and as readers we have to interpret what we can about Nelson from the various sources, contemporaries of both Nelson and of later times, that Unsworth chooses to place before us. Among these, we have access to two yin and yang, or chiaroscuro, representations of Nelson.
First there is Cleasby, who somehow manages to unify in his own person what he refers to as the ‘angelic’ aspect of Nelson (which Cleasby regards as part of Nelson’s actual nature), and the ‘non-angelic’ aspect, which is Cleasby himself. Cleasby considers himself and Nelson to be two aspects of the same being, so Nelson-Cleasby represents an interesting psychological picture, a sort of Freudian conscious and unconscious amalgam. Once the reader realises that something like this is in play, it is clear that the story has suddenly become darker.
Second, there are the two historical authors whom Cleasby considers to have hunkered down in opposing positions: Mahan, the American naval historian who takes a positive view of Nelson, his actions, and his motives, and Badham, the English sceptic, who considers that Nelson was fully aware of his unpleasant role in ending the Parthenopean Republic, that he took on that role consciously, and that in no way was he tricked or duped.
In the end, Cleasby fails and succeeds. He must succeed, because Nelson is his hero, a person without whom Cleasby would become a non-entity. Cleasby travels to Naples, meets a man called Sims, someone he believes can give him the missing piece, the silver bullet, that will permit Cleasby to exonerate Nelson. But at the same time, Cleasby must fail, because he operates in a fantasy world. Sims trashes Cleasby’s dream of being able to vindicate Nelson, but Cleasby then suffers a complete break from reality. He begins seeing everyone around him as part of a comprehensive conspiracy, and he heads off toward a place called Posillopo, where he believes he will find the answer he needs. He commits an egregious act of violence, and then slips into a final delusion that he has vindicated Nelson, and that he and Nelson will never again be separated.
“Losing Nelson”, therefore, is a story about obsession, and the book is supplied generously in irony, contrast, and a close study of what ‘history’ is, what it means, and how it might be perverted. But “Losing Nelson” can also be seen as a study in human inadequacy. Nelson and Cleasby both come across as warped human beings. The difference between them is that Nelson was given an eighteenth century ‘licence to kill’. Despite the trail of death he left behind him, he was a national hero, a man who really delivered the goods. Despite Cleasby’s utter conviction that he and Nelson were joined at the hip and fully attuned with one another, he accomplishes nothing, he is a sick recluse, and if he can escape the consequences of his actions in Naples, he is doomed to vanish without a trace.
To what extent are Nelson and Cleasby just foils for one another? To what extent is the book a savage attack on the heroic image of Nelson? To what extent are they equally inept and unsuccessful in love?
And finally, who actually loses Nelson? Is it us?
August 13, 2017
Ο Τσαρλς Κήλμπι, πάσχει από ψυχολογικές διαταραχές, έχει εμμονές και φοβίες και η μοναδική του χαρά και ενδιαφέρον είναι η ταύτισή του με τον Οράτιο Νέλσονα. Το υπόγειο του σπιτιού του στο Βόρειο Λονδίνο έχει μεταμορφωθεί σε μια πλατφόρμα επιχειρήσεων: έχει κατασκευάσει όλα τα πλοία της βρετανικής αυτοκρατορίας που έλαβαν μέρος στις διάφορες ναυμαχίες και ζει και ξαναζεί τις ένδοξες στιγμές του παρελθόντος. Ταυτόχρονα, γράφει μια βιογραφία του ναυάρχου. Τι έγινε όμως στην Νάπολη εκείνο το καλοκαίρι του 1799, όταν σφαγιάστηκαν οι δημοκρατικοί οπαδοί του Ναπολέοντα; Κατά πόσον ο Νέλσον χρησιμοποίησε δόλια μέσα; Το σημαίνει ηρωισμός και πόσο θεμιτή είναι η πονηριά του πολυμήχανου Οδυσσέα στον πόλεμο; Μπορούν να αποφευχθούν οι μάχες υπέρ της διπλωματικής οδού; Όλα αυτά τα ερωτήματα θα πρέπει να αντιμετωπίσει ο ήρωας μας με την βοήθεια της γραμματέως του. Συνίσταται σε όλους τους φίλους της ιστορίας, σε όλους όσους αγαπούν το Λονδίνο αφού μέσα από τις σελίδες του βιβλίου θα τριγυρίσετε στην Φλητ Στρητ, στην Χόλμπορν και στην Στραντ και για όσους θέλουν να αναλογιστούν τελικά τι είναι η ηρωισμός!
March 8, 2010
In Losing Nelson, Charles Cleasby leads a completely orderly life. It is a life where "...habit is safety, without habit we would all just flop around and die". His most constant habit is Lord Horatio Nelson. Cleasby is a knowledgeable but loony wanna be Nelson biographer. Everyday Cleasby relives Nelson's life. The battles, events and non-events of Nelson's history govern his own. He has constructed a calendar of Nelson's life and follows it, even takes holidays on the days of Nelson's greatest victories, religiously.
There are, occasionally, intrusions on Cleasby's obsession. Miss Lily, Cleasby's assistant, refuses to see Nelson as the perfect hero.Then there are the members of the Nelson Club who are more interested in drinks and two hundred year old gossip than the perfect man. There is fabulous humor in the Club scenes and in Charles' imaginings of Emma Hamilton. Cleasby himself cannot get past a particularly savage moment in Nelson's history. This has stymied the progress of his glorious biography. The biography where suddenly references to Nelson are becoming "I" and "we" instead of Nelson or him. This is were you realize that Losing Nelson is a part historical fiction part intense thriller.
Barry Unsworth has a shelf of brilliant novels behind him. In all of them history, static already written history is what will undo the living. Immersed headlong into intelligent writing you're never allowed to be sure whether or not it will be Cleasby's undoing. This is another exceptionally impressive novel by Unsworth. He is a gift.
There are, occasionally, intrusions on Cleasby's obsession. Miss Lily, Cleasby's assistant, refuses to see Nelson as the perfect hero.Then there are the members of the Nelson Club who are more interested in drinks and two hundred year old gossip than the perfect man. There is fabulous humor in the Club scenes and in Charles' imaginings of Emma Hamilton. Cleasby himself cannot get past a particularly savage moment in Nelson's history. This has stymied the progress of his glorious biography. The biography where suddenly references to Nelson are becoming "I" and "we" instead of Nelson or him. This is were you realize that Losing Nelson is a part historical fiction part intense thriller.
Barry Unsworth has a shelf of brilliant novels behind him. In all of them history, static already written history is what will undo the living. Immersed headlong into intelligent writing you're never allowed to be sure whether or not it will be Cleasby's undoing. This is another exceptionally impressive novel by Unsworth. He is a gift.
February 20, 2020
This is a story of two men, one who was an Admiral in the British Royal Navy and who gave his life for his country...and the other is a man in modern days who suffers from anxiety and OCD. Charles, who has OCD, is totally hooked on Lord Nelson. He's trying to write a book about him and he collects many items on the famous Admiral, but his life is a real mess. The OCD rules him. Rituals control his life and it's very sad. The story explores what OCD and anxiety can do to a person. And at the same time we also learn about the life of the famous Admiral, how life was in the Navy and what things he faced. I found both parts interesting.
Another thing I really liked was the two different viewpoints on life in the Navy. Because Charles is scared of computers, he has hired a secretary to type up his manuscript: Miss Lily. And Lily sees things very different than Charles. The two juxtapositions were very interesting. And through that I myself thought up new ideas on the subject, things I never considered before. Because I do like the Age of Sail and reading sea stories. And those sailing ships are very pretty. But they were also very, very dangerous. And deadly.
The ending was very shocking. It was not expected at all. I don't know what I expected but it wasn't that. But I also understand it too. It makes sense based on other plot elements.
There are a few slow passages in the book but it's not too bad.
This is not a happy book. It's sad, full of madness, blood and deaths.
Another thing I really liked was the two different viewpoints on life in the Navy. Because Charles is scared of computers, he has hired a secretary to type up his manuscript: Miss Lily. And Lily sees things very different than Charles. The two juxtapositions were very interesting. And through that I myself thought up new ideas on the subject, things I never considered before. Because I do like the Age of Sail and reading sea stories. And those sailing ships are very pretty. But they were also very, very dangerous. And deadly.
The ending was very shocking. It was not expected at all. I don't know what I expected but it wasn't that. But I also understand it too. It makes sense based on other plot elements.
There are a few slow passages in the book but it's not too bad.
This is not a happy book. It's sad, full of madness, blood and deaths.
August 13, 2014
Charles Cleasby is not an easy man to spend time with. His social deficiencies are legion--he can't look people in the eyes, he's terrified of blank screens so can't use a television or a computer, his personal hygiene and self-care are sometimes deficient, he's oblivious to how others actually perceive him much of the time, he's obsessed with the naval hero Nelson (whom he chummily calls Horatio). I mean, he's REALLY obsessed with Nelson. Belief in the supreme worth of Nelson is his bulwark against a chaotic and frightening world, as well as against a very fragile (indeed, almost absent) sense of self. The sense of doom builds as the narrative continues, as readers become more acquainted with his fragile mental state. The slippage in pronouns when he talks about Nelson (as he does obsessively)--from "he" to "you" to "we" to "I"--is a nice touch. I knew a disaster was coming--how could it not?--but I did not foresee the form it would take.
The experience of reading this novel is particularly rich if you know something about Nelson and the Napoleonic Wars, but not knowing about these shouldn't prevent you from opening it.
The experience of reading this novel is particularly rich if you know something about Nelson and the Napoleonic Wars, but not knowing about these shouldn't prevent you from opening it.
September 7, 2012
This book had the dubious honor of longest shelf time while unread in my house. Not sure when I picked it up, but it was long, long ago. I think it was when I was besotted with the Booker Prize. I also like naval history so it seemed natural. Then it just sat there, mocking me on the shelf. I purged a number of books this summer, but something stayed my hand in this book's case.
I am happy I chose to keep this one. It's a study of an obsessed academic wrestling with an event that calls into question the heroism of his idol, Horatio Nelson. His obsession is at start mildly comical as is his old fashioned defense of Nelson, but it becomes increasingly tragic as you see how damaged he is.
The book is crisply written, but does require some close reading at times. A number of clues as to what is happening are doled out, but often in less than obvious ways.
I am happy I chose to keep this one. It's a study of an obsessed academic wrestling with an event that calls into question the heroism of his idol, Horatio Nelson. His obsession is at start mildly comical as is his old fashioned defense of Nelson, but it becomes increasingly tragic as you see how damaged he is.
The book is crisply written, but does require some close reading at times. A number of clues as to what is happening are doled out, but often in less than obvious ways.
January 17, 2015
Exploration of what happens when an insecure, obsessed man (and unreliable narrator) is forced to face the fact that his hero, Horatio Nelson, may not have been such a good guy after all. He ends up losing everything (the woman he started to like, the book he devoted his life to about his hero, possibly his sanity). While Unsworth is little heavy-handed with his imagery at times, this was really intriguing and well-done.
July 13, 2012
As a military-history buff and wargamer, I found the central character quite disturbing. This guy is the worst nightmare of what I could become, totally obsessed with my subject to the exclusion of his humanity.
The book was very good, as the poor guy tries to find a way to exonerate his hero, until the "tragic ending", which appalled me mightily.
The book was very good, as the poor guy tries to find a way to exonerate his hero, until the "tragic ending", which appalled me mightily.
October 13, 2020
A quirky thesis to be sure but it held my attention from start to well, near finish. Anyone with an interest in history, especially Naval history of the Age of Fighting Sail will have an immediate hook from page one, that rarely lets go. You see the narrator, one Charles Cleasby, has an full-on obsession with the life and (to him) heroic stature of Horatio Nelson that never really relinquishes its control. Does he 'lose' Nelson? The reader will have to await the answer. But the 'recreations' (through his descriptions and on his miniatures playing table) of the famous naval actions are brilliant at times and apparently well-researched (according to other more exhaustive reviews). Cape St. Vincent, the Battle of the Nile, Copenhagen, Tenerife and of course Trafalgar. Accounts from lesser actions and key moments from Nelson's life including going off to sea at 12 years old (not uncommon) and his later 'scandalous' affair with Emma Hamilton are included and by the end you know quite a lot about Horatio. But the center around which the story pivots is the attempt (fixation?) of modern hero (Cleasby) to 'clear' Nelson of complicity and guilt in the grisly events of June 1799 in Naples. The restoration of the Bourbon dynasty on the Throne of Naples and Sicily under the guns of the Royal Navy, results in a sanguinary settlement of scores with the Jacobin rebels. The details of these events are related through the eyes of various authors and biographers of Nelson (a couple of which I had read or recognized). Some accounts are exculpatory of Nelson, others far less so. There is even an entire book on the subject written in 2018 (well after this book). His final encounter with a British historian who lives in Naples and has read the Italian sources puts to rest any real doubt about what actually occurred but that is for the reader to discover. Having been in Naples in 2016 added to my own interest as he described castles I saw or visited. All these efforts are tied in with Cleasby's mental issues apparently stemming from childhood which are less convincing perhaps but still disturbing. How we are shaped at youth! His encounters with the real-world are inevitably diminished or filtered though the lens of his Nelsonian insanity, although the character of Miss Lily presents an opportunity for the unfortunate protagonist to escape his fantasy. The ending is for the reader to encounter. I almost expected something occurring on the deck of a '74' but I guess it is never easy to end a tale of obsession and madness neatly.
June 6, 2024
Charles Cleasby is a man obsessed with Horatio Nelson. His entire existence seems to be devoted to the memory of Nelson as he reenacts Nelsons battles on a table with the models he collects and he, almost, seems to worship him as a god. He is writing a book about Nelson and has employed a woman he calls Miss Lily to transcribe and type for him. As Miss Lily and Cleasby become more comfortable with each other she begins questioning Nelsons greatness and Cleasby's obsession with him. She points out the number of human beings he is responsible for killing. When Miss Lily has to leave for a few weeks Cleasby decides to go to Naples to exonerate Nelson.
May 20, 2019
This was sort of a mixed bag. I marked this title "to-read" when I read Unsworth's tonally inconsistent, but well-written and perceptive Homeric historical novel/contemporary political satire Songs of the Kings. Nelson was a boyhood hero of mine. As a child I loved history
and biography (still do) and, like lots of boys of my class and generation, I thrilled especially to stirring tales of military glory. When I still had no real conception of loss and regret, let alone mortality (just now getting that one), I liked to imagine dying nobly at my moment of greatest triumph and whispering, "Kiss me, Hardy!" or some such nonsense. A deep-seated problem with authority combined with an irresistible fondness for smoking weed and sleeping late sidelined my dreams of heroic, martial sacrifice, but, I have to admit, there is still a ten-year-old boy inside me who totally buys into all that shit. I have dragged my friends and family on reverential pilgrimages to scores of museums and forts and battlefields and ships, including, natch, H.M.S. Victory.
Long after I developed a somewhat more nuanced understanding of how life and history work and
of the complex and deeply-flawed nature of every human being, even heroes, Nelson retained for me a hazy nimbus of unassailable courage, genius and patriotic saintliness. This despite having read Susan Sontag's poorly received, but, in my view, excellent 1992 novel, The Volcano Lover, which concentrates on the same shocking incident in Nelson's career that haunts this novel. Following his stunning victory at the Battle of the Nile in 1799, Nelson recovered from injuries sustained in that encounter at the court of the King of Naples, where he commenced the affair with Emma Hamilton, wife of the British ambassador to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, that was to make such a central part of his legend. Besotted with his paramour, who was a close friend and confidante to Queen Carolina, and fundamentally conservative in his politics, Nelson allowed himself to be drawn into a counterrevolutionary campaign against Neapolitan Jacobins. Much ink has been spilled, apparently (it was not mentioned, though the delightfully-racy-to-my-boyish-sensibilities, in-no-way-a-diminishment-of-the-legend-because-I-didn't-understand-how-honor-applied-to-personal-relations affair certainly was) on Nelson's exact role, but, based on my limited understanding of of the controversy, it would appear that he secured the surrender of the rebels under false pretenses and delivered them to savage reprisals.
Like I said, the novel is a mixed bag. Losing Nelson is one of those tales of progressive meltdown confided to the reader by a charming, unreliable narrator - brilliant but obviously unhinged. It's hardly a daisy-fresh trope and I think the clever nutso bit has been done much better in The Debt to Pleasure and The Epicure's Lament (to say nothing of Lolita). Charles Cleasby is a semi-agoraphobic, semi-obsessive-compulsive, semi-paranoid-schizophrenic who has, through a lifetime of completist superfandom, become convinced that he is Horatio Nelson's spiritual shadow, the dark complement to his "angelic" idol. The novel details his struggles with completing a biography of the hero of Trafalgar. To that end, he hires a stenographer from a secretarial service who manages to penetrate his sentimental, solipsistic, mental Nelson-prison (he fills his days enacting a demanding schedule of ritual observances that commemorate each of Nelson's naval triumphs on their corresponding "feast days.") before abruptly and disappointingly disappearing from the narrative prior to Cleasby's complete descent into madness. She was the second-best thing about the book. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I was hoping for the sweet, quirky romance that seemed to be developing, which, I suppose, wasn't about to happen in a novel with such clear literary ambitions. That's a shame. I'll take vivid characters for whom I have some human feeling over vague, arty effects every time. Effects so vague, so arty, I'm not really sure where the final chapter takes place, let alone what did or didn't happen.
The best part of this book- the Nelson part - was really, really good. By writing a book about a character writing a book about Nelson, Unsworth was able to supply many of the joys of historical fiction while sidestepping the hokiness and anachronism that make it literature's red-headed stepchild. The portrait that emerges of Cleasby's and England's Olympian hero is poignantly human - heart-rending, in fact. "They cut off pieces of him!" Miss Lily - the stenographer - exclaims at one point. She does not mean his blinded eye or amputated arm.
and biography (still do) and, like lots of boys of my class and generation, I thrilled especially to stirring tales of military glory. When I still had no real conception of loss and regret, let alone mortality (just now getting that one), I liked to imagine dying nobly at my moment of greatest triumph and whispering, "Kiss me, Hardy!" or some such nonsense. A deep-seated problem with authority combined with an irresistible fondness for smoking weed and sleeping late sidelined my dreams of heroic, martial sacrifice, but, I have to admit, there is still a ten-year-old boy inside me who totally buys into all that shit. I have dragged my friends and family on reverential pilgrimages to scores of museums and forts and battlefields and ships, including, natch, H.M.S. Victory.
Long after I developed a somewhat more nuanced understanding of how life and history work and
of the complex and deeply-flawed nature of every human being, even heroes, Nelson retained for me a hazy nimbus of unassailable courage, genius and patriotic saintliness. This despite having read Susan Sontag's poorly received, but, in my view, excellent 1992 novel, The Volcano Lover, which concentrates on the same shocking incident in Nelson's career that haunts this novel. Following his stunning victory at the Battle of the Nile in 1799, Nelson recovered from injuries sustained in that encounter at the court of the King of Naples, where he commenced the affair with Emma Hamilton, wife of the British ambassador to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, that was to make such a central part of his legend. Besotted with his paramour, who was a close friend and confidante to Queen Carolina, and fundamentally conservative in his politics, Nelson allowed himself to be drawn into a counterrevolutionary campaign against Neapolitan Jacobins. Much ink has been spilled, apparently (it was not mentioned, though the delightfully-racy-to-my-boyish-sensibilities, in-no-way-a-diminishment-of-the-legend-because-I-didn't-understand-how-honor-applied-to-personal-relations affair certainly was) on Nelson's exact role, but, based on my limited understanding of of the controversy, it would appear that he secured the surrender of the rebels under false pretenses and delivered them to savage reprisals.
Like I said, the novel is a mixed bag. Losing Nelson is one of those tales of progressive meltdown confided to the reader by a charming, unreliable narrator - brilliant but obviously unhinged. It's hardly a daisy-fresh trope and I think the clever nutso bit has been done much better in The Debt to Pleasure and The Epicure's Lament (to say nothing of Lolita). Charles Cleasby is a semi-agoraphobic, semi-obsessive-compulsive, semi-paranoid-schizophrenic who has, through a lifetime of completist superfandom, become convinced that he is Horatio Nelson's spiritual shadow, the dark complement to his "angelic" idol. The novel details his struggles with completing a biography of the hero of Trafalgar. To that end, he hires a stenographer from a secretarial service who manages to penetrate his sentimental, solipsistic, mental Nelson-prison (he fills his days enacting a demanding schedule of ritual observances that commemorate each of Nelson's naval triumphs on their corresponding "feast days.") before abruptly and disappointingly disappearing from the narrative prior to Cleasby's complete descent into madness. She was the second-best thing about the book. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I was hoping for the sweet, quirky romance that seemed to be developing, which, I suppose, wasn't about to happen in a novel with such clear literary ambitions. That's a shame. I'll take vivid characters for whom I have some human feeling over vague, arty effects every time. Effects so vague, so arty, I'm not really sure where the final chapter takes place, let alone what did or didn't happen.
The best part of this book- the Nelson part - was really, really good. By writing a book about a character writing a book about Nelson, Unsworth was able to supply many of the joys of historical fiction while sidestepping the hokiness and anachronism that make it literature's red-headed stepchild. The portrait that emerges of Cleasby's and England's Olympian hero is poignantly human - heart-rending, in fact. "They cut off pieces of him!" Miss Lily - the stenographer - exclaims at one point. She does not mean his blinded eye or amputated arm.
June 29, 2009
Obsession and personal identity are the subjects of Losing Nelson. The protagonist, Charles Cleasby, is obsessed with the life of the 18th Century British naval hero, Horatio Nelson. Cleasby is middle aged and earlier suffered a nervous breakdown. More recently, his dominating father died leaving Charles with enough money to comfortably live without working.
Cleasby's obsession takes many forms including rushing home to replay and relive to the minute various Nelson battles. At times of particular stress or excitement Cleasby's neurosis leads him to confuse the second person "you" with the first person "I." Momentarily, he is Nelson. Cleasby is also writing a book about Nelson and employs Miss Lily of the Avon Secretarial Service to type manuscripts.
Cleasby believes heroes like Nelson have perfect lives. This belief causes Cleasby extremely serious intellectual and emotional problems. For a brief time, Nelson was assigned as the top British official to the king of Naples. During that time there was a French led republican revolution. To regain control, the king, with Nelson's visible assistance, entered into an agreement with the rebels for them to leave their fortress strongholds and embark upon ships. The rebels apparently believed they would safely sail for France. Instead, one by one they were hung or otherwise slaughtered by the king. Cleasby's huge question was whether Nelson knew the rebels would be killed. If Nelson knew, he can not be a hero because he betrayed the rebels. Resolution of exactly what Nelson knew and intended drives the plot of the book. It is an understatement to say that Cleasby is obsessed to find the answer.
Losing Nelson can be appreciated on several levels beyond the issues of obsession and identity. Miss Lily, at first submissive, gradually grows to offer pointed criticisms about Nelson and war. She questions Nelson's adulterous relationship with Lady Hamilton and the breakup of his marriage with Fanny. She also questions the purpose of Nelson's battles and victories. Why did so many men die? What was the purpose?
Unsworth italicizes Nelson's speeches. Many are very pretentious. Did 18th Century heroes actually talk this way, or was Nelson enamored with his own importance?
Finally, the book supplies a good recounting of Nelson's life. His statue high above Trafalgar Square shows his importance to the English.
Some might argue that with careful editing Losing Nelson might have been shortened advantageously to a novella. Such adbridgement would have ruined the novel's suspense and ultimate outcome.
Cleasby's obsession takes many forms including rushing home to replay and relive to the minute various Nelson battles. At times of particular stress or excitement Cleasby's neurosis leads him to confuse the second person "you" with the first person "I." Momentarily, he is Nelson. Cleasby is also writing a book about Nelson and employs Miss Lily of the Avon Secretarial Service to type manuscripts.
Cleasby believes heroes like Nelson have perfect lives. This belief causes Cleasby extremely serious intellectual and emotional problems. For a brief time, Nelson was assigned as the top British official to the king of Naples. During that time there was a French led republican revolution. To regain control, the king, with Nelson's visible assistance, entered into an agreement with the rebels for them to leave their fortress strongholds and embark upon ships. The rebels apparently believed they would safely sail for France. Instead, one by one they were hung or otherwise slaughtered by the king. Cleasby's huge question was whether Nelson knew the rebels would be killed. If Nelson knew, he can not be a hero because he betrayed the rebels. Resolution of exactly what Nelson knew and intended drives the plot of the book. It is an understatement to say that Cleasby is obsessed to find the answer.
Losing Nelson can be appreciated on several levels beyond the issues of obsession and identity. Miss Lily, at first submissive, gradually grows to offer pointed criticisms about Nelson and war. She questions Nelson's adulterous relationship with Lady Hamilton and the breakup of his marriage with Fanny. She also questions the purpose of Nelson's battles and victories. Why did so many men die? What was the purpose?
Unsworth italicizes Nelson's speeches. Many are very pretentious. Did 18th Century heroes actually talk this way, or was Nelson enamored with his own importance?
Finally, the book supplies a good recounting of Nelson's life. His statue high above Trafalgar Square shows his importance to the English.
Some might argue that with careful editing Losing Nelson might have been shortened advantageously to a novella. Such adbridgement would have ruined the novel's suspense and ultimate outcome.
December 20, 2024
I think I've had only two 5-star books this year (admittedly I haven't read very much, for reasons) and they were both Unsworths. This is smaller than Sacred Hunger but just as good. We have a 40-something, anxious, reclusive, obsessive Charles who idolises and, completely incongruously, identifies with Nelson, and who is unable to reconcile what he knows of the Naples incident with his heroic image (his "bright angel"). We feel some sympathy for ridiculous Charles especially as details of his past and present life are revealed, and the identification with Nelson seems not entirely baseless in some ways. As we consider the meaning of Nelson (helped by Charles's sane and straightforward secretary), opinions shift and then paranoia grows and then.... yeah. It's masterful.
It would help to know something of Nelson before jumping into this although if you don't, you certainly will by the end.
Which brings me to historical fiction. Some of it I enjoy. Novels set in momentous times that the author experienced (Olivia Manning, Hans Fallada): absolutely yes. Well-researched novels set in historic times (Hilary Mantel, Robert Graves): of course. Novels split between two or more timelines, as in the great-granddaughter finds a trunk in the attic and her ancestor's frontier story unfolds in parallel to some modern thread: can't stand them. But there are more interesting and I think historiographically respectable ways of twining an historic story with that of someone in modern (or other) times trying to come to grips with it, and this is that. Another book that does this brilliantly is Günter Grass's Crabwalk.
(Oh and a bonus - Unsworth makes a cameo appearance!)
It would help to know something of Nelson before jumping into this although if you don't, you certainly will by the end.
Which brings me to historical fiction. Some of it I enjoy. Novels set in momentous times that the author experienced (Olivia Manning, Hans Fallada): absolutely yes. Well-researched novels set in historic times (Hilary Mantel, Robert Graves): of course. Novels split between two or more timelines, as in the great-granddaughter finds a trunk in the attic and her ancestor's frontier story unfolds in parallel to some modern thread: can't stand them. But there are more interesting and I think historiographically respectable ways of twining an historic story with that of someone in modern (or other) times trying to come to grips with it, and this is that. Another book that does this brilliantly is Günter Grass's Crabwalk.
(Oh and a bonus - Unsworth makes a cameo appearance!)
February 20, 2016
I was intrigued by the title. And it turned out to be an intriguing read. Charles Cleasby lives by the Horatio calendar. Meaning he re-enacts Nelson’s battles, remembers and even acts on the highlights in Nelson’s life. Moreover he is working on a book about Nelson. For this he hired Miss Lily to transcribe his manuscript. Miss Lily and Charles Cleasby however form an interesting pair. Charles in some ways is upset by Miss Lily’s opinions on Nelson; nonetheless due to her he breaks some of his self-imposed rules. Charles is actually ‘damaged’, due to his youth and upbringing and he seems to think that everyone is against him and his angelic twin half: Horatio. In fact, Charles wants to clear Nelson’s name. There is namely this one controversial incident in June 1799, when Nelson apparently promised the Neapolitan rebels safe conduct, while they were turned over to their murderous Bourbon king for hanging. But Charles, Nelson’s shadow side, can only disappoint.
Barry Unsworth creates a shuffled chronology of historical events – in which you learn a great deal on naval war conduct – and at the same time you get an insight in the narrator’s mind. The latter proves to be a psychological deterioration of the protagonist Charles – as Charles is the narrator in this novel. Due to the interaction between Miss Lily and Charles, Nelson is pretty much taking down from his pedestal – yet it makes not only him, but Charles too, more human. It’s an unsettling story, yet suspenseful and engaging enough to keep on reading. Only at the end the story seems to run out of steam. This certainly isn’t going to be my only book by Barry Unsworth.
Barry Unsworth creates a shuffled chronology of historical events – in which you learn a great deal on naval war conduct – and at the same time you get an insight in the narrator’s mind. The latter proves to be a psychological deterioration of the protagonist Charles – as Charles is the narrator in this novel. Due to the interaction between Miss Lily and Charles, Nelson is pretty much taking down from his pedestal – yet it makes not only him, but Charles too, more human. It’s an unsettling story, yet suspenseful and engaging enough to keep on reading. Only at the end the story seems to run out of steam. This certainly isn’t going to be my only book by Barry Unsworth.
November 21, 2008
Unsworth dissects the mind of a hysterical neurotic whose sanity is saved by his identification with a hero. Clearsby is a covincing and sad creation. The back story of Nelson seems him also revealed as a damaged individual whose heroism had to be understood as a by-product of his arrested emotional development (as was his relationship with the dreaful Emma Hamilton). The history of the events of 1799 is fascinating. Unsworth's character also reads as an allegory for nations which need heroes - their fate seems to be a stumbling descent into paranoia as deep as the dubious hero(es?) of this book.
December 11, 2018
Not sure what to think about this it is very well written but there is so much quoted history in it would it have been better as a straight biography of Nelson. It is a book were not a lot happens slowly but it does develop. I didn't find the main character, the obsessive Charles at all sympathetic although clearly he had real problems existing/surviving in the real world. The relationship with Miss Lilly was well done but I thought it could have gone further.
I am not sure about the ending, which I think is Charles having mental breakdown.
I am not sure about the ending, which I think is Charles having mental breakdown.
September 17, 2016
I love Barry Unsworth's novels. For historical fiction and exploration of the darker side of human nature, he's just one of the best. This novel about Charles, a Horatio-Nelson-obsessed man, and the gradual ripping away of his idol worship, is outstanding. As Charles encounters people and resources that damage his lofty perception of Nelson, his grip on reality loosens and finally fails. Gripping reading.
July 20, 2015
This book is sublime! Another Unsworth triumph, it tells the story of a man, Cleasby, who has lost himself in Lord Admiral Nelson's life so thoroughly that he is in danger of slipping away altogether. Unsworth also pulls off the enviable task of pulling off a truly shocking, but thoroughly believable, ending on the last page. The *last page*.
June 26, 2016
Brilliant. I loved all the history, but using the point of view of a mentally unstable twentieth-century man was fascinating as well. And the ending...! I won't give it away, but it's brilliant. There is no other word.
July 7, 2011
I was glad to get out of this narrator's head - disturbing read right up to the haunting conclusion. Unsworth strips away the glory of war and the hero worship that can be a part of its history.
April 5, 2020
Despite winning the Booker Prize (with Sacred Hunger) and having one of his novels made into a film (Pascali's Island), the late Barry Unsworth does not seem to be all that well known these days. I have always enjoyed his work, however, for the richly realised worlds that he creates.
The portrait of a lonely man who fixates on Horatio Nelson is a fascinating and sad account of one individual's descent into madness. Charles Cleasby, the narrator, enacts Nelson's great sea battles on the anniversary of each engagement - to the minute, if possible. He speaks of his idol the way a smitten schoolgirl might talk about a crush: Nelson is an angel, "all fire", set far above other men. Recounting Nelson's virtues to other people, Cleasby finds it hard to control his emotion. The book that he is writing, which he hopes will clear Nelson's name, is revealed to be hopelessly one-sided. Cleasby explains away the signs that Nelson might have feet of clay - the evidence of the admiral's vanity, or the mess that Nelson makes of his marriage. Recalling incidents in Nelson's life, Cleasby addresses him as "you" - or "we" - or even, disturbingly, "I".
We are given some glimpses at the roots of this obsession - the narrator's relationship with his cold and unkind father, teachers who inspired him, the strange trickster who acts as Cleasby's psychiatrist. Some of this I found was laid on a bit thick, sounding slightly like a case history. On the other hand, however, there are chilling instances where Nelson appears as an uncanny and even frightening figure to the narrator - Unsworth showing us the shadow side of idolatry.
Nelson is, of course, far from being an angel. A creature of "radiant violence", in Cleasby's admiring words, Nelson is shown as taking excessive risks, leading his men to pointless death, and - in the most damning episode of his history - going back on a treaty concerning a group of rebel Jacobins in Naples, allowing the rebels to think they could leave the city freely, but in fact delivering them up to imprisonment and execution. Cleasby travels to Naples, only to find that Nelson has been erased from the city's life, while the rebels he had put to death are remembered with honour. As Cleasby encounters more and more evidence about Nelson's actions, he loses his grip on sanity. On the very last page, he commits a desperate act to join himself with his "angel" forever.
I first bought and read Losing Nelson about 20 years ago, and enjoyed it - but on this second reading the story has gained added force. The book was published in 1999. Reading it in 2020, some of the psychological insights may have dated - but it seemed to me that Unsworth has cast a dazzling light on Britain's role in the world. Nelson, with Churchill and Henry V, was one of the men who form the foundations of our national mythos. As Cleasby's last antagonist tells him, "Heroes are fabricated in the national dream factory. Heroes are not people." There is a warning here for us today - not to be so beguiled by the "angels" of our past that we lose sight of who we really are.
The portrait of a lonely man who fixates on Horatio Nelson is a fascinating and sad account of one individual's descent into madness. Charles Cleasby, the narrator, enacts Nelson's great sea battles on the anniversary of each engagement - to the minute, if possible. He speaks of his idol the way a smitten schoolgirl might talk about a crush: Nelson is an angel, "all fire", set far above other men. Recounting Nelson's virtues to other people, Cleasby finds it hard to control his emotion. The book that he is writing, which he hopes will clear Nelson's name, is revealed to be hopelessly one-sided. Cleasby explains away the signs that Nelson might have feet of clay - the evidence of the admiral's vanity, or the mess that Nelson makes of his marriage. Recalling incidents in Nelson's life, Cleasby addresses him as "you" - or "we" - or even, disturbingly, "I".
We are given some glimpses at the roots of this obsession - the narrator's relationship with his cold and unkind father, teachers who inspired him, the strange trickster who acts as Cleasby's psychiatrist. Some of this I found was laid on a bit thick, sounding slightly like a case history. On the other hand, however, there are chilling instances where Nelson appears as an uncanny and even frightening figure to the narrator - Unsworth showing us the shadow side of idolatry.
Nelson is, of course, far from being an angel. A creature of "radiant violence", in Cleasby's admiring words, Nelson is shown as taking excessive risks, leading his men to pointless death, and - in the most damning episode of his history - going back on a treaty concerning a group of rebel Jacobins in Naples, allowing the rebels to think they could leave the city freely, but in fact delivering them up to imprisonment and execution. Cleasby travels to Naples, only to find that Nelson has been erased from the city's life, while the rebels he had put to death are remembered with honour. As Cleasby encounters more and more evidence about Nelson's actions, he loses his grip on sanity. On the very last page, he commits a desperate act to join himself with his "angel" forever.
I first bought and read Losing Nelson about 20 years ago, and enjoyed it - but on this second reading the story has gained added force. The book was published in 1999. Reading it in 2020, some of the psychological insights may have dated - but it seemed to me that Unsworth has cast a dazzling light on Britain's role in the world. Nelson, with Churchill and Henry V, was one of the men who form the foundations of our national mythos. As Cleasby's last antagonist tells him, "Heroes are fabricated in the national dream factory. Heroes are not people." There is a warning here for us today - not to be so beguiled by the "angels" of our past that we lose sight of who we really are.
January 22, 2022
Losing Nelson is a very unique look at the price of hero worship.
the narrator, Charles Cleasby, has had a life-long obsession with British naval hero Horatio Nelson, who he sees as an angel far above other men. He feels that he and Nelson are on parallel paths - soulmates. Cleasby has an entire basement filled with Nelson books and memorabilia. He observes every battle of Nelson's on its anniversary with a re-enactment using his model ships. Given this devotion, he is completely blind to the many flaws that emerge concerning Nelson.
The reader becomes increasingly aware that the very repressed Cleasby has gone over the edge with his obsession. He mostly stays at home and thinks about Nelson and book that he is writing about him. He forgets to eat and has little human contact. His life is untouched by popular culture, whether it is David Bowie or Donald Duck, who both appear in the book. We find that his mother left when he was quite young, his recently-deceased father was aloof and disappointed in him and that he has little in common with his brother.
We learn that Cleasby has hit a major roadblock with his Nelson book: how to explain a potentially damning episode in 1799 Naples where Nelson ordered the slaughter of Jacobite prisoners who thought they were being granted safe passage to France. Cleasby has read all the experts except for those not translated from Italian. He is desperate to find a way to clear Nelson's name in this episode, even with many historians lining up against him.
To make matters worse, Miss Lily, the secretary who types his manuscript and to whom he is attracted, bursts his bubble about Nelson. She skeptically questions Nelson's motives and his willingness to sacrifice many sailors' lives for not only naval victories, but his own honor and personal gain. She also observes that nations groom heroes for near-impossible tasks, and at what price?
Life becomes very uncomfortable for Cleasby, whose wishful thinking aside, can not find enough evidence to clear Nelson's name. His identity merges more and more with his subject as his paranoia grows. How can he resolve the conflict?
The book is quite well researched. While I found the battle descriptions with their excruciating, if bloody detail to be difficult, the theme of the book is laudable: nations get caught up in hero worship for all the wrong reasons. But following one's duty can mean the loss of one's humanity. Heroism such as Nelson's should not be thought of as the epitome of a nation's character. We should not put mere humans on pedestals and definitely not make them role models for children.
This is an intense and challenging book, but worth the effort.
the narrator, Charles Cleasby, has had a life-long obsession with British naval hero Horatio Nelson, who he sees as an angel far above other men. He feels that he and Nelson are on parallel paths - soulmates. Cleasby has an entire basement filled with Nelson books and memorabilia. He observes every battle of Nelson's on its anniversary with a re-enactment using his model ships. Given this devotion, he is completely blind to the many flaws that emerge concerning Nelson.
The reader becomes increasingly aware that the very repressed Cleasby has gone over the edge with his obsession. He mostly stays at home and thinks about Nelson and book that he is writing about him. He forgets to eat and has little human contact. His life is untouched by popular culture, whether it is David Bowie or Donald Duck, who both appear in the book. We find that his mother left when he was quite young, his recently-deceased father was aloof and disappointed in him and that he has little in common with his brother.
We learn that Cleasby has hit a major roadblock with his Nelson book: how to explain a potentially damning episode in 1799 Naples where Nelson ordered the slaughter of Jacobite prisoners who thought they were being granted safe passage to France. Cleasby has read all the experts except for those not translated from Italian. He is desperate to find a way to clear Nelson's name in this episode, even with many historians lining up against him.
To make matters worse, Miss Lily, the secretary who types his manuscript and to whom he is attracted, bursts his bubble about Nelson. She skeptically questions Nelson's motives and his willingness to sacrifice many sailors' lives for not only naval victories, but his own honor and personal gain. She also observes that nations groom heroes for near-impossible tasks, and at what price?
Life becomes very uncomfortable for Cleasby, whose wishful thinking aside, can not find enough evidence to clear Nelson's name. His identity merges more and more with his subject as his paranoia grows. How can he resolve the conflict?
The book is quite well researched. While I found the battle descriptions with their excruciating, if bloody detail to be difficult, the theme of the book is laudable: nations get caught up in hero worship for all the wrong reasons. But following one's duty can mean the loss of one's humanity. Heroism such as Nelson's should not be thought of as the epitome of a nation's character. We should not put mere humans on pedestals and definitely not make them role models for children.
This is an intense and challenging book, but worth the effort.
September 2, 2022
Βαθμολογία: 9/10
Κινδυνεύοντας να ξεμείνω από βιβλία στις διακοπές μου, έκανα μια μικρή παραγγελία από παλαιοβιβλιοπωλείο (που μου ήρθε σε μια μέρα, αν και εκτός Αττικής!) και ανάμεσα στα υπόλοιπα βιβλία που παρήγγειλα ήταν και αυτό, το "Χάνοντας τον Νέλσον" του Μπάρι Άνσγουορθ, του οποίου έχω ακόμα πέντε βιβλία στη συλλογή μου, όλα αδιάβαστα. Αυτή λοιπόν είναι η πρώτη μου επαφή με τον συγγραφέα, και μάλιστα σχεδόν τυχαία, και καλύτερη αρχή δεν ξέρω αν θα μπορούσα να κάνω! Το βιβλίο πραγματικά με καθήλωσε, με εντυπωσίασε με το στιλ γραφής, την αρκετά χειμαρρώδη αφήγηση και την ατμόσφαιρα, ενώ σίγουρα ο συγγραφέας πρόσφερε απλόχερα κάθε είδους στοιχεία και πληροφορίες για τον Ναύαρχο Νέλσον, μια αρκετά αμφιλεγόμενη ιστορική φιγούρα. Αφηγητής της ιστορίας είναι ένας αρκετά ιδιόρρυθμος, μοναχικός και μάλλον αγοραφοβικός άνδρας, ο Τσαρλς Κλήσμπυ, ο οποίος έχει μια απίστευτη μανία με ό,τι έχει να κάνει με τον Οράτιο Νέλσον, και στα μάτια του αυτή η μεγάλη προσωπικότητα της ιστορίας της Αγγλίας είναι ο απόλυτος ήρωας, ουσιαστικά ένας άγγελος. Όμως υπάρχουν και κάποια στοιχεία, κάποιες πτυχές στην προσωπικότητα του Νέλσον, που δεν ταιριάζουν και τόσο σε έναν απόλυτο ήρωα, και αυτό είναι που ταλανίζει ιδιαίτερα τον καημένο τον Τσαρλς. Τέλος πάντων, είναι ένα πολύ ιδιαίτερο βιβλίο με αρκετά ενδιαφέρουσα δομή, με τον συγγραφέα να παίζει και λίγο με την αφήγηση, δεν μπορώ να γράψω μια περίληψη της προκοπής, άλλωστε κι εγώ όταν το ξεκίνησα ήξερα ελάχιστα για την πλοκή, και μετά απλώς βυθίστηκα σε αυτήν, και τώρα που τελείωσε νιώθω ένα κενό... γαμώτο, δεν ήθελα να τελειώσει με τίποτα. Με κάποιον τρόπο δέθηκα με τον ιδιόρρυθμο πρωταγωνιστή, αλλά και με τον Οράτιο Νέλσον, μέχρι που ήρθε το τέλος, ένα τέλος αρκετά σκοτεινό και σκληρό. Φυσικά, η γραφή είναι πολύ δυνατή, οξυδερκής, χειμαρρώδης, κυλάει σαν γάργαρο νερό, με δυσκολία άφηνα το βιβλίο για να κάνω καμία βουτιά, να πάω για τρέξιμο ή περπάτημα ή εξερεύνηση των γύρω περιοχών, να κάνω τέλος πάντων ό,τι κάνουν στις διακοπές. Σίγουρα η ανάγνωση του βιβλίου αυτού είναι μια από τις πιο ξεχωριστές στιγμές της φετινής αναγνωστικής χρονιάς, χωρίς μάλιστα να είχα ιδιαίτερες προσδοκίες όταν το ξεκινούσα.
Κινδυνεύοντας να ξεμείνω από βιβλία στις διακοπές μου, έκανα μια μικρή παραγγελία από παλαιοβιβλιοπωλείο (που μου ήρθε σε μια μέρα, αν και εκτός Αττικής!) και ανάμεσα στα υπόλοιπα βιβλία που παρήγγειλα ήταν και αυτό, το "Χάνοντας τον Νέλσον" του Μπάρι Άνσγουορθ, του οποίου έχω ακόμα πέντε βιβλία στη συλλογή μου, όλα αδιάβαστα. Αυτή λοιπόν είναι η πρώτη μου επαφή με τον συγγραφέα, και μάλιστα σχεδόν τυχαία, και καλύτερη αρχή δεν ξέρω αν θα μπορούσα να κάνω! Το βιβλίο πραγματικά με καθήλωσε, με εντυπωσίασε με το στιλ γραφής, την αρκετά χειμαρρώδη αφήγηση και την ατμόσφαιρα, ενώ σίγουρα ο συγγραφέας πρόσφερε απλόχερα κάθε είδους στοιχεία και πληροφορίες για τον Ναύαρχο Νέλσον, μια αρκετά αμφιλεγόμενη ιστορική φιγούρα. Αφηγητής της ιστορίας είναι ένας αρκετά ιδιόρρυθμος, μοναχικός και μάλλον αγοραφοβικός άνδρας, ο Τσαρλς Κλήσμπυ, ο οποίος έχει μια απίστευτη μανία με ό,τι έχει να κάνει με τον Οράτιο Νέλσον, και στα μάτια του αυτή η μεγάλη προσωπικότητα της ιστορίας της Αγγλίας είναι ο απόλυτος ήρωας, ουσιαστικά ένας άγγελος. Όμως υπάρχουν και κάποια στοιχεία, κάποιες πτυχές στην προσωπικότητα του Νέλσον, που δεν ταιριάζουν και τόσο σε έναν απόλυτο ήρωα, και αυτό είναι που ταλανίζει ιδιαίτερα τον καημένο τον Τσαρλς. Τέλος πάντων, είναι ένα πολύ ιδιαίτερο βιβλίο με αρκετά ενδιαφέρουσα δομή, με τον συγγραφέα να παίζει και λίγο με την αφήγηση, δεν μπορώ να γράψω μια περίληψη της προκοπής, άλλωστε κι εγώ όταν το ξεκίνησα ήξερα ελάχιστα για την πλοκή, και μετά απλώς βυθίστηκα σε αυτήν, και τώρα που τελείωσε νιώθω ένα κενό... γαμώτο, δεν ήθελα να τελειώσει με τίποτα. Με κάποιον τρόπο δέθηκα με τον ιδιόρρυθμο πρωταγωνιστή, αλλά και με τον Οράτιο Νέλσον, μέχρι που ήρθε το τέλος, ένα τέλος αρκετά σκοτεινό και σκληρό. Φυσικά, η γραφή είναι πολύ δυνατή, οξυδερκής, χειμαρρώδης, κυλάει σαν γάργαρο νερό, με δυσκολία άφηνα το βιβλίο για να κάνω καμία βουτιά, να πάω για τρέξιμο ή περπάτημα ή εξερεύνηση των γύρω περιοχών, να κάνω τέλος πάντων ό,τι κάνουν στις διακοπές. Σίγουρα η ανάγνωση του βιβλίου αυτού είναι μια από τις πιο ξεχωριστές στιγμές της φετινής αναγνωστικής χρονιάς, χωρίς μάλιστα να είχα ιδιαίτερες προσδοκίες όταν το ξεκινούσα.
August 1, 2020
This 1999 novel is something of a rarity; a historical icon, Horatio Nelson, a man of many trials & tribulations...not least his physical disabilities!...becomes an obssession for Charles Cleasby, a troubled soul, solitary & pedantic...with a psychological disability...that leads him to a harrowing Trafalgar of his own...in contemporary Naples!...where Nelson's loyalties & moralities had faced a test that showed that even heroes have their dark sides.
The gradual disintegration of Cleasby's mental health in a fruitless crusade to exonerate his icon from blame for a massacre of republicans in 'Napoleonic' Naples is brilliantly portrayed by Barry Unsworth's skills as a writer of historically-accurate novels - his 'Sacred Hunger', about mid-18th century slavers out of Liverpool is very topical now! - & this 300+ page book suggests that Unsworth himself has some sympathy with people who lose themselves in a quest to know others more completely than they ever knew themselves! Who amongst us can really judge our historical heroes & heroines by our modern dictates on morality, justice & truth? Nelson had human vices; but he had extraordinary virtues too. Charles Cleasby sacrifices his sad life to Nelson...as Nelson 'did his duty' for his mother country, helping to save England from the predations & obsessions of Boney's egomania.
A great read for anyone prone to obsession; and a warning too about investing our national heroes with anything close to divinity or perfection. The final chapter is quite chilling in its resolution of Cleasby's profound torment...& left me very shaken...though Vesuvius played no part!
The gradual disintegration of Cleasby's mental health in a fruitless crusade to exonerate his icon from blame for a massacre of republicans in 'Napoleonic' Naples is brilliantly portrayed by Barry Unsworth's skills as a writer of historically-accurate novels - his 'Sacred Hunger', about mid-18th century slavers out of Liverpool is very topical now! - & this 300+ page book suggests that Unsworth himself has some sympathy with people who lose themselves in a quest to know others more completely than they ever knew themselves! Who amongst us can really judge our historical heroes & heroines by our modern dictates on morality, justice & truth? Nelson had human vices; but he had extraordinary virtues too. Charles Cleasby sacrifices his sad life to Nelson...as Nelson 'did his duty' for his mother country, helping to save England from the predations & obsessions of Boney's egomania.
A great read for anyone prone to obsession; and a warning too about investing our national heroes with anything close to divinity or perfection. The final chapter is quite chilling in its resolution of Cleasby's profound torment...& left me very shaken...though Vesuvius played no part!
June 1, 2021
Charles is obsessed with Nelson. He hurries home to his basement to re-enact Nelson's battles on their anniversary ... to the minute. He believes that his life runs in parallel with Nelson's; that he is Nelson's dark shadow. He sees Nelson as the perfect hero. The only thing that worries him is Nelson's behaviour in Naples when he may have tricked some rebels into surrendering and then executed them. That and his new secretary, to whom he is dictating his book on Nelson, who prefers her men to be gentle and thoughtful and kind and sees Nelson as a vain serial killer, crippled psychologically as well as physically. Her opposition will bring Charles to a crisis in which he is forced to confront the truth about heroism.
It is a fascinating book, dissecting both obsession and the nature of heroism (which is a type of obsession). There are some amusing incidents, such as when the protagonist meets a writer who can be no other than a portrait of the author himself (and sees him as an obsessive). The characters of the protagonist and the antagonist (and can there ever have been a gentler antagonist?) are brilliantly written as are the settings of the book. The plot is perfectly paced: the talk Charles gives to the Nelson society is pivotal and half-way through the book.
And not only did I learn a lot about Nelson but also my probable ancestor, Alexander Davison, Nelson's prize-agent, is mentioned in the book!
It is a fascinating book, dissecting both obsession and the nature of heroism (which is a type of obsession). There are some amusing incidents, such as when the protagonist meets a writer who can be no other than a portrait of the author himself (and sees him as an obsessive). The characters of the protagonist and the antagonist (and can there ever have been a gentler antagonist?) are brilliantly written as are the settings of the book. The plot is perfectly paced: the talk Charles gives to the Nelson society is pivotal and half-way through the book.
And not only did I learn a lot about Nelson but also my probable ancestor, Alexander Davison, Nelson's prize-agent, is mentioned in the book!
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