Collected short stories

by Patrick O'Brian

Collected here for the first time are 27 stories that O'Brian wishes to preserve--stories of uncommon lyricism and beauty that will confirm his rightful place in the front rank of short story writers as well as of novelists. Patrick O'Brian is the author of the highly acclaimed Aubrey/Maturin series of sea novels.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Literature, Historical Fiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 1994

About the author

Patrick O'Brian was an English novelist and translator whose reputation rests above all on the Aubrey-Maturin novels, a twenty-volume sequence set during the Napoleonic Wars. The books follow Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and Stephen Maturin, his friend and ship's surgeon, whose Irish-Catalan background and scientific interests complement Aubrey's practical naval outlook. Beginning with Master and Commander, the series combines historical events with fictional adventures, preserving the outcome of real history while placing its protagonists within the action. O'Brian's command of period language, naval terminology, medical detail, and maritime practice gives the novels a convincing sense of nineteenth-century life, while their humor and the evolving relationship between Aubrey and Maturin provide their emotional center. The series became a long-form narrative in which professional duties and private lives develop continuously across successive voyages. O'Brian's literary career began remarkably early. Writing as Richard Patrick Russ, he published his first novel, Caesar: The Life Story of a Panda-Leopard, as a teenager, followed by animal stories collected in Beasts Royal. His novel Hussein: An Entertainment appeared in 1938 and received critical attention. After the Second World War, he adopted the name Patrick O'Brian and continued publishing fiction, including The Last Pool, Testimonies, and The Catalans. His early naval novels for younger readers, The Golden Ocean and The Unknown Shore, already contained elements that anticipated Aubrey and Maturin. He also became a translator from French, producing more than thirty English translations, including works by Simone de Beauvoir, Henri Charriere, and Jean Lacouture. His nonfiction included biographies of the naturalist Joseph Banks and the painter Pablo Picasso, whom he knew in Collioure, France. O'Brian lived in Wales after the war before moving with his wife Mary to Collioure in 1949. Their collaboration was important to his working life, with Mary assisting him in research and preparing his handwritten manuscripts for publication. O'Brian wrote by hand throughout his career and resisted modern writing technology. His literary breakthrough came unusually late. Although the Aubrey-Maturin books had a modest British following after their first appearance, their American revival in the early 1990s, led by W. W. Norton, brought sales and recognition. The novels eventually sold millions of copies and attracted devoted readers well beyond the age group normally associated with historical adventure fiction. O'Brian received the inaugural Heywood Hill Literary Prize in 1995, an honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin, and a CBE in 1997. His reputation was complicated when British media revealed details of his early identity and first marriage, matters he had kept private. Despite the controversy, his fiction remained central to his legacy. His unfinished twenty-first Aubrey-Maturin novel was published posthumously, preserving both handwritten pages and typescript. His manuscripts, notes, and research materials have since become part of major literary collections. His influence is also reflected in the continued readership of the novels and the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which drew primarily from The Far Side of the World while incorporating material from elsewhere in the series.

Reviews

[Robert]

I've read more than twenty books by O'Brian and this is the first one I didn't like. The reason is obvious; the others were novels and this is a short story collection. It's not that I don't like the short story form - far from it - I love Ray Bradbury and numerous other SF writers' short works as well as those of Thomas Hardy, just as examples off the top of my head. But some writers are not able to work well in both long and short forms and it seems O'Brian was one of these. His first novel, Testimonies, is impressive and he went on from there to become one of the most uniformly admired historical fiction writers ever, but these short stories for the most part were plain dull. A few stand out as good - ones focused on mountainous landscapes - and I wonder if some-one less familiar with mountains or the emotions and physical exertions associated with mountain travel would be as appreciative even of those. Quite a disappointment.

[Thom]

Pick any story in the first 60 pages. Was there a plot? Was there an antagonist? action? anything? I skipped around after that but didn't find relief - your mileage may vary.

Some good, even beautiful, language, but these feel like writing exercises that were published. Definitely not short stories (tight, crisp plot). Not pieces of a novel. Not... something I want to invest any more time in.

[Vasha7]

These twenty-seven stories were selected from previous collections between 1950 and 1974. Right from the start they're wonderfully written, in a beautiful but not overly-ornate style. Almost every one glories in descriptions of natural settings; quite a few are hunting and fishing tales (that was a bit unexpected to me) and others take place out-of-doors for other reasons.

In the majority of these stories, O'Brian's main focus is on searching, subtle moral analysis of single characters and their failings. That the incidents that illuminate them so often are outdoors is simply a sign of the author's inclination, for the most part; although the wilderness is also a suitable place for people be seen separated out in high relief from society. Then, too, many of the characters are loners. Another frequent theme is the effects of stress, and sometimes abnormal states of mind.

In a few of the earliest stories, the narration is so oblique that it's difficult to even determine what is happening. The later stories are clearer, but not by being explicit about their themes: rather by masterfully weaving their themes into their narration.

I had always thought that the rather quirky dialogue in O'Brian's historical novels was an attempt to capture the style of the period; but in all these contemporary stories, though dialogue is rare, it sounds just the same. So I suppose the dialect spoken is "O'Brianese". No matter, it's only a minor distraction. On the whole, I appreciated almost every story here, and thought a few of them brilliant ("The Chian Wine", "The Long Day Running", "The Rendezvous", to name a few at random).

[Chris Moon]

I have been rereading everything by O'Brian. He is not only the best novelist of the 20th Century, along with O'Connor he may be the best short story writer as well."Samphire," is worth the purchase price of the book.

[Les Wilson]

Just not my cup,of tea.

[David]

A massively disappointing book. Tremendous attention to details of nature but very little to engage the human spirit. Even a candidate for the T.T. Waring Award (see Anthony Powell’s What’s Become of Waring) in “Billabillian.” Sad.

[Marvinwww]

There was a time when I was a very big fan of V. S. Pritchett. This book by Patrick O'Brian reminds me of reading Pritchett years ago. I realize that this is very high praise, but I could not escape the feeling of their relatedness as I read the short works in this book. One difference is that O'Brian tends to write about the outdoors -- fly fishing, fox hunting, etc. -- while Pritchett (as I recall) wrote about more sedate activities such as shopping for antiques. I am not attempting to claim that the two authors are identical, but I do think there are stylistic similarities.

I am retired. The above is as far as I am going to go with my observation. Some graduate student in Literature is welcome to read everything by both authors and write the definitive comparison.

[E]

This set of collected short stories likely ends my reading of Patrick O'Brian's fiction. It's something of a cliche with short stories, but here it is true: these are definitely the writer in concentrated, maximum-strength form. As in, almost impenetrable at times. Allusion left and right. Confounding plots. Surprising endings. Not for the faint of heart. Perhaps a window into this remarkable yet mysterious man who reinvented himself as Patrick O'Brian.

[Mick]

This is a remarkable series of short stories. Although there are set in a variety of places and situations, each focuses on the thoughts and psychology of the protagonist. They are exceedingly well written, taking us inside their heads—their pathetic hopes and desires, stream of consciousness thoughts, myopic views. I’m not sure I really enjoyed most of them, but I am still glad I read this book.

[Kathy]

Quotable:
Marriage iceberg. Somewhere he had read that seven-eighths of an iceberg is always submerged and that it is only the remaining eighth that one sees; and this he meant to liken to marriage, the visible berg corresponding to the squabbles and superficial disharmony and the vast unseen majority serving as a figure for the profound unity and deep affection that must always subsist.

[Hazy]

Collection of short stories, half of them about dudes hunting in the wilderness and being contemplative, the other half psychological fiction with interchangeable protagonists. Not badly written, but rather boring and forgettable.

There's a few stories worth reading, 'The Last Pool' and 'The Virtuous Peleg' among them.

[Robin]

I read three of these, and couldn't bear to read any more. Way too much hunting & fishing, in detail, for me. Just not my cup of tea. I loved the Aubrey/Maturin series, and have just finished reading them for the 2nd time, so I was pretty disappointed. Style in this book totally different (much earlier I think).

[Josh]

O'Brian shows his literary genius in this collection of stories. These didn't catch me up the way Aubrey and Maturin did, but they still display O'Brian's ability to describe the physical landscape and the human inscape with brilliance.

[McCraddock]

I don't recall ever reading so many stories in a row where I was unsure whether the main character was dead at the end or not.

[Rachel Feeck]

Read the first few stories, which were largely charming and pastoral. Mostly skimmed the rest.

[Robert]

He is a master of the short story, acknowledging the darkness of his subject matter.

[David Myles]

hit and miss beautiful writing but too many to short stories badly collected.

[Graham]

There are only so many chocolates that you can eat, and likewise only so many short stories in the same vein which you can read.
This short collection of stories, which acceptably cover hunting shooting fishing whoring escaping and two cracking tales on antisemitism and sainthood, were for the most part a slight disappointment. I was hoping for sparkling prose, an abundance of wit, a lightness of touch and an occasional chuckle. Instead they came across as standard stories, centred on a 50s 60s morality which... well it got a bit tedious after a while.
The Chian Wine, which was a brilliant story of antisemiticism in a sleepy Mediterranean village which ends tragically, is the pick of the bunch. The Virtuous Peleg is a delightful Irish tale of how dull Peleg came to be a saint whilst trying to help the more senior Kevin out. Full of Irish sayings (think Maturin and his assistant Padeen) this little gem is a delight and sparkles its way through redeeming angels and false-playing demons.
The others are ok, with The Long Day Running and The Last Pool the best of the hunting and fishing stories.
Some of the others are perplexing and require two reads and a vast looking up through Google: Billabillian is just this. You get a bunch of stuff about trade and then the last page is an utter mystery: you are left somewhat puzzled by what happened. Other stories too have this sudden ending (again On The Wolfsberg falls into this, as a woman remembers a man who has done ‘something’ to her in the last line of the book.
Worth reading if only to “collect the canon” but not as awesome as I was expecting.

[Declan Waters]

I love the Aubrey-Maturin series. It has everything it needs - historical basis, quick stories, character development. Having read it a few years ago, and recently read a lot short stories (mostly Sci-Fi) I picked this up at Christmas for interest.

There are some good stories in here, and much of the era - hunting, fishing, and a few war threat stories. Better and more polished at the end than the beginning as it appears to be organised in chronological order.

Overall an ok read, but probably only for fans of Patrick O'Brien or fiction short stories.

[Gilly McGillicuddy]

I'm reading a lot of short stories this year. This is selected stories from several of POB's collections and God, how clearly you can see the stages of writing he goes through, and how he gets better and better with each book he publishes. Amazing. The last couple of stories are as good as any novel he ever published.

[Kent]

Ran across this at the library and picked it up, having noticed the first story was about a fly-fisherman.

I thought at first these would be Buchan-like stories about sport--fishing, hunting, mountain-climbing, etc. There are some resemblances, but on the whole O'Brian is more modern, annoyingly psychological, and a good bit less pleasant. I don't know if I'll bother finishing them.

[Ellen Turner Hall]

The man writes beautiful natural descriptions. I loved for instance his descriptions of the countryside around Collioure, his home in the Pyrenees. The characters, however, are all angular, difficult types, rarely at home in their environments. A curious mixture.

[Melissa]

Despite what the Goodreads listing says, this is not one of the Aubrey/Maturin novels, but a collection of mostly stark stories set in the contemporary world.

[Brian]

Well written, but disappointing.

[Edwin Yardley]

Different yet very good.