Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Somehow, I managed to misplace my book with all my margin notes .... :oops: Y'all jump on in! I've got a rather busy weekend schedule including today and Friday, but I'm hoping to locate my book. There's some good insight into the internal Hornblower woven into the stories.

I've been waiting for this for quite awhile so I guess we should get started. I've only read to page 116 which is the end of Hornblower and the Man Who Felt Queer. Reading that chapter I wonder how the writers transitioned this into what happened in the series. Don't get me wrong I liked the way they did the series. There is No Simpson, no gunshot, no fall off the yard arm, no set-up for the duel, essentially no real tension or conflict in Forester's version. There is a lot of the Hornblower guilt and having to knock out Hales to prevent the mission from being found out, but I'm not sure Mr. Midshipman Hornblower would have made a good movie without the scriptwriters embellishments. I do like the way Forester describes Hornblower's inner thought processes which can be difficult to portray in a movie. An actor can show certain emotions, but viewers may interpret them differently than their intended portrayal; whereas a writer can be more precise in their word choices and resulting description. So, is anyone else reading? GG

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In the book, so many more emotions can be shown in a short period of time, the area I noticed it in particular is that Hornblower experiences fear at the yardarm, guilt over hitting the epileptic Hales, berates himself for cowardice, enters into the fray recklessly and after successfully completing his task foolishly slides down the ropes injuring his hands which he then mentally flagulates himself for and all this within a few pages. In the movie though he fears the lack of footropes he appears much braver and more heroic. He accomplishes his task and then of course they have him become responsible for the whole ship (not in the book). And of course there is no Simpson either. He seems humble, blessed with good luck, but the book Hornblower's thoughts of insecurity in his abilities don't come through as strongly in movie. No fault of Ioan's. I think it's just difficult to put inner thoughts in a script. To try and put all the elements he was weighing in his head into dialouge would seem stilted particularly because the character is reticent and he is thinking constantly. Of course in the movie having Archie as a sounding board does help show some of Hornblower's emotions. A fantastic addition by the filmmakers. GG

I found my book yesterday!! I've only read through the first chapter ("Even Chance") but here's some insightful comments into the inner Hornblower I found interesting: Hornblower, the ultimate pragmatist: Hornblower had reached a decision, he had weighed all the pros and cons, and his logical mind told him that having decided in cold blood upon a course of action it would be folly to allow himslef to be influenced subsequently by untrustworthy emotions. Guess that makes him a flagrant INTJ in the Myers-Briggs world of personality typography. I thought this was interesting ... a first impression Hornblower makes upon another: ... Masters noted with a slight stirring of interest that the eyes, despite their owner's seasickness, were looking about keenly, taking in what were obviously new sights; there was a curiosity and interest there which could not be repressed and which continued to function notwithstanding either seasickness or shyness, and Mr. Masters surmised in his far-fetched fashion that this boy had a vein of caution or foresight in his temperament and was already studying his new surroundings with a view to being prepared for his experiences. I'm not sure who impresses me more in that passage, Mr. Masters or Hornblower! And being the mom of two young men, I found this statement hilarious: ... boys are odd creatures ... Whether in or out of context, that statement cracks me up. I'll come back with more as I plow through. I read this book about 3 or 4 years ago and sped through it rather quickly so I'm taking my time now.

I've read the Finnish translation, "Upseerikokelas Hornblower" so if I'm quoting strange things it's because I'm trying to translate the translation... A curiosity: the back of the book in the leaflet it's Hornblower, though It's strange talking of the book because I can't help referring it to the films. My first thoughts of the book was WOW! the athmosphere is the same, transferred to films perfectly! I wonder if you had this feeling while reading? You know, seen the films made from this book and still reading the book like I didn't know how it's going to end. I'm excited and afraid and the nail on my thumb is getting shorter. It's a strange thing, getting inside Horatio's head... Now I finally understand why Horatio was so keen in duelling Simpson, because he wants to lose, to die. This thought escaped me in the film. It seems that the dramatists have made it even worse, letting Clayton die instead of him (although he might have had the same thoughts as Horatio). And it's the art form of book that let's us in. In the films, it would be strange (and narrators being usually very boring) so it's a custom for dramatists to make the hero a loyal friend he can share his thoughts with. That is to say, develop the character of Archie! I mean, he is in the book but as a minor. Even thought he and Horatio play together (that's a lovely little scene in chapter 4. I have some 3 pages of notes on this and some scribblings when words didin't came. So "I'll be back"! Chapter 5, ship's surgeon: You seem to be in a very bad mood young man. A black soup for you it is!

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Thanks for the original, fishforit :D Translating back and forth. BTW I was curious and googled "Black draught" and it seems to be a laxative compund.

:rotf: Sorta takes the concept of being "anal retentive" to a whole new level!!

:hmm: :rotf: We are a high class book club, aren't we? :tongue: GG

Blame Forester for writing :mrgreen: about Nautical terms Was any one of you afraid of them? Because I was, a lot, before starting to read the book. I have a big list of words I didn't understand. I looked up as many as I could but some I couldn't find. My book being in Finnish (and our nautical terms propably inherited from Swedish) and the sourcebooks being in English, it's been a deductive job. It's amazing how many strange words you can learn! This is an example of my ingenious definitions of words: "boatswain= the one with boatswain's pipe" Ok, that tells a lot :P I still haven't found what are "kryssikahvelipurje" (I know "kahveli" is the diagonal sail at the back and "purje" means sail, but what is "kryssi"?) or "skanssi", "seisinki", "ahdin"... just mention a few if you are curious about Finnish words :razz: oh here's one to startle you: isoylämärssypurje, isoröijeli (some of the sails of the main mast...) and this is my favorite: "pertti". It is the "stepping rope" that was missing in the papillon chapter where HH had then to walk the yard. But Pertti is also one of the silliest male names in Finland (in my opinion; sorry if any Pertti is reading this...)

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:lol: That could be secret codes! Well, I just have to understand everything... There was a time I wanted to become a mechanic but left the thought because I just can't understand motors. My dad said that you don't have to understand them, just to know how they work. I know HOW they work, but I also want to know WHY they do so. That's why I hate physics, because everything always ends up with the line "it is like that because it just is; it's the law of physics". Yeah, but why is it so? Now I'm reading the Lieutenant Hornblower in English and yes, it's very simple to read if you ignore the "secret" words but again I'm writing them all down to check up later :razz: