by Patrick O'Brian
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Product Description
In the mid-eighteenth century, Peter Palafox, the son of a poor Irish parson, signs on a ship as a midshipman, just in time for Commodore Anson's epic circumnavigation of the world. Reprint.
Amazon.com Review
O'Brian's first sea-going novel, The Golden Ocean is a precurser to the acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series in its excitement and rich humor, its eloquent style and and tapestry of historical detail. Peter Palofox, second son of a poor Irish parson, sets out on the voyage of a lifetime when he seeks his fortune as a midshipman in Commodore Anson's flotilla. With five ships under his command, Anson leaves England in 1740 to circumnavigate the globe and attack Spanish ships wherever they can be found. Peter comes of age in the complex but sharply defined community of the fleet as they engage in battle, fight disease, and face shipwreck.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 A Rousing Good Read!, 2008-10-15
A good-natured book with some honestly great characters, scenes, settings, all of which radiate period authenticity. In this novel there is a lot to be learned about the Royal Navy and the great ships of the age of sail, and I found it all very interesting to tag along on this, Mr. Anson's 1740 circumnavigation of a then much "bigger" planet earth. Plus The Golden Ocean is just a plain old-fashioned enjoyable book to spend a few days reading. As a nice bonus, I don't know how many times I laughed at the simple wit with which the tale is laced. (Page 187, "He had confined himself to the truth with Peter---he was terribly frightened then---but now he was no longer under that unnatural constraint." See, natural wit infuses this writer's prose.) A belated "well done, sir!" to the ghost of Mr. O'Brian!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Regardless of where you are in the Aubrey/Maturin series read this book, 2008-04-23
This is THE book to read before reads, or even while you are reading, the Aubrey/Maturin series. Although a it is a great story, it is, in a way, a good primer for the A/M series, explaining some of the nautical evolutions that take place on the ships of the time. At times more useful than A SEA OF WORDS ( which still need much more work)
In particular, I enjoy having the map of the entire voyage included in the front so that I can follow things. My only complaint is that I wish that it were perhaps on more pages so that one could read it better.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
High Adventure at Sea, 2008-02-19
The Golden Ocean is the story of two Irish men who sail around the world in a British man-o-war in the mid-1700s in the famous and in many ways ill-fated voyage of the Centurion and its small supporting flotilla during England's war with Spain. This is not exactly a war story and the historical context is a bit unclear in O'Brian's novel. The sailors, marines, and their beloved commodore Mr Anson (later Lord Anson) are little better than scurvy pirates feeding off the Spanish shipping when they get opportunities. Of course, our heroes, Peter Palafox and Sean O'Mara, suffer all the standard ills and misfortunes of a four year voyage in a square-rigged sailing ship and yet ultimately triumph very satisfyingly.
The best feature of this novel, the first sea story written by O'Brian and before his famous Aubrey/Maturin series, is that the author has the ability to create a great sense of realism. So many adventure novels are stale, unbelievable, and cardboardy, but not this one--emphatically not! Reading The Golden Ocean one can smell the salt air, feel the sails fill with the wind, suffer the despair of endless calms, dread the scurvy, and live the life of a sailor in the 1740s. I assume that O'Brian has done his research and that the historical recreations are accurate. They certainly feel accurate.
One problem that I have with this historical novel, and that I have as well with the other O'Brian sea novels that I have read, is that the actual events portrayed and the running of the ship, and the dialogue, are all a bit murky. It is like reading a novel auf deutsch with two years of college German, or a novel or short story by Henry James. I am not quite sure that I understand the text and its meaning. There is so much sailor slang and obscure nautical terms that I am unfamiliar with (and I am a boater) that it might as well be Greek. I wish that the publishers or the author had included a glossary (there is a web site and book of O'Brian's nautical terms and sailors' slang that explains the numerous obscure words and phrases, but it is tedious to use).
Also I would recommend doing some historical research of one's own about the actual Anson voyage before setting off on this novel.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Action, 2007-05-12
Many twist and turns with great action and point blank yardarm to yardarm grape shot action.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Great, 2007-03-09
A wonderful look at the real hardships involved with being on a long voyage in a man of war during this period. A must read for those who are into the days of sail.
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