holiday reading

i know i’m really into holiday mode when i get out some novels and get stuck into some fiction.  one week into the hols, and i’ve just wrapped up my 5th book and starting my 6th.  just finished patrick o’brian’s “the far side of the world” (part of the jack aubrey naval series), which was a pretty good read (consistent with the others in the series – i know baggas is a big fan too, so i might need to raid his library for more), except the ending which seemed to come rather abruptly and out of the blue.  it was a bit weird, actually.  i could see the pages running out (as i sat by the pool), wondering how on earth he was going to bring this to a fitting conclusion, when it just kind of ended…  it was a very unsatisfactory finish.  what is even more odder is that apparently they’re filming this particular volume as a follow-up to the “master and commander” movie (complete with russell crowe), and i’ll be interested to see what they do with the screenplay to finish it out properly. 

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 11:19 pm and is filed under life. You can feed this entry. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses

  1. Actually the first “master & commander” movie was actually based on the “far side of the world” book so if they are making another it would have to be based on one of the other books.

    Far side is about the 10th or so in the series. I felt the same way when I read it for the first time – great, but why the sudden stop? It’s only when you start from book 1 (which is actually called “master & commander” but has naught to do with the movie) that you can really appreciate it. O’Brian uses these sudden endings more and more as the series progresses – leaving you quite unsatisfied – the only cure for which is to pick up the next book :)

    Well worth it though – some of the best books I’ve ever read.

    Baggas - January 22nd, 2008 at 7:14 am

  2. Actually, now that you say that, wasn’t it a mishmash of both?! I do recall the movie being a weird effort at the book, and I also thought when reading this one that I’d seen bits of this before.

    Yeah, the ending felt like his wife had called him to dinner and he had to wrap it up quick smart… :-)

    ob1 - January 22nd, 2008 at 11:35 am