Nelson's Reviews > The Commodore

It's been a while (The Mauritius Command, if memory serves) since we've gotten to see Aubrey in the company of other commanders and profit by noting the differences. O'Brian is up to some of his usual tricks in having the different captains stand as symbols of what Jack might have become had he not possessed his particular blend of discipline and camaraderie. Duff, a pederast who sleeps with his favorites, is perhaps the most extreme example of a captain rewarding his underlings to the degree that they become his catamites; whereas Thomas is an inflexible disciplinarian more interested in petty appearances and regulations than fighting or sailing well. Both men are inadequate as captains because of their excesses and much of the novel's drama derives from Aubrey's need to meld them into a proper fighting force in order to carry out his orders. From Maturin's point of view, the drama is nearly entirely domestic: he finally returns home to meet his daughter (seemingly an autistic 'natural' but in fact a delicate and budding girl who needs only the inarticulate supervision of Padeen to begin to blossom into language) who has been left in the care of Clarissa Oakes (from a couple novels back) while his wife runs off to Ireland. There is some minor drama to be found in Aubrey's situation as well, due to his meddling (and now bookie) mother-in-law and mutual (somewhat merited) jealousy between himself and Sophie. Nearly all of this comes right, as it so often does in O'Brian's world. The end is perhaps the most vertiginous in the series to date. O'Brian has often evidenced a quickening of the plot as the pages dwindle, but nothing compared to this. In a matter of a handful of pages, the final decisive naval engagement occurs, and Maturin is, at very long last, reunited with his wife. The scene is absolutely, utterly pitch perfect, and as good as anything O'Brian has done to this point.