a great book

[bruno]

Re-reading one of the classics from C.S. Forrester- "Lieutenant Hornblower" and ran into this paragraph (about Lt Bush who as the series progresses becomes Hornblower's loyal and trusted subordinate)

“Bush was learning something about personalities. He would never be able to reduce the results of his observations to a tabular system, and it would never occur to him to do so, but he could learn without doing so; his experience and observations would blend with his native wit to govern his judgements, even if he were too self-conscious to philosophise over them.

He was aware that naval officers (he knew almost nothing of mankind on land) could be divided into active individuals and passive individuals, into those eager for responsibility and action, and into those content to wait until action was forced on them. Before that he had learned the simpler lesson that officers could be divided in to the efficient and the blunderers, and also into the intelligent and the stupid — this last division was nearly the same as the one immediately preceding, but not quite. There were officers who could be counted on to act quickly and correctly in an emergency. And those who could not — again the dividing line did not quite coincide with the preceding. And there were officers with discretion and officers with none, patient officers and impatient ones, officers with strong nerves and officers with weak nerves. In certain cases Bush’s estimates had to contend with his prejudices — he was liable to be suspicious of brains and of originality of thought and of eagerness for activity, especially because in the absence of some of the other desirable qualities these things might be actual nuisances.

The final and most striking difference Bush had observed during ten years of continuous warfare was that between the leaders and the led, but that again was a difference of which Bush was conscious without being able to express it in words, and especially not in words as succinct or as definite as these; but he was acutely aware of the difference even though he was not able to bring himself to define it.”

Truth from a novel- all of those observations are still true of military officers as well as being true in every other facet of life.

The Hornblower books are real classics and are a series that I would highly recommend - they provide for some great summer reading. (BTW they are all available electronically as well as in hard copy so you can get them on your "nook" or "kindle"). Enjoy!

[flieger83]

Read the entire series in high school; still have those books in my library and have read them several times.

Classic!

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83

[AF6872]

Horatio Honblower. Great book series.

[EDelahanty]

Master and Commander is the first in a series of 21 historical novels by the English writer Patrick O'Brian about the British navy in the Napoleonic era. The series focuses on the rising but volatile career of seaman Jack Aubrey and his good friend, the surgeon, naturalist and spy Stephen Maturin.

These books are brilliantly written and highly addictive.

[Bullet]

Originally Posted by EDelahanty

Master and Commander is the first in a series of 21 historical novels by the English writer Patrick O'Brian about the British navy in the Napoleonic era. The series focuses on the rising but volatile career of seaman Jack Aubrey and his good friend, the surgeon, naturalist and spy Stephen Maturin.

These books are brilliantly written and highly addictive.

Finished reading O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series last year (great way to kill time during the daily commute for work). LOVED them! And whole-heartedly concur, so well written with a prose and skill in language hardly found in today's publishing industry.

What blew me away was the intimate descriptions of what life was like on a Royal Navy fighting vessel back then. Mind-blowing what they put up with!

I guess I need to start ordering the Hornblower series for my Kindle!