I did start reading Clarissa Oakes by Patrick O’Brian, the night I wrote about Master and Commander.
When you read a book and then see its adaptation you may give a character looks and posture that differ from the actor’s. When I read the Harry Potter novels I imagine Michael Biehn as Professor Lupin, the way he looked in The Terminator: handsome, scarred, a little sad. David Thewlis, good as he is, is not really Lupin.
When you see an adaptation before you read the book you end up casting the actors in the roles in your mind, at least if they are convincing. In the case of Aubrey and Maturin, I see Paul Bethany and Russell Crowe the age they were in Peter Weir’s film even though Clarissa Oakes is the fifteenth volume in the series. Maybe not realistic, but pleasant enough.
This novel starts with Jack Aubrey being irritable and impatient. Dr. Stephen Maturin, his old friend, makes a diagnosis and chooses an effective therapy: the irritability is the result of inactivity and costipation, so he recommends bathing in the sea, and administers – alas- a clyster.
I hope I can forget the episode soon enough: I don’t want to think of these handsome men at sea doing that. I admit the situation produces some humour and it is well used, but frankly, I wish I had accidentally skipped those two pages.
Anyway, the prescription works and Aubrey goes back to his usual reasonably pleasant self the day after.
a world of stories.web 