I finished the epic Master and Commander series last week. It was the gorgeous 5 volume set published by WW Norton, which ends with the unfinished typescript, a few pages of handwritten manuscript, and an incredibly satisfying afterword from the publisher. It’s bittersweet to end a story that I’ve been reading for so long (at least a year) but it felt good to take the 5 volumes off my “to read” shelf and place them onto the bookshelves that hold my small (but growing) library.

These books heighten your sense of what literature can be. O’Brien effortlessly blends history, witty dialogue, action, and emotion into the story, with an economy of words and lack of flourish. It reminded me of the video of Ana Forrest doing an asana, in that both makes their craft look effortless. Especially impressive for O’Brien, who manages to sustain the quality of his writing over the course of over 5000 pages.

I wish I had been able to attend a reading by O’Brien (who died in 2000, in the middle of writing his 21st manuscript), but reading the books was pleasure enough.  In addition, the back issues of the “Patrick O’Brian newsletter” are online here, providing more information on the man himself.

If you’re interested in reading them, you can order them from WW Norton or get them incredibly cheap at Amazon.com.