Lieutenant Hornblower by C.S. Forester

I watched the excellent A&E series of movies before cracking this book open, so I was a bit disappointed. The movies were embellished, and it was a better story because of it. The book tells the story through the eyes of Lieutenant Bush, a secondary character in the film, and makes no mention of Archie Kennedy, a key player in the movie. Still, the book had its merits.

Forester did his psychological motives routine, but it was all centered around Bush, whose motives are not nearly as much fun to analyze as Horatio's. I suppose he meant to juxtapose Hornblower and Bush a la Doyle's format with Watson and Holmes.

The book included a lot of naval terminology that I know went over my head, perhaps lessening my understanding of the extent of Forester's narrative. Nevertheless, the story was there, though perhaps in a less dramatic form than I had expected because of the movies.

The ending encompassed more time than the movie's did, and it shed new light on the character of Horatio. It was an enjoyable foray into his personal life, with a slightly bittersweet conclusion hinting at the lackluster marriage that follows in the later novels.

When the narrative moves away from Lieutenant Bush, Forester crafts infinitely better stories. For Bush was quite dull, and Forester said so himself.