This post contains book-destroying spoilers for The Hundred Days by Patrick O’Brian. The non-spoiler post is here.
Okay, Diana’s death deserved more than a brief discussion by two characters whose only function was to info-dump. In addition, dying by going over that bridge, when it was introduced by either Stephen or Jack being shown wrong when they suggested she wasn’t up to making the turn? And to have her only eulogy Queenie’s comment that she was no kind of wife to Stephen, when last we saw them they were getting along swimmingly?
She deserved much better.
As for the plot, people who know more about the actual history have dissected it well in two posts an O’Brian mailing list. But even not knowing any of that: when Surprise got back to find that Waterloo had already happened, I said, “wait, so all that chasing gold had no actual effect on the war?” In other words, Waterloo was apparently so close to the chase that it seemed unlikely in the extreme that if the gold had made it through, the Balkan mercenary army could have done anything. Checking the moon phases suggests that the chase started May 9—we’re told it ended June 1—which I suppose might be more plausible, but I suppose being more explicit about that would run into plausibility problems on the other end. Anyway. Timing aside, it just seemed a rickety plot over all.
Finally, I could accept the manner of and reaction to Bonden’s death as realism and a subtle commentary on Stephen’s state of mind, except it doesn’t feel that way, and I’m not in the mood to given O’Brian the benefit of the doubt just now.
Grump. I do hope the next one is better, because I’d hate to finish the series with a bad taste in my mouth.
Yes, and yes…we get a lot more after the fact battle reportage rather than being there, and Stephen’s new relationship seems to have been pulled out from Cardboard Central.
I tend to stop my rereads right around the Yellow Admiral.
I was seriously bummed by this volume too; I read it when it was first published, and although I’ve done numerous re-reads of the earlier volumes of the series, I think the Yellow Admiral is the last one that I’ve read more than once.
If I recall correctly (I may not, and I’m too lazy to google), O’Brian’s wife of many years had just passed away before or during the writing of this one, and I would speculate (if I’m recalling correctly) that that had some influence in his treatment… but still, Diana and Bonden–major secondary characters for many many books–disposed of off screen in a bare paragraph? I don’t care how understated you are as a stylist, that just doesn’t work.
My recollection of Blue at the Mizzen, btw (which I also haven’t re-read) was that it was middling, but not great.
Oh, wow, I’d much rather not speculate on how the death of O’Brian’s wife influenced his treatment of Diana. Ick.
Thanks for the information about _BatM_.