These days, I've been reading quite a lot. I hardly spent a week in Ireland and I already finished three of the four books I brought.

O'Brian

I began with fortune de guerre (The Fortune of War ) and then la citadelle de la Baltique (The Surgeon's Mate): two Aubrey Maturin series books, written by Patrick O'Brian. This series consists of twenty novels in which the lieutenant Jack Aubrey of the royal navy slowly evolves to become the admiral of the blue Aubrey.

These books are historical masterpieces. Not only is the everyday life onboard warships (in the years 1800, during the napolenic wars) very well described but O'Brian's naval fights are also very detailed[1]. Some of them really happened and are retranscribed according to historical stories[2]. O'Brian makes also a real study of human nature, as a enclosed ship is the perfect place to create extreme behaviour.

The adventures of Jack Aubrey and his mate Stephen Maturin -naval surgeon, naturalist and intelligence officer- are a perfect holiday reading (ideally close to the sea).

Let's assume that anybody interested in (non exclusively nor concurrently) 1) the royal navy, 2) this historical period, 3) nautical terms, 4) ship manoeuvers, 5) life at the sea in the ol'days will love these books.

Fforde

Yesterday -or some minutes ago- I finished Something Rotten, it kept me awake three nights in a row. I already praised a lot Jasper Fforde[3] (here and then) and won't repeat all the good I think about the wonderful universe he created. But one should never pass by a compliment, so: Fforde is incredibly funny and intelligent, his books are full of litterary winks. You can't stop reading them and they also make you want read many other books...

Something Rotten was the last Thursday Next series novel. As good -and this one is- as a last book is, it always seem a bit bitter[4]. Thursday, I'll miss you...

It would be a crime to reveal the plot so I'll just give a small detail. In The Eyre Affair, there was an unexplained scene (Thursday hid a gun in a service station), I always wondered if Jasper had kept that in mind. But of course he had. His story -full of time travels and in-fiction travels- is definitely self coherent. And this last opus explains (or reveals) some things in the previous books. It's a delight[5].

There are two ways of finishing a series: 1) the mega happy end (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings...) 2) the death of the hero (Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot...). But Fforde won't do as everybody and he perfectly mixes these two options. My advice: read it! Well no, my advice: read the whole series!

What's next?

I still have Mission en mer Ionienne(The Ionian Mission) unread and then I may try one Aubrey in english -I'm a bit afraid of the nautical terms.

Today -or some days ago- I spent some time in Waterstones. A bookshop. I find books extremly expensive here. But I couldn't resist the 3 for 2 offer. You see, there are still two Fforde books I haven't read yet -and the french translation is four books late -Le puit des histoires perdues (The Well of the Lost Plots) will be published in France in october. So now, I have The Big Over Easy and The Fourth Bear on my bedside table. You said 3 for 2, didn't you? Right. A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian is the third. No kidding, it's a real book.

Bye now[6]. And remember, in a duel with a fictional character who cheats and conjures a Kraken, your only hope is the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio...

Notes

[1] I have to admit that after Pirates of the Carribean 2, I was in the mood for naval adventures...

[2] By the way, Peter Weir mixed two of these books to make the so great Master and Commander, the far side of the world.

[3] Read and approved by at least two regular readers of this blog.

[4] Betty bought a bit of butter. But the butter Betty bought was bitter. So Betty bought a better bit of butter to mix it with the bitter butter to make it better

[5] Only one regret: no news of Aornis.

[6] Language tip: in Ireland -I don't know if it's the same in England- they don't say good bye to say good bye. Neither bye or bye bye (pronouce babaj). They most of the time say bye now.