Flying Colours (Hornblower Saga) by C. S. Forester
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Book Reviews of Flying Colours (Hornblower Saga)
Book Review: FLYING COLOURS by C. S. Forester
Summary: 4 Stars
Flying Colours (1938) is C. S. Forester's eighth Hornblower novel by chronology, third by publication; it completes Forester's original story arc. Having been forced to surrender to a French squadron at the end of Ship of the Line, Horatio Hornblower is imprisoned and sent with Lieutenant Bush and his coxswain to Paris to have an example made of him. Most of the novel deals with their attempts to escape France.
Most of Flying Colours takes place on land, making it a refreshing change from the innumerable sea battles that fill every other Hornblower novel. And Forester moves things a long at a fairly good pace. There are a few noticeable conveniences in the plot, but they are not sufficiently egregious as to ruin the story.
The problems Forester had in Ship of the Line with Hornblower being overly loathsome have been alleviated for the most part. Hornblower has escalated his philandering ways, however, but since it should be abundantly clear by now that he is a man of no principle beyond his duty to the Royal Navy, this should hardly come as a great shock to the reader. This fundamental lack of integrity most assuredly has quite a bit to do with his complete inability to be contented with his life, even with things wrapping up in a very tidy manner for him as they do here.
There is a great deal of drama here with Hornblower and his wife Maria, or there should be; Forester leaves it largely untapped. For those who read the Hornblower novels in the order Forester wrote them, Maria has never appeared "on camera," as it were, to this point, and so this is not a big deal. But those who have read them in chronological order are considerably more invested in the character of Maria, and rightly hoped for more. Obviously Forester could not have gone back and changed things in his earlier works, but the end result is that the resolution here is hardly satisfactory. This is the price one pays when one writes out of chronology: the merit of the original works is diminished by later works, which reveal and even create flaws in them.
Flying Colours is a step up from Ship of the Line, and is a mostly satisfactory conclusion to the original Hornblower story arc, which is, on the whole, decent, and which would give way to subsequent superior novels.
Book Review: Another fine book in a classic series
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been reading this series one after the other. I read them in the biographical order of Hornblower's life.This book immediately follows Ship of the Line in which Hornblower has just fought a tremendous battle against overwhelimg odds. As might be expected, he had to "Strike" his colors at the end of the battle.
In this book, he is a prisoner of Bonaparte's government. The story takes him from the castle at Rosas, scene of his final engagement, all the way to central France. In Paris, he will face a military trial on his "acts of piracy" and will then be executed along with his first lieutenant, Bush.
Along the way, He, Bush and their servant escape. They find refuge in the home of a local French nobleman that has no liking for the Bonapart government. After recovering their strength and waiting out the winter, they make their way down the river to the Bay of Biscay. Once there, Hornblower daringly captures an armed cutter (which was recently captured from the British) and makes his way to sea.
He is then picked up by the channel fleet. He now faces a courts martial for his role in the loss of the Sutherland. I won't go into the details of the trial, but since there are further books in the series, you can assume he was not handled too roughly.
As an aside, Bush is finally made a post captain. Hornblower's wife Marie took ill during his absence and has gone to another world. His remaining son is now with Lady Barbara. He gets to meet the Prince Regent and is knighted. Admiral Leighton has been killed in a daring raid on the ships that Hornblower had crippled in the previous book.
Only one disappointing feature of this book. Nearly the whole book takes place on land. There is a sea battle, but it is seen through the eye of Hornblower while he is a prisoner at the fort at Rosas.
Other than that, it is still a good read and fits in well the series so far.
Book Review: Hornblower's Triumph?
Summary: 4 Stars
Flying Colours is the final of the three books that chronicle Hornblower's career as a captain. Following immediately after the apocalyptic end to Ship of the Line, it follows Hornblower -- now awaiting trial for piracy by a furious Bonaparte -- as he tries to escape and get back to England.Following as it does after the most exciting book in the series, this is a bit of a letdown. It's slower and the drama is more in Hornblower's mind and heart than anywhere else. He faces not only execution at Napoleon's hands, but -- even if he escapes -- trial and ruin in England for his surrender of the Sutherland. His best friend Lt. Bush is crippled, he's cut off from his pregnant wife and secret love. He's at the lowest point of his life.
Of course, you know he's not going to give up. Flying Colours contrasts the vivid action of the novels by showing Hornblower finding his courage in life -- willing to face his own personal problems and demons -- to find the will to go on and try to overcome the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in his way.
It is in this book that the drama of the two previous ones finally pays off. Other have spoiled the plot, but I will note that even if Horatio triumphs, it is not without sacrifice and loss. And the ending has suitable irony -- and fits perfectly with Hornblower's democratic character.
The book does drag a little at times and I was disappointed that Hornblower seemed to forget about his surviving crew once he'd escaped. That knocks the rating down. But otherwise, this a stirring conclusion to the "Captain" trilogy and leaves enough plot threads open to send the reader off to buy the next volume.
Book Review: Hornblower triumphs!
Summary: 4 Stars
Flying Colors (3rd in orig. trilogy) opens with Hornblower in French hands after his valiant action in Ship Of The Line. Thus we see another possible condition in the life of a Navy captain, although Napoleon is not so honourable a captor as he should be. Hornblower's subsequent escapes and victories are excitingly near-run things. In this story sometimes Fortune seems to smile too kindly, and is exasperatingly disparaged by HH. Nevertheless, by the end we are very proud of HH.These are not at all the flashy novels of pure guts and glory I had expected (although this comes closest of the first three books). Despite his silly name, Hornblower is a doubt-ridden, but impassioned and charismatic, leader: we see both inner and outer aspects of the illusion of command. Ultimately he is an heroic figure, not merely the protagonist, as Forester no doubt intended, writing under the shadow of another continental monster, Hitler.
Forester's prose is flowing, like the rushing Loire stream at the center of this picaresque story, carefully crafted, without excess description or digressions (which some may find in O'Brian's comparable Aubrey/Maturin series). Curiously, I find O'Brian's characters more interesting than Hornblower--perhaps because they ARE loquacious while HH is self-sworn to silence--but Forester is more likely to draw me into reading into the wee hours.
Book Review: Hornblower is beached.
Summary: 4 Stars
The Hornblower books are a great Napoleonic War era British Navy series. I definitely recommend the series if you like this genre.
This Hornblower is so far the one I've liked the least. It's not too eventful until the end. I think it was meant to show Hornblower in new situations (not just another battle, he spends most of the book hiding in France) to highlight additional facets of his personality. Kudos for trying to develop the character better but I can't say I learned much new about him. Still, worth reading if you like the series.
I have given this book a 4 but it was close to a 3. For me, a 5 is a book that 1) I would recommend to others regardless of whether they read the genre and 2) will most likely reread again in the near future. A 4 is one that 1) I'd recommend if they like the genre and 2) may read again. A 3 I liked but probably would never reread, a 2 was just ok, and a 1 was a waste of time.