A New Favorite!

"If you seek to understand nautical fiction, you must start with Frederick Marryat.


People the world over have thrilled to the fictional exploits of Horatio Hornblower, Jack Aubrey, Nicholas Ramage and others. But few know that these characters, along with the modern nautical fiction genre itself, can be traced in large part to the writings of one man—Frederick Marryat. Even fewer know that Marryat personally experienced many of the events he described..."

The above is quoted from a review of The Life of Captain Frederick Marryat, by David Hannay. I have recently discovered Marryat, and I am already totally in love with is adventurous sea stories. At present, I'm in the middle of listening to Percival Keene as narrated by William Sutherland. Let me tell you, this book is enthralling! It's the story of a boy who begins his naval career at the age of 13, as midshipman aboard a British naval ship. The vessel is captained by his biological father, a nobleman who has refused to acknowledge Percival, as he was born out of wedlock. Percival, a spirited boy with a penchant for playing pranks, gets into one scrape after another. I'm only sixteen chapters in (and it's quite a long book), but I've already laughed out loud more times that I can count. I can't help but root for Percival, and hope that he will end up winning his father's respect. According to the summary, this novel will include encounters with pirates and all sorts of derring-do, which I can't wait to get to. I am enjoying it more than I can say.