Beat to Quarters (Hornblower Saga) (Englisch) Taschenbuch – 30. September 1985

Mr Forrester takes us back to the years of English glory and at last Cpt Hornblowers struggle for achievement is met by an impressed admiralty and the enchanting Lady Barbara.

Ich habe den Hornblower-Zyklus auf Deutsch schon an die 10 Mal gelesen. Das erste mal jetzt auf Englisch. Und es sind vele Details einfach viel besser zu begreifen und der Slang der Zeit kommt viel besser rüber.

Weitere Angaben zu verlangen empfinnde ich als unverschämt.Weitere Angaben zu verlangen empfinnde ich als unverschämt.Weitere Angaben zu verlangen empfinnde ich als unverschämt.

Flying Colours is the most introspective of the Hornblower novels. For those who want to understand who Hornblower really is, this book is probably the most revealing in the Hornblower series. Unlike the other stories which contain lots of naval action at sea, this book occurs mostly on the land of Spain and France, and the rivers of France. As a result, those who like the Hornblower novels for their battles and action will find this book to be one of the least satisfying in the series.

We all know ourselves best when we face problems. After the many successes in his career, Captain Hornblower ended up in Ship of the Line fighting an impossible battle between his ship, the Sutherland, and four French vessels. Taking horrible casualties, Hornblower struck his colours and surrendered at the end of that book. Flying Colours opens with Hornblower in a Spanish prison, with the expectation that he will be tried and executed for having flown French colours as camouflage to aid an attack. His wife, Maria, is pregnant in England. Hornblower also yearns for Lady Barbara Leighton, the wife of his admiral, whom readers met in Beat to Quarters and saw again in the beginning of Ship of the Line. Hornblower is in despair as he visits the dying and imprisoned sailors who are in the same garrison.

Many troubling questions go through Hornblower's mind. How well will he face death before a firing squad? Will his weak body betray him?

His first lieutenant, William Bush, is also to be tried. At the end of Ship of the Line, Bush lost the lower part of one leg. Will Bush survive the injury and trial?

What will happen to his wife and unborn child after he is dead?

Can he resist sweet temptation, when it is offered?

Can he escape death by firing squad?

Even if he escapes, how can he hope to be exonerated in a court martial for losing the Sutherland? Captains aren't supposed to surrender their vessels, no matter how badly damaged.

If he escapes the court martial, how will he handle being in love with Lady Barbara while being an unhappily married man with a new baby?

Will he ever have a chance to command a vessel again?

Anyone who has ever known self-doubt will find Hornblower's trauma realistic and refreshing. He becomes more like an ordinary person with normal feelings in this book. As a result, I found Hornblower to be much more appealing here than when his brilliant intellect guided him to smooth success in the earlier books.

Eventually, Hornblower finds himself wanting in many of these regards . . . but moves on. Ultimately, he faces new satisfactions and disappointments that indicate to him that his idealistic, perfectionist view of the world is a flawed one. Everyone else is merely human as well. Hornblower is deeply disappointed.

Forester raises an interesting point in the novel. There are real heroes in the book. These people are true to themselves and have total integrity. Public adulation will never be theirs, however. On the other hand, the world needs heroes . . . and new ones will be created, whether or not they deserve the honor. The possibility of remaining a real hero is improved by not having to deal with the issues that can tempt one away from heroism and integrity. So Bush is shown to be a real hero, while Hornblower is simply a self-doubting actor who is extraordinarily capable of creating great results.

The book does a magnificent job of using the title theme throughout. Having struck his colours on the Sutherland, Hornblower now flies his colours again in this book in every sense of that phrase. Watch for the subtleties of how this is done as you read the book.

If you know French, you will enjoy the challenge of imagining how Hornblower manufacturers phrases from his limited command of the language to accomplish what needs to be done. As I read the book, I mentally made the necessary translations.

The book is also interesting for displaying the consequences for the French of being under Napoleon's rule. Hornblower excoriates the Corsican tyrant in the earlier novels, but here we see that others are being squashed underneath authority's boot as well. Many of the social observations about the French people in 1811 are very nicely done in this book.

What is more important: Being fearless or overcoming your weaknesses? What can you do today to overcome your weaknesses and help others to do the same?

May you enjoy the peace that comes with living a life of integrity...

Those who have made C. S. Forester's Captain Hornblower a lifelong companion , would differ on the best way to introduce newcomers to this great naval hero.
The orthodox would suggest starting from the very beginning (described in "Mr Midshipman Hornblower").
I would however suggest "Flying Colors" as an introduction to the adventures of Horatio Hornblower.
Set at the time of the Napoleonic wars, the book relates the adventures of a british captain who, having fallen captive, faces dishonor and probable death.
The tale of his struggle against defeat, though passionate, romantic and heroic, is told with true british understatement,
which for me is a hallmark of C. S. Forester's writing.
The meticulous historical detail creates the illusion of a true story and will lure the most consumate landlubber.
For those who will complete the Hornblower Saga, a tour of the British Maritime Museum at Greenwich is a must.
There, surrounded by familiar times, objects and persons, their sole regret would be the absence of the figure
of the most loved, though fictional, sea captai

The original Hornblower novel. This book started the popular 17th/18th century naval historical fiction trend.

Beat to Quarters is the story of British frigate on assignment off the Pacific coast of South America. Forester does an excellent job portraying the roles and responsibilities of a commander on foreign station. The story line is well put together, reads easily and moves quickly.

The story concentrates on Captain Hornblower, the commander of the vessel. Many of the details that we currently expect to see in naval historical fiction dealing with ship operation and interaction with the crew are only partially developed. At the time Beat to Quarters was written, there was no assumption of knowledge based on prior reading. There was no other similar reading available!

Overall, Beat to Quarters is worth reading both as a classic and because it is a good book.

The series about the life of Horatio Hornblower is amazing. I am currently needing book 6, Beat to Quarters, which i will purchase tonight. C. S. Forresters writing style kept me up all night. I finished some of the books in less than 24 hours because i coulden't put it down, it was so exciting. Hornblower's life of sailing through molten shot and through a hail of grapeshot (bullets) is so amazing, i almost wanted to live during his time (exept the fact that i would probably die at a young age.) Unfortunatly, Mr. Forrester did not live to finish his story, and so book 4 is uncomplete. However, the books are written out of order, so you can enjoy readin about almost of Hornblowers life.

My favorite of the Hornblower series. Both a good look at the character development of Hornblower and Bush, and a great sea yarn. As with many other reviewers of this series, I have been through it several times. First read Hornblower as the 3-volume single book "Captain Horatio Hornblower" in high school. It includes Beat to Quarters, Ship of the Line and Flying Colours, and I suggest that new readers start with these 3 and then go back to Midshipman Hornblower and read the rest of the series in chronological order. These are great books for action and sea lore, but also interesting for the introspection into the psychology of warrors and conduct in battle.