CurlyShavings

The French Admiral by Dewey Lambdin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I picked this up to sate my need for more Patrick O'Brian and while I would (and do) read each of the 21 over and over again, once of this Dewey Lambdin is enough for me.

Lewrie spends quite a bit of energy trying to get ashore and into someone's bed in this book. While that in itself is not unusual for a sailor tale, it's the (too-high) level of details that turns me away from this character. Lewrie, as he gains his sea-legs through this book, matures as both man and sailor and it's that part of the plot that redeems the book for me. Perhaps not surprisingly, his attitudes towards women matures through this timeline as well.

There's some good adventure during the evacuation as he matures as a leader that bears some further inspection. And certainly there are some flashes of recognition from him that he is maturing in various forms along his journey.

I liked this one enough to seek out the first in this series to see where Lewrie starts. Since I prefer the Lewrie at the end of The French Admiral to the beginning, I'm not certain if I will like The King's Coat any more than this one. Stay tuned, etc.

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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an incredibly amazing book. By keeping the tone consistent throughout the narrative, the author paces the reader and teaches the reader to slow down so as not to miss the relevant details in the story.

There is richness of theme throughout, carefully woven into the story. If one chooses to observe them and explore them, the narrative becomes that much filling and satisfying. And yet the story stands alone even without the deepness that the themes bring.

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