Dewey Lambdin (1945–2021)

I picked this up to sate my need for more [a:Patrick O'Brian|5600|Patrick O'Brian|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1212630063p2/5600.jpg] and while I would (and do) read each of the 21 over and over again, once of this [a:Dewey Lambdin|42739|Dewey Lambdin|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] 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 [b:The French Admiral|75285|The French Admiral (Alan Lewrie, #2)|Dewey Lambdin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328851992s/75285.jpg|72823] to the beginning, I'm not certain if I will like [b:The King's Coat|181195|The King's Coat (Alan Lewrie, #1)|Dewey Lambdin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320448819s/181195.jpg|175082] any more than this one. Stay tuned, etc.… (mais)

One of the fighting sail authors who will not ever make my favourites list is Dewey Lambdin's Alan Lewrie. Though I tried hard I couldn't begin to start liking the main character. He is intended to be a devil-may-care rogue, but ends up as an unlikeable, arrogant child with little if any redeeming qualities, and any moral or personal self-searching is just straight-up self-interest. In the first book he beds his half sister, in the third he marries and American Indian girl leaving her behind after barely a fortnight. In the next book he is amazed that his patron tries to have him killed for cheating him with his wife. In the fifth book - barely married - he sleeps with a local Carribean girl. After years of half-pay in England and living on the estate of one of his wife relatives (with three children) a new command is the trigger to take up with a Corsican prostitute he meets in France. I stopped reading a few chapters into the seventh book. Not only could I no longer stand A King's Commander barely finding the time for wife and children while refitting in England and hastening back to the war and Gibraltar where he set up Phoebe as his mistress. I'd had it with the writing.
Witness the scene where Lewrie meets Napoleon in H.M.S. Cockerell :
“M'sieur, permettez-moi…" the cavalryman said in a gentler and much more polite tone of voice as he did the introductions. "… ze lieutenant colonel, Napoleone Buonaparte, chef d'artillerie, a General Dugommier, commandeur de l'Armee. 'Is aides-de-camp, ze capitaines Marmot et Junot… m'sieurs, ici capitaine Luray, marine royal, de roi britannique, Georges troisieme."
"Colonel," Lewrie nodded, laying a hand on his breast to salute with a slight bow.
"Capitaine Luray, enchante," the little fellow smiled of a sudden, and offered his hand, reeling off a rapid, very fluid French.
"Ze colonel say please to forgive, 'e 'ave no anglais, m'sieur," the cavalryman translated. "But 'e eez delight to mak' you' ac … acquaintance. 'E offer 'is congratulation … votre gunnerie … votre courage magnifique. You no strike votre flag, sink viz les canons blaze? Magnifique, tres magnifique!”
[...]
"Ah, m'sieur le colonel is sadden to 'ear zis, Capitaine Luray. 'E 'ad wish 'e may 'ave meet ze artilleriste avec ze grand courage. Ze colonel, 'e alzo say, 'e 'eez 'ave ze 'ighes' respect pour votre generosity a' votre late ami. Encore, 'e e's-press 'is amazement de votre brave deeds."
"I thank him kindly," Lewrie smiled.
"Colonel Buonaparte, 'e say 'e eez know les batteries de General Carteau sink ze bateau, ze batterie de flotte, las' mont', in ze Petit-Rade, avant 'e arrive. An' now 'e 'ave ze grand distinction to do same. An' not only sink une batterie de flotte… but tak' 'er officeurs an' crew prisoner. Weech ze ozzer chef d'artillerie do not," the captain said, with a smirk again.”… (mais)