Hornblower and the Atropos

by C.S. Forester

Book Overview

Hornblower leads a ship into the Mediterranean in this "intense and exciting" installment (New York Times) of C. S. Forester's beloved naval adventure saga.

In the wake of a humbling incident aboard a canal boat in the Cotswolds, young Captain Horatio Hornblower arrives in London to take command of the Atropos, a 22-gun sloop barely large enough to require a captain. Her first assignment under Hornblower's command is...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316289299
• ISBN13: 9780316289290
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

HORNBLOWER AND THE ATROPOS by C. S. Forester

Hornblower and the Atropos (1953) is C. S. Forester's fifth Hornblower novel chronologically, eighth by publication. Captain Horatio Hornblower, age 29, takes command of the Atropos, the smallest ship in the navy suitable for a post-captain, but before he can sail for sunken treasure, he has to manage his pregnant wife, coordinate Admiral Nelson's funeral procession, and meet the king. Hornblower continues to be his own worst enemy - he does not know himself. He continues to be heroic and ingenious, but always ascribes to himself the basest of motives, and he is typically wrong in his self-analysis. It is clear to the reader by now that he genuinely loves his family, but when his ship is found to be unready to sail, he considers all the time he has spent with them "wasted." Much of this novel follows the pattern that Stan Lee used to make his Spider-Man comics so successful - there's always something. Nothing ever goes smoothly, and problems and complications are added with regularity. At the same time, Hornblower is still larger than life. He could fall down the stairs and capture a French frigate. Hornblower and the Atropos has more humor and more action than the chronologically preceding books; it is also more episodic. And, for a change, this one ends with some unresolved drama. The character spotlight is shined on Hornblower only - Lieutenant Bush is missed, although he can't reasonably be expected to show up everywhere. On the whole, Hornblower and the Atropos is an action-packed page-turner, and a solid entry in the Hornblower series.

Great

If you enjoyed the Horatio Hornblower movies on A & E you will enjoy the books more. A must have for the Hornblower fans.

Seafaring men with cunning and bravery.

Hornblower is promoted to Captain, a post rank, and quick advancement for a young officer. As the youngest Captain he gets the duty of organizing a funeral parade for Lord Nelson, during which his grand barge springs a leak and disaster is narrowly avoided. He then takes his small ship Atropos to the Mediterranean where he executes a daring and tricky salvage operation under the guns of a suspicious foreign port captain. Hornblower always manages to stir up some action. One of the best part of the whole Hornblower series is the accuracy and detail with which the life aboard vessels is depicted. You can almost feel the deck pitch. Great adventure in a great series.

A change of pace but not of quality.

It this tome we see our hero in several different lights. We see him on a long canal boat ride and explore the great Canal network that revolutionized England in the days before rail. It's not what we're used to but we share the marvel of Hornblower, although ours is a model of past ingenuity while his is of the present. We see him planning an elaborate event again in an error without stopwatches and radios. We see the complexity of the event and all that must be done to make it. We see that details of refitting to a greater degree then anywhere else in the series as he gets a ship with a crew not ready and a dull first officer, the reliable Mr. Bush is of course aboard a ship which fought at Trafalgar and Mr. John Jones proves as ordinary as his name. The climax of the story takes place in Turkish waters with a dozen twists and turns to make a mission successful. This volume gives us backround of all the tasks of a captain including some of the more mundane ones. Its a different view that any other we'll get till much later in the series when those details will not be his problem. If you demand non stop action then this volume of the series will be slow to start for you, if not then you'll like it as much as I did.

A wonderful tale, and very period-enlightening; a must-read.

C.S. Forester creates an outstanding image of life aboard a Napoeonic-era British naval vessel, with a fascinating insight into the mind of the main character... Captain Horatio Hornblower. With assignments ranging from England to Sicily to Turkey, the crew of the Atropos must deal with everything from doldrums to privateers to political maneuvering... with words where possible, and carronade-fire when they must. To borrow an over-used term, it is a gripping tale and one that any lover of naval adventure *must* read.