#can you tell Hornblower gave me psychic damage lol | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

the-golden-vanity · 28 days ago

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I'm reading an Aubrey-Maturin book again (Post Captain), and after having watched the Hornblower TV series, I think I have a new appreciation for Patrick O’Brian's choice to give the patriotic Royal Navy himbo main character a best friend who’s an ex-member of the United Irishmen. Is it the most historically likely thing? Probably not, but man, nothing makes me appreciate a non-imperial perspective in a work of fiction like experiencing a similar story that didn't have one.

#the way Hornblower (character and series) absolutely do not examine the implications of empire at all #especially with regards to the Haitians and the Irish #the lack of any kind of empathy may be historically accurate but my god is it jarring #and I wonder if some of that has to do with the Hornblower books being written in conformist mid-20th century America #while the Aubrey-Maturin series was started in the 1970s #when Vietnam and Northern Ireland and other colonial conflicts would have been front and center #but that's just a guess #aubreyad #hornblower #can you tell Hornblower gave me psychic damage lol

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