Beat to Quarters by C. S. Forester

(New York: Back Bay Books, 1985), 288

Hornblower sails around South America and makes a perfect landing on the Pacific Coast of Spanish America. He defeats the Natividad twice before returning to England with Lady Barbara.

"The more respect in which a captain was held, the better for his ship." (14)
"He had performed a most notable feat of navigation, of which anyone might be justifiably proud, in bringing the ship straight here after eleven weeks without sighting land. But he felt no elation about it. It was Hornblower's nature to find no pleasure in achieving things he could do; his ambition was always yearning after the impossible, to appear a strong silent capable man, unmoved by emotion." (20)
"A compromise suggested itself to him...but his commonsense rejected the notion. Hornblower hated compromises, and this one would only (like most compromises) irritate one side and do no good to the other. Far better to put his pride in his pocket and to come at once." (73)
People who don’t drink include Hornblower: He "had been compelled to drink one glass of wine too much. A naturally abstemious man, he hated the feeling of not being quite master of himself" (112) and "In an age of hard drinking Hornblower stood almost alone in his abstemiousness, from no conscientious motive but solely because he actively disliked the feeling of not having complete control of his judgment" (120).
"It called for no decision on his part. All there was to do was to go on fighting, whether the ship was sinking under their feet or not. There was a comfort in being free of all responsibility in this way." (194)
"Down below decks in the orlop it was like some canto in Inferno..." (208)
His ambitions included " a few acres and the cottage and the shelves and shelves of books." (250)

Topic: Hornblower Series

Source

UA Library

Created: 2025-09-23-Tue
Updated: 2025-09-23-Tue