So, I've been reading the Jack Aubery and Stephen Maturin books

[xiphias]

You know, the "Master and Commander" series by Patrick O'Brian.

So far, I've read Master and Commander, Post Captain, HMS Surprise, The Marturius Command, Desolation Island, and listened to The Fortune of War as a book-on-tape, because none of the local library networks had it in in book form, and I didn't feel like waiting a week for it to be returned.

But I may have missed something, because I believe it was slightly abridged. And because I'd never listened to a book on tape before, so my mind may have wandered.

I was wondering if any other fans of the series could clear something up for me:

Okay. So Jack and Steven are on board the Java when the USS Constitution (my favorite Age of Sail fighting vessel ever, by the way) captures them, and they're taken prisoner. They give their parole when they're held in Boston.

But then they escape from Boston because of some French spies who are trying to kill or capture Stephen, make it to the HMS Shannon, and participate in the Shannon vs. Chesapeake duel ("Don't give up the ship, lads!")

Now, as I understand it, by giving their parole, Jack and Stephen are agreeing not to take any military action against Americans until they're exchanged. So, while I could see that it might be honorable for them to escape and to go to Halifax, and even fight against Frenchmen or anybody else who wasn't an American, wasn't manning one of the quarterdeck guns and participating in a boarding action a direct violation of Jack Aubery's parole?

I'm figuring one of several things happened:
1. (This is the most likely) I blanked out and missed a part of the story where they explained how this wasn't a violation.
2. (This is nearly as likely) I'm totally misunderstanding how "parole" works.
3. (Also plausible) There was an explanation in the book that was edited out of the book-on-tape version.
4. (Not really likely) Jack Aubery figured, "Fuck it," and broke his parole.
5. (Not really likely) Patrick O'Brian totally forgot about that whole "parole" thing.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Comments

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Jack didn't actually give parole, he was too ill, he'd been knocked on the head as well as breaking his arm. The ones well enough to give parole were sent home from Brazil. Stephen's parole isn't mentioned, but he doesn't fight anyway, working as a surgeon isn't fighting.

Jack not giving it isn't stressed, but when they're talking about escape Jack says outright that he didn't give it.

The Fortune of War p.256 "Yes sir. And what is more, what is more, Mr. Herapath, I wish to go with them myself, to try to get them clear in a boat, when tide and weather serve, if you can let me have one: for you will observe sir, that I have not given my parole. I am not a prisoner on parole. A dory would do. Stephen Maturin is a very learned man, but I would not trust him to cross a horse pond in any type of craft whatever and I must go with him."

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Okay, cool. Then that's much better. I think that line was either cut out of the book on tape, or I just blanked out and didn't hear it.

[beardedone.livejournal.com]

I'm up to the 14th book in the series, when I switched to Alexander Kent. Now I'm in book 15 of the Bolitho series, which in many respects is less repetitive in terms of characters, but probably more predictable in terms of action.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

It was in the book on tape I heard, which was read by Patrick Tull. I got it through the Minuteman Network, so it may well be the same one. I've listened to _Master and Commander_ through the first half of _The Thirteen Gun Salute_ as audiobooks (except _Treason's Harbor_, which I read because the only audiobook in the network was stuck in the Cambridge Library move.) I am impressed to bits with Patrick Tull. I trust him with everything in these books except some of the pagebreaks, which I think need to be longer.

Tull reads O'Brian's books with no abridgement at all. Sometimes he even reads the jacket copy. He always reads forewords and afterwords. If you're looking at 8-12 cassettes, it's almost certainly unabridged. I've seen heavily-abridged versions of some of the books, read onto 3 cassettes/novel (by other readers) in the library catalog. They don't tempt me. If I can't wait for the proper audiobook, I'll get the paperback.

My main problems with audiobooks are that they're slow, and they make it hard to quote. I remembered hearing that Jack had not given his parole because he was too badly hurt, and I remembered the scene with Mr. Herapath (though I'd have guessed at spelling it Herripath, as I'd thought of it all through _Desolation Island_.) But I couldn't have found it easily, and there's no way to hold the book open by the computer and type in the relevent line.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

The one I heard was three cassettes, not eight or twelve. So the line was, in fact, probably cut.

...

[(Anonymous)]

i'm on the ionian mission right now and i can say two things...
1) Dont do audio, seems like a waste of time.
2) Jack just thought "Fuck it!" basically.