O'Brian particularly mentions the indestructible
nature of Bonden in his earlier volumes. It was
a shock to see him die suddenly. Worse was the
long delay before O'Brian presents Aubrey thinking
about Bonden's death.

The daily reality of death in the Age of Sail, with it's
regular carnage, disease, and accident gives thought
to the idea that people were more immune to such
horrors. I found that the O'Brian's delay writing about
Bonden's death was all the more real because of the
way he treated it. Thankfully he was with us throughout
this epic.

By the way, I'm on 14 again. Nutmeg is in the process
of sinking that French Frigate.

I'd like to read more about the French ship construction
methods. They were widely acknowledged as building
better vessels. The British were fortunate, they rarely
fought them well, and were often taken and used against
their builders.


"Barrett Bonden" wrote

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote
Hey Barrett. I thought you died in book 20...


I did; another example of P O's brilliant verisimilitude ; Bonden was
likeable, supremely competent ( I should be as good a sailor) , ever
present , unassuming , clearly much cared for by A & M - one of the best
supporting characters I ever saw in fiction; his death struck me as an
example of OB's insistence on (seems strange , given how much of the work
is
outlandish) reality - the nature of nature is (surely especially in war )
people go this way ..