Styles Deserved Better

The context for this is that they’re in between battles with the Natividad, and Horatio hasn’t had any rest in quite some time at this point. Bush is recommending that he rest, Horatio refuses of course, and this happens:

“Bush found his hand twitching--he had been about to commit the enormity of patting his captain’s shoulder, and restrained himself just in time.” From chapter 16, Evening and Night. 

I’m not sure what it is, but there is something so tender, so intimate, and so beautifully tragic about the urgent need to offer comfort to someone, who is clearly in distress, with a minor physical gesture, but having to withhold from doing so due to societal conventions. This moment is so bittersweet in a way that I don’t think I can fully describe, and to me, despite how simple it is, I think it truly expresses Bush’ affection for Horatio in a very profound, uncomplicated way. 

Like my god please read this:

“‘There will be no room in your cabin for a tenth of that baggage, ma’am,’ he snapped.

Lady Barbara nodded gravely.

‘I have dwelt in a cabin before this, sir. The sea chest there holds everything I shall need on board. The rest can be put where you will--until we reach England.’

Hornblower almost stamped on the deck with rage. He was unused to a women who could display practical commonsense like this.” From chapter 9, Lady Barbara Comes on Board. 

He’s so angry that she’s being practical that he has to “stamp on the deck with rage” fgdshjfgdsh. Horatio literally throwing a temper tantrum because Lady Barbara is being reasonable vbgdhfdjhjdf. 

Not only is he super worried and self-conscious about literally everything, but my man also does frantic pacing. This is a huge deal to me because I also frantically pace back in forth whenever I’m deep in thought, and I also hate it when people interrupt me in my pacing hgdfkhjdf. 

Here is a quote of the first time it happens, as an example:

“It was not long after dawn that Captain Hornblower came up on the quarterdeck of the Lydia. Bush, the first lieutenant, was the officer of the watch, and touched his hat but did not speak to him” From chapter one, The Captain.

So I believe “touched his hat” is supposed to mean Bush touching his own hat, either tipping it slightly or like saluting, to greet the captain nonverbally. However, I first interpreted this to mean that Bush touched the captain’s hat, because the text doesn’t clarify whether “his” is referring to Bush or Hornblower, so I thought Bush just like, patted Horatio on the head or something and that was a perfectly acceptable way for him to greet the captain nonverbally agdhsjbfhddh. 

This same thing happened with this slight variation:

“The moon was setting fast, but there was ample light still as soon as the eye grew accustomed to it. Bush touched his hat to the captain” From chapter 6, The Coming of the Natividad.

Pretty sure this is supposed to mean the same thing that I mentioned earlier, but this time I misinterpreted it as Bush bonking his hat against the captain’s hat cbfhjfdsj.

Hey gang, I have risen again lol. I apologize for lack of activity, I started community college a few months back so I’ve been very busy. I’ve had the first Hornblower book on hand for a while now, but I hadn’t started reading it until a few weeks ago. And that was because I had a bunch of books that I had started reading...at some point...but never finished, so I wanted to finish all of those so that I could start an 11-book series with a clear conscience hfjdkfhsd. 

Anyway, I finished all of those books now, so I’ve started diving into Hornblower, and I thought it might be fun to do a liveblog as I read the series, or whatever you call a liveblog with books, a read-along? Maybe something more like reviews or thought posts, I’m not sure. I’ve already been marking things up with mini post-it notes, to the point where I had to color-code them...so I think I have enough thoughts for this to be a long-term thing lol. 

For clarification, I’ve decided to read the books in release order rather than chronological order, because I think that will make it easier for me to keep track of any retcons that occur. I think it will also give me a better sense of the characters, since I believe the first three released books are meant as introductions to them overall.