CRITICISM

Ewan, Joseph. Review of Joseph Banks: A Life, by Patrick O'Brian. Isis 85, No. 3 (September 1994): 523.

Ewan offers a positive assessment of Joseph Banks: A Life.

Gordon, Neil. “The Admiral: Patrick O'Brian's Poseidon Adventure.” Voice Literary Supplement 136 (June 1995): 15–19.

Gordon explores the major characteristics of O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novel series and discusses how the novels have been received in within their genre of historical fiction.

Gray, Paul. “Sailing Off to the Past.” Time 142, No. 19 (8 November 1993): 90.

Gray argues that the allure of The Wine-Dark Sea is partially due to the meticulously-researched nineteenth-century world that O'Brian has created.

Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher. “Two Characters in Search of Nautical Enigmas.” New York Times (1 November 1993): C19.

Lehmann-Haupt compliments O'Brian's convincing prose in The Wine-Dark Sea.

McGrath, Charles. “The Long Journey.” New Yorker 69, No. 34 (18 October 1993): 121.

McGrath analyzes how O'Brian's Jack Aubrey novels display both the benefits and the limitations of writing within a specific literary genre.

Prance, Ghillean T. “Captain Cook's Naturalist.” Natural History 102, No. 5 (May 1993): 68.

Prance discusses O'Brian's portrayal of Joseph Banks's life and career as a naturalist in Joseph Banks: A Life.

Thompson, Bob. “Sailing into the Twilight.” Washington Post Book World 28 (18 October 1998): 7.

Thompson argues that The Hundred Days is not as good as other works in the Aubrey/Maturin series.

Additional coverage of O'Brian's life and career is contained in the following sources published by the Gale Group: Contemporary Authors, Vols. 144 and 187; Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, Vol. 74; Contemporary Popular Writers; Literature Resource Center; Major 20th-Century Writers, Ed. 2; and Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers.