Oh, do I love it when I reach the point in a story when the title is mentioned. In Chapter Four of Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey is talking to Dr. Stephen Maturin when he mentions the book's title. Stephen poses the hypothetical situation to Jack asking if the master of the ship, which is a naval ranking, could order Stephen to be flogged. Jack is totally bewildered by this question because naval ranking comes naturally to him. He then realizes what Stephen is asking and then says, "My dear sir, I believe you have been led astray by the words master and master and commander . . . The first is subordinate to the second." The book title is mentioned and partially explained!
And after I started reading more of the book since my last post, the book finally started to explain some of the sea terminology! Some of the terms are explained when Dr. Stephen Maturin and William Mowett, the master's mate, climb to what I imagine to be similar to a crow's nest. I have inferred that Stephen is afraid of heights. I got this conclusion because Stephen seemed to be asking a lot of questions about the sails and dimensions of the sails, yards, and halyards. He was definitely asking these questions because he was curious and wanted to learn since he has never served aboard a man-of-war, but I also believe that the underlying reason was due to the fact that Stephen is afraid of heights and wanted Mowett to keep talking in order to distract him from his fear.
As I read farther into the book, I grow more accustomed to the writing style. This book is becoming easier to understand. The book is also becoming less dull ever since the first sea battle started brewing. The book is very descriptive about how the sailors practice shooting the four-pounder cannons as opposed to the thirty-two-pounder cannons, the cleaning of the cannons and the explosiveness of the cannon. The pages leading up to the initial attack on the Dorthe Engekbrechtsdatter is also descriptive. The battle sections help make this book worth reading.
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