Books: Hornblower’s Exit

LORD HORNBLOWER (322 pp.)—C. S. Forester—Liftie, Brown ($2.50).

H.M.S. Flame, 18-gun brig, lies hove to near the French coast. “Insolent rascals, mutinous dogs,” splutters the First Lord of the Admiralty, nursing his gout in Whitehall. Flame’s crew have just sent word to London that they are tired of floggings and bad food. Unless their demands are met, they will desert to Napoleon.

The First Lord knows whom to summon in such a scandalous and unBritish emergency. “You’re ready for active service now, Hornblower?” “Yes, my Lord,” replies gallant Commodore Sir Horatio Hornblower, K.B.

For almost ten years, Novelist Cecil Scott Forester’s tarry yarns (Beat to Quarters, Ship of the Line, etc.) have delighted readers of all ages—even those who usually get a touch of seasickness from historical romances, marine or otherwise. This fifth and (according to the publishers) last of the series is the poorest of the lot. It involves too much dry-land maneuvering and lush love-making on Hornblower’s part, too little Royal Navy salt and lore.

But Sir Horatio does stay at sea long enough to dampen Flame’s mutiny and to steal a fully laden French West Indiaman right out from under Boney’s nose. That done, he goes ashore in France—where Novelist Forester finishes him off with a peerage, Bourbon pals and an indirect, improbable part in the victory at Waterloo.