canon enquiry

[thehappyreturn]

Can anyone tell me whether it is canon or not that, prior to sailing to Central America in 1808, the Lydia first made a trip to Alexandria in 1807?

The Hornblower wikia says so but I can't for the life of me remember it in the books. Perhaps it's C. Northcote Parkinson canon? Do we accept C. Northcote 'I didn't tell the portrait painter to make

Comments

[brewsternorth]

It's not in any of the actual novels I've got (Lydia pre-THR/BTQ would post-date "Atropos", which was indeed Hornblower in the Med, but in 1805 and on a different vessel., and there's no mention of it in BTQ/THR.) It may be in Northcote Parkinson or the Companion, but I own neither book.

Would be kind of cool if he had been a sort of background part in those sorts of events as well as the ones CSF was babbling about in "Crisis".

[thehappyreturn]

I suspected it wasn't novel canon.

as well as the ones CSF was babbling about in "Crisis".
It is one of my deep-seated ambitions to write an end to 'Crisis', but I need to actually know anything about stuff first (like history and espionage and ships). I have most of it plotted out, but then I started reading M&C and thought about how Maturin would get involved, and how Maturin would basically think it was a dumbass plan, and then I realised that in any case whatever I inflict on the world would be more or less a tragedy to letters. *g*

[black_hound]

Answer: none of the above. *g*

the Alexandria stuff may be in Parkinson or may just be some freeform bullshit in the wiki. [I've tried to correct some of the bullshit in there several times but my stuff always gets edited back out. I think there is some fanboy that stalks the place.]

HOWEVER, as brewsternorth pointed out, the closest you can get is Atropos. HH is in the Med. Marmorice Bay. And has a battle with the Dago ship, Castilla.

[thehappyreturn]

Marmorice Bay is classic HH stuff. That whole bit gets my fangirl heart ticking like mad.

Shame about the wiki! I'll try hanging out there some and see what happens.

[idler_1814]

It's in Parkinson's fanfic Life and Times. I do have a copy, though heaven only knows why.

It reports, in Ch 6, that Hornblower sailed in Lydia from Portsmouth to Malta on March 28th, 1807, with orders to join the British expedition to Alexandria, carrying with him Captain Owen Griffith, an expert in combined operations sent to command the actual landing, and a Mr. John Withinshaw, a civil engineer whose purpose it was to report on the possibility of opening a canal at Suez. Hornblower arrived at Malta only to find that the expedition had already sailed, and anchored at Alexandria on June 11th to discover that Alexandria was already (albeit temporarily) in British hands. He worked with Withinshaw, and in the process learnt a bit about civil engineering: this experience influenced the Admiralty's decision to send Lydia to Central America to make contact with Don Julian Alvorado who was planning to lead a rebellion against Spain (sound familiar, now?) with the eventual goal of--with Alvorado's aid--opening up a route across the

[thehappyreturn]

Thanks for this!

So I take is Parkinson is not honorary canon to this fandom, then. *g* It tells you something about my regard for C. Northcote Parkinson that it is more than ten years since I read him. I'd love to know your views in more depth. I was 14 when I read him and basically found it very forgettable.

I should try and get sources attributed on that wiki. *grumble*

[idler_1814]

Oh, I don't pretend to speak for the fandom....just for me.

I bought the book prior to discovering online fandom--and the existance of fanfiction at all, in fact--and was surprised to discover that much of the text was wholly manufactured by the author, with no real basis in CSF's writings. Imagine my indignation!!!

Now that I am as guilty (though far less well-known!) as he, I still don't like the thing. His treatment of Bush alone was enough to put me off. He reports, regarding Hornblower's desire to have Bush as Flag Captain.... "The compromise reached was for Hornblower to have nominal command of the Nonsuch and for Bush to be posted as supernumerary with the rank of captain....Here was a one-legged man commanding a seventy-four who had never so much as commanded a frigate! There could be no more shameful example of partiality and interest. All that could be said in Hornblower's defense is that Bush justified his promotion, which might have come sooner had he not been Hornblower's follower."Does he have a point? Probably

[thehappyreturn]

I bought the book prior to discovering online fandom--and the existance of fanfiction at all, in fact

Me too! Do you remember those pre-internet days when you thought you were the only fangirl in the world?

Does he have a point? Probably. Do I like it? Not much.

Yeah. It makes me want to beat him up.

It seems nonsense to want to write a HH fanfic and veer massively from canon, unless you're clearly dorking around or writing crack or au. The whole point of fanfic is that it's taking canon and pushing and pulling it every which way - but you don't suddenly start adding things that actively contradict canon and then saying it's a faithful history.

Overall, though, I think perhaps it is Parkinson's presentation of his fiction as 'history' that puts me off the work in general.

yes. Now I remember, I didn't really like the humorless way in which he dealt with the 'did he push?' question and things like that. It's just like CNP is saying, blandly: 'I have the facts'. Oh, uh. great. Good for you.

I would like to re-read it though.