Musings on The Wounded Name

[luzula]

Some of you may enjoy the comment where I search for how many times the speech verb "ejaculate" is used in various 18th century novels and draw conclusions, and mildred_of_midgard's preceding comment on the usage of "ejaculate" over time.

During my recording of The Wounded Name, I am really noticing how different Laurent is from various other Broster characters, in that he doesn't care about his military duty. It would have been fairly easy for him to escape from the place where he and Aymar are prisoners, but does he? No, he stays to nurse Aymar. And later when he's free, does he return to the army? Nope, he stays with Aymar with some transparent excuse for why he's not leaving. To be clear, I too would rather stay and take care of my friend than go off and fight for Louis XVIII against the Bonapartists! But I wonder why Broster does not use Laurent's duty as a way of heightening the dilemma in the book? Perhaps because if Laurent's duty were properly invoked, he would have no real excuse to stay for so long. But Aymar, who does care about military duty, doesn't seem to mind that Laurent is basically deserting (though I'm not sure if it is technically deserting when he was a volunteer to begin with).

Also, it makes for an interesting contrast with Keith Windham, for example—who is, of course, a professional. Perhaps the general to whom Laurent was aide-de-camp rolled his eyes and did not actually miss this aristocratic dilettante. I am reminded of Duffy's characterization of the stereotypical aide-de-camp as "young, pretty, well-born, and mounted on a fast horse".

Comments

[sanguinity]

You mean you don't know all the things about everything? I find that difficult to believe.

Flag lieutenant: a lieutenant who serves directly under a flag officer (a commodore or admiral) and outside of whatever shipboard chain of command may exist (if the flag officer is installed on a flagship) and executes whatever make-it-so-ing the flag officer may require. I'm a little unclear on what the hour-to-hour duties entail (they probably vary somewhat by flag officer), but I've seen some suggestions that flag lieutenants tended to run wealthier/prettier/higher-born than your usual run of lieutenant.

Wounded name: I didn't realize we had garonne to think for that! I downloaded it when you said you were gonna do an audiobook, but my tbr pile is a sad mess. You might well have finished recording the audiobook by the time I get to it.

Lost Honour: THEY HAVE FINALLY LEFT DISHONOUR ISLAND. \o/ It's a little unclear whether I'm now writing the epilogue or the final chapter before the epilogue (what I had thought would be a flashback is now 2K of we'll-just-tell-it-as-it-happens), but I imagine all that will come clear in another few thousand words. Either way, I'm still on track to publish this year, knock wood and the creek don't rise.

[luzula]

Ha ha, no, I do not know all the things. : P

Thanks for the explanation! I mean, I suppose that is about what I would have guessed from the name.

Glad you're making progress with the fic. : ) I aim to read that Hornblower book you recced me so that I can better appreciate the fic when you post it...

[sanguinity]

Oo, nice. I hope you enjoy it! "Lost Honour" is set at the extreme opposite end of Hornblower's career, but I have more than one shoutout to Lieutenant Hornblower in there, partly because they're both set in the West Indies, and partly because Lieutenant is so foundational to a slash reading of Hornblower and Bush.

[luzula]

Well, the library has it, so now I have no excuse! *reserves it*

[sanguinity]

Do let me know what you think!