Editor’s Note: We are thrilled that our longtime book reviewer Felix Kloman, who ceased writing for us after he moved away from Lyme, has sent in a guest review for us that we are delighted to publish today.
In 2016, I humbly suggested reading of the 21 early 18th century seafaring novels of Patrick O’Brian, beginning with his first, Master and Commander. I admit to being mesmerized by them, having read all of them now six times over the past 30 years. So, in 2023, as I start my seventh, I’ll try again!
To stimulate interest, here are three excerpts on the subject of luck, a quality that affects each and every one of us.
From “The Ionian Mission, W. W. Norton, New York 1992
“It was not chance, commonplace good fortune, far from it, but a different concept altogether, one of an almost religious nature, like the favor of some god or even in extreme cases like possession; and if it came in too hearty it might prove fatal—too fiery an embrace entirely. In any event it had to be treated with great respect, rarely named, referred to by allusion or alias, never explained. There was no clear necessary connection with moral worth nor with beauty bit its possessors were generally well-liked and tolerably good-looking: and it was often seen to go with a particular kind of happiness..”
From The Reverse of the Medal, Wm. Collins, London, 1986
“It was a question of the man’s luck, a quality or rather an influence that sometimes set all one way, for good or bad, and sometimes shifted like a tide, but a tide whose ebb and flow obeyed laws that no ordinary men could see. . . . There were varying creeds and some important difference of detailed belief, but broadly speaking luck and unluck were held to have little or nothing to do with virtue or vice, amiability or its reverse. Luck was not a matter of desserts. It was a free gift, like beauty in a very young woman, independent of the person it adorned; though just as beauty could be spoilt by frizzed hair and the like so ill-luck could certainly be provoked by given forms of conduct such as wanton pride, boasting of success, or an impious disregard for custom.”
From The Letter of Marque, Wm. Collins, London 1985
“It seems to me that you have to treat destiny or fortune or whatever is the right word with respect. A man must not bounce or presume, but he must not despair neither, for that is ill-bred . . . .”
Do these words entice interest? I hope so!
Editor’s Note: This is the opinion of Felix Kloman.
About the Author: Felix Kloman is a sailor, rower, husband, father, grandfather, retired management consultant and, above all, a curious reader and writer. He’s explored how we as human beings and organizations respond to ever-present uncertainty in two books, ‘Mumpsimus Revisited’ (2005) and ‘The Fantods of Risk’ (2008). A 20-year former resident of Lyme, Conn., he now lives in Peabody, Mass. He writes book reviews, mostly of non-fiction, a subject which explores our minds, our behavior, our politics and our history, but he does throw in a novel here and there. For more than 50 years, he’s put together the 17 syllables that comprise haiku, the traditional Japanese poetry, and served faithfully as the self-appointed “poet laureate” of Ashlawn Farm Coffee. His late wife, Ann, was also a writer, but of mystery novels, all of which begin in a village in midcoast Maine, strangely reminiscent of the town she and her husband visited every summer.