Hi, this is Steve.

In 1992, my good friend, Dave Draftford, recommended a series of books.

He knew I loved historical novels and had devoured Clevelle and Missionor, and of course,

the CS Forest or Hornblower series.

Now I had never actually heard of the Patrick O'Brien novels, but Dave told me the Chicago

Tribune had just named them the best historical novels ever written, and George Will, the New

York Times, felt that they should be on any of the lists of the greatest books of the

20th century.

So I picked up the first in the series, Mastering Commander, and worked my way through

its dense prose, subtle characters, and odd structure, and frankly, I didn't love it.

Still for some reason, the character stuck with me in a few years later, I tried it again,

and all I can say is that for some reason, the second time through, the book just opened

up for me.

Now almost 30 years later, I just finished what I think was my sixth journey through

these novels.

As I know I've said many times on the show, these are my favorite books.

They're not always easy, and they rarely give you what you want, but they have a depth

of character, complexity, wit, wisdom, not to mention absolutely thrilling action sequences

that are unlike anything I've ever seen in literature.

It was therefore with a bit of trepidation that I finally agreed to discuss Peter Wears

2003 adaptation of the novels on the cinephiles.

It's not that I don't think it's a good movie.

...