Richard Temple: A Novel
Patrick O'Brian's Richard Temple is a nice character study, but the storyline is not engaging enough. Hell, I can hardly remember what the story is about now!
I love O'Brian and think he's a great writer, but this needed to move more. It reminded me Camus's starkness (if I'm recalling correctly, it's been a while) of story, while being terribly English in emotion. Still, the language is beautiful and the characterization fantastic. In no way does this book deter me from wanting to read more of O'Brian's work, however if it had been my first of his I would not rush to read another so quickly.