This Thing of Darkness
1 journaler for this copy...
Good grief!!!!!!!! This book comes in at 610 pages! I will decide to keep/let go after I read it this month (10/2005)
keeping
fiction FR
I don't care what Anyone says about this book -- it was phenomenal. I read someone's take on the book, noting (negatively) that Charles Darwin doesn't put in an appearance until late in the book, but that's because this book is NOT about Charles Darwin, but rather about Robert FitzRoy, the commander of the HMS Beagle, who took on Charles Darwin as a naturalist and companion. Obviously, it has to deal with Darwin, but the true story is that of FitzRoy's.
The book begins with a somewhat depressing event, but one which literally laid the foundation for what was to come: the suicide of one Captain Stokes, who commanded the HMS Beagle, after being marooned at the literal ends of the earth in the desolation of Patagonia. Had it not been for that event, the HMS Beagle may have been consigned to the list of past British Naval ships, and Darwin's Origin of Species may never have been written. But because of Stokes' suicide, Robert FitzRoy, a 23 year old British naval officer, was assigned to command the Beagle, and the rest, they say, is history.
This Thing of Darkness is not only a look at the events that transpired aboard the Beagle, pre- and post-Darwin, but at the evils of imperialism, religion, and racism all encapsulated into the time period between 1828 and 1865. It also examines the career of FitzRoy, whose main mission on the Beagle was to survey the lower areas of the South American Coast, as well as his inner self. We learn a lot about FitzRoy even before the author brings in Charles Darwin, and then of course, the book focuses on the friendship between the two. At first, the two were boon companions; Darwin, as most people know, was studying to become a cleric at the time set off on the Beagle, and his outlook corresponded well with that of Fitzroy's regarding God's creation, the biblical flood, etc. However, as Darwin explored throughout South America, the evidence of the truth behind geological processes, fossil remains, variation and separation of species etc. began to make its way into creating Darwin's theories, it caused a major rift between FitzRoy and Darwin, one that would continue throughout both of their lives, as Darwin's reality conflicted with that of FitzRoy.
Yet, as I noted, this book is not based solely on Charles Darwin, but takes more of a look at Fitzroy and how he was caught up both personally and professionally by policies & politics over which he had no control. At one point after having to perform a personally dishonorable task for the British government in Tahiti, FitzRoy remarks,
"I was brought up to obey orders...To do my duty. But increasingly I am being given orders that do not tally with natural justice -- with God's justice. Orders that I cannot in all conscience accord with. These people should be helped to found a decent, God-fearing society -- not plundered, as if the Royal Navy were little better than pirates." (414)
When he has the opportunities to make changes, they are unwelcome and lead to a slide in his career that would never be rectified.
I cannot do this book justice in only a few words, but I VERY HIGHLY recommend this novel. Every one of its 610 pages is riveting and I could not put this book down and did so only grudgingly. I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the topic of the effects of British Imperialism, exploration, Darwin and his theories, and British History. It is superb and considering some of the books that made the Booker shortlist, I think the author was robbed.
fiction FR
I don't care what Anyone says about this book -- it was phenomenal. I read someone's take on the book, noting (negatively) that Charles Darwin doesn't put in an appearance until late in the book, but that's because this book is NOT about Charles Darwin, but rather about Robert FitzRoy, the commander of the HMS Beagle, who took on Charles Darwin as a naturalist and companion. Obviously, it has to deal with Darwin, but the true story is that of FitzRoy's.
The book begins with a somewhat depressing event, but one which literally laid the foundation for what was to come: the suicide of one Captain Stokes, who commanded the HMS Beagle, after being marooned at the literal ends of the earth in the desolation of Patagonia. Had it not been for that event, the HMS Beagle may have been consigned to the list of past British Naval ships, and Darwin's Origin of Species may never have been written. But because of Stokes' suicide, Robert FitzRoy, a 23 year old British naval officer, was assigned to command the Beagle, and the rest, they say, is history.
This Thing of Darkness is not only a look at the events that transpired aboard the Beagle, pre- and post-Darwin, but at the evils of imperialism, religion, and racism all encapsulated into the time period between 1828 and 1865. It also examines the career of FitzRoy, whose main mission on the Beagle was to survey the lower areas of the South American Coast, as well as his inner self. We learn a lot about FitzRoy even before the author brings in Charles Darwin, and then of course, the book focuses on the friendship between the two. At first, the two were boon companions; Darwin, as most people know, was studying to become a cleric at the time set off on the Beagle, and his outlook corresponded well with that of Fitzroy's regarding God's creation, the biblical flood, etc. However, as Darwin explored throughout South America, the evidence of the truth behind geological processes, fossil remains, variation and separation of species etc. began to make its way into creating Darwin's theories, it caused a major rift between FitzRoy and Darwin, one that would continue throughout both of their lives, as Darwin's reality conflicted with that of FitzRoy.
Yet, as I noted, this book is not based solely on Charles Darwin, but takes more of a look at Fitzroy and how he was caught up both personally and professionally by policies & politics over which he had no control. At one point after having to perform a personally dishonorable task for the British government in Tahiti, FitzRoy remarks,
"I was brought up to obey orders...To do my duty. But increasingly I am being given orders that do not tally with natural justice -- with God's justice. Orders that I cannot in all conscience accord with. These people should be helped to found a decent, God-fearing society -- not plundered, as if the Royal Navy were little better than pirates." (414)
When he has the opportunities to make changes, they are unwelcome and lead to a slide in his career that would never be rectified.
I cannot do this book justice in only a few words, but I VERY HIGHLY recommend this novel. Every one of its 610 pages is riveting and I could not put this book down and did so only grudgingly. I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the topic of the effects of British Imperialism, exploration, Darwin and his theories, and British History. It is superb and considering some of the books that made the Booker shortlist, I think the author was robbed.
