Rare Patrick O’Brian Interview
Patrick O’Brian and Walter Cronkite
As some of you know, I am a great fan of Patrick O’Brian’s series of Napoleonic-era naval stories featuring Captain Jack Aubrey and Doctor Stephen Maturin. Patrick O’Brian was a very private man, and interview footage of him is hard to come by, so I was thrilled when I recently discovered that C-Span has posted the interview O’Brian gave to Walter Cronkite in 1999. C-Span is not allowing the video to be embedded on other sites, so you’ll have to follow the link to watch it, but it’s well worth it if you’re an Aubrey/Maturin fan.
On a related note, here is a Borders promotional video of James Taylor giving music and book recommendations, and about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the video he gives a glowing review of the Patrick O’Brian series:
For more on Patrick O’Brian, check these related posts:
Did O’Brian give the Cronkite interview in 1999? It can’t be 2009 as he’d been dead almost a decade. I’m interested in the date specifically because this is around the time that details were published in the media that he had abandoned his first wife with a disabled baby during WWII, changed his name after remarrying, and had written in the 1930s under his birth name of Russ.
All of that contributed to his prickliness and hermit-like existence, which I think becomes apparent even within this uncontroversial exchange. It’s obvious that O’Brian enjoys making quips, literary asides, wordplay jokes and generally being evasive (while relishing the audience’s approval) far more than speaking about real research, background or inspirational events. I find this an infuriating trick, speaking as a journalist and as an Aubrey-Maturin reader interested in learning more about the background to the books and their author.
I eventually got as far as writing my own blog response to O’Brian’s Cronkite interview, which can be viewed at the below link. I would be glad to hear your thoughts, and thanks once again for bringing the interview to my attention.
http://lettersfromstrangelove.blogspot.com/2011/12/patrick-obrian-man-behind-aubrey.html
Thanks for the correction on the date of the interview. I enjoyed reading your response to the video. I haven’t read any biographies of O’Brian, but I may after I finish my second reading of the series.