quigonejinn

Sharpe's Eagle

Solid books, as usual, beat even good movies all to nothing. Harper's love of birds! The background about his family and how complicated his allegience to the British Army is. Rabbits and baby lieutenants who fight their first battles with fifteen-guinea swords bought for them by their papas. Old veterans who die, clutching their swords because "some atavistic memory told him it was his pass into a better heaven."

Sharpe brooding about his birthday and his descriptions of Josefina -- hair as black as fine gunpowder, as many notations about the loveliness of her horse as her face, lots and lots of notes of just how Spanish she is, all dressed in black and followed by a servant leading a handsome mule, and how the Sharpe's lust for her is all mixed up with his hunger for money and his resentment of Gibbons.
I want Lawford/Sharpe like you would not believe and would happily, happily read good Wellesley/Sharpe because boy oh boy oh boy oh boy. Wellesley is the kind of ambitious, hard son of a bitch closest to my heart, and he's got that fantastically interesting relationship with Sharpe andhe gives pimpin' presents:
"There!" Sharpe climbed onto the parapet and dug into his pack for his only possession of value, a telescope made by Matthew Berge of London. He had no idea of its real worth but he suspected it had cost at least thirty guineas. There was a brass plate curved and inset into the walnut tube, and engraved on the plate was an inscription. "In gratitude. AW. September 23rd, 1803." He recalled the piercing blue eyes looking at him when the telescope had been presented. "Remember, Mr Sharpe, an officer’s eyes are more valuable than his sword!"
Good lord, Cornwell can write a fight. Maybe it'll get old after a couple turns, but he knows how to write thick, nasty, brutal, face-to-face stuff full of blood and crazy. I've got goosebumps on my arms from reading about the fight, and yeah. Once Cornwell gets into his battle scenes and gets to the heart of the matter, Eagle is better written than just about all of the chronologically Hornblower books ecept for Ship and parts of FC.
ihavethemostoutrageouscrushonarthurwellesley. Hook noses! Blazing eyes and rage! Fucking with Simmerson! His explosions of rage!
omglawfordlawfordlawford! With his seven guinea fit adjustments and hundred guinea prize fight wagers and his competence and his good, shining heart and silver lace and TEACHING SHARPE TO READ MUST GET SHARPE'S TIGER OMG OMG OMG. GOD.
Am reading bit where Lawford is talking to Sharpe after the gazetting. Oh god, I love Lawford.
"There’s a rumour," Leroy said drily. "I hear that when they tread the grapes they don’t bother to get out of the wine-press to relieve themselves."

There was a moment’s silence and then a chorus of disgusted voices. Forrest looked dubiously into his cup. "I don’t believe it."

"In India," Sharpe said, "Some natives believe it very healthy to drink their own urine."

Forrest looked owlishly at him. "That cannot be true."

Leroy intervened. "Perfectly true, Major, I’ve seen them do it. A cupful a day. Cheers!"
*WEEPS WITH LAUGHTER*
He stared up between the narrowing walls at the patch of sky. Swallows flashed across the opening, the colours were deepening into night, and tomorrow there would be executions. But first there was Josefina. Harper came to the door. "We’re ready, sir."
"Then let’s go."
The end of Chapter 12, yo. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.
13 is also a hell of a chapter. God bless the fact that Cornwell is just as bloody toughminded as I remember him to be.
AS SOON AS I GOT INTO THE BOOKS, GODDAMMIT, I KNEW THAT THE MALIGNANT DUMB SHIT ABOUT LEROY THE MOLASSES GROWLDKJf;lkj :D *WINS*
Interesting, interesting, interesting to think about how his view on capital punishment differs from Horatio's. Horatio is more about flogging and less about the hanging; Sharpe can deal with the hanging/shooting/etc much better than Horatio, but haaaates flogging.
*draws little hearts around baby sixteen year old Christopher Denny* :[
Huckfield. *_* The industrialization. *_*

In short: clunky writing in beginning gets much, much better and turns positively lovely once we get into the battles and know where we're going. I adore Wellesley, and Lawford is such a wonderful creature, and I desperately want slash involving some combination of Wellesley, Lawford the Elegant, and Sharpe. Please, someone, tell me that there is good satisfying shit out there.