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This Thing of Darkness (aka To the Edge of the World), Harry Thompson


Seiichi

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This was sitting on my bookshelf and was nearly destined to be one of those books I'd never get around to reading. With 2009 marking 200 years since Darwin's birth and 150 years since the publication of On the Origin of Species, it seemed like a good time to read this book.

 

 

From the dust jacket:



The year is 1828.

 

Brilliant young naval officer Robert FiztRoy is given the captaincy of HMS Beagle, surveying the wilds of Tierra del Fuego, aged just twenty-three. But FitzRoy hides a dark secret: hereditary manic depression that can strike at any time. He is seized by two ambitions---that he can prove, contrary to the spirit of the age, that black and white men are equal; and that he can prove the truth of the Book of Genesis. To this end, he takes a passenger: a young Charles Darwin. This is the story of a deep friendship between two men, and the twin obsessions that tore it apart, leading one to triumph and the other to disaster...

 

 

Science is there to prove the natural laws of God. This is the mutual understanding that unites FitzRoy and Darwin as they embark on Beagle's second voyage. Initially, both men believe in the story of creation, the difference between them being that FitzRoy interprets scripture literally whereas Darwin adopts a figurative interpretation. As we follow Darwin, we see how his observations and experiences cause him to revise his beliefs, eventually coming into conflict with FitzRoy.

 

The contrast between the two men is stark. FitzRoy is portrayed as a noble and honourable gentleman who places public service and duty above personal interest. On the other hand, the picture of Darwin is unflattering. Thompson's Darwin is an arrogant man in possession of breath-taking naivety and views that, although common at the time, would be unpalatable to the modern reader. Ultimately, this is FitzRoy's story---a story of a tragic hero who never gained the recognition or appreciation he deserved in his lifetime. This Thing of Darkness highlights the fact that FitzRoy was much more than that man who captained the ship on which Darwin travelled: he was a pioneer in his own right. In the end, he gave so much, yet received so little for his efforts, whereas Darwin went on to enjoy success, which he owed to the grace and services of others.

 

The strength of the book lies in its accounts of the survey missions FitzRoy commanded, especially the second in which we learn how Darwin's observations came to shape his theories. This is also where the sometimes heated discussions of creationism versus transmutation theories takes place with FitzRoy defending creationism based on his own interpretations of Darwin's evidence. Once the voyage is over, the novel loses momentum as loose ends are tied up. It feels as if the end of the book has been padded with filler material. As the remaining decades of FitzRoy's life and career are covered, the narrative shifts away from him and borders on losing focus. It's a pity because it was after the voyage and at the end of his career that FitzRoy's own research came into fruition.

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Hello, Seiichi. I have this book sitting on the shelf right next to me now. I just haven't got round to reading it. Tell me how you get on and I may join you.

I finished this a couple of days ago. As a fictional retelling of events, it was enjoyable. It's more about FitzRoy, beginning with his first command of Beagle, and following his life to its end. The ebb and flow of the book seems to follow his life and career with the most interesting parts being his command of the Beagle. It's a colourful picture of naval life that gives us the impression of how his experiences shaped his own theories. The book was a bit of a struggle to get through once his naval career was done with. It's not an easy part of his life, and one filled with tragedy. The direction of the book at this book seemed a little confused, but by the end of the book all could be forgiven.

 

I've some doubts about the historical accuracy of the book. There's no doubt that considerable research has gone into it. It's more a question of how much of the history has been embellished. Nonetheless it's a rewarding read and, despite its flaws, I wouldn't have any problems recommending this book.

Edited by Seiichi
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I've some doubts about the historical accuracy of the book. There's no doubt that considerable research has gone into it. It's more a question of how much of the history has been embellished. Nonetheless it's a rewarding read and, despite its flaws, I wouldn't have any problems recommending this book.

 

I never doubted the historical accuracy of the book, don't know why as I usually note everything that doesn't feel right. True, Darwin is portrayed in a very unflattering light but I accepted that as being Harry Thompson's opinion. Yes, I agree that the pace slows right down once the voyage of the Beagle is finished and I wonder if Harry Thompson didn't set out origninally to write a biography of Robert Ftzroy and was persuaded to turn it into a novel.

 

It is slow in places and I got a bit fed up of some of the religeous discussions but it's still a fantastic book and one I remember very clearly even though I read it two years ago. I reccomend it highly too.

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Yes, I agree that the pace slows right down once the voyage of the Beagle is finished and I wonder if Harry Thompson didn't set out origninally to write a biography of Robert Ftzroy and was persuaded to turn it into a novel.

 

It is slow in places and I got a bit fed up of some of the religeous discussions but it's still a fantastic book and one I remember very clearly even though I read it two years ago. I reccomend it highly too.

I wasn't too concerned about the religious stuff. I accepted it as the normal way of thinking in those days, although at times I didn't know whether FitzRoy was just a devout Christian, a religious maniac, or simply having a manic episode.

 

Concerning the last part of the book, to be honest, I don't think Thompson could have done that much. I'm in two minds about the inclusion of the Jemmy Button storyline. When I first read it, I felt that Thompson was just drawing things out. Then again, it's a story that highlights how FitzRoy's path was one filled with good intentions that didn't turn out the way he had hoped, and for this reason I don't feel too bothered about its inclusion. As far as I know, the meetings with Darwin after the voyage never took place and Darwin never told FitzRoy about his theory. I've a few ideas about why they might have been written into the story, but even when I take these into account, I still view these sections as extra padding.

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  • 1 year later...

I read this Thing Of Darkness back in 2007, and am still recommending it, and giving copies of it as gifts.

 

Here is my review. It is an amalgamation of ones I have posted in other forums.

The subject of the book, and its hero, is Robert FitzRoy, who is given the command of a surveying brig (a two masted, square rigged sailing ship) following the suicide of its previous captain. He is to sail this little matchbox back from the southernmost tip of S. America to complete the surveying and mapping of its intricate coastline.

 

Fitzroy is a man driven by his sense of duty, and by his determination to do the right thing in every situation. He is loved and respected by his crew because of these qualities, which is why they show such forbearance when, as occasionally happens, he is plunged into a deep, black depression. Or when he is taken over by a mania in which he can only see the 'rightness' of his actions and cannot be deflected.

 

Realising that loneliness is going to be dangerous for his mental stability on a return voyage to S, America (a captain can't fraternise with the lower officers), Fitzroy invites Charles Darwin to join the ship as its 'natural philosopher', and to provide him with companionship.

 

From this point the novel follows two main strands. Firstly, the continuing work of FitzRoy, and the dangers that the ship and the crew face on sea and on land. Secondly the relationship that develops between FitzRoy and Darwin on a five year voyage in unimaginably cramped conditions, facing unbelievably hard and dangerous elemental forces at sea, and on land.

 

Darwin is a completely different character to FitzRoy, Portrayed by Thompson as a bit of a dilettante, he is unable to settle on an area of interest or a career, dabbling in 'natural philosophy' while supposedly studying to take Holy Orders. He is continually calling on his exasperated father for money and continues to be financially irresponsible throughout the voyage.

However easily he is distracted by some new discovery, his observational skills when faced with some new inexplicable geological finds, and his intuitive leaps to previously unthinkable conclusions bring him great scientific acclaim.

 

The conclusions he comes to deeply offend his companion, whose belief in the Genesis account of the creation is the rock on which all his understanding of the world is built.

Being unable to rely totally on his grip on his own sanity, the suggestion that he cannot rely on the Bible is deeply threatening to FitzRoy.

 

FitzRoy is often at loggerheads with his superiors, and this continues to dog him after the voyage is over, and throughout the rest of his career. He spends most of his private fortune on subsidising his voyages, one way or another, and can no longer retain his station as a 'gentleman'.

 

Thompson's research has been very thorough, and he reveals FitzRoy as a true hero, badly served by his contemporaries and by history. FitzRoy treated all men with respect and humanity, and grieved bitterly the wrongs that he saw meted out to the aboriginal peoples of South America and New Zealand. He was loved and respected by his officers and crew, and his greatest legacies were the detailed charts he made of the complicated coastline of the furthest tip of S, America, and the mapping of weather systems. His most important contribution to shipping, and to our own lives was the study of meteorology, and the 'invention' of weather forecasting.

Recognised, and developed as a science all over the world, it was starved of money here, and finally abandoned. It was only the support of seamen and fishermen after his death that got weather forecasting re-instated, and only in 2002 was his name honoured by having a shipping area named after him.

 

Darwin and Fitzroy went their separate ways. Both married and had families, and demonstrated their different characters in their domestic lives. On the few occasions that they met in later years, they ended up arguing.

It's a weighty book, and it took me some time to read it, but I am still raving about it to all and sundry. I think all who read it will hold FitzRoy in the greatest respect for his physical and moral courage, and his humanity.

 

It's also a great sea-story.

 

Go read it!!

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