What would O'Brian have thought of 'Commander'?:

Most writers, of course, cringe at the way their books are adapted for the screen. But O'Brian, whose series of 20 novels were the inspiration for the box-office blockbuster, would have taken 'Master and Commander' as a personal affront. He would have felt, in a deeply visceral way, that his characters -- his friends -- had been short-changed, misunderstood, misused by the moviemakers. And he along with them.