Not one of those overweening lists and counterlists of 100 greatest novels that provoked such harrumphing a few months ago mentioned the remarkable British novelist Patrick O'Brian. This, his beguiled readers could argue, demeans not O'Brian but the lists. To O'Brian loyalists--readers and re-readers, hangers-about on the O'Brian website, buyers of O'Brian calendars, dictionaries, three-cornered hats (a lie) and period foul-weather gear (another)--what might be open to dispute is whether to reserve, say, one slot high on a new "greatest" roster, or 18 or 20 places very close to the top.
This is because the author's masterwork is an astonishing naval...