Twenty years ago I came down with a heart condition. I had two young children and a lovely wife, a nice life, and I found myself awake for hours every night, a

Twenty years ago I came down with a heart condition. I had two young children and a lovely wife, a nice life, and I found myself awake for hours every night, afraid. I read Mr O'Brian's books. They spoke to me, and I learned a great deal from them. I think of them as a twenty volume essay on what it means to be a man (or a person, but mostly a man). They are far from perfect. A person only thirty or forty year on winces on some of the things said, for instance. But I learned a great deal about people and I often think about the characters; if not daily then at least several times a week. If you give them a try, and I urge you to, then I'd suggest starting with the second book Post Captain (others will disagree but this is my $0.02), since I find that the first is more of an act of literature than I like. (Some people find the nautical detail puts them off. If so, just ignore it. The books are about the people.)