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Sir Nigel and the White Company
袘械谢懈褟褌 芯褌褉褟写
袙褗锌褉械泻懈 褔械 写薪械褋 械 锌芯-懈蟹胁械褋褌械薪 褋 鈥炐樞沸逞冃毙敌叫秆徰� 褋胁褟褌鈥� 懈 懈褋褌芯褉懈懈褌械 褋懈 蟹邪 楔械褉谢芯泻 啸芯谢屑褋, 袗褉褌褗褉 袣芯薪邪薪 袛芯泄谢 (1859鈥�1930) 械 褋屑褟褌邪谢, 褔械 薪邪泄-写芯斜褉芯褌芯 屑褍 锌褉芯懈蟹胁械写械薪懈械 械 鈥炐懶敌恍秆徰� 芯褌褉褟写鈥� (1891). 袛械泄褋褌胁懈械褌芯 胁 褌芯蟹懈 懈褋褌芯褉懈褔械褋泻懈 锌褉懈泻谢褞褔械薪褋泻懈 褉芯屑邪薪 褋械 褉邪蟹胁懈胁邪 锌芯 胁褉械屑械 薪邪 小褌芯谐芯写懈褕薪邪褌邪 胁芯泄薪邪 胁 袗薪谐谢懈褟, 肖褉邪薪褑懈褟 懈 袠褋锌邪薪懈褟 锌褉械蟹 1366鈥�1367 谐., 懈 薪懈 胁褉褗褖邪 胁 褋谢邪胁薪懈褌械 胁褉械屑械薪邪 薪邪 褉芯屑邪薪褌懈褔薪邪 谢褞斜芯胁, 褌褉褍斜邪写褍褉懈 懈 褉懈褑邪褉褋泻懈 褌褍褉薪懈褉懈, 锌褉懈褟褌械谢褋褌胁芯, 褋邪屑芯卸械褉褌胁邪 懈 锌芯写胁懈蟹懈. 袟邪 芯褋薪芯胁邪 薪邪 褉芯屑邪薪邪 褋邪 锌芯褋谢褍卸懈谢懈 懈 褉械邪谢薪芯 褋褗褖械褋褌胁褍胁邪谢懈 谢懈褔薪芯褋褌懈, 褍褔邪褋褌胁邪谢懈 胁 懈褋褌懈薪褋泻懈 褋褗斜懈褌懈褟.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1891
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7,619 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
14.5k听books23.7k听followersSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
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January 25, 2020
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's household-word fame today, of course, is as the creator of iconic fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. His science fiction novels and stories were also popular in his day, and remain influential in that genre. But he was personally proudest of his achievements as a historical novelist, and this is his best known work of that type. I actually first ran across it in my school library in junior high school, and read into Chapter 12 at that time. But then I graduated; and while my intention at the time was to obtain another copy elsewhere and continue the read, that plan got sidetracked and eventually relegated to the back burner, though never abandoned. Recently, I came back to the book after a lapse of over 50 years, and read it cover-to-cover. Having now done so, I can say that I have to agree with Doyle's own assessment, at least to the degree that this is my favorite among his novels that I've read so far (and those include all four of the Holmes novels!).
The setting here is the Middle Ages (one of my favorite periods for historical fiction!), specifically 1366-67, during the Hundred Year's War. At that particular moment, however, the English vs. French conflict was in a truce state, although feudal wars between barons and the depredations of outlaws and unemployed mercenary bands kept France in a parlous condition. For the characters here, the immediate call to arms and occasion for military adventure is the campaign of the Black Prince to restore the ousted Pedro the Cruel to the throne of Castile, in the western part of what is today Spain, which in the 1300s was not yet a unified country. (Pedro had been deposed in favor of his out-of-wedlock half-brother, Henry; the Black Prince viewed this as an intolerable breach of the rights of the lawful heir.) Our protagonist is Alleyne Edricson, second son of a Socman, or substantial free landowner, of an old Saxon line in Hampshire (an English county on the southern coast, opposite the Isle of Wight). His father died when he was very young, and he's been raised in a Cistercian abbey as a novice; but he's now turned 20, and Edric's will calls for him to spend a year outside the monastery, to determine whether or not he's called to holy orders. On the road, he soon connects with his monastery acquaintance Hordle John, a powerfully-built young peasant who ill-advisedly joined the order after being jilted by his girlfriend, but was expelled (to put it mildly, he didn't, in Catholic parlance, "have a vocation" :-) ) the same day that Alleyne left; and the two in turn quickly meet up with another fellow traveler, soldier Samkin Aylward, who's in route to the castle home of renowned warrior Sir Nigel Loring, bearing a letter inviting the latter to come to France and assume leadership of the White Company, a war-band of English archers. The reader won't be surprised to learn that Sir Nigel and our trio of friends will soon be headed for France.
Like almost all historical fiction writers of his time, Doyle's stylistic affinities were Romantic. But he also was very scrupulous about historical accuracy, to a degree that no Realist critic could fairly fault; he put in four years of serious research for this novel, and it shows in an extremely detailed and realistic picture of 14th-century society, thought and daily life. Where the fiction intertwines with real-life history, there's no departure from known fact; real-life historical figures portrayed here (and there are many, including the Black Prince, Pedro, Bertrand du Guesclin, Sir John Chandos, and others) are depicted the way their contemporaries saw them, so far as records exist. He does not, however, deliver any of this material in info-dumps, but works it seamlessly into the texture of the tale (though it's true that some episodes do seem to be included solely to illustrate some peculiarity of the time). That's no mean feat in itself. His characterizations are also vivid, round and lifelike (I don't often identify with romantic action-hero types, but I did with Alleyne!); he provides an exciting, suspenseful plot (with plenty of action, though it's mostly in the latter half of the book) and a strand of clean romance between a couple worth rooting for and wishing well.
Great fiction, though, goes deeper than the above characteristics of good fiction; it makes you think about deeper issues than "will our heroes survive?" or "will the loving pair wind up together?" That quality, too, I found here; Doyle doesn't sermonize, but messages and thoughts arise naturally out of the story. As with much action-oriented fiction of this school, there's a strong encouragement of virtues like courage, loyalty, fair and honest dealing, personal integrity, kindness and willingness to defend the weak. But while we sometimes think of medieval "chivalry" solely in those terms, to a much greater extent than either Scott (at least in Ivanhoe) or Stevenson, Doyle brings out the fact that this code, as embodied in Sir Nigel, had its dubious aspects as well: a confusion of personal "honor" with vainglory over successful lethal fighting for its own sake; the idea that physically fighting over competing claims for your special lady's superiority to all other women actually redounds to any credit to her (or you); and an over-concern with "noble" status measured by birth or an official knightly accolade. And we might add, too, an assumption that supporting your king in any quarrel he undertakes automatically qualifies as your legitimate duty. (That does not accord with classical Christian "just war" theory, even if the medieval Church did tacitly endorse the idea!) We can respect Sir Nigel, and even like him; but that's not the same thing as endorsing all of his attitudes, and we can see that the chivalric code was in serious need of some revision.
The 14th century was also a time, as Doyle points out explicitly, when the feudal, ultra class-conscious and often exploitative social order of the High Middle Ages was beginning to be questioned from below. The legitimate grievances of the lower classes are portrayed forcefully here, along with the often savagely violent social unrest in both France and England; we can see both the need for a more just society and the reality that violence against the innocent won't further that goal. (By 1891, when Doyle wrote, much social change had taken place; but the antagonism between the wealthy and powerful who think they're entitled to anything they want, vs. an underclass that's willing to throw over every ethical restraint in order to annihilate anyone they see as the enemy Other, was still alive and well --and still is in 2020.) It was also a time of increasing religious ferment, which is also deliberately brought out here. Though not a Christian himself, Doyle was respectful towards Christianity; and through Alleyne's eyes he makes a case for the legitimacy of a Christian life lived by serving others and forming a healthy family in the normal world, rather than fleeing from the world and trying to live in navel-gazing personal purity. He also implicitly critiques aspects of medieval religiosity that need critiquing --the hawking of bogus relics, the quest of the irreligious for a salvation that can be had for money without spiritual conversion, and the willingness of religious charlatans to profit off of them; and the perverted piety of the Flagellants, beating each other to ribbons in the warped belief that God took pleasure in their pain. (Nonetheless, this isn't an anti-Catholic novel, but an appeal for practical and rational piety that both Catholics and Protestants can get behind. When Alleyne says, at one point, that an offer to, in effect, sell a ticket to heaven is not part of the teachings of Mother Church, he's speaking for many Roman Catholics, then and now.)
Some readers won't get into this novel; not all will appreciate the detailed introduction to the world of the 14th century, and to the principle characters, that occupies much of the first half of the novel. Many will perceive this as too slow moving, though for my part I understood it as necessary to the author's purpose and to our bonding with the characters, and wasn't bored by any of it. Doyle's diction here is Victorian, more formal than in his less "serious" mystery and science fiction writing, often with involved sentence structure; he's quite willing to use big words if they serve best to convey his meaning, and he deliberately employs a lot of older, medieval terminology that fits into this setting. While he doesn't write dialogue in Chaucer-style Middle English (and he usually translates the speech of the Norman-descended royalty and aristocracy, many of whom still spoke French at this time), he does consciously write it with an archaic flavor, preserving a lot of medieval idiom and vocabulary. This also won't be to every taste; but I personally was able to understand it (sometimes from context), and I think most serious readers could as well. (So, if ye will hearken to my rede, and ye be a historical fiction fan, give this book a try, forsooth! :-) )
The setting here is the Middle Ages (one of my favorite periods for historical fiction!), specifically 1366-67, during the Hundred Year's War. At that particular moment, however, the English vs. French conflict was in a truce state, although feudal wars between barons and the depredations of outlaws and unemployed mercenary bands kept France in a parlous condition. For the characters here, the immediate call to arms and occasion for military adventure is the campaign of the Black Prince to restore the ousted Pedro the Cruel to the throne of Castile, in the western part of what is today Spain, which in the 1300s was not yet a unified country. (Pedro had been deposed in favor of his out-of-wedlock half-brother, Henry; the Black Prince viewed this as an intolerable breach of the rights of the lawful heir.) Our protagonist is Alleyne Edricson, second son of a Socman, or substantial free landowner, of an old Saxon line in Hampshire (an English county on the southern coast, opposite the Isle of Wight). His father died when he was very young, and he's been raised in a Cistercian abbey as a novice; but he's now turned 20, and Edric's will calls for him to spend a year outside the monastery, to determine whether or not he's called to holy orders. On the road, he soon connects with his monastery acquaintance Hordle John, a powerfully-built young peasant who ill-advisedly joined the order after being jilted by his girlfriend, but was expelled (to put it mildly, he didn't, in Catholic parlance, "have a vocation" :-) ) the same day that Alleyne left; and the two in turn quickly meet up with another fellow traveler, soldier Samkin Aylward, who's in route to the castle home of renowned warrior Sir Nigel Loring, bearing a letter inviting the latter to come to France and assume leadership of the White Company, a war-band of English archers. The reader won't be surprised to learn that Sir Nigel and our trio of friends will soon be headed for France.
Like almost all historical fiction writers of his time, Doyle's stylistic affinities were Romantic. But he also was very scrupulous about historical accuracy, to a degree that no Realist critic could fairly fault; he put in four years of serious research for this novel, and it shows in an extremely detailed and realistic picture of 14th-century society, thought and daily life. Where the fiction intertwines with real-life history, there's no departure from known fact; real-life historical figures portrayed here (and there are many, including the Black Prince, Pedro, Bertrand du Guesclin, Sir John Chandos, and others) are depicted the way their contemporaries saw them, so far as records exist. He does not, however, deliver any of this material in info-dumps, but works it seamlessly into the texture of the tale (though it's true that some episodes do seem to be included solely to illustrate some peculiarity of the time). That's no mean feat in itself. His characterizations are also vivid, round and lifelike (I don't often identify with romantic action-hero types, but I did with Alleyne!); he provides an exciting, suspenseful plot (with plenty of action, though it's mostly in the latter half of the book) and a strand of clean romance between a couple worth rooting for and wishing well.
Great fiction, though, goes deeper than the above characteristics of good fiction; it makes you think about deeper issues than "will our heroes survive?" or "will the loving pair wind up together?" That quality, too, I found here; Doyle doesn't sermonize, but messages and thoughts arise naturally out of the story. As with much action-oriented fiction of this school, there's a strong encouragement of virtues like courage, loyalty, fair and honest dealing, personal integrity, kindness and willingness to defend the weak. But while we sometimes think of medieval "chivalry" solely in those terms, to a much greater extent than either Scott (at least in Ivanhoe) or Stevenson, Doyle brings out the fact that this code, as embodied in Sir Nigel, had its dubious aspects as well: a confusion of personal "honor" with vainglory over successful lethal fighting for its own sake; the idea that physically fighting over competing claims for your special lady's superiority to all other women actually redounds to any credit to her (or you); and an over-concern with "noble" status measured by birth or an official knightly accolade. And we might add, too, an assumption that supporting your king in any quarrel he undertakes automatically qualifies as your legitimate duty. (That does not accord with classical Christian "just war" theory, even if the medieval Church did tacitly endorse the idea!) We can respect Sir Nigel, and even like him; but that's not the same thing as endorsing all of his attitudes, and we can see that the chivalric code was in serious need of some revision.
The 14th century was also a time, as Doyle points out explicitly, when the feudal, ultra class-conscious and often exploitative social order of the High Middle Ages was beginning to be questioned from below. The legitimate grievances of the lower classes are portrayed forcefully here, along with the often savagely violent social unrest in both France and England; we can see both the need for a more just society and the reality that violence against the innocent won't further that goal. (By 1891, when Doyle wrote, much social change had taken place; but the antagonism between the wealthy and powerful who think they're entitled to anything they want, vs. an underclass that's willing to throw over every ethical restraint in order to annihilate anyone they see as the enemy Other, was still alive and well --and still is in 2020.) It was also a time of increasing religious ferment, which is also deliberately brought out here. Though not a Christian himself, Doyle was respectful towards Christianity; and through Alleyne's eyes he makes a case for the legitimacy of a Christian life lived by serving others and forming a healthy family in the normal world, rather than fleeing from the world and trying to live in navel-gazing personal purity. He also implicitly critiques aspects of medieval religiosity that need critiquing --the hawking of bogus relics, the quest of the irreligious for a salvation that can be had for money without spiritual conversion, and the willingness of religious charlatans to profit off of them; and the perverted piety of the Flagellants, beating each other to ribbons in the warped belief that God took pleasure in their pain. (Nonetheless, this isn't an anti-Catholic novel, but an appeal for practical and rational piety that both Catholics and Protestants can get behind. When Alleyne says, at one point, that an offer to, in effect, sell a ticket to heaven is not part of the teachings of Mother Church, he's speaking for many Roman Catholics, then and now.)
Some readers won't get into this novel; not all will appreciate the detailed introduction to the world of the 14th century, and to the principle characters, that occupies much of the first half of the novel. Many will perceive this as too slow moving, though for my part I understood it as necessary to the author's purpose and to our bonding with the characters, and wasn't bored by any of it. Doyle's diction here is Victorian, more formal than in his less "serious" mystery and science fiction writing, often with involved sentence structure; he's quite willing to use big words if they serve best to convey his meaning, and he deliberately employs a lot of older, medieval terminology that fits into this setting. While he doesn't write dialogue in Chaucer-style Middle English (and he usually translates the speech of the Norman-descended royalty and aristocracy, many of whom still spoke French at this time), he does consciously write it with an archaic flavor, preserving a lot of medieval idiom and vocabulary. This also won't be to every taste; but I personally was able to understand it (sometimes from context), and I think most serious readers could as well. (So, if ye will hearken to my rede, and ye be a historical fiction fan, give this book a try, forsooth! :-) )
September 7, 2007
A delightful and strange adventure story in the vein of The Three Musketeers or The Scarlet Pimpernel, but also an early foreshadow of the Mannerpunk genre which grew out of Peake's Gormenghast books.
The well-researched text creates a believable world which is undoubtedly (and delightfully) removed from the modern. Not only does Doyle (of Sherlock Holmes fame) create a fairly accurate portrait of ever-warring Feudal Europe, but at least proposes a psychological type for the soldiers of the time.
Of course, to take such a type from (even contemporary) works is a bit of a silly falsehood, and with characteristic British whimsy, Doyle births a cast which seems realistic not despite but because of its deep-seated eccentricity. Of course, it is precisely this method which will grip Peake (in the wake of Chekhov) in his surrealistic works.
Though once quite popular, this tale has become somewhat less well-known, perhaps because it is easy to take from it a stance of bravado, militarism, and anglocentrism. Perhaps there will come to us a dissolving of such strong self-identifications with such things that people will no longer feel a need to oppose fictional portrayals, and Doyle and Kipling may return with a grain of salt.
The well-researched text creates a believable world which is undoubtedly (and delightfully) removed from the modern. Not only does Doyle (of Sherlock Holmes fame) create a fairly accurate portrait of ever-warring Feudal Europe, but at least proposes a psychological type for the soldiers of the time.
Of course, to take such a type from (even contemporary) works is a bit of a silly falsehood, and with characteristic British whimsy, Doyle births a cast which seems realistic not despite but because of its deep-seated eccentricity. Of course, it is precisely this method which will grip Peake (in the wake of Chekhov) in his surrealistic works.
Though once quite popular, this tale has become somewhat less well-known, perhaps because it is easy to take from it a stance of bravado, militarism, and anglocentrism. Perhaps there will come to us a dissolving of such strong self-identifications with such things that people will no longer feel a need to oppose fictional portrayals, and Doyle and Kipling may return with a grain of salt.
June 3, 2017
A long time ago, I read The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. And last year I read a collection of his poetry called Songs Of The Road. But The White Company, published in 1891, was the first of his historical novels for me, and now I can't decide whether to continue here sounding somewhat scholarly or to simply let my feelings take over.
So first the Somewhat Scholar. This book is based loosely on certain events in the life of a real true knight in shining armor by the name of Sir Neil Loring, called Sir Nigel in the book. He fought with Edward The Black Prince Of Wales during The One Hundred Years War. I had a fascinating time checking to see which of the many knights and nobles mentioned in the story were real people, and nearly all of them were.
In this story Sir Nigel was in his 40's, and although he is still very much a hero, the younger hero's role was filled by Allyene Edricson, a 20 year old orphan who had been raised in a monastery but according to his late father's will was to spend a year learning about life before he decided for himself whether to continue his monkish studies or to join the world.
Okay, enough scholarly blather. This book was AWESOME! There is jousting, there is court intrigue, there is one of the coolest ever sword fights between squires, there is humor, drama, danger, true love, visions of the future, real friendships, a siege at a castle, a march through the Pyrenees, a mysterious knight in black armor, and....and....never a dull moment!!
AND some fun words like these that John Hordle's mother yells at him when she discovers him marching off to war with Sir Nigel's soldiers. The other archers enjoyed this little scene immensely, by the way. Imagine a huge hulk of a young man being whacked about the shoulders by his tiny little mother, who happened to have a stick with her.
鈥淵ou rammucky lurden,鈥� she was howling, with a blow between each catch of her breath, 鈥測ou shammocking, yaping, over-long good-for-nought. I will teach thee! I will baste thee! Aye, by my faith!鈥�
鈥淲hist, mother,鈥� said John, looking back at her from the tail of his eye, 鈥淚 go to France as an archer to give blows and to take them.鈥�
鈥淭o France, quotha?鈥� cried the old dame. 鈥淏ide here with me, and I shall warrant you more blows than you are like to get in France. If blows be what you seek, you need not go further than Hordle.鈥�
John's mother may have thought he was a good-for-nought, but he was one of my favorite characters in the story and proved himself good-for-much. Another favorite character was Samkin Aylward the archer, who first appears in the story on a mission to deliver a letter from France to Sir Nigel. Rough and tough and thoroughly adorable was Samkin; he helped steady the youngsters that were new to the world of warfare. And he hated the new cannons that were coming into use at the time (1366). He said they took away the honor of the fight. I wonder what he would think of the way wars are waged these days. Harrow and alas, he would not be impressed, I'm sure.
I laughed, I cheered, I held my breath, I cried. And I've made a list of the other Doyle historical fiction titles available at Gutenberg and will work my way through all of them. (There's only eight ~~ he himself said that Sherlock Holmes used up too much of his time, keeping him from writing more of the historical novels that he supposedly felt were his best work, at least according to Wiki). And first up, as soon as I finish my two June challenge titles, will be the 1906 book Sir Nigel, where we get to hang out with this joyful man when he was a much younger knight. I won't need an armed varlet standing by to keep me reading, that's for sure!
So first the Somewhat Scholar. This book is based loosely on certain events in the life of a real true knight in shining armor by the name of Sir Neil Loring, called Sir Nigel in the book. He fought with Edward The Black Prince Of Wales during The One Hundred Years War. I had a fascinating time checking to see which of the many knights and nobles mentioned in the story were real people, and nearly all of them were.
In this story Sir Nigel was in his 40's, and although he is still very much a hero, the younger hero's role was filled by Allyene Edricson, a 20 year old orphan who had been raised in a monastery but according to his late father's will was to spend a year learning about life before he decided for himself whether to continue his monkish studies or to join the world.
Okay, enough scholarly blather. This book was AWESOME! There is jousting, there is court intrigue, there is one of the coolest ever sword fights between squires, there is humor, drama, danger, true love, visions of the future, real friendships, a siege at a castle, a march through the Pyrenees, a mysterious knight in black armor, and....and....never a dull moment!!
AND some fun words like these that John Hordle's mother yells at him when she discovers him marching off to war with Sir Nigel's soldiers. The other archers enjoyed this little scene immensely, by the way. Imagine a huge hulk of a young man being whacked about the shoulders by his tiny little mother, who happened to have a stick with her.
鈥淵ou rammucky lurden,鈥� she was howling, with a blow between each catch of her breath, 鈥測ou shammocking, yaping, over-long good-for-nought. I will teach thee! I will baste thee! Aye, by my faith!鈥�
鈥淲hist, mother,鈥� said John, looking back at her from the tail of his eye, 鈥淚 go to France as an archer to give blows and to take them.鈥�
鈥淭o France, quotha?鈥� cried the old dame. 鈥淏ide here with me, and I shall warrant you more blows than you are like to get in France. If blows be what you seek, you need not go further than Hordle.鈥�
John's mother may have thought he was a good-for-nought, but he was one of my favorite characters in the story and proved himself good-for-much. Another favorite character was Samkin Aylward the archer, who first appears in the story on a mission to deliver a letter from France to Sir Nigel. Rough and tough and thoroughly adorable was Samkin; he helped steady the youngsters that were new to the world of warfare. And he hated the new cannons that were coming into use at the time (1366). He said they took away the honor of the fight. I wonder what he would think of the way wars are waged these days. Harrow and alas, he would not be impressed, I'm sure.
I laughed, I cheered, I held my breath, I cried. And I've made a list of the other Doyle historical fiction titles available at Gutenberg and will work my way through all of them. (There's only eight ~~ he himself said that Sherlock Holmes used up too much of his time, keeping him from writing more of the historical novels that he supposedly felt were his best work, at least according to Wiki). And first up, as soon as I finish my two June challenge titles, will be the 1906 book Sir Nigel, where we get to hang out with this joyful man when he was a much younger knight. I won't need an armed varlet standing by to keep me reading, that's for sure!
September 1, 2016
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is without doubt one of the masters of the crime fiction & detective novels genre. Doyle鈥檚 great detective 鈥�Sherlock Holmes鈥� and his stories redefined the entire genre of crime writing. But Doyle was also a prolific writer in other areas like science fiction, romantic adventures, historical fictions and poetry.
鈥�The White Company鈥� is one of the best historical novels from Doyle set in the backdrop of medieval England, France and Spain during the fourteenth century with plenty of archers, sword fights, inspiring action scenes and exhilarating adventure. This exciting knight-in-armor story was the result of a meticulous and arduous research by Doyle on the time period of Edward III; about Hundred Years' War; the campaigns of Edward, the Black Prince and the Middle Ages in general. When published in 1891, 鈥楾he White Company鈥�, was an instant success and was regarded by Doyle in his own words as
"the most complete, satisfying and ambitious thing I have ever done".
In this romantic adventure tale Doyle gives a charming historical and geographic description of the Europe during the Hundred Years鈥� War by exposing the reader to characters full of nobility, chivalry and warrior attitude. The protagonist of the story is the young and innocent Alleyne Edricson who is freshly out exploring the world after a being raised in a monastery. Alleyne鈥檚 straightforward nature brings him two friends in the form of the vigorous archer Samkin Aylward and the hilarious and extremely strong John of Hordle. Together they join 鈥�The White Company鈥� - a free company of archers led by the brave and admired Knight Sir Nigel Loring 鈥� and Alleyne becomes the armour-bearer to Sir Nigel Loring. Soon 鈥楾he White Company鈥� heads out to France and Spain in a quest brimming with hilarious situations, sword fights, danger and carnage.
While reading this book the reader may find some of the vocabulary from the era a bit of a challenge but it wont be something that will entirely stop him from enjoying a thoroughly well narrated story. I will strongly recommend 鈥楾he White Company鈥� for those who love invigorating tales of good-old-style adventure and chivalry.
鈥�The White Company鈥� is one of the best historical novels from Doyle set in the backdrop of medieval England, France and Spain during the fourteenth century with plenty of archers, sword fights, inspiring action scenes and exhilarating adventure. This exciting knight-in-armor story was the result of a meticulous and arduous research by Doyle on the time period of Edward III; about Hundred Years' War; the campaigns of Edward, the Black Prince and the Middle Ages in general. When published in 1891, 鈥楾he White Company鈥�, was an instant success and was regarded by Doyle in his own words as
"the most complete, satisfying and ambitious thing I have ever done".
In this romantic adventure tale Doyle gives a charming historical and geographic description of the Europe during the Hundred Years鈥� War by exposing the reader to characters full of nobility, chivalry and warrior attitude. The protagonist of the story is the young and innocent Alleyne Edricson who is freshly out exploring the world after a being raised in a monastery. Alleyne鈥檚 straightforward nature brings him two friends in the form of the vigorous archer Samkin Aylward and the hilarious and extremely strong John of Hordle. Together they join 鈥�The White Company鈥� - a free company of archers led by the brave and admired Knight Sir Nigel Loring 鈥� and Alleyne becomes the armour-bearer to Sir Nigel Loring. Soon 鈥楾he White Company鈥� heads out to France and Spain in a quest brimming with hilarious situations, sword fights, danger and carnage.
While reading this book the reader may find some of the vocabulary from the era a bit of a challenge but it wont be something that will entirely stop him from enjoying a thoroughly well narrated story. I will strongly recommend 鈥楾he White Company鈥� for those who love invigorating tales of good-old-style adventure and chivalry.
December 3, 2023
On my geek blog, called the Mustache and the Beard, my best friend of 37 years and I, made lists of the top 50 novels a bibliophile should read before dying. We only had 8 books in common. One of the books that I had never heard of was The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Little-by-little, I have sought out the books on his list to be a better-rounded bibliophile.
I won't lie, this book was a chore. There are certain places where the narration is sleek, svelte, and perfectly succinct; but then there are other places where Doyle becomes ostentatiously verbose, excessively flowery, and overtly superfluous. It not only became boring, but those places would become a slog. Then, invariably something interesting would occur to drag me back in, and I would be carried along until Doyle would again decide on a circuitous route rather than the most direct one.
It was annoying, but I never considered the idea of DNF. I don't do that. My OCD would not even allow for that consideration. Here, a knight goes off to fight a war to gain acclaim and he takes a contingent of supporting characters with their own satellite quests to complete. Overall, the story is not bad, just about 100 pages too long.
I won't lie, this book was a chore. There are certain places where the narration is sleek, svelte, and perfectly succinct; but then there are other places where Doyle becomes ostentatiously verbose, excessively flowery, and overtly superfluous. It not only became boring, but those places would become a slog. Then, invariably something interesting would occur to drag me back in, and I would be carried along until Doyle would again decide on a circuitous route rather than the most direct one.
It was annoying, but I never considered the idea of DNF. I don't do that. My OCD would not even allow for that consideration. Here, a knight goes off to fight a war to gain acclaim and he takes a contingent of supporting characters with their own satellite quests to complete. Overall, the story is not bad, just about 100 pages too long.
July 5, 2012
_The White Company_ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is equal parts boy鈥檚 own adventure and historical fiction of the Hundred Years鈥� War. It reminded me very much of the spirit of Sir Walter Scott鈥檚 , though it鈥檚 been so long since I read the latter story I wouldn鈥檛 want to draw too many specific comparisons. The story is that of a young aristocrat, Alleyne Edricson, who leaves the safe confines of the abbey where he was raised in order to see the world for a year before deciding on the path his life is to follow. From the first Doyle fills his tale with action that is tempered with descriptive passages detailing the varied aspects of medieval life of England and France in the fourteenth century. One gets a detailed sense of a world in which the habitations of man were widely interspersed amongst the ever present wilderness with areas of cultivation spread between.
The story Doyle tells straddles a strange line, for while there are parts that read like an idyllic paen to the simpler and purer days of yore, he does not shy away from presenting hard truths regarding the savagery, poverty, and tyranny that were also pervasive at the time. One is often left wondering whether Doyle wanted to praise or berate the era, to simplify it or acknowledge its complexities, but perhaps he simply felt that, like any other age, there was equal measure of both praise and blame to be given to it. Alleyne鈥檚 relative innocence and inexperience with the world outside of abbey walls allows him to be an excellent stand-in for the reader, as he experiences for the first time the realities of the wider medieval world. As though immersed in a kind of Canterbury Tales Alleyne meets pardoners, friars, palmers, hucksters, knights, peasants, franklins and soldiers allowing the reader to experience a veritable cross-section of medieval society in all of its varied glory. Sometimes this can come across as a bit too pat, as Doyle manages to have Alleyne cross paths with nearly every segment of medieval society on his journeys along the highways and byways of England and France.
The characters of Alleyne, with his wide-eyed innocence, and Sir Nigel Loring, with his almost simplistically quixotic belief in the tenets of chivalry, give Doyle the chance to indulge in elements of chivalric romance, while the more hard-bitten archer Samkin Aylward and his less idealistic comrades in the White Company allow for a more pragmatic look at medieval warfare to be examined. Still, for all of the historical detail that Conan Doyle may have laden his story with, it definitely seems to come down on the side of idealistic chivalry; for despite its acknowledgment of the unending warfare with the goal of plunder that turned half of France into a wasted no-man鈥檚 land, sly allusions to the inherent naivet茅 of many of the ideals of chivalry through the literally and figuratively myopic Sir Nigel, and various references to the downtrodden peasantry (including a scene in which a tyrannical seigneur鈥檚 castle is attacked and destroyed by a starving peasant mob) the novel still often reads like the Middle Ages as produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
It was still an enjoyable read and further goes to show me Conan Doyle鈥檚 range as a writer.
The story Doyle tells straddles a strange line, for while there are parts that read like an idyllic paen to the simpler and purer days of yore, he does not shy away from presenting hard truths regarding the savagery, poverty, and tyranny that were also pervasive at the time. One is often left wondering whether Doyle wanted to praise or berate the era, to simplify it or acknowledge its complexities, but perhaps he simply felt that, like any other age, there was equal measure of both praise and blame to be given to it. Alleyne鈥檚 relative innocence and inexperience with the world outside of abbey walls allows him to be an excellent stand-in for the reader, as he experiences for the first time the realities of the wider medieval world. As though immersed in a kind of Canterbury Tales Alleyne meets pardoners, friars, palmers, hucksters, knights, peasants, franklins and soldiers allowing the reader to experience a veritable cross-section of medieval society in all of its varied glory. Sometimes this can come across as a bit too pat, as Doyle manages to have Alleyne cross paths with nearly every segment of medieval society on his journeys along the highways and byways of England and France.
The characters of Alleyne, with his wide-eyed innocence, and Sir Nigel Loring, with his almost simplistically quixotic belief in the tenets of chivalry, give Doyle the chance to indulge in elements of chivalric romance, while the more hard-bitten archer Samkin Aylward and his less idealistic comrades in the White Company allow for a more pragmatic look at medieval warfare to be examined. Still, for all of the historical detail that Conan Doyle may have laden his story with, it definitely seems to come down on the side of idealistic chivalry; for despite its acknowledgment of the unending warfare with the goal of plunder that turned half of France into a wasted no-man鈥檚 land, sly allusions to the inherent naivet茅 of many of the ideals of chivalry through the literally and figuratively myopic Sir Nigel, and various references to the downtrodden peasantry (including a scene in which a tyrannical seigneur鈥檚 castle is attacked and destroyed by a starving peasant mob) the novel still often reads like the Middle Ages as produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
It was still an enjoyable read and further goes to show me Conan Doyle鈥檚 range as a writer.
February 14, 2024
The story is set during the Hundred Years War. The White Company was a band of English mercenaries who fought in France, Spain and Italy. Conan Doyle was a great storyteller in the traditional sense, and he did a good deal of research for his historical novels. Plenty of detail on the ways of life of the various classes in late 14th century Europe, with an emphasis upon the lives of the knights, squires and men-at-arms. Heroes, jousts, medieval warfare, derring-do, cliff-hangers and courtly love. All things considered, an enjoyable read.
April 29, 2019
Loved, loved, loved! Galant knights, chivalry, a dash of healthy romance makes for a great story! It鈥檚 a shame more don鈥檛 know about this classic. Sir Nigel is one of my favorites of this tale. He is such a perfect example of a good husband and all-around good manly, godly man.
February 23, 2020
The kind of book you can imagine Tom Sawyer reading before running off into the woods to pretend to be a knight.
There isn't much of a central plot here; it's more about the different scrapes that the characters get into, but everyone is interesting enough to hold the reader's attention.
There isn't much of a central plot here; it's more about the different scrapes that the characters get into, but everyone is interesting enough to hold the reader's attention.
March 7, 2021
ENGLISH: Historical novel set in the 100 years war, when the English, led by the Black Prince (son of Edward III and father of Richard II) supported Pedro I of Castile, while the French, led by Bertrand Du Guesclin, supported Enrique II of Trast谩mara.
Conan Doyle often confuses Castile with Spain. When describing Pedro I, he tends to pay attention to his nickname, "The Cruel One," given to him by his enemies, without taking into account the nickname given by his supporters: the Just. But it must be recognized that he was quite harsh with his enemies, or those whom he considered as such, although it remains to be seen what any other king of the period would have done in a similar situation.
In the first chapters, the abbot of the monastery asserts that the earth is flat, and implies that all monks think the same. Precisely in a monastery they had to know that the Earth is round, as it had been known for two millennia. Farmers and serfs may have believed it, but not more enlightened people. The trouble is that the children of the Enlightenment (Doyle is one) are quite ignorant about medieval history, apart from wars and battles.
Nor does it seem appropriate what Doyle makes the monks say and do about women, those daughters of Eve who just cause temptations. Or the nuns, who have ever always been taught that the way of nature [i.e. marriage] is the way of sin. This error has always been fought by the Catholic Church. Doyle shows he believes (wrongly) that this is or has been Catholic doctrine.
All this is part of the English Black Legend as regards the Middle Ages and the Catholic Church. I published a post about this in my blog: . Conan Doyle is credulous about all these lies, just as he was credulous a few years later about spiritualisme.
In fact, in chapter 29 Doyle anticipates some of his later ideas regarding spiritualisme, when two of his characters have visions predicting a tragic future. As this is one of his oldest works, published shortly after "The sign of four," perhaps those ideas were not yet clear, as they were 35 years later, when he wrote "The Land of Mists".
ESPA脩OL: Relato ambientado en la guerra de los 100 a帽os, cuando los ingleses, mandados por el Pr铆ncipe Negro (hijo de Eduardo III y padre de Ricardo II) apoyaban a Pedro I de Castilla, mientras los franceses, dirigidos por Bertrand Du Guesclin, apoyaban a Enrique II de Trast谩mara.
Conan Doyle confunde a menudo Castilla con Espa帽a. Al describir a Pedro I tiende a hacer caso de su apelativo de El Cruel, que le daban sus enemigos, sin tener en cuenta el que le daban sus partidarios: el Justiciero. Pero hay que reconocer que fue muy duro con sus enemigos, o con quienes consideraba como tales, aunque habr铆a que ver qu茅 habr铆a hecho cualquier otro rey de la 茅poca en una situaci贸n an谩loga.
En los primeros cap铆tulos, el abad del monasterio da por supuesto que la Tierra es plana, dando a entender que todos los monjes piensan lo mismo. Precisamente en un monasterio ten铆an que saber que la Tierra es redonda, puesto que se sab铆a desde dos milenios antes. Eso lo pod铆a creer la gente de la gleba, pero no las personas m谩s o menos ilustradas. Lo malo es que los hijos de la Ilustraci贸n (entre los que se cuenta Doyle) son muy ignorantes sobre historia medieval, aparte de guerras y batallas.
Tampoco me parece oportuno lo que Doyle hace decir y hacer a los monjes respecto a las mujeres, esas hijas de Eva que s贸lo causan tentaciones. O las monjas, a las que han ense帽ado siempre que el camino de la naturaleza [o sea, el matrimonio] es el camino del pecado. Este error ha sido combatido siempre por la Iglesia Cat贸lica. Doyle cree (err贸neamente) que esto es o ha sido doctrina cat贸lica.
Todo esto es parte de la Leyenda Negra inglesa respecto a la Edad Media y la Iglesia Cat贸lica. Publiqu茅 en mi blog un art铆culo sobre esto: . Conan Doyle se muestra cr茅dulo respecto a todas estas mentiras, como tambi茅n fue cr茅dulo algunos a帽os despu茅s respecto al espiritismo.
De hecho, en el cap铆tulo 29 Doyle se adelanta a sus ideas posteriores respecto al espiritismo, cuando dos de sus personajes tienen visiones que predicen un futuro tr谩gico. Siendo esta una de sus obras m谩s antiguas, poco posterior a "El signo de los cuatro", quiz谩 esas ideas no estaban a煤n bien formadas, como ya lo estaban 35 a帽os despu茅s en "The Land of Mists".
Conan Doyle often confuses Castile with Spain. When describing Pedro I, he tends to pay attention to his nickname, "The Cruel One," given to him by his enemies, without taking into account the nickname given by his supporters: the Just. But it must be recognized that he was quite harsh with his enemies, or those whom he considered as such, although it remains to be seen what any other king of the period would have done in a similar situation.
In the first chapters, the abbot of the monastery asserts that the earth is flat, and implies that all monks think the same. Precisely in a monastery they had to know that the Earth is round, as it had been known for two millennia. Farmers and serfs may have believed it, but not more enlightened people. The trouble is that the children of the Enlightenment (Doyle is one) are quite ignorant about medieval history, apart from wars and battles.
Nor does it seem appropriate what Doyle makes the monks say and do about women, those daughters of Eve who just cause temptations. Or the nuns, who have ever always been taught that the way of nature [i.e. marriage] is the way of sin. This error has always been fought by the Catholic Church. Doyle shows he believes (wrongly) that this is or has been Catholic doctrine.
All this is part of the English Black Legend as regards the Middle Ages and the Catholic Church. I published a post about this in my blog: . Conan Doyle is credulous about all these lies, just as he was credulous a few years later about spiritualisme.
In fact, in chapter 29 Doyle anticipates some of his later ideas regarding spiritualisme, when two of his characters have visions predicting a tragic future. As this is one of his oldest works, published shortly after "The sign of four," perhaps those ideas were not yet clear, as they were 35 years later, when he wrote "The Land of Mists".
ESPA脩OL: Relato ambientado en la guerra de los 100 a帽os, cuando los ingleses, mandados por el Pr铆ncipe Negro (hijo de Eduardo III y padre de Ricardo II) apoyaban a Pedro I de Castilla, mientras los franceses, dirigidos por Bertrand Du Guesclin, apoyaban a Enrique II de Trast谩mara.
Conan Doyle confunde a menudo Castilla con Espa帽a. Al describir a Pedro I tiende a hacer caso de su apelativo de El Cruel, que le daban sus enemigos, sin tener en cuenta el que le daban sus partidarios: el Justiciero. Pero hay que reconocer que fue muy duro con sus enemigos, o con quienes consideraba como tales, aunque habr铆a que ver qu茅 habr铆a hecho cualquier otro rey de la 茅poca en una situaci贸n an谩loga.
En los primeros cap铆tulos, el abad del monasterio da por supuesto que la Tierra es plana, dando a entender que todos los monjes piensan lo mismo. Precisamente en un monasterio ten铆an que saber que la Tierra es redonda, puesto que se sab铆a desde dos milenios antes. Eso lo pod铆a creer la gente de la gleba, pero no las personas m谩s o menos ilustradas. Lo malo es que los hijos de la Ilustraci贸n (entre los que se cuenta Doyle) son muy ignorantes sobre historia medieval, aparte de guerras y batallas.
Tampoco me parece oportuno lo que Doyle hace decir y hacer a los monjes respecto a las mujeres, esas hijas de Eva que s贸lo causan tentaciones. O las monjas, a las que han ense帽ado siempre que el camino de la naturaleza [o sea, el matrimonio] es el camino del pecado. Este error ha sido combatido siempre por la Iglesia Cat贸lica. Doyle cree (err贸neamente) que esto es o ha sido doctrina cat贸lica.
Todo esto es parte de la Leyenda Negra inglesa respecto a la Edad Media y la Iglesia Cat贸lica. Publiqu茅 en mi blog un art铆culo sobre esto: . Conan Doyle se muestra cr茅dulo respecto a todas estas mentiras, como tambi茅n fue cr茅dulo algunos a帽os despu茅s respecto al espiritismo.
De hecho, en el cap铆tulo 29 Doyle se adelanta a sus ideas posteriores respecto al espiritismo, cuando dos de sus personajes tienen visiones que predicen un futuro tr谩gico. Siendo esta una de sus obras m谩s antiguas, poco posterior a "El signo de los cuatro", quiz谩 esas ideas no estaban a煤n bien formadas, como ya lo estaban 35 a帽os despu茅s en "The Land of Mists".
August 1, 2012
This is my favorite most favorite book of all time ever. I love it for its adventure, its sweetness, its badass women (unusual for the time and even moreso for Conan Doyle,) its fun characters, and the fact that since it was originally a magazine serial, while it's exciting and fun it is episodic enough to put down when you want to do trivial things like sleep or go to work.
What I didn't realize until I reread it as an adult is how funny it is. VERY dry humor, but there's a laugh in every line if that's how you get the giggles. The characters are very snarky, and you've got a narrator with his tongue firmly planted in cheek.
If you're expecting deep secrets of the universe, you'll be disappointed. This is a pretty impressively historically accurate Technicolor romp full of awesome.
And everybody who says it's for boys? Heck no! It's for swashbucklers at heart, male or female.
What I didn't realize until I reread it as an adult is how funny it is. VERY dry humor, but there's a laugh in every line if that's how you get the giggles. The characters are very snarky, and you've got a narrator with his tongue firmly planted in cheek.
If you're expecting deep secrets of the universe, you'll be disappointed. This is a pretty impressively historically accurate Technicolor romp full of awesome.
And everybody who says it's for boys? Heck no! It's for swashbucklers at heart, male or female.
September 30, 2024
Nach eigenem Bekunden das Lieblingsbuch des Autors der Sherlock-Holmes-Geschichten und der Professor-Challenger-Reihe. Bei mir kam es im komparatistichen Projekt Jungs-Literatur Anno 1891 zu Ehren.
Seitdem ich die Krimis von Emile Gaboriau gelesen habe, dessen Mastermind-Ermittler Inspektor Lecoq von Holmes wegen seiner Verkleidungsk眉nste und aller Kraftmeierei arg gescholten wird, hatte Conan Doyle zumindest als kreativer Kopf auf dem Krimi-Sektor abgedankt. Die Sherlock-Romane sind nur an englische oder viktorianische Verh盲ltnisse angepasste Gaboriaus, in deren Verlauf der Ermittler halt kein ausschweifendes Liebesleben unterbringen muss.
Und was die unterhaltsame Seite von schwulen P盲rchen angeht, da hat CD-Schwager E.W. Hornung klar die Nase vorn. Der Gentleman-Einbrecher Raffles und sein immer mal wieder gegen seinen Willen mit ins Spiel gezogene Adlatus und Chronist Bunny sind eine unterhaltsamere Krimi-Lekt眉re. Auch deshalb, weil dem overselfconfidenten Einbrecher-Mastermind, immer mal wieder, ein gewaltiger Rechenfehler unterl盲uft, was zu massiv erh枚htem Spannungslevel beitr盲gt. W盲hrend Sherlock halt seine Rechenaufgaben l枚st.
Zum Roman:
Vier Jahre Recherche sollen in diesem Herzensprojekt stecken und CD l盲sst seine Leser mehr daran teilhaben, als der Entwicklung der Handlung gut tut. Strukturell ist der Roman episodisch aufgebaut, also wie Don Quixote oder die von Cervantes parodierten Epen. Allerlei Abenteuer, triumphal ausgefochtene Turniere oder tragikomische Episoden werden aneinander gereiht.
Als gro脽e Spannungsmomente fungieren der 脺berfall auf ein vermeintlich sicheres Schloss durch die ausgehungerte Landbev枚lkerung, die der Hundertj盲hrige Krieg um Hab und Gut und ein Dach 眉ber dem Kopf gebracht hat. Sowie eine praktisch aussichtslose Lage gegen eine massive 脺bermacht von Spaniern und Franzosen. In beiden F盲llen erweist sich der junge Allesk枚nner Alleyene als rettende Instanz mittels Schie脽pulver (脺berfall der Entrechteten und Ausgepl眉nderten alias Mittelalter-Indianer) bzw. Freeclimbing, um Verst盲rkungen herbei zu f眉hren.
Wie bei den Vergleichsgr枚脽en G.A. Henty oder Karl May sind die (jungen) Helden in allen Dom盲nen 眉berragend, ohne vorher viel Erfahrung gesammelt zu haben. Der Klostersch眉ler Alleyne gewinnt das Herz seiner Liebsten, die er als Damsel in Distress vor dem Zugriff des eigenen Bruders gerettet hat, aber erst aufgrund seiner literarisch-musischen Vorbildung. Wie die Helden Henty und May ist er zudem in der Lage k枚rperlich oder zahlenm盲脽ig 眉berlegene Gegner zur 眉berlisten.
Damit bin ich beim aktuellen Anlass ein paar der alten Schm枚ker durchzugehen. Denn gerade die britisch-viktorianischen Junghelden sind das jugendlich-m盲nnliche Gegenst眉ck zu den Mary-Sues, die in den letzten Jahren allgemeiner Kino-Standard waren. Allesamt Existenzen, die keine schmerzhaften Lernprozesse durchlaufen oder auch mal Lehren aus unangepasstem Verhalten ziehen m眉ssen.
Zugegeben, pers枚nliche Entwicklung waren in den alten Ritterepen auch kein Thema, als Bonus kann man CD zugute halten, dass er die Spannung zwischen altem, ritterlichen Ehrenkodex und dem beutel眉sternen S枚ldnertum der Bogen- und Armbrustsch眉tzen heraus arbeitet, obwohl sich der Anf眉hrer der White Company auch nur auf diesen Zug begibt, weil man sich sonst den Unterhalt der Burg nicht wirklich leisten kann.
Sinn und Unsinn des 100j盲hrigen Krieges wird nicht wirklich thematisiert, aber die aufgezeigten Folgen des englischen Imperialismus in Landstrichen, wo man eigentlich nichts verloren hat, machen den Roman zum unfreiwilligen Antikriegsbuch. Der gut zwanzig Jahre vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg entstandene Schm枚ker, macht aber ganz gut nachvollziehbar, mit welcher Mentalit盲t die Briten von 1914 in einen Weltkrieg gezogen sind. Als bestens ausgebildete Bajonettk盲mpfer und Kavalleristen, die erst gar nicht in einen heldenhaften Zweikampf mit dem Gegner kamen, weil eine zwei Kilometer entfernte Kanone die Reihen lichtete und die 脺berlebenden mit 25 Kilo Gep盲ck auf dem R眉cken leichte Beute f眉r deutsche Maschinengewehre wurden.
Wenn man literarische Kriterien anlegt, gibt es 3* f眉r die Flei脽arbeit der literarische Wert ist unbedeutend, im Vergleich dazu ist alles vom immer im Jungenalter stehen gebliebenen Robert Louis Stevenson 5*. Auch wegen Black Arrow, das einen ganz anderen Sog entfaltet, habe ich CDS White Company gnadenlos durchgezogen.
Seitdem ich die Krimis von Emile Gaboriau gelesen habe, dessen Mastermind-Ermittler Inspektor Lecoq von Holmes wegen seiner Verkleidungsk眉nste und aller Kraftmeierei arg gescholten wird, hatte Conan Doyle zumindest als kreativer Kopf auf dem Krimi-Sektor abgedankt. Die Sherlock-Romane sind nur an englische oder viktorianische Verh盲ltnisse angepasste Gaboriaus, in deren Verlauf der Ermittler halt kein ausschweifendes Liebesleben unterbringen muss.
Und was die unterhaltsame Seite von schwulen P盲rchen angeht, da hat CD-Schwager E.W. Hornung klar die Nase vorn. Der Gentleman-Einbrecher Raffles und sein immer mal wieder gegen seinen Willen mit ins Spiel gezogene Adlatus und Chronist Bunny sind eine unterhaltsamere Krimi-Lekt眉re. Auch deshalb, weil dem overselfconfidenten Einbrecher-Mastermind, immer mal wieder, ein gewaltiger Rechenfehler unterl盲uft, was zu massiv erh枚htem Spannungslevel beitr盲gt. W盲hrend Sherlock halt seine Rechenaufgaben l枚st.
Zum Roman:
Vier Jahre Recherche sollen in diesem Herzensprojekt stecken und CD l盲sst seine Leser mehr daran teilhaben, als der Entwicklung der Handlung gut tut. Strukturell ist der Roman episodisch aufgebaut, also wie Don Quixote oder die von Cervantes parodierten Epen. Allerlei Abenteuer, triumphal ausgefochtene Turniere oder tragikomische Episoden werden aneinander gereiht.
Als gro脽e Spannungsmomente fungieren der 脺berfall auf ein vermeintlich sicheres Schloss durch die ausgehungerte Landbev枚lkerung, die der Hundertj盲hrige Krieg um Hab und Gut und ein Dach 眉ber dem Kopf gebracht hat. Sowie eine praktisch aussichtslose Lage gegen eine massive 脺bermacht von Spaniern und Franzosen. In beiden F盲llen erweist sich der junge Allesk枚nner Alleyene als rettende Instanz mittels Schie脽pulver (脺berfall der Entrechteten und Ausgepl眉nderten alias Mittelalter-Indianer) bzw. Freeclimbing, um Verst盲rkungen herbei zu f眉hren.
Wie bei den Vergleichsgr枚脽en G.A. Henty oder Karl May sind die (jungen) Helden in allen Dom盲nen 眉berragend, ohne vorher viel Erfahrung gesammelt zu haben. Der Klostersch眉ler Alleyne gewinnt das Herz seiner Liebsten, die er als Damsel in Distress vor dem Zugriff des eigenen Bruders gerettet hat, aber erst aufgrund seiner literarisch-musischen Vorbildung. Wie die Helden Henty und May ist er zudem in der Lage k枚rperlich oder zahlenm盲脽ig 眉berlegene Gegner zur 眉berlisten.
Damit bin ich beim aktuellen Anlass ein paar der alten Schm枚ker durchzugehen. Denn gerade die britisch-viktorianischen Junghelden sind das jugendlich-m盲nnliche Gegenst眉ck zu den Mary-Sues, die in den letzten Jahren allgemeiner Kino-Standard waren. Allesamt Existenzen, die keine schmerzhaften Lernprozesse durchlaufen oder auch mal Lehren aus unangepasstem Verhalten ziehen m眉ssen.
Zugegeben, pers枚nliche Entwicklung waren in den alten Ritterepen auch kein Thema, als Bonus kann man CD zugute halten, dass er die Spannung zwischen altem, ritterlichen Ehrenkodex und dem beutel眉sternen S枚ldnertum der Bogen- und Armbrustsch眉tzen heraus arbeitet, obwohl sich der Anf眉hrer der White Company auch nur auf diesen Zug begibt, weil man sich sonst den Unterhalt der Burg nicht wirklich leisten kann.
Sinn und Unsinn des 100j盲hrigen Krieges wird nicht wirklich thematisiert, aber die aufgezeigten Folgen des englischen Imperialismus in Landstrichen, wo man eigentlich nichts verloren hat, machen den Roman zum unfreiwilligen Antikriegsbuch. Der gut zwanzig Jahre vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg entstandene Schm枚ker, macht aber ganz gut nachvollziehbar, mit welcher Mentalit盲t die Briten von 1914 in einen Weltkrieg gezogen sind. Als bestens ausgebildete Bajonettk盲mpfer und Kavalleristen, die erst gar nicht in einen heldenhaften Zweikampf mit dem Gegner kamen, weil eine zwei Kilometer entfernte Kanone die Reihen lichtete und die 脺berlebenden mit 25 Kilo Gep盲ck auf dem R眉cken leichte Beute f眉r deutsche Maschinengewehre wurden.
Wenn man literarische Kriterien anlegt, gibt es 3* f眉r die Flei脽arbeit der literarische Wert ist unbedeutend, im Vergleich dazu ist alles vom immer im Jungenalter stehen gebliebenen Robert Louis Stevenson 5*. Auch wegen Black Arrow, das einen ganz anderen Sog entfaltet, habe ich CDS White Company gnadenlos durchgezogen.
June 24, 2020
I actually finished this well over a week ago, so this will probably not be much of a review. The White Company contains some of the best ACD writing I've encountered. It's obvious, from the first few pages, with its English Cistercian abbey, that Conan Doyle did a tremendous amount of research for The White Company. The world of the abbey, with its tiered ordering of members, its work day, its prayer life, etc., is brought vividly to life as the giant-like novice, John of Hordle, is brought in for discipline before the elders of the abbey. He rejects that punishment in an entertaining chair-tossing scene that could have easily come from an Errol Flynn movie. As entertaining as the scene is, you can't help but notice Conan Doyle's attention to Medieval world detail. But it is an attention to detail delivered with a light touch that informs the reader, but allows the characters to breathe.
What follows are a number of adventures and mis-adventures between three intrepid friends (John Hordle, Alleyn Edricson (a clerk-in-training, also from the abbey), and Sam Aylward, a swashbuckling bowman recently back from the wars in France) as they travel through a wonderfully evoked English (and beyond) landscape. I found these travels very reminiscent of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, as you meet various "types" of inhabitants of the Medieval world. Knights, ladies, peasants, pirates, flagellants, mystics, sellers of fake relics, etc.
Anyway, these friends soon find themselves a part of Sir Nigel Loring's White Company on their way back to some rousing adventures in France, and later Spain. Sir Nigel is an interesting character, who struck me, with his flowery speeches on chivalry, bald pate, and slight frame, as a kind of Quixiote. He's also a deadly fighter. (Conan Doyle would later write a prequel novel on Sir Nigel's early days.) I thought the ending for The White Company mildly annoying, but one I knew was coming from page 1. That (modern) quibble aside, it's a fine tale told by a master story-teller.
What follows are a number of adventures and mis-adventures between three intrepid friends (John Hordle, Alleyn Edricson (a clerk-in-training, also from the abbey), and Sam Aylward, a swashbuckling bowman recently back from the wars in France) as they travel through a wonderfully evoked English (and beyond) landscape. I found these travels very reminiscent of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, as you meet various "types" of inhabitants of the Medieval world. Knights, ladies, peasants, pirates, flagellants, mystics, sellers of fake relics, etc.
Anyway, these friends soon find themselves a part of Sir Nigel Loring's White Company on their way back to some rousing adventures in France, and later Spain. Sir Nigel is an interesting character, who struck me, with his flowery speeches on chivalry, bald pate, and slight frame, as a kind of Quixiote. He's also a deadly fighter. (Conan Doyle would later write a prequel novel on Sir Nigel's early days.) I thought the ending for The White Company mildly annoying, but one I knew was coming from page 1. That (modern) quibble aside, it's a fine tale told by a master story-teller.
February 8, 2013
Having read not only the Sherlock Holmes body of work, but the Professor Challenger stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I was somewhat surprised to discover that the good doctor also wrote historical fiction. Indeed, The White Company takes place in a rather intriguing part of European history known (somewhat erroneously) as the Hundred Years War. The White Company is the story of a cloister-raised young nobleman who discovers that his father was wise in establishing his legacy in giving him a year in the world before he could take his vows. Alleyne Edricson begins with the novel with an enchanting innocence and manages to hang onto a great deal of it while experiencing the gritty side of life and death.
To be sure, the author writes about the futility of war with vivid images, but he also captures the rather odd idealism of romantic chivalry in the person of most of the knights which Alleyne meets, serves, fights alongside, or contends with. From a modern perspective, there are times when the reader wishes Doyle would quit having the characters lecture on chivalry and get to the action, but the action is worthwhile and interesting when it occurs. It is not as bloody as many video games or comic books of the present world, but there is carnage aplenty and the descriptions are occasionally more graphic than one would expect of an era where one spoke of lower limbs rather than legs.
One even gets a glimpse of some of Doyle鈥檚 own feelings. 鈥淚n the cloisters he had heard vague talk of the law鈥攖he mighty law which was higher than prelate or baron, yet no sign could he see of it. What was the benefit of a law written fair upon parchment, he wondered, if there were no officers to enforce it.鈥� (p. 83 in my eBook version) 鈥淚t was a terrible world, thought he, and it was hard to know which were the most to be dreaded, the knaves or the men of the law.鈥� (p. 103) And his description of pillaging rang true, 鈥淏y St. Paul! It is not they who carry the breach who are wont to sack the town, but the laggard knaves who come crowding in when a way has been cleared for them.鈥� (pp. 466-467) At another point, Doyle described the land as so hostile that 鈥溾€heir only passports were those which hung from their belts.鈥� (p. 881)
When Alleyne is awestruck by appearances, a kind landlady of an inn offers this marvelous counsel, 鈥淵ou have had no great truck with the world or you would have learned that it is the small men and not the great who hold their noses in the air.鈥� (p. 124) At another point, an archer contends, 鈥淏less the lad, if he doth not blush like any girl, and yet preach like the whole College of Cardinals.鈥� (p. 196) A few pages later, Alleyne preaches a brief sermon responding to a colleague who wants to defeat seven foes in a tournament. He says, 鈥淗ere we are in the lists of life, and there come the seven black champions against us Sir Pride, Sir Covetousness, Sir Lust, Sir Anger, Sir Gluttony, Sir Envy, and Sir Sloth. Let a man lay those seven low, and he shall have the prize of the day, 鈥︹€� (pp. 208-209).
I learned a new word. Doyle used the word 鈥渂obance,鈥� a word for boasting that is derived from a type of fancy cloth, on more than one occasion (p. 168). In fact, if you look up the word on the web, you鈥檙e likely to run into the direct quotation on this from the novel. And, as an instructor in the history of games, I was delighted to see a reference to the game of Hazard (a medieval predecessor to Craps): 鈥溾€�Mort de ma vie!鈥� Aylward [a companion to Alleyne] shouted, looking down at the dice. 鈥楴ever had I such cursed luck. A murrain on the bones! I have not thrown a good main since I left Navarre. A one and a three! En avant, comarade!鈥欌€� (pp. 319-20)
Doyle also brought in interesting references from history, noting 鈥淚t was the age of martial women. The deeds of black Agnes of Dunbar, of Lady Salisbury and of the Countess of Montfort, were still fresh in the public minds.鈥� (p. 331) This reminds readers of those staunch ladies who commanded the garrisons of their castles while holding off sieges while their lords were away at the wars. And I loved the reference to Geoffrey Chaucer, 鈥溾€t the siege of Retters, there was a little, sleek, fat clerk of the name of Chaucer, who was so apt at rondel, sirvente, or sonson, that no man dare give back a foot from the walls, lest he find it all set down in his rhymes and sung by every underling and varlet in the camp.鈥� (p. 349)
The story is predictable and the resolution wouldn鈥檛 force any film director to recut the ending. Indeed, Doyle even closes with a moral summary: 鈥淟et us thank God if we have outgrown their vices. Let us pray to God that we may ever hold their virtues.鈥� (p. 1221)
To be sure, the author writes about the futility of war with vivid images, but he also captures the rather odd idealism of romantic chivalry in the person of most of the knights which Alleyne meets, serves, fights alongside, or contends with. From a modern perspective, there are times when the reader wishes Doyle would quit having the characters lecture on chivalry and get to the action, but the action is worthwhile and interesting when it occurs. It is not as bloody as many video games or comic books of the present world, but there is carnage aplenty and the descriptions are occasionally more graphic than one would expect of an era where one spoke of lower limbs rather than legs.
One even gets a glimpse of some of Doyle鈥檚 own feelings. 鈥淚n the cloisters he had heard vague talk of the law鈥攖he mighty law which was higher than prelate or baron, yet no sign could he see of it. What was the benefit of a law written fair upon parchment, he wondered, if there were no officers to enforce it.鈥� (p. 83 in my eBook version) 鈥淚t was a terrible world, thought he, and it was hard to know which were the most to be dreaded, the knaves or the men of the law.鈥� (p. 103) And his description of pillaging rang true, 鈥淏y St. Paul! It is not they who carry the breach who are wont to sack the town, but the laggard knaves who come crowding in when a way has been cleared for them.鈥� (pp. 466-467) At another point, Doyle described the land as so hostile that 鈥溾€heir only passports were those which hung from their belts.鈥� (p. 881)
When Alleyne is awestruck by appearances, a kind landlady of an inn offers this marvelous counsel, 鈥淵ou have had no great truck with the world or you would have learned that it is the small men and not the great who hold their noses in the air.鈥� (p. 124) At another point, an archer contends, 鈥淏less the lad, if he doth not blush like any girl, and yet preach like the whole College of Cardinals.鈥� (p. 196) A few pages later, Alleyne preaches a brief sermon responding to a colleague who wants to defeat seven foes in a tournament. He says, 鈥淗ere we are in the lists of life, and there come the seven black champions against us Sir Pride, Sir Covetousness, Sir Lust, Sir Anger, Sir Gluttony, Sir Envy, and Sir Sloth. Let a man lay those seven low, and he shall have the prize of the day, 鈥︹€� (pp. 208-209).
I learned a new word. Doyle used the word 鈥渂obance,鈥� a word for boasting that is derived from a type of fancy cloth, on more than one occasion (p. 168). In fact, if you look up the word on the web, you鈥檙e likely to run into the direct quotation on this from the novel. And, as an instructor in the history of games, I was delighted to see a reference to the game of Hazard (a medieval predecessor to Craps): 鈥溾€�Mort de ma vie!鈥� Aylward [a companion to Alleyne] shouted, looking down at the dice. 鈥楴ever had I such cursed luck. A murrain on the bones! I have not thrown a good main since I left Navarre. A one and a three! En avant, comarade!鈥欌€� (pp. 319-20)
Doyle also brought in interesting references from history, noting 鈥淚t was the age of martial women. The deeds of black Agnes of Dunbar, of Lady Salisbury and of the Countess of Montfort, were still fresh in the public minds.鈥� (p. 331) This reminds readers of those staunch ladies who commanded the garrisons of their castles while holding off sieges while their lords were away at the wars. And I loved the reference to Geoffrey Chaucer, 鈥溾€t the siege of Retters, there was a little, sleek, fat clerk of the name of Chaucer, who was so apt at rondel, sirvente, or sonson, that no man dare give back a foot from the walls, lest he find it all set down in his rhymes and sung by every underling and varlet in the camp.鈥� (p. 349)
The story is predictable and the resolution wouldn鈥檛 force any film director to recut the ending. Indeed, Doyle even closes with a moral summary: 鈥淟et us thank God if we have outgrown their vices. Let us pray to God that we may ever hold their virtues.鈥� (p. 1221)
April 6, 2016
This very much follows the same storyline and tropes as the prequel, "Sir Nigel," to the point that it feels more like a rehash of the plot. What I'm noticing is that you like one or the other depending on which you read first, for both novels are too similar to offer something different. Perhaps that this one has a group of characters as the protagonists, and not just Loring as in the other novel, and that its more adventure-focused, which makes sense as this is an archer's company at war.
Enjoyable is the right word for this novel, but I'm still left with a feeling that it wasn't substantial enough. It's more for young readers who delight in classic swashbuckling than for me.
Enjoyable is the right word for this novel, but I'm still left with a feeling that it wasn't substantial enough. It's more for young readers who delight in classic swashbuckling than for me.
January 18, 2015
I loved this one. I'm very happy I discovered this pearl by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, an author I've come to appreciate after reading all the Sherlock Holmes short stories and novellas available.
I was surprised to read Doyle engaged with a historical novel, and at the depth of his research. Also the writing style is quite different from the elegant, yet very fresh style employed in the Sherlock Holmes stories, it aims to capture the spirit of the time portrayed, which is the earlier part of the Hundred Years War.
This novel centers around four characters, mainly Alleyne Edricson and Sir Nigel Loring, and then the veteran archer Samkin Aylward and freshly recruited John of Hordle. The book is riddled with comic relief scenes, and it's intriguing to see how the author conveyed the medieval feel with impeccable British humor.
The descriptions of the landscape are lavish, rich, masterfully rendered, and those of the scenes, people and objects carefully depicted. I lack the historical background to judge the minutiae, but with a modern word, the world-building is truly compelling and I was amazed at Doyle's writing style versatility. The registry is intentionally archaic, probably to further immerse the reader in the epic of the time, but wholly understandable (just a little galore of thou, art, shalt, fain, rede and the likes, it's never bad to learn new words after all), even for me who read English as a secondary language. It's atmospheric!
The characters are wonderfully stereotyped, in a very clever manner because each integrates with the others to sweep the reader in the English countryside, on-board overloaded vessels, in the lists at Bordeaux, in the war-stricken French countryside until the lands of Spain. Doyle subtly, and none-too-subtly at times, intertwines his own views about classes, the roles of men and women in the society and the widespread inequality between peasants and gentles, highlighting the much more "advanced" philosophy of England (let's state facts, there's still a royal family in the UK) compared with the other rules of the period, and its archery might.
The book mainly follows pious Alleyne, when, being twenty of age, he is released to the world from the abbey of Beaulieu as per his deceased sire's will, so he can see it with his own eyes before committing his life one way of another. Doyle critics the church's tenets, petty rules and conservative attitude which ensnares men in a "narrow, stagnant circle of existence" with a sharp-edged sarcasm, but also through young Alleyne, grown-up but ignorant of the world, presents a colorful society rife with "injustice and violence and the hardness of man to man", where the lights and shadows of life are never clearly divided.
As he travels on, he meets with a motley of characters exacerbating the various aspects of humanity, the good and the bad, and he's soon accompanied by Sir Loring, the steadfast embodiment of the ballads' ideal of chivalry (at least in manner), roguish bear-sized John, still berated by his elder mother and witty, picaresque Aylward, whose vision of the world and manner of speech are a joy from start to end.
The reader learns with the naive protagonist that "what men are and what men profess to be are very wide asunder" and at times, "ignorance may be more precious than wisdom", so not to lose faith in your neighbor by too much cynicism.
The namesake White Company is met way into the second half of the book, but the tale centers around it and eventually the Spanish campaign of prince Edward of England.
The story is interesting, featuring knights, romance, family feuds, feat-of-arms, tilts, romance, battle, bloodshed, military strategies, a little coming-of-age () and it's quite fast-paced, even rushed at the end (I felt the last part could have been elaborated further); it's totally, utterly, absolutely hilarious, partial to the "grandeur anglaise" -but it's not impeding, apart probably from the scene of chapter XXIX- and describing human condition with a levity of great quality. Vividly recommended.
"Your Company has been, then, to bow knee before our holy father, the Pope Urban, the prop and centre of Christendom?" asked Alleyne, much interested. "Perchance you have yourself set eyes upon his august face?"
"Twice I saw him," said the archer [Aylward]. "He was a lean little rat of a man, with a scab on his chin. The first time we had five thousand crowns out of him, though he made much ado about it. The second time we asked ten thousand, but it was three days before we could come to terms, and I am of opinion myself that we might have done better by plundering the palace. His chamberlain and cardinals came forth, as I remember, to ask whether we would take seven thousand crowns with his blessing and a plenary absolution, or the ten thousand with his solemn ban by bell, book and candle. We were all of one mind that it was best to have the ten thousand with the curse...."
I was surprised to read Doyle engaged with a historical novel, and at the depth of his research. Also the writing style is quite different from the elegant, yet very fresh style employed in the Sherlock Holmes stories, it aims to capture the spirit of the time portrayed, which is the earlier part of the Hundred Years War.
This novel centers around four characters, mainly Alleyne Edricson and Sir Nigel Loring, and then the veteran archer Samkin Aylward and freshly recruited John of Hordle. The book is riddled with comic relief scenes, and it's intriguing to see how the author conveyed the medieval feel with impeccable British humor.
The descriptions of the landscape are lavish, rich, masterfully rendered, and those of the scenes, people and objects carefully depicted. I lack the historical background to judge the minutiae, but with a modern word, the world-building is truly compelling and I was amazed at Doyle's writing style versatility. The registry is intentionally archaic, probably to further immerse the reader in the epic of the time, but wholly understandable (just a little galore of thou, art, shalt, fain, rede and the likes, it's never bad to learn new words after all), even for me who read English as a secondary language. It's atmospheric!
The characters are wonderfully stereotyped, in a very clever manner because each integrates with the others to sweep the reader in the English countryside, on-board overloaded vessels, in the lists at Bordeaux, in the war-stricken French countryside until the lands of Spain. Doyle subtly, and none-too-subtly at times, intertwines his own views about classes, the roles of men and women in the society and the widespread inequality between peasants and gentles, highlighting the much more "advanced" philosophy of England (let's state facts, there's still a royal family in the UK) compared with the other rules of the period, and its archery might.
The book mainly follows pious Alleyne, when, being twenty of age, he is released to the world from the abbey of Beaulieu as per his deceased sire's will, so he can see it with his own eyes before committing his life one way of another. Doyle critics the church's tenets, petty rules and conservative attitude which ensnares men in a "narrow, stagnant circle of existence" with a sharp-edged sarcasm, but also through young Alleyne, grown-up but ignorant of the world, presents a colorful society rife with "injustice and violence and the hardness of man to man", where the lights and shadows of life are never clearly divided.
As he travels on, he meets with a motley of characters exacerbating the various aspects of humanity, the good and the bad, and he's soon accompanied by Sir Loring, the steadfast embodiment of the ballads' ideal of chivalry (at least in manner), roguish bear-sized John, still berated by his elder mother and witty, picaresque Aylward, whose vision of the world and manner of speech are a joy from start to end.
The reader learns with the naive protagonist that "what men are and what men profess to be are very wide asunder" and at times, "ignorance may be more precious than wisdom", so not to lose faith in your neighbor by too much cynicism.
The namesake White Company is met way into the second half of the book, but the tale centers around it and eventually the Spanish campaign of prince Edward of England.
The story is interesting, featuring knights, romance, family feuds, feat-of-arms, tilts, romance, battle, bloodshed, military strategies, a little coming-of-age () and it's quite fast-paced, even rushed at the end (I felt the last part could have been elaborated further); it's totally, utterly, absolutely hilarious, partial to the "grandeur anglaise" -but it's not impeding, apart probably from the scene of chapter XXIX- and describing human condition with a levity of great quality. Vividly recommended.
"Your Company has been, then, to bow knee before our holy father, the Pope Urban, the prop and centre of Christendom?" asked Alleyne, much interested. "Perchance you have yourself set eyes upon his august face?"
"Twice I saw him," said the archer [Aylward]. "He was a lean little rat of a man, with a scab on his chin. The first time we had five thousand crowns out of him, though he made much ado about it. The second time we asked ten thousand, but it was three days before we could come to terms, and I am of opinion myself that we might have done better by plundering the palace. His chamberlain and cardinals came forth, as I remember, to ask whether we would take seven thousand crowns with his blessing and a plenary absolution, or the ten thousand with his solemn ban by bell, book and candle. We were all of one mind that it was best to have the ten thousand with the curse...."
November 18, 2023
Doyle, one of the most venerated authors of the English language, shows in this novel that the Holmes stories are just a fraction of his literary skill. Within this volume lies a tale of a forgotten time, a story of a young man of noble blood who leaves his clerkship at a monastery and goes on a great adventure through France and Spain, a squire to the legendary knight Sir Nigel, the embodiment of the chivalric order. Doyle's prose sets the scenes perfectly, imparting upon the reader a perfect image of life and scenery in the fourteenth century. I feel that he puts it best in his dedication -
To the hope of the future
The reunion of the English-speaking races
This little chronicle of our common
Ancestry is inscribed
A must read for all.
To the hope of the future
The reunion of the English-speaking races
This little chronicle of our common
Ancestry is inscribed
A must read for all.
January 22, 2010
A few, sorrily disjointed, thoughts.
Wow--felt like reading Sir Walter Scott.
Fun book. Truly a "boys" book--moreso than I found I could take--almost. Filled with battles, blood and descriptions of armor and weapons, ad nauseum.
Set during the 100 years war.
Super characters, unique and whimsical.
Was the age of chivalry really like that? Seriously, there was a passage that talked about how the knights would take a vow to do some great feat of arms for their ladies, and that an eye-patch would be the symbol of that vow, and that the knights wouldn't take them off until they'd felt they'd done something truly terrific--it cracked me up. Think on it, hundreds of knights in a battle with eye-patches on. Gee whiz.
The idea of battle for honor's sake, not for need, but purely to do a feat of arms to win honor in the name of the fair loved maiden. Gag. Surely that wasn't really what the 100 years war was about--men with nothing better to do?? :) Not likely, but it made the story funny.
I appreciated that the author mentioned several times that the clean life/pure living of the hero was what saved him in many of his perils.
Ancient Catholicism baffles me.
The modern reader seriously needs a good dictionary to go with this book. On a single page one might find 20 instances where it would come in handy. Want to know what an arbalast is? Or none-meat? Now I know.
There was a certain passage that had me a bit puzzled, as I sat pondering it--did it mean what I thought it meant? If so, men never do change, but seems a more modern thing to say...
The hero (who has been reared in an Abbey among monks and is on his first journey out into the world) is walking along with two chance companions; they meet a man who professes to be training his sons up to revenge him upon the hateful Scots. After they leave him, the old soldier remarks:
"I have a liking for that north countryman," he remarked presently. "He hath good power of hatred. Couldst see by his cheek and eye that he is as bitter as verjuice. I warm to a man who hath some gall in his liver."
"Ah me!" sighed Alleyne (monkish hero). "Would it not be better if he had some love in his heart?"
"I would not say nay to that. By my hilt! I shall never be said to be traitor to the little king. Let a man love the sex. Pasques Dieu! they are made to be loved, les petites, from whimple down to shoe-string! I am right glad, mon garcon, to see that the good monks have trained thee so wisely and so well."
"Nay, I meant not worldly love, but rather that his heart should soften towards those who have wronged him."
The little king?? Ha ha.
Very fun and very different from what we all think of when we think of Conan Doyle.
Not the very BEST in the blood & morality tales, but a good runner-up.
BTW: ILLUSTRATIONS BY N.C. WYETH--AWESOME!!
Wow--felt like reading Sir Walter Scott.
Fun book. Truly a "boys" book--moreso than I found I could take--almost. Filled with battles, blood and descriptions of armor and weapons, ad nauseum.
Set during the 100 years war.
Super characters, unique and whimsical.
Was the age of chivalry really like that? Seriously, there was a passage that talked about how the knights would take a vow to do some great feat of arms for their ladies, and that an eye-patch would be the symbol of that vow, and that the knights wouldn't take them off until they'd felt they'd done something truly terrific--it cracked me up. Think on it, hundreds of knights in a battle with eye-patches on. Gee whiz.
The idea of battle for honor's sake, not for need, but purely to do a feat of arms to win honor in the name of the fair loved maiden. Gag. Surely that wasn't really what the 100 years war was about--men with nothing better to do?? :) Not likely, but it made the story funny.
I appreciated that the author mentioned several times that the clean life/pure living of the hero was what saved him in many of his perils.
Ancient Catholicism baffles me.
The modern reader seriously needs a good dictionary to go with this book. On a single page one might find 20 instances where it would come in handy. Want to know what an arbalast is? Or none-meat? Now I know.
There was a certain passage that had me a bit puzzled, as I sat pondering it--did it mean what I thought it meant? If so, men never do change, but seems a more modern thing to say...
The hero (who has been reared in an Abbey among monks and is on his first journey out into the world) is walking along with two chance companions; they meet a man who professes to be training his sons up to revenge him upon the hateful Scots. After they leave him, the old soldier remarks:
"I have a liking for that north countryman," he remarked presently. "He hath good power of hatred. Couldst see by his cheek and eye that he is as bitter as verjuice. I warm to a man who hath some gall in his liver."
"Ah me!" sighed Alleyne (monkish hero). "Would it not be better if he had some love in his heart?"
"I would not say nay to that. By my hilt! I shall never be said to be traitor to the little king. Let a man love the sex. Pasques Dieu! they are made to be loved, les petites, from whimple down to shoe-string! I am right glad, mon garcon, to see that the good monks have trained thee so wisely and so well."
"Nay, I meant not worldly love, but rather that his heart should soften towards those who have wronged him."
The little king?? Ha ha.
Very fun and very different from what we all think of when we think of Conan Doyle.
Not the very BEST in the blood & morality tales, but a good runner-up.
BTW: ILLUSTRATIONS BY N.C. WYETH--AWESOME!!
November 2, 2023
Here reside some of my very best literary friends. Who wouldn鈥檛 feel better for a visit with the staunch Sir Nigel or the true Alleyne? Then again bluff John or hearty Samkin are bound to stir you up to wholehearted friendship. Really, you ought to meet them. Doyle takes these delightful characters and sets them in a world of danger, homely joys, political intrigue, unfaltering loyalty, evil, good, sorrow, joy, death, and life, our world. He puts them through dire perils and crazy escapades. And makes you care for each one.
Then there is Doyle鈥檚 steady, humorous style. He certainly uses it to poke fun at the beliefs and practices he disagrees with. But, he also uses it to encourage the reader to live life steadfastly to the honor of truth and right. I think he was sadly mistaken in many of his beliefs, but I love the way he handles history and those men who made our culture what it is today.
Encapsulated in his own words. 鈥淟et us thank God if we have outgrown their vices. Let us pray to God that we may ever hold their virtues.鈥�
Enjoy! - (2023)
One of Doyle's best works. I love the characters, and the plot line while not surprising is interesting. It's a fine adventure story. The nobility and morals are very well put. While it is not a Christian book, it is very clean. The beginnings of the Protestant Reformation is looked on favorably, and the Catholic Church comes in for a deal of censure.
Then there is Doyle鈥檚 steady, humorous style. He certainly uses it to poke fun at the beliefs and practices he disagrees with. But, he also uses it to encourage the reader to live life steadfastly to the honor of truth and right. I think he was sadly mistaken in many of his beliefs, but I love the way he handles history and those men who made our culture what it is today.
Encapsulated in his own words. 鈥淟et us thank God if we have outgrown their vices. Let us pray to God that we may ever hold their virtues.鈥�
Enjoy! - (2023)
One of Doyle's best works. I love the characters, and the plot line while not surprising is interesting. It's a fine adventure story. The nobility and morals are very well put. While it is not a Christian book, it is very clean. The beginnings of the Protestant Reformation is looked on favorably, and the Catholic Church comes in for a deal of censure.
Read
March 29, 2016It's kind of interesting to read totally mediocre genre stuff of previous generations, just sort of as an artifact. But this book is basically pretty stupid. Doyle has done his homework and there are some interesting bits about monks, but it's mostly pure melodrama, and the characterization is shoddy as a tree house made by drunken children. It's basically just a bit pile of shit, but I didn't mind it while I was reading it.
October 23, 2022
Readers of The White Company may be comforted to know that they are reading precisely the kind of book by Arthur Conan Doyle that he wanted you to read. Conan Doyle did not wish to be remembered for Sherlock Holmes, and thought his historical works were his best.
Alas, posterity has decreed otherwise. If you named the five most famous Conan Doyle characters, all or most of them come from the Sherlock Holmes stories 鈥� Holmes, Watson, Moriarty, Mycroft and perhaps Irene Adler. Professor Challenger might take the fifth place instead, thanks to The Lost World. On the whole, few people are talking about Brigadier Gerard and Sir Nigel.
Sir Nigel is the essential hero of The White Company, though he takes a long time to appear in the book. We instead follow the fortunes of Alleyne Edricson, the character who has the misfortune to be the inevitable dull protagonist of the book.
Alleyne begins life in one white company 鈥� a holy order of monks at Beaulieu 鈥� and moves onto another White Company, led by Sir Nigel. Despite the title of the book, I am a little uncertain about what the White Company does. Conan Doyle is surprisingly vague, but we gather they are mercenaries of a sort.
After leaving the monks for a year鈥檚 sabbatical Alleyne falls in with two members of the White Company, John of Hordle, a novice in the same holy order who is thrown out for bad behaviour, and Samkin Aylward, a proficient archer. They travel together until they arrive at the home of Alleyne鈥檚 brother.
Hopes that this sibling will look after Alleyne prove premature. Simon, the Socman of Minstead, hates his brother, as much of the money of the estate went into Alleyne鈥檚 monastic education. In any case, Simon is a corrupt and brutal crook. After rescuing a young lady from Simon鈥檚 clutches, Alleyne is forced to leave, and rejoin his former companions.
When he meets The White Company, Alleyne finds that the lady he rescued is the daughter of their leader, Sir Nigel Loring. Inevitably they fall in love, but Sir Nigel sets off for France and Spain to seek glory and honour, and takes The White Company, including Alleyne, with him. Here they meet with a number of adventures and fight bravely in Spain at the Battle of N谩jera.
What is the spark that is missing which prevents The White Company from being as memorable as the Sherlock Holmes stories? Part of the problem is that it is an historical adventure story, and such tales, though entertaining, are never scintillating because of their nature.
The historical adventure story can falter on two points. Firstly, the author can slow the action down with too much historical minutiae, mistaking well-researched for well-written. Secondly, the tales are essentially samey when the action comes 鈥� damsels in distress, brave knights, villainous lords, tournaments and jousting, and battles.
Conan Doyle slips into both of these errors, regrettably. The narrative is constantly stopping while characters discuss aspects of medieval life such as fighting or religion, and the reader is asked to wait until it starts up again. This continues even late in the book when Sir Nigel鈥檚 push towards the final battle is interrupted by an archery contest, allowing Conan Doyle to show off his knowledge of different bows.
There are limits to what Conan Doyle will share with us, however. We cannot expect to see soldiers with dysentery or gangrene, for example. This is strictly the romantic part of history.
This is not terrible or tedious matter, but it does get in the way of the storytelling, and may explain why the book is longer than many Conan Doyle works. There is an amusing passage where our heroes are duped into buying fake holy relics, a common fraud at the time, and Conan Doyle has a dig at a pardoner, just as Chaucer did. How can you take money for pardoning people鈥檚 sins, and still be moral?
As this is Conan Doyle, he is more credulous about spiritualism however, and he includes a character who is a medium. She predicts a number of dangers, which all prove correct. With another writer, we would put this down to artistic foreshadowing, but I fear Conan Doyle really believes in this guff.
Regarding the book鈥檚 action, it is standard heroics, with rescues, fights and battles, and characters who are entirely conventional. Jousting and contests are as dull as a game of Quidditch, since it is very clearly signposted who will win.
Sir Nigel is of interest in that he is short and has poor eyesight, reflecting his age, In every other respect he is merely a brave and gallant knight with nothing to distinguish him from any other historical fiction hero. He does wear a patch over his eye until he performs a brave deed, but that seems more silly than helpful.
It must have been an interesting time, if knights really behaved that way, jumping in to defend the honour of any woman who asks. What a good way to get rid of a boring husband, or to spite your neighbour? Just tell a knight that he affronted your honour, and he will attack the man without any enquiring into the matter beforehand.
The gallant Sir Nigel is determined to fight any wrongs he comes across as a point of honour. I can think of one good example he might have considered. What about an invading army that devastates the landscape of a country so that a king can lay spurious claim to the throne of the country he is invading? Come to think of it, Sir Nigel is on the side of that king.
Conan Doyle is not really capable of questioning whether it is right to attack another country and despoil the countryside for no reason but gain. He was a supporter of the British Empire after all. Would he feel the same if Britain had been invaded by France on and off for over a hundred years, with much damage being done, based on a false claim to the British throne?
In all fairness, Conan Doyle is an imaginative enough writer to put across the other view. Since this is a time when England was successful against France, he can show some generosity towards the defeated side. This leads to one or two awkward moments.
At a tournament, a disguised Frenchman asks to fight English knights. He does so with distinction and honour. When the English offer to praise his gallantry, it all goes horribly wrong. The French knight instead delivers a speech attacking the English for the devastation they have done to his country before riding off.
Suddenly the sense that war is all just sport and invading another country is just a jolly adventure is briefly exposed as something more sinister. Later when Sir Nigel passes through France, Conan Doyle describes some of the damage done by invading armies. It is a surprising touch, and one for which we can honour Conan Doyle.
One of the more curious prophecies by the noblewoman who is a medium is when she warns Sir Nigel that his castle is under attack. (The attacker proves to be Sir Alleyne鈥檚 brother.) Since The White Company cannot go home, there is nobody to protect Sir Nigel鈥檚 wife and daughter, and they must save themselves by their own efforts.
The impolitic foolishness of fighting wars abroad while neglecting the safety of your own family pass seemingly unnoticed by Conan Doyle. Curiously the defenders seem able to manage quite well without The White Company鈥檚 help, thereby depriving us of a heroic return to destroy the enemy at home reminiscent of the end of Lord of the Rings.
The White Company is not widely-read today, and Conan Doyle鈥檚 bid to be remembered as a writer of historical romances must be considered a failure. That is as it should be. The White Company is an entertaining enough read, but it lacks the memorable touches that appear in Conan Doyle鈥檚 best writing. Medieval knights are just not as much fun as consulting detectives or bad-tempered scientist explorers.
Alas, posterity has decreed otherwise. If you named the five most famous Conan Doyle characters, all or most of them come from the Sherlock Holmes stories 鈥� Holmes, Watson, Moriarty, Mycroft and perhaps Irene Adler. Professor Challenger might take the fifth place instead, thanks to The Lost World. On the whole, few people are talking about Brigadier Gerard and Sir Nigel.
Sir Nigel is the essential hero of The White Company, though he takes a long time to appear in the book. We instead follow the fortunes of Alleyne Edricson, the character who has the misfortune to be the inevitable dull protagonist of the book.
Alleyne begins life in one white company 鈥� a holy order of monks at Beaulieu 鈥� and moves onto another White Company, led by Sir Nigel. Despite the title of the book, I am a little uncertain about what the White Company does. Conan Doyle is surprisingly vague, but we gather they are mercenaries of a sort.
After leaving the monks for a year鈥檚 sabbatical Alleyne falls in with two members of the White Company, John of Hordle, a novice in the same holy order who is thrown out for bad behaviour, and Samkin Aylward, a proficient archer. They travel together until they arrive at the home of Alleyne鈥檚 brother.
Hopes that this sibling will look after Alleyne prove premature. Simon, the Socman of Minstead, hates his brother, as much of the money of the estate went into Alleyne鈥檚 monastic education. In any case, Simon is a corrupt and brutal crook. After rescuing a young lady from Simon鈥檚 clutches, Alleyne is forced to leave, and rejoin his former companions.
When he meets The White Company, Alleyne finds that the lady he rescued is the daughter of their leader, Sir Nigel Loring. Inevitably they fall in love, but Sir Nigel sets off for France and Spain to seek glory and honour, and takes The White Company, including Alleyne, with him. Here they meet with a number of adventures and fight bravely in Spain at the Battle of N谩jera.
What is the spark that is missing which prevents The White Company from being as memorable as the Sherlock Holmes stories? Part of the problem is that it is an historical adventure story, and such tales, though entertaining, are never scintillating because of their nature.
The historical adventure story can falter on two points. Firstly, the author can slow the action down with too much historical minutiae, mistaking well-researched for well-written. Secondly, the tales are essentially samey when the action comes 鈥� damsels in distress, brave knights, villainous lords, tournaments and jousting, and battles.
Conan Doyle slips into both of these errors, regrettably. The narrative is constantly stopping while characters discuss aspects of medieval life such as fighting or religion, and the reader is asked to wait until it starts up again. This continues even late in the book when Sir Nigel鈥檚 push towards the final battle is interrupted by an archery contest, allowing Conan Doyle to show off his knowledge of different bows.
There are limits to what Conan Doyle will share with us, however. We cannot expect to see soldiers with dysentery or gangrene, for example. This is strictly the romantic part of history.
This is not terrible or tedious matter, but it does get in the way of the storytelling, and may explain why the book is longer than many Conan Doyle works. There is an amusing passage where our heroes are duped into buying fake holy relics, a common fraud at the time, and Conan Doyle has a dig at a pardoner, just as Chaucer did. How can you take money for pardoning people鈥檚 sins, and still be moral?
As this is Conan Doyle, he is more credulous about spiritualism however, and he includes a character who is a medium. She predicts a number of dangers, which all prove correct. With another writer, we would put this down to artistic foreshadowing, but I fear Conan Doyle really believes in this guff.
Regarding the book鈥檚 action, it is standard heroics, with rescues, fights and battles, and characters who are entirely conventional. Jousting and contests are as dull as a game of Quidditch, since it is very clearly signposted who will win.
Sir Nigel is of interest in that he is short and has poor eyesight, reflecting his age, In every other respect he is merely a brave and gallant knight with nothing to distinguish him from any other historical fiction hero. He does wear a patch over his eye until he performs a brave deed, but that seems more silly than helpful.
It must have been an interesting time, if knights really behaved that way, jumping in to defend the honour of any woman who asks. What a good way to get rid of a boring husband, or to spite your neighbour? Just tell a knight that he affronted your honour, and he will attack the man without any enquiring into the matter beforehand.
The gallant Sir Nigel is determined to fight any wrongs he comes across as a point of honour. I can think of one good example he might have considered. What about an invading army that devastates the landscape of a country so that a king can lay spurious claim to the throne of the country he is invading? Come to think of it, Sir Nigel is on the side of that king.
Conan Doyle is not really capable of questioning whether it is right to attack another country and despoil the countryside for no reason but gain. He was a supporter of the British Empire after all. Would he feel the same if Britain had been invaded by France on and off for over a hundred years, with much damage being done, based on a false claim to the British throne?
In all fairness, Conan Doyle is an imaginative enough writer to put across the other view. Since this is a time when England was successful against France, he can show some generosity towards the defeated side. This leads to one or two awkward moments.
At a tournament, a disguised Frenchman asks to fight English knights. He does so with distinction and honour. When the English offer to praise his gallantry, it all goes horribly wrong. The French knight instead delivers a speech attacking the English for the devastation they have done to his country before riding off.
Suddenly the sense that war is all just sport and invading another country is just a jolly adventure is briefly exposed as something more sinister. Later when Sir Nigel passes through France, Conan Doyle describes some of the damage done by invading armies. It is a surprising touch, and one for which we can honour Conan Doyle.
One of the more curious prophecies by the noblewoman who is a medium is when she warns Sir Nigel that his castle is under attack. (The attacker proves to be Sir Alleyne鈥檚 brother.) Since The White Company cannot go home, there is nobody to protect Sir Nigel鈥檚 wife and daughter, and they must save themselves by their own efforts.
The impolitic foolishness of fighting wars abroad while neglecting the safety of your own family pass seemingly unnoticed by Conan Doyle. Curiously the defenders seem able to manage quite well without The White Company鈥檚 help, thereby depriving us of a heroic return to destroy the enemy at home reminiscent of the end of Lord of the Rings.
The White Company is not widely-read today, and Conan Doyle鈥檚 bid to be remembered as a writer of historical romances must be considered a failure. That is as it should be. The White Company is an entertaining enough read, but it lacks the memorable touches that appear in Conan Doyle鈥檚 best writing. Medieval knights are just not as much fun as consulting detectives or bad-tempered scientist explorers.
March 26, 2025
This novel by Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) is worlds apart from a 19th century detective story.
It follows Alleyne, a young man who up until the events of the book is living in a monastery on the decree of his now deceased father. He leaves the monastery to experience the world for a year.
He is a thoughtful, spiritual and peaceful young man who is cautious of the evils and sin which he has been told runs free outside the monastery walls. He doesn鈥檛 like violence and urges people to settle their differences with words
He quickly meets Sam Aylward, a grizzled bowman who has returned from France to find a new leader for the titular White Company, a notorious 鈥渇ree company鈥� that is basically a band of soldiers marauding through a war-torn France.
Through various twists and turns, Alleyne ends up heading to France with Sam Aylward, John of Hordle (a big oaf they meet) and Sir Nigel Loring, a famous knight who has been lured out of retirement to have one last pillage.
They meet a few amusing characters along the way, and get themselves into some exciting and interesting hijinks and scuffles, including fighting pirates, brawling in taverns, fighting the French, fighting the Spanish, massacring the French, and jousting.
A lot of characters spend a lot of time name-dropping honourable knights and lords they鈥檝e met, pointing out pennons and banners and saying things like 鈥渢hat is Sir English Breakfast Muffin of McDonalds, who held the breach at the siege of Le Petite Croissant against the stout Gascony cavalier Marquis de Frog鈥�
Everyone in this book is obsessed with duelling, jousting and honour. Basically everyone鈥檚 reason for existing is to find the most chivalrous knight possible and 鈥渂est them in a small feat of arms鈥� in the name of their woman, and England.
By the end of the book, any trace of the thoughtful, peaceful lad who left the monastery is gone. He throws himself wholeheartedly into the fighting and killing. Any moral conflict or inner turmoil over slaying French peasants and pillaging their lands is absent, which is very disappointing and could have made the book a lot more interesting philosophically.
From a historical standpoint, it was a very interesting insight into the worldview and life of 12th century England.
6.5 out of 10
June 17, 2018
Arthur Conan Doyle alle prese col romanzo storico: un racconto medievale, con tanto di cavalieri, duelli, complotti ed una spolverata di horror.
Ho colto il suggerimento della parola del mese per scoprire questo libro, abbastanza piacevole da leggere e storicamente accurato (almeno per le mie conoscenze).
I personaggi non sono sempre credibili nei comportamenti, ma ci貌 non toglie che ACD riesca comunque a creare un鈥檃tmosfera medievale realistica, con momenti intriganti e colpi di scena.
Il finale 猫, ahim猫, troppo prevedibile.
2,5*
Ho colto il suggerimento della parola del mese per scoprire questo libro, abbastanza piacevole da leggere e storicamente accurato (almeno per le mie conoscenze).
I personaggi non sono sempre credibili nei comportamenti, ma ci貌 non toglie che ACD riesca comunque a creare un鈥檃tmosfera medievale realistica, con momenti intriganti e colpi di scena.
Il finale 猫, ahim猫, troppo prevedibile.
2,5*
July 1, 2024
No fue para mi.
January 3, 2020
This is officially the first time I've ever read a full length non- Sherlock Holmes novel from Arthur Conan Doyle. Luckily I enjoyed this adventure even though it's so different. It's a good experience following this company of characters. If you're interested in The Three Musketeers, this is definitely for you.
September 23, 2012
There is nothing better than a motley crew of adventurers setting out on a journey. They laugh, they tell stories, they meet travelers on the road, get into fights, get ripped off by con men...you name it, there's something new around every corner. Conan Doyle did an amazing job with this novel - a mix of Canterbury Tales, the adventures of R.L. Stevenson, with the attitude of The Three Musketeers. Lots of chivalric fun! Is there any such thing as a Landlubber Swashbuckler? Loved it.
Almost forgot to mention - that signature phrase "The game is afoot!" is not neglected by ACD here - I found it twice, and it made me smile.
Almost forgot to mention - that signature phrase "The game is afoot!" is not neglected by ACD here - I found it twice, and it made me smile.
December 3, 2023
"Mantieniti coraggioso e puro, audace con i forti e umile coi deboli. Cos矛, che tu sia ricambiato o meno, ti sarai reso degno dell'amore di una donna; ed 猫 questo a cui deve aspirare un vero cavaliere".
In questo libro di sir Arthur Conan Doyle, il celebre creatore del personaggio di Sherlock Holmes, si parla di cavalieri (siamo nel Medioevo), di guerre e di amore鈥� Per貌 ha una trama che non mi ha lasciato niente di niente: zero pathos, insomma!
Per giunta, la compagnia che d脿 il nome al titolo compare solo verso la fine鈥� e soltanto per essere sterminata!
[]
In questo libro di sir Arthur Conan Doyle, il celebre creatore del personaggio di Sherlock Holmes, si parla di cavalieri (siamo nel Medioevo), di guerre e di amore鈥� Per貌 ha una trama che non mi ha lasciato niente di niente: zero pathos, insomma!
Per giunta, la compagnia che d脿 il nome al titolo compare solo verso la fine鈥� e soltanto per essere sterminata!
[]
January 26, 2020
Aspects of The White Company that I enjoyed and that brought the reader into the age of the Hundred Years' War was Doyle's use of the antiquated language rather than using the factual, to-the-point succinct, modern style of writing that we see in the Sherlock Holmes books. This adventure story is beautifully written in a picaresque, episodic style that captures the journey of naive, monastery-educated Edricson into the rough outside world where he encounters for the first time ruffians, con artists, a damsel in distress and befriends two men, Sam Aylward and Hordle John, the first a high-spirited woman-crazy archer, the second a renegade herculean novice from his own monastery. Doyle's descriptions of the settings, action, and characters during Edricson's travels in both England and France have been termed as " word-painting," where through Erdricson's eyes, the reader sees his world as in a painting and enters the narrative landscape. Doyle also presents characters from every class and trade, which allows him to depict the age鈥檚 pageantry, chivalry, roguishness, brutality, greed, poverty and class inequality. A familiar scene we have experienced in our own times is that of the uprising of peasants who turn with murderous rage on their polished, well-fed oppressors and attempt to burn the Chateau of Villefranche. The action increases in the second half of the book and through Doyle's writing, the reader becomes immersed in the action as well. The threads of the story are neatly brought together at the end.
December 30, 2021
螛伪 萎蟿伪谓蔚 魏蟻委渭伪 谓伪 蟿蔚位蔚喂蠋蟽蔚喂 畏 蠂蟻慰谓喂维 蠂蠅蟻委蟼 渭喂伪 伪蠀蟿蠈 蟿慰 尾喂尾位委慰: 螣 "螞蔚蠀魏蠈蟼 螞蠈蠂慰蟼" 蔚委谓伪喂 畏 喂蟽蟿慰蟻委伪 蟿蟻喂蠋谓 蠁委位蠅谓, 蟿慰蠀 谓蔚伪蟻慰蠉 喂蟺蟺慰魏蠈渭慰蠀 螒位位蔚蠇谓 螘谓蟿蟻喂魏蟽慰谓, 蟿慰蠀 尾蔚蟿蔚蟻维谓慰蠀 蟿慰尉蠈蟿畏 螒喂位慰蠀蟻维谓蟿 危伪渭魏喂谓 魏伪喂 蟿慰蠀 韦味蠈谓 围蠈蟻谓蟿位 蟺慰蠀 伪魏慰位慰蠀胃慰蠉谓 蟿慰谓 螜蟺蟺蠈蟿畏 危苇蟻 螡维喂蟿味蔚位 (蟿慰谓 慰蟺慰委慰 纬谓蠅蟻委蟽伪渭蔚 蟽蟿慰 蟺蟻慰畏纬慰蠉渭蔚谓慰 慰渭蠈蟿喂蟿位慰 尾喂尾位委慰) 蟽蟿畏谓 螕伪位位委伪, 蟽蔚 渭喂伪 伪魏蠈渭伪 蔚魏蟽蟿蟻伪蟿蔚委伪 纬喂伪 蟿畏谓 未蠈尉伪 魏伪喂 蟿畏谓 喂蟺蟺慰蟿喂魏萎 蟿喂渭萎. 螌蟺蠅蟼 魏伪喂 蟽蟿慰谓 "危蔚蟻 螡维喂蟿味蔚位", 慰 螡蟿蠈蠇位 未委谓蔚喂 渭喂伪 伪蟺位慰蠆魏萎 伪蟺蔚喂魏蠈谓喂蟽畏 蟿畏蟼 螜蟺蟺慰蟽蠉谓畏蟼, 蟺蔚蟿蠋谓蟿伪蟼 未喂伪魏蟻喂蟿喂魏维 蟽伪蟻魏伪蟽蟿喂魏苇蟼 蟽蟺蠈谓蟿蔚蟼 魏伪喂 蟿畏谓 魏慰喂谓蠅谓喂魏慰-蟺慰位喂蟿喂魏萎 魏伪蟿维蟽蟿伪蟽畏 蠂蠅蟻委蟼 蠈渭蠅蟼 谓伪 纬委谓蔚蟿伪喂 伪蠁慰蟻喂蟽蟿喂魏蠈蟼. 螒蠁蔚谓蠈蟼 渭蔚谓 畏 蔚蟺慰蠂萎 蟿慰蠀 纬蟻维蠁蟿畏魏蔚 蟿慰 尾喂尾位委慰 (1891) 未蔚谓 蟽萎魏蠅谓蔚 蔚喂蟻蠅谓蔚委蔚蟼, 伪蠁蔚蟿苇蟻慰蠀 未蔚, 未蔚谓 蠀蟺维蟻蠂蔚喂 位蠈纬慰蟼: 螣 "螞蔚蠀魏蠈蟼 螞蠈蠂慰蟼" 蠀蟺维蟻蠂蔚喂 纬喂伪 谓伪 未喂畏纬畏胃蔚委 蠂喂慰蠀渭慰蟻喂蟽蟿喂魏苇蟼 喂蟽蟿慰蟻委蔚蟼 伪谓未蟻蔚委伪蟼, 胃维蟻蟻慰蠀蟼, 蟿喂渭萎蟼 魏伪喂 蠈蠂喂 谓伪 未喂魏维蟽蔚喂 渭喂伪 蟺蔚蟻伪蟽渭苇谓畏 蔚蟺慰蠂萎 伪蟺蠈 蟿畏谓 蟺慰位蠀蟿苇位蔚喂伪 蟿慰蠀 蟽蠉纬蠂蟻慰谓慰蠀 (伪魏蠈渭伪 魏伪喂 蟿蠈蟿蔚) 魏蠈蟽渭慰蠀. 螒谓蟿委胃蔚蟿伪, 伪未喂伪蠁慰蟻蔚委 纬喂伪 蟿畏谓 渭喂味苇蟻喂伪 魏伪喂 蟿畏谓 渭委蟻位伪 蟺慰蠀 未喂伪魏伪蟿苇蠂蔚喂 蟿畏谓 蟽蠉纬蠂蟻慰谓畏 位慰纬慰蟿蔚蠂谓委伪 魏伪喂 蠁苇蟻谓蔚喂 渭喂伪 谓蠈蟿伪 伪喂蟽喂慰未慰尉委伪蟼. 螝伪位萎 蠂蟻慰谓喂维 蟽蔚 蠈位慰蠀蟼!
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