"Captain" Reid wrote many adventure novels akin to those written by Frederick Marryat and Robert Louis Stevenson. He was a great admirer of Lord Byron. These novels contain action that takes place primarily in untamed settings: the American West, Mexico, South Africa, the Himalayas, and Jamaica.
Itt a Szent Imr茅ben van egy k枚nyvespolc, eg茅sz v谩llalhat贸 c铆mekkel, gondoltam, babon谩b贸l leveszek r贸la valami limon谩d茅t. Reidr艖l m谩r hallottam ezt-azt, a westernponyva specialist谩ja, felt茅teleztem, nyomaszt谩sban biztosan nem veszi fel a versenyt egy random nefrol贸giai oszt谩llyal, 煤gyhogy lelaz铆t picit.
No most: az elej茅n r枚gt枚n felbukkan a fej n茅lk眉li lovas, de azt谩n 谩tmegy az eg茅sz egy ilyen Texas lovers' romantikus nyenyerg茅sbe, ahol Maurice, a j贸k茅p疟 lov谩szgyerek 茅s Louise, az 眉ltetv茅nyesl谩ny egym谩sba szeretnek, el艖bbi be is t枚r egy muszt谩ngkanc谩t ut贸bbinak, ami csak akkor lenne nyilv谩nval贸bb szexu谩lis 眉zenet, ha el艖tte m茅g fel is venn茅 a "Veled is ezt fogom tenni, mrrrrrrr" felirat煤 p贸l贸j谩t. Apunak persze nem esik le, vidoran v茅gign茅zi az akci贸t, de a gonosz antagonista megneszeli a dolgot, 茅s vad antagoniz谩l谩sba kezd. Aminek k枚vetkezt茅ben kider眉l, hogy a fej n茅lk眉li lovast az elej茅n nem a szarvasok hallucin谩lt谩k, t茅nyleg van, nem metafora, persze hogy kicsoda is 艖 茅s mi a jelent艖s茅ge, azt majd megl谩tjuk, mint ahogy azt is, hogy Maurice 茅s Louise v茅g眉l szerelmesen belelovagolhatnak-茅 a lemen艖 napba, hogy onnan egy szek茅ralja gyerekkel poroszk谩lhassanak vissza, mert ugye a pion铆rok szapora n茅ps茅g.
Mit mondjak, nem verdesett miatta egekben a pulzus. S艖t, n茅ha eg茅szs茅gtelen眉l el is fek眉dt t艖le a kardiogramom - az茅rt a doki enn茅l izgisebb k枚nyveket szokott javasolni. Sem mint k铆s茅rtett枚rt茅net, sem mint krimi nem egy kimondott karakter - persze mit v谩rjunk, amikor az antagonista a m疟 fel茅n茅l bejelenti, hogy bele szokta a goly贸kba grav铆rozni a monogramj谩t, 铆gy mindig tudni, 艖 ter铆tette le a vadat. Azt谩n persze hogyan bizony铆tj谩k be, ki a gyilkos? Tal谩lj谩tok ki. Sz贸val nem Sherlock Holmesoknak val贸 feladat, m疟kedvel艖 枚reg nutri谩k 茅s egy茅b mocs谩ri mi煤js谩gok is b铆zv谩st megfejthetik. Ami viszont j贸 benne, az a texasi t谩j le铆r谩sa, meg egy-k茅t eg茅sz j贸l megrajzolt figura, az 枚sszes csillagot ezek kapj谩k.
Ohhh, geri prisiminimai!!! "Raitelis be galvos", "Kvarteron臈", "Baltoji pir拧tin臈" ir kt. romantika +nuotykiai, ar gali b奴ti geresn臈 sintez臈 brestan膷iam paaugliui :))
In my opinion this is one of the best adventure novels of all time, and certainly it's the best in the genre of "western". I had read it several times when was a child and then re-read it later when became older. Well I still remember the names of almost the all characters of the novel.
In Russia before the 1917 revolution and after the revolution in the Soviet Union, the novel "The Headless Horseman" was extremely popular and had been published in huge circulations. Almost every family in the country had got it on a bookshelf and still has .
Strangely enough, a novel whose action takes place in the US territory and which was written and first published in English is almost unfamiliar to the modern English-speaking audience. I do not know why this is so, but this is the solid fact and it remains .
The writer, who at the time had influenced such great guys as sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Theodore Roosevelt, nowadays is completely forgotten in the English-speaking world. May be it's because "Captain" Reid's books and "The Headless Horseman" in particular had not been re-issued in the UK and USA since the XIX th century? May be that's the reason, I don't know.
I read this book about 35 years ago. Yes, it was one of those books that was considered a classic and great reading material in Soviet Union. Every kid must have read it and I was not an exception. While being a timid and not a very tough kid at the time, I took a deep dive into the land of cowboys and Indians, mustangs, wild horses and fighting. Love, of course what boy doesn't want to be cool, tough and in love with a beautiful woman or be loved. That is as much as I can remember, since it was long ago, but how I felt about this book? I couldn't put it down. I was waiting to get to it when I was not home and started to read as soon as I was able to, to find out what's next. Great classic. I loved it and most likely, if I had to read it today, would still do. I know it will stir up some childhood memories that were created in fictional world of this novel. Great read!!
This book is one of the best books i had ever read. Its very full of sense book for me.Lot of love and romance. It easily takes you inside of all the novel,every scene.Love it,my advice is read this book.
The Headless Horseman - A Strange Tale of Texas by Thomas Mayne Reid (1818 - 1883)
I became aware of this novel in of all places reading the book "The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival" by John Vaillant, and curious (this story has nothing to do with Sleepy Hollow) I downloaded it.
What I downloaded was a free public domain audio version (650.8MB) from LibriVox. The .zip download contained one hundred and one .mp3 modules, one for the prologue and one for each chapter. The chapters are all relatively short, ranging from six to twenty-six minutes, mostly on the low side. An annoyance in this audio version is in the narration, which rendered by volunteers changes voices at many of the chapter breaks. At my age some of these voices were more difficult to understand than others.
According to Wikipedia, the author, Thomas Mayne Reid, fought in the American-Mexican War (1846-1848), and his many works about American life at the time involve the colonial policy in the United States, the horrors of slave labor, and the lives of American Indians. To its credit, this book contains some of the same. Also noted is that this book was the basis of the first Soviet Western movie.
This is of course a Western, and I must confess that I find many Westerns a lark owing to their cultural contrivances. In addition, this story is of the romance ilk with polite hormone induced yearnings, jealousies, and rivalries spurring foul deeds. Proclivities repeated ad infinitum over the ages to the point of stifling my interest.
The style of the writing is resonate of the mid 1800s 鈥� when words like intercourse and ejaculation were used in totally different contexts, that relative to speech 鈥� and with exaggerated colloquialisms distinguishing characters. Descriptive setting text also runs on a bit for my tastes, causing me in inattention to miss plot points and have to back up occasionally. However, in chapter seven at least there are interesting descriptions of wildlife long gone from the southwestern Texas region, so different strokes for different folks.
On a positive note, the plotting and writing of this story is accomplished and I found it more entertaining than not. Those that have a taste for old style romantic intrigue Westerns with an edge of the macabre may find this book to their liking. Beware the devious man and a woman's wrath, but if you encounter the headless horseman I leave you to conjecture the intent ;-)
Gr膩mata ar pievienoto v膿rt墨bu.鈾� Jo mammas gr膩mata. No vi艈as gr膩matplaukta. Jo mammai patika, un man patika. Jo las墨t 拧o st膩stu koplas墨拧an膩 ar meiten膿m bija kolos膩li.鈾�
Kopum膩 st膩stam dotu 4鈽�, ta膷u tie拧i pateicoties tam, ka las墨j膩m 拧o koplas墨拧an膩, nevaru dot maz膩k par piec膩m. Ja k膩dreiz ar gr膩matu draugiem pr膩to, k膩du sen aizmirstu p膿rli izlas墨t reiz膿, lasiet 拧o! Izcili piem膿rota koplas墨拧anai 墨so noda募u d膿募 un katra noda募a atst膩j tevi ar v膿lmi uzzin膩t, kas notiks t膩l膩k, bet tie拧i 拧墨 maz膩 姆ircin膩拧an膩s ar noteiktaj膩m noda募膩m dien膩 piedos pat墨kamu intrigu un gaidas p膿c n膩kam膩s dienas.馃槏 Tas ir k膩 skat墨ties aizraujo拧u seri膩lu pa s膿rijai dien膩.
St膩sts ir par me啪on墨go Teksasu 19.gadsimt膩. Par p膩rtic墨gu 模imeni, kas p膩rc膿lusies uz Teksas pla拧umiem. Par skaist膩s Lu墨zes Poindeksteres sirdi c墨n墨sies divi kavalieri - tur墨gais kapteinis Kolhauns un necilais mustangu mednieks Moriss.
Kad pr膿rijas pla拧umus p膩r拧alc zi艈a par 拧au拧al墨go Lu墨zes br膩募a Henrija slepkav墨bu, s膩k膩s vain墨g膩 p膿du dz墨拧ana. 蘑imene un viet膿jie iedz墨vot膩ji alkst atrieb墨bas, alkst asi艈u un taisn墨guma. Un visam pa vidu, pr膩tus jauc j膩tnieka 饾槪饾槮饾樆 饾槰饾槩饾槶饾樂饾槩饾槾 par膩d墨拧an膩s pr膿rij膩. Vai tas ir Henrijs Poindeksters, kas alkst atriebties un v膩j膩s savu slepkavu? Vai varb奴t tas ir pats nelabais, zirga mugur膩?
Aizraujo拧s st膩sts, kas nemit墨gi liek dom膩t l墨dzi un pat soli uz priek拧u. Liek ap拧aub墨t st膩sta izn膩kumu, jo nu nevar ta膷u b奴t, ka viss b奴s tik paredzams... Un ja nu tom膿r? Vai miris ir tikai Henrijs? Vai vi艈拧 IR miris? Un ja nu vain墨gais ir tie拧i tas, kuru par t膩du uzskata? Vai ar墨 tas, kuru vismaz膩k turi aizdom膩s? Un galu gal膩, kas sl膿pjas zem kr膩sain膩 serap膿, mustanga mugur膩?
I was 13 years old when I read this book for the first time. We were living in Texas and I was homesick for my beautiful motherland. I was invited to visit this girl who was adopted from my home country of Kazakhstan and she gave me a copy of this book in Russian. The book became my solace as I was going through puberty and all the emotions that were boiling inside me from being homesick. I read it cover to cover 10 times. Now I鈥檓 a 30 year old living in NYC finding myself feeling homesick and this book pops up on my 鈥渞ecommended鈥� list. I cried. I went to my Amazon account and immediately ordered a copy. Books are magic. That鈥檚 all
Pirmas sakinys: Teksaso elnias, miegantis savo guolyje, staiga vidurnakt寞 pabunda, i拧gird臋s kanop懦 bildes寞.
1865-1866 m. 啪urnale spausdintas romanas yra tobulas vis懦 dabartini懦 meksikieti拧k懦 TV serial懦 scenarijus: dorasis, bet nekilmingas Morisas pamilsta kilming膮 gra啪uol臋 Luiz膮, Luiza atsako Morisui tuo pa膷iu, ta膷iau Luiz膮 myli ir 寞 j膮 pretenduoja giminaitis Kolhaunas (kuris yra labai nedoras, bet dar niekas to ne啪ino), be to, Moris膮 寞simyl臈jusi meksikiet臈 gra啪uol臈 Isidora, kuri d臈l Moriso atst奴m臈 Dias膮. Prid臈kime visuomen臈s spaudim膮: t臈vas u啪stato dvarus, nes organizuodamas puotas i拧拧vaisto turtus, mergina negali susitikin臈ti su 啪emesnio luomo vaikinu, jau nekalbant apie tai, kad susitikin臈jimas iki vestuvi懦 yra toks nepadorumas, kaip 拧iais laikais.. (net ne寞sivaizduoju, kas 拧iuo metu yra labai nepadoru...). O kur dar detektyvas (啪mog啪udyst臈, prarasta atmintis, neteisingi kaltimai ir profesionalo tyrimas) bei ind臈nai (ties膮 pasakius, ind臈n懦 tai buvo nedaug 鈥� keturi ir tie netikri :( ). Ir 100 (拧imtas, Karlai!) skyri懦 apie visa tai bei laiming膮 pabaig膮. Laiming膮 laiming膮 鈥� . O kur dar i拧mintingas autoriaus 啪odis, kuris visk膮 paai拧kina, kad neduokDie ka啪k膮 praleisiu ar ne taip suprasiu...
Nepaisant viso to, po 35 met懦 "Raitel寞 be galvos" perkai膷iau su tokiu pat dideliu malonumu. Ir pla膷ia 拧ypsena: kadangi romanas n臈ra parodija, tod臈l belieka tik臈ti, kad mano susi啪av臈jimas kilo i拧 Thomas Mayne Reid nuo拧irdumo ir meistryst臈s. Arba d臈l to, kad meksikieti拧kos telenovel臈s vis d臈l to daug artimesn臈s 拧ird啪iai nei t膮 pripa啪寞stu :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
To banish from the thoughts one who has been passionately loved is a simple impossibility. Time may do much to subdue the pain of an unreciprocated passion, and absence more. But neither time, nor absence, can hinder the continued recurrence of that longing for the lost loved one鈥攐r quiet the heart aching with that void that has never been satisfactorily filled. * In the physical world Time is accounted the destroyer; though in the moral, it is oft the restorer.
Since I am not a classics reader, agreeing to read this as our next book club read was definitely a challenge to me. I was pretty sure from the start that it wouldn't be for me. Yet, this book honestly surprised me in a good way.
Maybe it were the short chapters that almost always ended in a sort of a cliffhanger, maybe it was the unique writing style that at first I did not enjoyed, but later on come to love, maybe it was the old Texas life with all the wilderness description and free atmosphere, or maybe it was the fact that I read it together with six lovely people that made the experience 100% more enjoyable. I honestly looked forward to reading time every single day.
The story unfolds in 19th century Texas. The wealthy settler Poindexter arrives with his children to start a new life in Texas. Young and beautiful Louise ends up intertwined into a love triangle with wealthy but arrogant and egotistical Cassius Calhoun and attractive and gallant but poor mustanger Maurice Gerald. In the middle of this rivalry, a tragedy strikes - Louise鈥檚 brother seems to be murdered - all clues pointing to a mustanger as the culprit. At the same time, a headless horseman appears in the Texas wilderness frightening people with its every appearance. Who is he? Is he real, or is he a ghost? What does he want - justice or revenge?
The start was slow, and I had a very hard time trying to read it in English at first. Mainly because of the Irish accent that got me so confused, I ended up switching to my native language. Luckily, I had an old copy in Russian from my parents, who both enjoyed the book back then.
The book takes a deep dive into the land of cowboys and Indians, mustangs, wild horses, and fighting over women. There are lots of beautiful landscapes and nature descriptions and confusing murder mystery.
The book is a mix of love and crime story - full of adventures that I think both young or old can enjoy. Romance is pretty straightforward and kind of insta-love that I do not enjoy in books, but I guess I can't complain much since it is pretty typical for those times.
The first part of the book is focused more on the romance that didn't interest me much (since I didn't really like Louise), but the second part is where all things finally get interesting - murder, the appearance of a headless horseman, investigation, jealousy and intrigue. The book passed by like watching an interesting movie.
The ending is a culmination of everyone's guesses that shows you the full picture of the true identity of the headless horseman and the murderer. Even though the ending was pretty predictable, I constantly kept guessing and theorizing, which kept me interested until the very end.
Overall, I think this book was a perfect pick to start reading classics. I definitely do not regret this choice!
Jau kur寞 laik膮 man t臋siasi noras - ma膷iau film膮, seniai ma膷iau film膮, o ar yra knyga, jei yra, kod臈l iki 拧iol jos neperskai膷iau. Tai labiausiai lie膷ia klasik膮 (eil臈je stovi "Trys mu拧kietininkai", jau ne啪inau kiek versij懦 ma膷iau, bet originalo neskai膷iau). Taigi i拧sik臈liau sau tiksl膮 perskaityti tokias knygas ir tarp sen懦 knyg懦, "Dr膮si懦j懦 keli懦" serijos, radau 拧寞 perl膮, kiek pasitrynus寞, ma膷iusi gyvenimo, reikalaujant寞 remonto (teko suklijuoti, nes vir拧elis nesiteik臈 laikytis, vis d臈lto tai 1985 m. knyga), bet labai intriguojant寞. Prad臈jau skaityti ir buvo bam, jokio Depp'o ir jokios senos raganos, gra啪uol臈s, kaip ir Christopher Walken - na, i拧 karto nusivyliau. Bet, negadinkime originalo nusistatymais ir svajon臈mis. Sugr寞啪kime 寞 senuosius Amerikos laikus, kai vyko karai bei paliaubos su ind臈nais, aplinkui tyvuliavo prerijos, klest臈jo plantatoriai, d啪entelmenai, garb臈 ir padorumas, kaip ir jausmai. Galima sakyti, jog tai romanas apie meil臋, jaunos kreol臈s, turtingo t臈velio plantatoriaus dukros, bei jauno mustang懦 gaudytojo airio. Romanas, kai su tavimi kalbasi autorius, pasakoja it koks istorijos mokytojas, supa啪indina su aplinka, papro膷iais, tuo meto gyvenimu. Sukuria tyrus jausmus bei b奴tinai atsiranda blogiukas, 寞simyl臈j臋s skrupul懦 neturintis po拧eiva, Luizos pusbrolis. B奴tinai atsiras pavojus, neteisingai bus apkaltinas taurus jaunuolis, kaip ir bus u啪sukta paslaptis apie paslaptingai atsiradus寞 raitel寞 be galvos. Nors ir n臈ra Depp'o bei Walken'o tikrai nenusivyliau, o likau su啪av臈ta atomazga, juk vis sp臈liojau kas toks raitelis be galvos ir kaip jis 寞manomas. Skanu bei ap拧vie膷ia, tokia jau ta klasika
Man vienm膿r licies, ka 拧墨 b奴s padr奴ma gr膩mata par tum拧ajiem viduslaikiem, jo anot膩cijai biju tikai pavir拧i uzmetis aci. Nek膩 nebija. St膩sts risin膩s saulainaj膩 Teksas膩 t膩s sul墨gaj膩s pr膿rij膩s un notikumus dikt膿 karstais meksik膩艈u temperments. Pret膿ji iepriek拧 las墨taj膩m klasikas gr膩mat膩m biju pat墨kami v墨lies, kas negad膩s bie啪i. Nav nek膩ds spraigais si啪ets, intriga tiek k膩pin膩ta l膿ni. Tom膿r, ja neskaita detaliz膿ti aprakst墨to notikumu s墨kumus, rom膩ns bija paredzams. Faktiski intriga bija l墨dz br墨dim, kad vienam no varo艈iem "nonesa" galvu, jo gr膩mata ta膷u ir par j膩tnieku bez galvas :). 艩o notikumu sagaid墨ju tikai, kad 1/3 gr膩matas bija izlas墨ta, bet tas nekas, jo paciet墨ba ar墨 j膩trenn膿 :). Nebija nojau拧ams kuram b奴s t膩 "laime" tikt par titulvaroni. P膿c tam intriga pazuda. Mazliet kaitin膩ja, ka s膩kum膩 galven膩 varone aprakst墨ta k膩 skaist膩k膩 sieviete Pasaul膿 un tas atk膩rtojas no noda募as noda募膩. Turkl膩t vair膩k膩s viet膩s bija aptuveni 拧膩ds teksts "vi艈a ir tik skaista, tik skaista, tas nav aprakst膩ms uz pap墨ra" - ko tad raksta gr膩matu, ja nem膩k aprakst墨t cilv膿ku izskatu, vai pieaicin膩t m膩kslinieku, kas to uzz墨m膿? :D T膩 jau var visu gr膩matu rakst墨t "notikumi ir tik interesanti, tik 募oti, 募oti interesanti... ka tos nemaz nevar aprakst墨t!" :D Nesapratu k膩p膿c 募aunais varonis grib膿ja ieg奴t vis膩 拧墨 v膩rda pla拧aj膩 noz墨m膿 savu m膩s墨cu!? Vai tad tas nav asinsgr膿ks!? Kopum膩 Lik膩s, ka b奴s baig膩 nopietn膩 klasika, ta膷u izr膩dij膩s viegla piedz墨vojumu las膩mviela. Varb奴t t膩 ar墨 lab膩k.
The book was certainly what I was not expecting. I was expecting a story filled with horror and scary moments. What I got instead was a more passionate and enchanting story about love and crime.
Even though in the first 100+ pages the headless horseman is barely mentioned by the end the reader will be in awe on how everything turned out. It is truly a turn of events that I enjoyed even though I expected a whole different series of events to unfold before my eyes.
importanta cabalinelor si respectul fata de ele compenseaza cu dezamagirea de a stii ca nici 100 de pagini nu sunt despre calaretul fara cap?Nu ,clar nu ma credeti ca am ghicit ce se intampla inainte sa ajung la jumatatea cartii ,incredibil nimic spectaculos mai bine te uiti la sleepy hollow pentru content kitchos si pentru Christina Ricci