The Three Hostages was published in 1924 and is the fourth of five Richard Hannay novels by the Scottish author John Buchan. Hannay first appeared in The Three Hostages was published in 1924 and is the fourth of five Richard Hannay novels by the Scottish author John Buchan. Hannay first appeared in The Thirty-Nine Steps which is the novel Buchan is primarily known for. The Three Hostages is set sometime after WWI and involves a plot by a criminal group trying to profit from conditions following the war. Hannay is persuaded to help recover three hostages seized by associates of this gang. The hostages include a young man, a young woman, and a 10-year old boy. At first Hannay is reluctant to join into the investigation but a cohort, Dr. Greenslade, and he puzzle over a cryptic poem sent by the kidnappers which refers to a blind woman spinning, a Norwegian barn, and "the Fields of Eden". Greenslade remembers hearing some of this before and it comes to him that he heard it from a man named Dominick Medina, a gifted and popular society man, poet and politician. As Hannay investigates, it becomes clear that Medina is behind the plot. So will Hannay be able to find the hostages before a deadline set by the abductors?
This was really a pretty good action adventure novel that I enjoyed more than The Thirty-Nine Steps which I read a couple of years ago. I think Buchan was influenced a lot by both Rider Haggard and Conan Doyle. The conclusion of this novel reminded me somewhat of Doyle's The Final Problem where Sherlock Holmes faces Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls. The novel also included elements of mysticism and the use of hypnotism to further the plot line. This was remindful of Sax Rohmer who may have been influenced by Buchan. This one also included a bit of anti-Semitism and racism scattered throughout the novel but that was very prevalent at the time this was written. Not sure if I will try to read more by Buchan but I wouldn't rule it out if something comes my way....more
When I was serving in the U.S. Air Force back in the early 1970s, one of my friends there was a pilot and a big fan of . Based on his reWhen I was serving in the U.S. Air Force back in the early 1970s, one of my friends there was a pilot and a big fan of . Based on his recommendations, I read four or five of Gann's adventure novels. However, I really don't remember much about them from my readings over 50 years ago. But I recently found this old paperback copy of High and the Mighty in a box of paperbacks that I have had since the 70s. Since I had never read it and I know that it was made into a movie starring John Wayne, I decided it had waited long enough!
The novel was written in 1953 and is about a commercial flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, its passengers and crew, and the struggles to fly the plane after it loses one of its engines and the propeller damages the wing resulting in massive fuel loss. The captain of the plane, Sullivan, has a lot of flight time over the ocean but hasn't really faced any real crises. However, his co-pilot, Dan Roman, is somewhat over-the-hill at age 53, but he has done it all including surviving a crash that killed his wife and son. The crew also includes a navigator, second officer, and stewardess. And then there are the passengers, each with a story of their own including a newlywed couple, a jealous husband, a man dying of bone cancer, a Korean woman on her way to school, etc. The novel sometimes reads like a soap opera in telling the stories of the individuals involved but when the crisis of the engine fire and propeller loss occurs and the passengers are alerted to a probable ditching in the ocean ahead the pages started turning faster.
For the most part, I really enjoyed this one. It was a real nail-biter up till the very end. However, as I said, some of it read like a soap opera which I think was very common in novels of the 1950s. It is also very dated and contained some definite misogynistic and racist language but again this was the norm for the time this was written. There was also a lot of technical dialog and descriptions of the operation of an airliner. I believe Gann wrote this to somewhat educate the public on what it takes to be a pilot. Gann was a sailor and aviator and had experience as a commercial airline pilot. I think if I had read this back in 1953, I would be really hesitant to fly on a commercial flight! But I definitely want to see the with John Wayne. My father was a big John Wayne fan and I remember seeing a lot of his movies when I was young but somehow missed this one. Hopefully, I can find it on some streaming service. [image]...more
I have been reading Edgar Rice Burroughs since I was a teenager back in the 1960s. I've always considered him one of my favorite authors and I have loI have been reading Edgar Rice Burroughs since I was a teenager back in the 1960s. I've always considered him one of my favorite authors and I have loved his Tarzan, Mars, and Pellucidar series. I have a large collection of most of his books in hardcover. I had never read Bandit of Hell's Bend but after reading a good review by another ŷ member, I decided to pull it off my shelf and dig in!
I actually really enjoyed this one. This is one of only a few Westerns that Burroughs wrote and although he was a huge success writing adventure and sci-fi/fantasy novels, I think he could have also been successful as a Western writer in the vein of Zane Grey and William McLeod Raine if he had focused only on that genre.
Bandit is a very typical Western of its time. It was originally published in the pulp magazine, Argosy All-Story Weekly in 1924 and then in book form in 1925. [image] It is the story of a rancher and gold mine owner named Henders in Arizona with a beautiful daughter named Diana who is loved and admired by all the ranch hands. The foreman of the ranch, Bull, is betrayed by another rancher named Hal Colby who longed for his job. Hal purposely got Bull drunk so he would be fired by Henders. Colby takes over as foreman while Bull is thought to be a bandit who has been robbing the gold shipments at a pass called "Hell's Bend". The robber wears a black silk scarf and mask and is know as the "Black Coyote". Later in the story, Diana's cousin, Lillian, and her attorney arrive at the ranch and insist that the cousin is the heir to all of it after Diana's father and Lillian's father both die. So will Diana be able to save the ranch? Is Bull the notorious bandit, the Black Coyote? If not, then who is?
The novel as usual for the time was really a romance with Diana's love interests and the cowboys who want her. But it is also full of action, especially the last part of the novel. It is also filled with some very colorful side characters including the ranch hands (one is a singing cowboy), the Chinese cook, the Mexican bandit, and the renegade Apaches. And as typical for the time, the novel did have a few racial epithets describing the Mexicans and Chinese and the Indians were of course bad and should be shot on sight. But this was very prevalent for novels written in the early twentieth century. Overall, I enjoyed this and recommend it. I have a couple of Burroughs' other Western novels that I also hope to read at some point soon. I also need to read his Venus novels which I have never gotten around to. So much to read, so little time!...more
Douglas Preston is known primarily for his series of novels featuring Agent Pendergast that he cowrote with Lincoln Child. But he is also a well-knownDouglas Preston is known primarily for his series of novels featuring Agent Pendergast that he cowrote with Lincoln Child. But he is also a well-known journalist who has written for National Geographic and The New Yorker. He has also written some very good nonfiction books including CITIES OF GOLD, DINOSAURS IN THE ATTIC, and THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE...all of which I have read and enjoyed.
In 2012, Preston joined a team of scientists in the search for a lost civilization in the jungles of Honduras. Ever since the days of conquistador Hernan Cortes, there had been rumors of a lost city in the jungle called the White City (Ciudad Blanca) or the City of the Monkey God. With new technology, the scientists had been able to map out what appeared to be two large cities dating back to the early 16th century in the Mosquitia Region of eastern Honduras. The organizer of the group had heard rumors of the city for years and had been trying to find a way to discover it after hearing accounts of other explorers who had claimed to have found it in the early part of the 20th century. The group is able to venture into the impenetrable jungle using a helicopter. Once there they had to survive torrential rains, insects, snakes (including the deadly Fer-de-lance), jaguars and mud. But they were rewarded by finding a cache of relics that was still being excavated at the time the book was published. But after Preston and the team returned from Honduras, about half of them came down with a very deadly parasitic disease that is spread by the bites of sandflies called which manifests itself by an unhealing lesion somewhere on the body. Preston was treated for this but may not have fully recovered.
This was a great adventure story. Preston tells the history of how the Mayan civilization was discovered in the 1800s as well as early forays in the 20th century to try to find the White City. He also details their group's miseries and joys in finding the ruined city beneath the Honduran jungle. He also goes into detail describing the parasitic disease he contracted and the brutal treatment for it. And he discusses how the Native Americans were decimated by disease brought from Europe by the early explorers starting with Columbus. Some of the populations of the Caribbean Islands were totally wiped out and much of the overall population in North and South America were 90 percent destroyed. He talks about possible future pandemics but since this was published in 2017, he had not yet experienced Covid which it turned out was right around the corner. High recommendation overall for this one....more
This is the first book that Smith wrote (published in 1964) about the Courtney family in Africa. Although it is the first boo⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 rounded up to 4
This is the first book that Smith wrote (published in 1964) about the Courtney family in Africa. Although it is the first book written, it is not chronologically first. Smith wrote several prequels to this one including BIRDS OF PREY, MONSOON, and BLUE HORIZON. These novels take place starting in the 1600s and tell of the origins of the family. I have read all of these and enjoyed them a lot.
WHEN THE LION FEEDS is set in South Africa from the 1860s-1890s and introduces Sean and Garrick Courtney, the twin sons of Waite Courtney, a wealthy ranch owner outside of the port of Natal. During a hunting excursion, Sean accidentally shoots Garrick in the leg resulting in it being amputated. Sean becomes guilt-ridden and tries to be Garrick's protector but Garrick uses Sean and manipulates him because of the injury. Then comes their participation in the Zulu war which results in Waite's death and Sean's presumed death. While Sean is missing, Garrick marries Sean's girlfriend and the fallout then drives Sean north to find riches in the gold mines near Johannesburg. He later loses his fortune and goes hunting for ivory where he meets his future wife, a Boer farm girl. And then tragedy ensues...
This book as usual was full of adventure and also provided some history of South Africa including the Anglo-Zulu war and the lead-in to the Boer War. The book was also full of violence and death with some of the main characters meeting brutal ends. It also included the brutality of ivory hunting and the needless killing of magnificent elephants. Although this could be very triggering for some, it was also a way of life during that time because of the value of ivory. Overall, I did enjoy this one and will probably be reading more in the series but I didn't really care for the tragic ending to this novel. I thought it was somewhat contrived and hard to believe....more
was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost w was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. His adventure tales were inspiration for others including Edgar Rice Burroughs and Arthur Conan Doyle. King Solomon's Mines was first published in 1885 and its hero, Allan Quatermain has been an enduring character in popular literature since then. The novel involves first a quest to find the brother of one of the protagonists, Sir Henry Curtis, who has supposedly gone in search of King Solomon's treasure trove. Quatermain happens to have a map describing where the treasure might be located so he, Sir Henry, and Captain John Good go on a very hazardous journey to find the lost brother and the lost treasure. They are accompanied by some native guides including Umbopa who is actually the exiled ruler of the Kukuanas, a fierce tribe residing near the lost treasure mines.
The novel is full of action including big game hunts, trying to stay alive while crossing a desert, battles with the native tribes, and trying to survive in the caves of Solomon's mines. The novel is also a story of its time in the late 19th century where the white Victorians were the superior people of the planet. The imperialist and racist views portrayed in the novel are definitely offensive by today's standards but were the norm for the times. The scenes of hunting elephants for their ivory are also outdated and could also be considered offensive. The language of the novel is also rather trite and was probably written originally for younger readers. But Haggard did have a vast knowledge of Africa and spent several years there. His writing portrays the natives in a more favorable light than other writers of the times and he expressed a respect for black Africans and their culture. In this novel, Umbopa and uncle are handsome, eloquent, and dignified leaders. Haggard even compares Umbopa to a Roman emperor commanding disciplined and courageous troops. And he even suggested a love story between Good and the native girl, Foulata, however readers at the time would not have accepted a marriage between them so Haggard evades the issue by having Foulata killed off. Overall, I enjoyed this novel for what it is but would only mildly recommend it and I know other readers have found it offensive because of its outdated racist and imperialistic views....more
The Thirty-Nine Steps was written by John Buchan in 1915. Buchan was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who started writing advenThe Thirty-Nine Steps was written by John Buchan in 1915. Buchan was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who started writing adventure novels in 1910, Thirty-Nine Steps being his most famous. The novel is one of the first spy thrillers written on the brink of WWI about a German plot to declare war on Britain. The protagonist is Richard Hannay, a South African engineer who is bored with life in London. Then one night his neighbor named Scudder, claims to fear for his life and asks Hannay's help. He tells Hannay of a plot to assassinate the Greek Premier leading to Europe's destabilization and war. Scudder is a spy and claims to be following a ring of German spies called the Black Stone who are after Britain's defense plans. When Scudder ends up dead, Hannay is thought to be the culprit and escapes to the Scottish Highlands to hide out. But the Highlands seems to be full of German agents and police who are after him by car and aeroplane. In the mean time Hannay has decoded Scudder's notebook and a clue about thirty-nine steps and high tide seem to be important in stopping the threat. But what are the 39 steps and can the plot be stopped?
This novel is definitely dated and contained way too many coincidences as plot threads. There is also a bit of anti-Semitism scattered throughout the novel. Hannay is able to avoid the Germans and police by using disguises and is also ridiculously lucky. This novel was a precursor to later spy thrillers such as James Bond and it probably established the formula for car chases, disguises, and master criminals. Overall, I only mildly enjoyed this for what it is. I read this mainly because it is on the list of 1001 books to read before you die. I know this was also made into a I have never seen the movie but I know Hitchcock took some liberties with the plot including adding some lead female characters that were not in the book. I guess I need to seek out this classic Hitchcock! I also have a few other books by Buchan on my shelves that I should try to read at some point.
Ivanhoe is one of those classic novels that I have been meaning to read since high school. I gave it my best shot but after reading over a third of thIvanhoe is one of those classic novels that I have been meaning to read since high school. I gave it my best shot but after reading over a third of this lengthy tome, I decided to give it up. It was originally published in 1820 and is basically an adventure novel and an historical romance written to entertain and excite its readers with a tale of heroism set during the Middle Ages.
The language used in the novel was very archaic and stilted and I really had a hard time following what exactly was taking place. There were lengthy descriptions of the various settings of the novel which I felt also distracted from the story. For example:
"The other appointments of the mansion partook of the rude simplicity of the Saxon period, which Cedric piqued himself upon maintaining. The floor was composed of earth mixed with lime, trodden into a hard substance, such as is often employed in flooring our modern barns. For about one quarter of the length of the apartment, the floor was raised by a step, and this space, which was called the dais, was occupied only by the principal members of the family, and visitors of distinction. For this purpose, a table richly covered with scarlet cloth was placed transversely across the platform, from the middle of which ran the longer and lower board, at which the domestics and inferior persons fed, down towards the bottom of the hall. The whole resembled the form of the letter T, or some of those ancient dinner-tables..."
This went on and on for several paragraphs. Although I did give up on reading this, I did go to Sparknotes to continue with the story. The story takes place when Richard the Lion-Hearted returns to England after four years fighting in the Crusades. It focuses on the tension between the Saxons and Normans with various bad guys such as Prince John being a big part of the story. There are also appearances by Robin Hood (Locksley) and Little John. One of the themes of the novel is the mistreatment of the Jews during the time although this may have been more prevalent at the time the novel was written than when the story is supposed to have happened around 1194.
Overall, Ivanhoe is probably one of the early adventure novels that was meant to please its vast audience. But I could not get past the archaic language that was used and its rather dense descriptions. At some point, I may attempt to finish this but doubt if it will be anytime soon....more
I have had this old hardcover edition of THE MARK OF ZORRO for several years and was finally motivated to read it by another review at ŷ. Of cI have had this old hardcover edition of THE MARK OF ZORRO for several years and was finally motivated to read it by another review at ŷ. Of course, Zorro is an iconic figure in both television and movies. I remember watching the old when I was growing up in the 1950's. Mark of Zorro was also made into a couple of movies including a great . [image] The character Zorro was created by Johnston McCulley and first appeared in 1919 as The Curse of Capistrano which was serialized in five installments in the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly. [image] The five-part prose story was then republished as a novel entitled The Mark of Zorro by Grosset & Dunlap in 1924.
This was really a great action adventure novel that takes place in old California during the era of Mexican rule. Zorro, of course, is out to settle injustices heaped upon "the friars of the missions and the natives who were treated worse than dogs by corrupt officials and politicians. Even men of noble blood were robbed because they were not friendly to the ruling powers..." The novel is also a love story with Zorro and his alter-ego Don Diego Vega out to woo the beautiful Lolita Pulido who is part of a noble family in disfavor of the governor. The novel is very familiar to anyone who has seen the movies or TV series. Zorro has a deaf and mute servant named Bernardo and he opposes the villainous Captain Ramon and Sgt. Gonzales.
This was definitely a novel of its time. Zorro is a pulp hero whose adventures are in line with other novels of the time including those written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Zane Grey, and others. Very enjoyable for what it is. One thing the novel lacked was a good origin story for Zorro. The last part of the novel tells how he trained himself to fight and to right injustices while taking on an effeminate persona for Don Diego. In the movies, he had actually gone to Spain where he learned his skills. McCulley wrote some sequels to The Mark of Zorro where he might have expanded on this. I did read Isabel Allende's novel Zorro a few years ago which does expand on Zorro's origins and is a great expansion on the Zorro story. I would recommend it along with Mark of Zorro....more
ROBUR THE CONQUEROR was published by Jules Verne in 1886, one of his "Voyages Extraordinaire." The novel focuses on lighter-than-air vs. heavier-than-ROBUR THE CONQUEROR was published by Jules Verne in 1886, one of his "Voyages Extraordinaire." The novel focuses on lighter-than-air vs. heavier-than-air flight. The title character, Robur, has developed a heavier-than-air ship that he contends is the future of flight (this was almost 20 years before the Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk). Robur first appears at a meeting of a society of balloonists in Philadelphia who disagree with Robur. The president of the society, Uncle Prudent, the secretary, Phil Evans, and Prudent's manservant, Frycollin, end up being kidnapped by Robur and are taken on a journey in his airship, the Albatross, around the world. They travel west across the U.S. including swooping down on a passing train on the western frontier. Then up towards Alaska and across to Japan and China. Then Europe, down into Africa, across the Atlantic almost to the South Pole before Prudent, Evans, and Frycollin are able to escape and blow up the Albatross. But is that the end of Robur? Not likely; he returns to Philadelphia to seek his vengeance.
I actually read this copy of the novel from an omnibus called "The Best of Jules Verne" that I have had for many years. In it, Robur is published under its alternate title, CLIPPER OF THE CLOUDS, along with AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS and JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH. I read both Eighty Days and Journey many years ago but had never read Robur although I did read a Classics Illustrated comic adaptation when I was in grade school.
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There was also a movie adaptation from 1961 titled "Master of the World" which starred Vincent Price. MASTER OF THE WORLD is actually a Verne sequel to Robur but the movie was based on Conqueror although the plot lines were very much embellished.
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I enjoyed Robur for what it is, kind of a poor man's TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA with Robur in the role of Nemo. Verne definitely had a grasp for the physics of the time, as well as a great knowledge of geography. And of course he was right about the future of flying and heavier-than-air aircraft although the Albatross was more like a giant drone with upright propellers. A drawing from an early edition of the book make it look like a flying ship. [image] Verne was also a little racist in his descriptions of Frycollin who was a black servant. He used very stereotypical language and pictured him as lazy and frightened at most everything. But overall, this was an engaging Verne adventure and at some point I will probably read the sequel, MASTER OF THE WORLD....more
In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl along with five other men journeyed by raft across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to the Polynesian Islands. This historic voyageIn 1947, Thor Heyerdahl along with five other men journeyed by raft across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to the Polynesian Islands. This historic voyage is documented in Heyerdahl's book Kon-Tiki. The raft was named Kon-Tiki after an Inca god and Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have reached Polynesia during pre-Columbian times. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to those people at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so. Although the expedition carried some modern equipment, such as a radio, watches, charts, sextant, and metal knives, Heyerdahl argued they were incidental to the purpose of proving that the raft itself could make the journey.
This was really a great adventure story. I have always admired explorers and adventurers who set out into the unknown putting themselves in peril. The raft did make it all the way to Raroia, a large atoll in the Pacific. Along the way, the men on the raft were able to survive some unlikely adventures and were able to use the spoils of the sea to sustain themselves. Every morning the crew gathered up flying fish which they used as food and also as bait for other fish including dolphin (the fish not the mammal), shark, tuna, bonito, and others. I had never heard of the dolphin fish and at first thought they were eating Flipper's kin. However, I looked it up on google and the dolphin fish is also called Mahi-mahi which I am familiar with. I know that it is a very good seafood. They also encountered a whale shark, the largest fish known, large squid, eels, and an ugly fish called a snake mackerel (Latin name Gempylus) that jumped on board one night into one of the crew's sleeping bag.
The book also detailed Heyerdahl's theory about Polynesia being populated from South America. He describes many of the ruins in South America and how they compare to what is in Polynesia. This includes the stone monoliths on Easter Island and other statues as well as the pyramids found in both places. A rather convincing argument. (Heyerdahl also later traveled to Easter Island and wrote another memoir about his discoveries there called Aku-Aku. I read this one back in the 70s and I probably should give it a reread.)
Overall, a really interesting and educational read. Although the Kon-Tiki raft did crash on a reef, it was salvaged and now resides in a
This is the third in Smith's trilogy about the early exploits of the Courtney family after Birds of Prey and Monsoon, both of which I thoroughly enjoyThis is the third in Smith's trilogy about the early exploits of the Courtney family after Birds of Prey and Monsoon, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Blue Horizon continues with the next generation of the Courtneys and takes place in the 1730s. Jim Courtney is the son of Tom and Mansur is the son of Dorian. At the beginning of the novel, Jim rescues a beautiful young woman from a prison ship who had been falsely accused. They escape into the African wilderness with the Dutch military hot on their heels. Along the way they have many adventures including hunting elephant for the ivory (sigh!), and fighting back the brutal Nguni natives who are intent to kill everyone in their path. Then later in the story Dorian and Mansur are out for revenge against Dorian's adoptive brother Zayn al-Din who has usurped the throne of Oman which rightfully belongs to Dorian. Tom's evil twin brother, Guy, also shows up in allegiance with Zayn... All of this leads to a very exciting conclusion that nicely concludes this part of the Courtney saga.
died late last year (November 2021) but he evidently left some unfinished manuscripts some of which have already been published using a co-author. Although some of these do continue the early Courtney saga, I have seen some very negative reviews of them so I will probably let them pass. I do want to read his earlier books however, which portray the family from the 1860s onward.
I enjoyed Blue Horizon as a really great adventure novel but it did seem to be unending at over 800 pages. It contained a lot of history and information about Africa some of which was a little hard to read about. This included hunting for ivory by killing magnificent elephants. Smith also had a tendency towards subtle racism with his portrayal of the African tribes in the story. But it was still an absorbing adventure and I will be looking forward to reading more from him....more
This was another very engaging page-turner from Preston & Child. It's the second book in the Nora Kelly/Corrie Swanson series although both Nora and CThis was another very engaging page-turner from Preston & Child. It's the second book in the Nora Kelly/Corrie Swanson series although both Nora and Corrie have appeared in other Preston/Child novels in the past. I read the first in this series, Old Bones when it first came out a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. This one was just as compelling and made me want to go back and read more of their books that I have missed.
In this one, a corpse is found in the cellar of a building in an old ghost town in New Mexico by a relic seeker. He is seen looting the place by the local sheriff resulting in a gunfight. Based on this, Corrie, the young FBI agent and protege of FBI agent Pendergast, is called in to ID the body and determine the cause of death. But this leads to a whole series of unforeseen events. Corrie persuades Nora Kelly to come to the site to excavate the body and she finds as part of the excavation a very valuable gold cross dating back to the 1600s and the Spanish conquerors of the Southwest. The cross is apparently part of a lost treasure that has remained a mystery and has been sought by many fortune seekers including the head of the nearby White Sands Missile Range. This and subsequent discoveries by Corrie and Nora lead to their endangerment by the ruthless treasure seekers. But is that the reason the relic seeker was at the ghost town? Is there something even more valuable hidden there?
This one really kept me turning the pages. Full of action and suspense as usual for Preston/Child. I have read a large portion of their books but I still need to finish reading the Pendergast series. I'll be looking forward to doing so, hopefully sooner than later....more
ROBINSON CRUSOE is another classic that I have been meaning to read since I was a child. I remember that I had a copy of it published by Goldsmith wheROBINSON CRUSOE is another classic that I have been meaning to read since I was a child. I remember that I had a copy of it published by Goldsmith when I was probably about 10 years old but for some reason, I never read it. Of course, I basically knew the story from TV, movies, and comic books and I know I read some other classics back then including several by Jules Verne, Treasure Island, and The Swiss Family Robinson, but every time I attempted Crusoe, I could not get into it. [image] Maybe it was because this copy that I had was not broken into chapters but was rather one long narrative. I now own a reprint of the classic Scribner's edition and decided to read it after reading SELKIRK'S ISLAND which was a very interesting history of one of the men who Defoe based Crusoe on... Alexander Selkirk was marooned on an island in the Pacific for almost five years before being rescued.
I probably would have enjoyed Crusoe more if I had read it in my youth. It contains some great action scenes especially in the first and last parts of the novel including where Crusoe gets captured and made a slave by Moorish pirates and then at the end when he is able to help the Captain of the English ship who was besieged by mutineers. In between, Crusoe gets shipwrecked on an island in the Atlantic near the South American coast when his excursion to travel to Africa for slaves goes awry. He spends 28 years on the island, much of it building his shelter, growing grains, domesticating the wild goats for food, building canoes, and finally rescuing Friday from a group of cannibals. Friday becomes his servant and Crusoe has him call him Master.
This was definitely a book of its time, originally published in 1719. Slave trade was prevalent and colonialism was the way of the world. This novel definitely reflects this but I know you can't judge something written in the 1700s based on the standards of 2020. I know this is also sometimes considered to be the first novel written in English. I would say it is worth reading but it was sometimes a little tedious and repetitious....more
Robert Louis Stevenson is one of those authors that I read when I was young. My father gave me a copy of TREASURE ISLAND for Christmas when I was 10 yRobert Louis Stevenson is one of those authors that I read when I was young. My father gave me a copy of TREASURE ISLAND for Christmas when I was 10 years old and I always considered it one of my favorites. I've also read DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, THE BLACK ARROW, and KIDNAPPED and enjoyed them for the most part. [image]
THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE focuses upon the conflict between two brothers, Scottish noblemen whose family is torn apart by the Jacobite rising of 1745. Like Treasure Island and Kidnapped, it is a tale of adventure and includes instances of piracy including walking the plank, travels to India, and buried treasure in America's wilderness of upper New York. But the heart of the novel is about the conflict between James, the Master of Ballantrae, and his brother Henry over their ancestral seat in Scotland. It's a tale of good vs. evil and can be related back to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde where the conflict of good vs. evil is enacted through the two brothers rather within one individual.
Overall, I found this novel to be rather slow going. The narration is very wordy and although it contains the elements of a good adventure story, Stevenson spends too much time with drawn-out ponderous descriptions during the parts of the story that occur at the home of the protagonists. The language used was also very archaic with many words that are little-used today. I mainly read this one because it is on the list of 1001 books you must read before you die but I probably could have lived without reading it!...more
I always enjoy Smith's historical novels of adventure. I've read several of his Courtney novels that take place in the early days of African exploratiI always enjoy Smith's historical novels of adventure. I've read several of his Courtney novels that take place in the early days of African exploration. This novel is the first in his ancient Egypt series and takes place in about 1650 B.C. during the time of the Pharaohs. The narrator and main protagonist of the story is Taita, a wise and gifted slave who is also a eunuch. His master is Lord Intef, the corrupt vizier of Thebes. Intef's daughter, Lostris, is in the care of Taita and is also wanted by most every male in the city including Tanus, a young and virile warrior who was cheated out of his inheritance by Intef. Lostris later marries the Pharaoh, Mamose based on a vision of Taita but she gets pregnant by Tanus and has a son that is in line to be Pharaoh. Egypt is later invaded and overwhelmed by the Hyksos which forces an exodus to the South where the Egyptians encounter the black tribes of Cush and the mighty Ethiopians.
The story is full of adventure and history. I had never heard of the who invaded Egypt around 1650 B.C. The Hyksos were able to overwhelm the Egyptians because they had horses and chariots. These were soon seen as a great advantage and the Egyptians brought them into their warfare. The book also brought to light much of Egyptian mythology which I was only vaguely familiar with including the origin stories involving Osiris,Seth, Isis, Hapi, etc. Very fascinating. I'm not sure how accurate some of the history is as presented in the novel but it all makes for a great yarn. I would highly recommend Smith for anyone wanting some action with their history and I'm sure I will be reading more of both his Egyptian stories and his other works....more
When I was 10 years old, my father gave me three books for Christmas: Treasure Island, The Swiss Family Robinson, and Tarzan and the Golden Lion. At tWhen I was 10 years old, my father gave me three books for Christmas: Treasure Island, The Swiss Family Robinson, and Tarzan and the Golden Lion. At the time, these were all a little advanced for me but when I reached my teen years, I finally read the Tarzan book and was hooked on his adventures. My older brother also had a copy of Tarzan and the Ant Men which I still consider one of the best in the series. In the 80s, I decided to read all of the Tarzan adventures in order but only made it as far as Tarzan at the Earth's Core and then for some reason I stopped reading them. In the mean time, I started collecting Burroughs editions in hard cover and now have a near-complete set of his books. So I kept seeing the books on their shelves and decided to read the next Tarzan adventure, Tarzan the Invincible.
This book was originally published in Blue Book magazine from October 1930 through April 1931 as Tarzan, Guard of the Jungle. [image]
The plot of this one has Tarzan coming upon a group of Soviet communists who are hatching a very convoluted plot to attack Italian Somalia in the guise of French troops thereby starting a war between Italy and France which they hope will embroil Europe in another world war leaving the Communists to pick up the pieces. The leader of the group is hoping to become emperor of all of Africa. Part of the scheme is to get gold to finance this coup from the treasure vaults of the lost city of Opar. Well Tarzan overhears this and immediately goes to Opar to find that La, the high priestess of the city, has been overthrown and placed in a cell. Tarzan rescues her but she winds up wandering lost in the jungle. Others are also lost in the jungle including some of the communists including a beautiful woman named Zora. A lot of the story has Tarzan looking for La and others looking for Zora. Tarzan gets help from his faithful Waziri to stop the communists and eventually reinstate La to her rightful place in Opar.
Well, its been decades since I last read a Tarzan novel and this one definitely did not grab me like the earlier books in the series. Too much wandering in the jungle with not enough plot. This is the fouth book to feature Opar and I believe the last. I know Opar was also a story line in the first Tarzan book I read, Golden Lion. I'll probably read more of these, along with other Burroughs novels, at some point but I'm really not in a rush to do so....more
I read this book when I was in about the sixth grade. It was a borrowed copy from the library. I remember enjoying it a lot along with other Verne novI read this book when I was in about the sixth grade. It was a borrowed copy from the library. I remember enjoying it a lot along with other Verne novels such as Journey to the Center of the Earth. I don't remember too much about it other that a piece of the Earth being flung into space as a comet!...more
I remember seeing the 1959 movie version of this as a kid. The movie starred James Mason and Pat Boone and included scenes of dinosaurs which to my miI remember seeing the 1959 movie version of this as a kid. The movie starred James Mason and Pat Boone and included scenes of dinosaurs which to my mind then couldn't get any better.
[image] At the time in the 50s and 60s, Verne's novels were adapted into several films including Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, Master of the World, Mysterious Island, In Search of the Castaways, and Journey to the Center of the Earth which was always my favorite. Not long after seeing the movie, I read the novel probably when I was in the 6th or 7th grade and thought it was fabulous. I also read Hector Servadac, a lesser known Verne novel, about that same time. Most of his more famous novels I have read since then and usually enjoyed them.
This reading of Journey was instigated by an article from Forbes magazine that I happened upon on the internet called The article discusses the influences on Verne and that "many geologists at the time believed that volcanic conduits, empty once the volcano erupted, connected a volcanic crater to magma chambers deep underground. Today we know that such conduits are far too small (and obstructed by solid rock) for humans to move through." But the article goes on to say that Verne was right about gigantic crystals growing underground.
This edition of the novel is based on the 1877 translation by Malleson which is more faithful to the original than an earlier 1872 translation. I know the story is somewhat preposterous but it still makes for a really good adventure novel, taking the reader to a place where no one had gone before. I remembered most of what happened in the novel from my previous read but I didn't remember that Verne described an early man who was herding a group of mastodons in the story. The introduction to this version states that this text was added to the 1867 edition of the novel to reflect discoveries about Stone Age humans. So I think Verne was trying to include in the novel the most up to date geological data at the time but the whole idea of a hollow earth and underground sea were definitely outside the realm of scientific fact. However, that idea still can be fascinating. Edgar Rice Burroughs used this premise for his Pellucidar series of novels that I read and enjoyed back in the 70s. I also read an interesting book titled The Hollow Earth back in high school that put forth the theory that the earth is hollow with large openings at both poles. dates back to 17th century.
Anyway, I'm glad that I finally reread this classic. Overall, I thought it was a fun and enjoyable adventure....more
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