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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
Fantastical description of a lost civilisation aside, the book has dated quite badly due to its Victorian presumptions (whites are better than the darker natives, woman just needs her man). The writing was decent, but it's hard not to roll the eyes.
This book started off well and my thought was never judge a book by its cover, cause the cover certainly does not look an adventure story. Half way through I began to get a bit bored, the speeches from She were very long. I also found it predictable and had guessed what was going to happen before it did.
Reread (originally read in 2007). The pace slumps a bit midway through; the beginning and ending are compelling. “She” is a fascinating character for her later influence (eg, Galadriel and Shelob in Lord of the Rings).
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ah, yes, just another Victorian novel in which the narrator is just "a bit of a misogynist" (Haggard 85). The strong female character is just a facade.
Interesting story though. I like stories that refer to classical times. And it's interesting to place the time this novel was written in context with what was happening in Victorian England at the time; men were threatened by the rising power of woman, and them demanding more rights, and so having a semi-matriarchal system in a "savage" society shows how men believe that woman having power = degradation of society. Lol @ men.
That basically is a TL;DR version of my essay due Wednesday (on this book and Bulwer-Lytton's The Coming Race).
Interesting story though. I like stories that refer to classical times. And it's interesting to place the time this novel was written in context with what was happening in Victorian England at the time; men were threatened by the rising power of woman, and them demanding more rights, and so having a semi-matriarchal system in a "savage" society shows how men believe that woman having power = degradation of society. Lol @ men.
That basically is a TL;DR version of my essay due Wednesday (on this book and Bulwer-Lytton's The Coming Race).
Been meaning to read this for a while, and it is on a friend's University reading list. I chose the annotated version so as to have a better understanding of 120 year old language.
Enjoyed this quite a bit, the first third was pure adventure novel. When finally they met up with She, things slowed down, as Haggard used antiquated English to reflect the characters use of archaic Arabic language. Apparently this convention was used by other authors of the day, but that didn't make it any easier for me to follow.
Difficult language and all, the adventure story takes a few interesting twists past this point. I think a quote from page 161 sums the entire story up nicely - "... by a law of nature man is apt to think but lightly of a woman's crimes, especially if that woman be beautiful, and the crime committed for the love of him."
Having never read H. Rider Haggard before, I intend to seek out at least King Solomon's Mines - preferably an annotated version thereof.
Enjoyed this quite a bit, the first third was pure adventure novel. When finally they met up with She, things slowed down, as Haggard used antiquated English to reflect the characters use of archaic Arabic language. Apparently this convention was used by other authors of the day, but that didn't make it any easier for me to follow.
Difficult language and all, the adventure story takes a few interesting twists past this point. I think a quote from page 161 sums the entire story up nicely - "... by a law of nature man is apt to think but lightly of a woman's crimes, especially if that woman be beautiful, and the crime committed for the love of him."
Having never read H. Rider Haggard before, I intend to seek out at least King Solomon's Mines - preferably an annotated version thereof.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No