Edition: Heron
Review number: 505
The sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda usually seems to be printed along with it; there are many novels longer than these two put together. Some years elapse between the two, which Rudolf Rassendyll spends in England while Flavia, now married to the King of Ruritania whose place Rudolf had taken, continues to love him from a distance. Each year she sends a single red rose to him, as a token of her continued love. Eventually, as her husband becomes more insanely jealous of the man he realises to be better than he is, she realises that things cannot continue, and sends a letter with the most recent rose saying that contact will no longer be possible. Unfortunately, this is the year in which Rupert of Hentzau, the one surviving member of the gang which originally kidnapped the king, manages to intercept the letter. Thus Rudolf has to return to Ruritania, in a desperate attempt to regain the letter before Rupert can show it to the king and destroy the queen's honour.
The whole novel is far more melancholy than its predecessor; there is nothing lighthearted about the adventure this time around. The whole thing builds up to a finish which seems designed to prevent any further sequels, and which provides a wrench to the reader that is most unusual in a thriller.
Showing posts with label Ruritania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ruritania. Show all posts
Thursday, 18 May 2000
Wednesday, 3 May 2000
Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda (1894)
Edition: Heron, 1970
Review number: 487
Like the Scarlet Pimpernel, the background of The Prisoner of Zenda has become part of our mythology. The term 'Ruritanian' has entered the English language; the novel has been copied, updated (Robert Heinlein's Double Star sets it on Mars) and parodied (George MacDonald Fraser's Royal Flash). It is immensely better written than The Scarlet Pimpernel and than most of the thrillers it inspired (of which the best are by John Buchan and Dornford Yates). Its plot is of course ludicrous, and its conception of politics is backward rather than forward looking. (This is deliberate; Hope also wrote relatively sophisticated political novels in imitation of Trollope.)
Rudolf Rassendyll, idle member of the English nobility, bears a remarkable resemblance to the king of the central European state of Ruritania, the legacy of an indiscretion between an earlier Ruritanian king and Rassendyll's great grandmother. Thinking to have a bit of fun by being present at his cousin's coronation, he sets out for the Ruritanian capital, Strelsau. He falls into the company of the king as he is hunting near Zenda, stronghold of the king's half brother Black Michael, but when Michael abducts the him, Rassendyll is pushed into impersonating the king at the coronation.
Hope tells his implausible tale at breakneck speed, as Rassendyll gets dragged into his impersonation. Using fewer than one hundred and fifty pages, there is little room for anything beyond description of events and characterisation of the narrator, Rassendyll himself. Occasionally, things become a trifle confused (the attack on the castle of Zenda at the end), but this is actually made a positive feature, emphasising just how much events have got out of control.
Review number: 487
Like the Scarlet Pimpernel, the background of The Prisoner of Zenda has become part of our mythology. The term 'Ruritanian' has entered the English language; the novel has been copied, updated (Robert Heinlein's Double Star sets it on Mars) and parodied (George MacDonald Fraser's Royal Flash). It is immensely better written than The Scarlet Pimpernel and than most of the thrillers it inspired (of which the best are by John Buchan and Dornford Yates). Its plot is of course ludicrous, and its conception of politics is backward rather than forward looking. (This is deliberate; Hope also wrote relatively sophisticated political novels in imitation of Trollope.)
Rudolf Rassendyll, idle member of the English nobility, bears a remarkable resemblance to the king of the central European state of Ruritania, the legacy of an indiscretion between an earlier Ruritanian king and Rassendyll's great grandmother. Thinking to have a bit of fun by being present at his cousin's coronation, he sets out for the Ruritanian capital, Strelsau. He falls into the company of the king as he is hunting near Zenda, stronghold of the king's half brother Black Michael, but when Michael abducts the him, Rassendyll is pushed into impersonating the king at the coronation.
Hope tells his implausible tale at breakneck speed, as Rassendyll gets dragged into his impersonation. Using fewer than one hundred and fifty pages, there is little room for anything beyond description of events and characterisation of the narrator, Rassendyll himself. Occasionally, things become a trifle confused (the attack on the castle of Zenda at the end), but this is actually made a positive feature, emphasising just how much events have got out of control.
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