H. Rider Haggard
A quotation posted on Books Inq. today, which I copy below, reminds us of H. Rider Haggard's Birthday.
Truly the universe is full of ghosts, not sheeted churchyard spectres, but the inextinguishable elements of individual life, which having once been, can never die, though they blend and change, and change again for ever.--H Rider Haggard
Always something of a spiritualist/pantheist, H. Rider Haggard's books still make for some of the finest adventure reading your ever likely to encounter. Inventing the "Lost Race" novel (or if not inventing it, at least pursuing it with unmatched vigor) Haggard gave us the classic King Solomon's Mines and She. In addition he gave us Allan Quatermain novels, beginning the eponymous Allan Quatermain and continuing through She and Allan, Allan and the Ice Gods, and King Solomon's Mines itself. While undoubtedly a westerner, in several stories and novels Haggard shows himself enlightened beyond his time with regard to race relations and the if not equality at least the dignity of all people.
My thanks to Frank for reminding me of the great pleasure I have had in reading Mr. Haggard's great many wonderful adventure novels. All recommended.
See this article for a bibliography of H. Rider Haggard Novels, nearly all of which are available in e-book format, too few of which (save for the most prominent) remain in print. And anything after 1923 which might never enter public domain (oh, don't get me started! People who have read here and in the previous blog will tell you that the rants I can rant on that subject have no end.)
Truly the universe is full of ghosts, not sheeted churchyard spectres, but the inextinguishable elements of individual life, which having once been, can never die, though they blend and change, and change again for ever.--H Rider Haggard
Always something of a spiritualist/pantheist, H. Rider Haggard's books still make for some of the finest adventure reading your ever likely to encounter. Inventing the "Lost Race" novel (or if not inventing it, at least pursuing it with unmatched vigor) Haggard gave us the classic King Solomon's Mines and She. In addition he gave us Allan Quatermain novels, beginning the eponymous Allan Quatermain and continuing through She and Allan, Allan and the Ice Gods, and King Solomon's Mines itself. While undoubtedly a westerner, in several stories and novels Haggard shows himself enlightened beyond his time with regard to race relations and the if not equality at least the dignity of all people.
My thanks to Frank for reminding me of the great pleasure I have had in reading Mr. Haggard's great many wonderful adventure novels. All recommended.
See this article for a bibliography of H. Rider Haggard Novels, nearly all of which are available in e-book format, too few of which (save for the most prominent) remain in print. And anything after 1923 which might never enter public domain (oh, don't get me started! People who have read here and in the previous blog will tell you that the rants I can rant on that subject have no end.)
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