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THE RAKE'S PROGRESS
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1950
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 10, 2016
This was a romp! Highwaymen, West Indies intrigue, public hangings, and all the Hogarthian lessons from the Georgian era, before the Industrial Revolution took hold. I hadn't planned to finish this so quickly, so my book pipeline is a bit skewed now, but it was difficult to stop, as I wanted to know what happened in each character's life.
Gentleman Harry Simms is quite the bad boy, one who has killed and robbed and raped. It appears that he is going to be the 'rake' of the title, but no, that honour goes to Jem, a young gent from the country who has inherited his father's estate but is led astray by his uncle and squanders it away on drink and booze and ill-gotten means. Harry and Jem are business partners of sorts and we learn more about them as they act as bystanders during a public execution where the galleys throng with rich and poor alike who enjoy the "show" of hanging.
"I hate society with its pernickety manners, holding up a tea-cup in thumb and first finger and mumbling your words as if you chewed them! I always want to hit those damned perfumed mollies."
They meet a woman from the West Indies and her protective bodyguard. Who is she? Why is she looking for Harry Simms? Jem is attracted to her, but he also needs money and signs an agreement to marry a wealthy teenager, because her mother can only get a percentage of her daughter's money if the daughter gets married. Jem becomes torn between his young fiance and his voluptuous plantation owner. Who will he choose? Does he even have a choice to make? Behind it all, Gentleman Harry lurks, always intent on finding a coach to rob and a pub to drink down. Will Jem return to the innocence of his youth? Will Harry escape the hangman's noose? Page-turner.
I've never been enthralled with the George I - George II period of England, but Philip Lindsay really pours on the atmosphere. He actually wrote this for Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and it seems like something the younger Fairbanks would have starred in (would have made a fine Jem). My uncle in Melbourne had a whole bookshelf lined with Lindsay's works as he really enjoyed his historical adventure pieces. Yet I never looked for any of the author's books until this one caught my eye at a library giveaway event. Lucky me.
The four stars are for the atmosphere and the roguish appeal of the story and characters. It's not Dickens or great literature by any means, but it's not supposed to be. In reading it, I got the impression that Lindsay just liked to tell a good story, and it worked for me. It was a perfect summer book, sitting by a desert pool and reading without having to tax any portion of my brain.
Book Season = Summer (easy reading)
Gentleman Harry Simms is quite the bad boy, one who has killed and robbed and raped. It appears that he is going to be the 'rake' of the title, but no, that honour goes to Jem, a young gent from the country who has inherited his father's estate but is led astray by his uncle and squanders it away on drink and booze and ill-gotten means. Harry and Jem are business partners of sorts and we learn more about them as they act as bystanders during a public execution where the galleys throng with rich and poor alike who enjoy the "show" of hanging.
"I hate society with its pernickety manners, holding up a tea-cup in thumb and first finger and mumbling your words as if you chewed them! I always want to hit those damned perfumed mollies."
They meet a woman from the West Indies and her protective bodyguard. Who is she? Why is she looking for Harry Simms? Jem is attracted to her, but he also needs money and signs an agreement to marry a wealthy teenager, because her mother can only get a percentage of her daughter's money if the daughter gets married. Jem becomes torn between his young fiance and his voluptuous plantation owner. Who will he choose? Does he even have a choice to make? Behind it all, Gentleman Harry lurks, always intent on finding a coach to rob and a pub to drink down. Will Jem return to the innocence of his youth? Will Harry escape the hangman's noose? Page-turner.
I've never been enthralled with the George I - George II period of England, but Philip Lindsay really pours on the atmosphere. He actually wrote this for Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and it seems like something the younger Fairbanks would have starred in (would have made a fine Jem). My uncle in Melbourne had a whole bookshelf lined with Lindsay's works as he really enjoyed his historical adventure pieces. Yet I never looked for any of the author's books until this one caught my eye at a library giveaway event. Lucky me.
The four stars are for the atmosphere and the roguish appeal of the story and characters. It's not Dickens or great literature by any means, but it's not supposed to be. In reading it, I got the impression that Lindsay just liked to tell a good story, and it worked for me. It was a perfect summer book, sitting by a desert pool and reading without having to tax any portion of my brain.
Book Season = Summer (easy reading)
Displaying 1 of 1 review