Dawn

by H. Rider Haggard

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Classics, Adventure, Victorian, Historical Fiction, Fiction, British Literature

385 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1884

About the author

Sir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and the creator of the Lost World literary genre. His stories, situated at the lighter end of the scale of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential. He was also involved in agricultural reform and improvement in the British Empire.

His breakout novel was King Solomon's Mines (1885), which was to be the first in a series telling of the multitudinous adventures of its protagonist, Allan Quatermain.

Haggard was made a Knight Bachelor in 1912 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament as a Conservative candidate for the Eastern division of Norfolk in 1895. The locality of Rider, British Columbia, was named in his memory.

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There are two educations, the education of the mind and the education of the soul; unless you minister to the latter, all the time and toil spent upon the former will prove to little purpose. The learning will, it is true, remain; but it will be as the quartz out of which the gold has been already crushed, or the dry husks of corn. It will be valueless and turn to no good use, will serve only to feed the swine of intellectual voluptuousness and infidelity. It is, believe me, the higher learning of the soul that gilds our earthly lore. The loftier object of all education is so to train the intellect that it may become competent to understand something, however little, of the nature of our God, and to the true Christian the real end of learning is the appreciation of His attributes as exemplified in His mysteries and earthly wonders."

"People very rarely express contempt or indignation against a rich man who happens to be their neighbor in the country, whatever he may have done. They keep their virtue for those who are impoverished, or for their unfortunate relations."

"There are many such men, probably you, my reader, know one or two. With infinite labor they store up honey from the fields of knowledge, collect endless data from the statistics of science, pile up their calculations against the very stars; and all to no end. As a rule, they do not write books; they gather the learning for the learning’s sake, and for the very love of it rejoice to count their labor lost. And thus they go on from year to year, until the golden bowl is broken and the pitcher broken at the fountain, and the gathered knowledge sinks, or appears to sink, back to whence it came. Alas, that one generation cannot hand on its wisdom and experience — more especially its experience — to another in its perfect form! If it could, we men should soon become as gods."

Dawn by H. Rider Haggard was his initial novel that was published in 1884. In his 1926 autobiography, he described the creation of Dawn in the following statement:

"“Whilst we were at Norwood a little incident occurred which resulted in my becoming a writer of fiction. At the church which my wife and I attended we saw sitting near us one Sunday a singularly beautiful and pure-faced young lady. Afterwards we agreed that this semi-divine creature — on whom to the best of my knowledge I have never set eyes again from that day to this — ought to become the heroine of a novel. So then and there we took paper, and each of us began to write the said novel. I think that after she had completed two or three folio sheets my wife ceased from her fictional labors. But, growing interested, I continued mine, which resulted in the story called “Dawn.”

In my opinion, Dawn is primarily what may be considered a gothic romance, but Haggard, even in his early writing, describes characters in such depth, and unfolds such an intricate story that I find it difficult to simply file it in that genre and close the drawer. This isn't just a story about a creepy house with a beautiful young lady who is endangered by sinister villains. Rather, he transcends his principal heroine into someone who is almost eminently divine with an angelic character that earns her the name of Angela. She is then placed in a menacing environment where there is no escape and with no earthly rescuers. Almost everyone around her is a rogue, and, consequently, she must survive solely on her own merits and abilities. But, unlike our current fantasies where the heroine simply draws a sword or yanks out a pistol, Angela finds, in many cases, spiritual recourse to the point of being almost supernatural.

Now all that said, the prospective reader should realize that the heroine does have a love interest that appears in the novel and their love transcends anything that most people here on this globe will ever experience. However, as in any romance, there must be conflict, or the story isn't worth telling. The problem with this romance, I found, was that her lover was, in many cases, a complete imbecile, and, in my American mind, a bit shiftless (does the guy know what a job is?). I'm not sure why Haggard portrays him that way, but it is a bit frustrating. In addition, when the reader feels the story should end, it doesn't. Rather it seems to go on for another hundred pages.

That said, the writing is so marvelous, the descriptions are so vivid, the characters are so distinct, and the offered tenets are so honest and powerful, that I couldn't give this novel anything but a five star review. It will be difficult to forget the purity of Angela Caresfoot, the insatiable greed of her father Phillip, the obsessive depravity of Philip's cousin George, the melancholy goodness of Reverend Fraser, the subtle wiliness of Mrs. Bellamy, the incredible gullibility of Arthur Heigham, and the incurable infatuation of Mildred Carr. I can understand why Haggard's first novel was the beginning of a very successful and notable career. I, for one, haven't experienced such masterful writing as Haggard's by any modern novelist. When the book did finally end, I understood why the author continued on after I thought it should be finished. The final conclusion I found to be satisfactory and sensitively memorable. For anyone that enjoys reading novels from the Victorian era, you shouldn't miss this one.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victorian romance/family saga with feuding cousins, True Love, and plenty of people/forces conspiring to keep the lovers apart, including one woman who in some ways might prefigure Haggard's She. This was Haggard's first novel and it's competent enough (although the auctorial voice can be obnoxiously overbearing at times) but not particularly memorable. There's a soupçon of mysticism at the end, but no overtly fantastic elements; had he not gone on to invent the lost race genre with She and King Solomon's Mines, I doubt he'd be much remembered today.

[Wade Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was too long. Having read so many Haggard novels, I can see that this was his first and he had not yet refined his craft. I am glad I read DAWN, for who can NOT read his favorite author’s first novel? I read my own copy, which I had Grangerized to have lots of illustrations from the various editions published during Haggard’s lifetime.

[Stephen Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Book but not into romance.

[Trounin · Rating 2 out of 5]

О чём писать, если не имеешь о том никакого представления? Это самое тяжёлое в жизни писателя, не умеющего ещё понять, о чем ему вообще следует рассказывать. Годного для художественной обработки много, а её достойного почему-то не находится. Следует поступить по рецепту Хаггарда. Находите человека, убеждаете его составить вам компанию. После находите другого человека, который о вашем замысле ничего не должен знать, в идеале ему не полагается узнать и после. Лучше, если им окажется постороннее лицо, совершенно неизвестное. Достаточно один раз его увидеть, чтобы в остальном додумать сюжетные детали самостоятельно. Теперь следует приступить к написанию истории, но не совместно, а раздельно. Потом проверите – у кого лучше получилось. В случае Хаггарда произошло следующее: он продолжил писать до финальной точки, а с кем он договаривался – сдался едва ли не сразу. Вполне можно сказать, кем приходился Райдеру тот человек – им была его жена.

(c) Trounin

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Victorian Romance, lacking Rider’s characteristic supernatural elements, focusing upon the various travails of Philip Caresfoot whose actions eventually results in personal catastrophe aided a bit by his manipulative first cousin George Caresfoot. Midway through, the story jumps 20 years and focuses upon Philip’s daughter Angela who becomes the focus of another plot and manipulations by George with Philip again showing the same moral weakness and personal greed that brought catastrophe for him except now putting his daughter at risk.

While basically a good story of personal greed and love, Rider drags it on and on with various moments of waxing philosophical about one thing or another and adding complications upon complications that leaves one beginning to wonder when it will end.

[Rubén Lorenzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

No suelo leer novela romántica y este libro me recuerda por qué. Empieza bien, con un aire dramático y traiciones por doquier. Sin embargo, enseguida se convierte en una historia de enredo con mucha palabra bonita y sentimiento exacerbado que no me van.

Seguramente es una historia aceptable dentro del género, pues está bien escrita, pero se me ha hecho larga y no me aporta demasiado. Espero que futuras novelas de Haggard me gusten más, ya que he comprado una recopilación con su obra completa en ebook por un precio ridículo.

Si a mí no me ha desagradado, supongo que a los seguidores del amor puro e incondicional que supera cualquier obstáculo les va a encantar.

[Eladia Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome simply awesome! The writer describes the behavior of the different character's, which allows one to feel the character's whether the character is cunning, deceitful, or just plain envious. I like the way he would sort of advice the reader of what behaviors are not to be mimic or followed. This book is full of adventure, and love stories that are as real as in today's times, especially when parents do not approve of. I highly recommend!

[Scott Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. It has some truly great scoundrels. It got a little boring in parts when Haggard is giving waxing philosophical.