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Snake & Sword
Snake and Sword is one of the first novels of P. C. Wren. Damocles de Warrenne, or simply Dam, has inherited irrational fear of snakes from his mother and, though quite intelligent, capable and brave soldier, he faints at the mere sight of a snake, which is causing him big problems. He can't manage to become an officer in the army, but only a private. He also loses love and respect of the woman he fancies and it is leading him deeper into self exile. Dam must conquer his fears in order to regain the respect of his fellow soldiers and the love of a woman.
Percival Christopher Wren (1875-1941) was an English writer, mostly of adventure fiction. He is remembered best for Beau Geste, a much-filmed book of 1924, involving the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. This was one of 33 novels and short story collections that he wrote, mostly dealing with colonial soldiering in Africa. While his fictional accounts of life in the pre-1914 Foreign Legion are highly romanticized, his details of Legion uniforms, training, equipment and barrack room layout are generally accurate, which has led to unproven suggestions that Wren himself served with the legion. The descriptions of Legion garrison life given in his work The Wages of Virtue, written in 1914, closely match those contained in the autobiographical In the Foreign Legion by ex-legionnaire Edwin Rosen.
Percival Christopher Wren (1875-1941) was an English writer, mostly of adventure fiction. He is remembered best for Beau Geste, a much-filmed book of 1924, involving the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. This was one of 33 novels and short story collections that he wrote, mostly dealing with colonial soldiering in Africa. While his fictional accounts of life in the pre-1914 Foreign Legion are highly romanticized, his details of Legion uniforms, training, equipment and barrack room layout are generally accurate, which has led to unproven suggestions that Wren himself served with the legion. The descriptions of Legion garrison life given in his work The Wages of Virtue, written in 1914, closely match those contained in the autobiographical In the Foreign Legion by ex-legionnaire Edwin Rosen.
134 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1914
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About the author
P.C. Wren
117 books45 followersPercival Christopher Wren (1 November 1875 – 22 November 1941) was a British writer, mostly of adventure fiction. He is remembered best for Beau Geste, a much-filmed book of 1924 involving the French Foreign Legion in North Africa, and its sequels, Beau Sabreur and Beau Ideal.
Born as plain Percy Wren, in Deptford, South London, England, Percy was the son of a schoolmaster. After graduation with a Master of Arts degree from St. Catherine's College, Oxford, a non-collegiate college for poorer students, Percy worked as a boarding school teacher for a few years, during which he married Alice Shovelier, and had a daughter (Estelle, born 1901). In 1903 he joined the Indian Education Service as headmaster of Karachi High School (now Pakistan). While in India, he joined the Poona Volunteer Rifles with the rank of Captain, before his service was terminated in October 1915 after sick leave. He resigned from the Indian Education Service in November 1917. It is presumed that his wife died in India, for no record of her return to Britain has been found; his daughter having died in England in 1910. From there it is claimed that he joined the French Foreign Legion for a single tour of five years though he would have been 42 years of age on enlistment, somewhat older that the usual recruit. He lived out the remainder of his life in England concentrating on his literary career. One of the few photographs of Wren known shows a typical British officer of the Edwardian era with clipped moustache, wearing plain dark blue regimental dress.
Wren was a highly secretive man, and his membership of the Legion has never been confirmed. When his novels became famous, there was a mysterious absence of authenticating photographs of him as a legionnaire or of the usual press-articles by old comrades wanting to cash in on their memories of a celebrated figure. It is now thought more likely that he encountered legionnaires during his extensive travels in Algeria and Morocco, and skillfully blended their stories with his own memories of a short spell as a cavalry trooper in England. While his fictional accounts of life in the pre-1914 Foreign Legion are highly romanticised, his details of Legion uniforms, training, equipment and barrack room layout are generally accurate. This may however simply reflect careful research on his part - the descriptions of Legion garrison life given in his work The Wages of Virtue written in 1914 closely match those contained in the autobiographical In the Foreign Legion by ex legionnaire Edwin Rosen, published Duckworth London 1910.
Born as plain Percy Wren, in Deptford, South London, England, Percy was the son of a schoolmaster. After graduation with a Master of Arts degree from St. Catherine's College, Oxford, a non-collegiate college for poorer students, Percy worked as a boarding school teacher for a few years, during which he married Alice Shovelier, and had a daughter (Estelle, born 1901). In 1903 he joined the Indian Education Service as headmaster of Karachi High School (now Pakistan). While in India, he joined the Poona Volunteer Rifles with the rank of Captain, before his service was terminated in October 1915 after sick leave. He resigned from the Indian Education Service in November 1917. It is presumed that his wife died in India, for no record of her return to Britain has been found; his daughter having died in England in 1910. From there it is claimed that he joined the French Foreign Legion for a single tour of five years though he would have been 42 years of age on enlistment, somewhat older that the usual recruit. He lived out the remainder of his life in England concentrating on his literary career. One of the few photographs of Wren known shows a typical British officer of the Edwardian era with clipped moustache, wearing plain dark blue regimental dress.
Wren was a highly secretive man, and his membership of the Legion has never been confirmed. When his novels became famous, there was a mysterious absence of authenticating photographs of him as a legionnaire or of the usual press-articles by old comrades wanting to cash in on their memories of a celebrated figure. It is now thought more likely that he encountered legionnaires during his extensive travels in Algeria and Morocco, and skillfully blended their stories with his own memories of a short spell as a cavalry trooper in England. While his fictional accounts of life in the pre-1914 Foreign Legion are highly romanticised, his details of Legion uniforms, training, equipment and barrack room layout are generally accurate. This may however simply reflect careful research on his part - the descriptions of Legion garrison life given in his work The Wages of Virtue written in 1914 closely match those contained in the autobiographical In the Foreign Legion by ex legionnaire Edwin Rosen, published Duckworth London 1910.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 27, 2012
P.C. Wren is best know for his Beau Geste stories which means the French Foreign Legion, Fort Zinderneuf, "Sheiks!" and plenty of adventure, with true love forestalled by heroic self sacrifice in the name of extravagant personal honor and secrets that must be kept unto the grave. But true love will find a way to be triumphant in the final chapter. Unfortunately, there is very little adventure in this lesser work, and one is left with a lot of Edwardian romantic slush. The hero, Damocles, is born with an epileptic fear of snakes due to circumstance too absurd to relate. This fear, coming at numerous unfortunate times, leads Damocles deeper into self exile from his true love. This becomes very tedious to the average reader toward the end of the book. PC Wren is a great writer and his descriptions of army life are good. Only marred by a great deal of English dialect dialogue. Still, I enjoyed this romantic journey up to near the end, when I just got tired of the final obstacles thrown in the way of the two lovers. There must be some paragraphs missing from the Kindle version at the climax, as the heroine suddenly appears when Damocles conquers his fear of snakes, when she was 30 miles away only a few hours before. A decent romance for the period but a lesser Wren work.
March 15, 2020
ENGLISH: P.C. Wren is well-known for his novels about the French Foreign Legion, especially his Geste trilogy.
In this novel (one of his first) Wren weaves the story of the education of a boy and his liberation from the effect of a trauma affecting the mother of the protagonist.
My problem is, I don't believe in "pregnancy imprint," the alleged harmful effect on the baby of a shock affecting his pregnant mother. Therefore, the novel places itself above my incredulity threshold and looses much of its point for me.
I don't believe either in "racial memory." The protagonist, as a child, has dreams that reproduce what happened to two of his ancestors (a duel), and from that dream learns a complicated and effective sword thrush.
The following quote in this book is perfectly applicable to many current governments and Parliaments:
But the Wealthy Relative, on being informed of his good fortune, had bluntly replied that he intended to leave his little all to the founding of Night-Schools for illiterate Members of Parliament, Travelling-Scholarships for uneducated Cabinet Ministers, and Deportment Classes for New Radical Peers.
And the next is applicable to many forms of education:
They were not to be clean of hand for hygienic reasons—but for fear of what people might "think"; they were not to be honourable, gentle, brave and truthful because these things are fine—but because of what the World might dole out in reward; they were not to eat slowly and masticate well for their health's sake—but by reason of "good manners"; they were not to study that they might develop their powers of reasoning, store their minds, and enlarge their horizons—but that they might pass some infernal examination...; they were not to practise the musical art that they might have a soul-developing aesthetic training, a means of solace, delight, and self-expression—but that they might "play their piece" to the casual visitor... with priggish pride, expectant of praise; they were not to be Christian for any other reason than that it was the recommended way to Eternal Bliss and a Good Time Hereafter.
ESPAÑOL: P.C. Wren es muy conocido por sus novelas sobre la Legión extranjera francesa, especialmente su trilogía sobre los hermanos Geste.
En esta novela (una de las primeras que publicó), Wren teje la historia de la educación de un chico y su liberación del efecto de un trauma que afectó a la madre del protagonista.
Mi problema es que no creo en la impronta del embarazo, el supuesto efecto dañino en el bebé de un shock que afectó a su madre embarazada. Por lo tanto, la novela se coloca por encima de mi umbral de incredulidad y para mí pierde gran parte de su sentido.
Tampoco creo en la "memoria racial". El protagonista, de niño, tiene sueños en los que ve lo que le pasó a dos de sus antepasados ??(un duelo), y en ese sueño aprende una estocada complicada y efectiva.
Esta cita del libro es perfectamente aplicable a muchos gobiernos y parlamentos actuales:
Pero el Pariente Rico, cuando le informaron de su buena suerte, respondió sin rodeos que tenía la intención de legar todo lo que tenía para fundar escuelas nocturnas para parlamentarios analfabetos, becas itinerantes para ministros del gobierno sin educación, y clases de comportamiento para nobles radicales.
Y la siguiente se puede aplicar a muchas formas de educación:
No debían lavarse las manos por razones higiénicas, sino por lo que la gente pudiera "pensar"; no debían ser honorables, gentiles, valientes y sinceros porque esas cosas sean buenas, sino por lo que el mundo pudiera recompensarles; no debían comer despacio y masticar bien para mejorar su salud, sino para tener "buenos modales"; no debían estudiar para desarrollar su facultad de razonamiento, ocupar su mente y ampliar sus horizontes, sino para aprobar algún infernal examen...; no debían practicar el arte musical para obtener un entrenamiento estético que desarrollara su alma, un medio de relajación, deleite y autoexpresión, sino para poder "interpretar su pieza" ante el visitante casual... orgullosos, esperando alabanzas; no debían ser cristianos por ninguna otra razón sino porque era la forma recomendada para alcanzar la felicidad eterna y pasarlo bien en el Más Allá.
In this novel (one of his first) Wren weaves the story of the education of a boy and his liberation from the effect of a trauma affecting the mother of the protagonist.
My problem is, I don't believe in "pregnancy imprint," the alleged harmful effect on the baby of a shock affecting his pregnant mother. Therefore, the novel places itself above my incredulity threshold and looses much of its point for me.
I don't believe either in "racial memory." The protagonist, as a child, has dreams that reproduce what happened to two of his ancestors (a duel), and from that dream learns a complicated and effective sword thrush.
The following quote in this book is perfectly applicable to many current governments and Parliaments:
But the Wealthy Relative, on being informed of his good fortune, had bluntly replied that he intended to leave his little all to the founding of Night-Schools for illiterate Members of Parliament, Travelling-Scholarships for uneducated Cabinet Ministers, and Deportment Classes for New Radical Peers.
And the next is applicable to many forms of education:
They were not to be clean of hand for hygienic reasons—but for fear of what people might "think"; they were not to be honourable, gentle, brave and truthful because these things are fine—but because of what the World might dole out in reward; they were not to eat slowly and masticate well for their health's sake—but by reason of "good manners"; they were not to study that they might develop their powers of reasoning, store their minds, and enlarge their horizons—but that they might pass some infernal examination...; they were not to practise the musical art that they might have a soul-developing aesthetic training, a means of solace, delight, and self-expression—but that they might "play their piece" to the casual visitor... with priggish pride, expectant of praise; they were not to be Christian for any other reason than that it was the recommended way to Eternal Bliss and a Good Time Hereafter.
ESPAÑOL: P.C. Wren es muy conocido por sus novelas sobre la Legión extranjera francesa, especialmente su trilogía sobre los hermanos Geste.
En esta novela (una de las primeras que publicó), Wren teje la historia de la educación de un chico y su liberación del efecto de un trauma que afectó a la madre del protagonista.
Mi problema es que no creo en la impronta del embarazo, el supuesto efecto dañino en el bebé de un shock que afectó a su madre embarazada. Por lo tanto, la novela se coloca por encima de mi umbral de incredulidad y para mí pierde gran parte de su sentido.
Tampoco creo en la "memoria racial". El protagonista, de niño, tiene sueños en los que ve lo que le pasó a dos de sus antepasados ??(un duelo), y en ese sueño aprende una estocada complicada y efectiva.
Esta cita del libro es perfectamente aplicable a muchos gobiernos y parlamentos actuales:
Pero el Pariente Rico, cuando le informaron de su buena suerte, respondió sin rodeos que tenía la intención de legar todo lo que tenía para fundar escuelas nocturnas para parlamentarios analfabetos, becas itinerantes para ministros del gobierno sin educación, y clases de comportamiento para nobles radicales.
Y la siguiente se puede aplicar a muchas formas de educación:
No debían lavarse las manos por razones higiénicas, sino por lo que la gente pudiera "pensar"; no debían ser honorables, gentiles, valientes y sinceros porque esas cosas sean buenas, sino por lo que el mundo pudiera recompensarles; no debían comer despacio y masticar bien para mejorar su salud, sino para tener "buenos modales"; no debían estudiar para desarrollar su facultad de razonamiento, ocupar su mente y ampliar sus horizontes, sino para aprobar algún infernal examen...; no debían practicar el arte musical para obtener un entrenamiento estético que desarrollara su alma, un medio de relajación, deleite y autoexpresión, sino para poder "interpretar su pieza" ante el visitante casual... orgullosos, esperando alabanzas; no debían ser cristianos por ninguna otra razón sino porque era la forma recomendada para alcanzar la felicidad eterna y pasarlo bien en el Más Allá.
January 27, 2020
When I was little, my grandmother used to tell me that HER mother had been scared by carrots, and that was why she had red hair. Even as a youngster, I didn't believe her, but that's the premise of this book: a mother is frightened just before giving birth and the resulting child is impacted - no, scarred - for what seems like the rest of his life.
Damocles de Warrenne was born after his mother suffered an appalling fright. This fright caused an otherwise brave (the bravest), sharp (the sharpest) and all-round admirable young man to be accused of all sorts of callow behavior. We follow his highs and lows in the form of childhood, school, and university battles; and his escape to and from the military, all while this young man is continually confronted by his mental nemesis.
Wren pulls out his familiar portfolio of adventures, including a boxing match and lost-in-the-desert episode. The book is almost formulaic Wren - very similar in flow, events, and characters to so many of his others - with the exception of the appallingly flawed premise. If you're looking to read Wren, go for the far better Gestes.
Damocles de Warrenne was born after his mother suffered an appalling fright. This fright caused an otherwise brave (the bravest), sharp (the sharpest) and all-round admirable young man to be accused of all sorts of callow behavior. We follow his highs and lows in the form of childhood, school, and university battles; and his escape to and from the military, all while this young man is continually confronted by his mental nemesis.
Wren pulls out his familiar portfolio of adventures, including a boxing match and lost-in-the-desert episode. The book is almost formulaic Wren - very similar in flow, events, and characters to so many of his others - with the exception of the appallingly flawed premise. If you're looking to read Wren, go for the far better Gestes.
August 31, 2022
I didn't expect much from this old hardback that came into my possession who knows how or when. But it was fun and pretty good as a dime store fiction/adventure/romance with some surprisingly pointed points snuck in re: religion, military service, and prison systems.
November 16, 2025
The book is completely bonkers: a young Anglo-Indian suffers a phobia of snakes and this fear affects his everyday life, especially in the army, where he is considered a coward. The phallic image is too obvious to be true, but it is impossible not to read the text without it in mind.
May 5, 2014
Interesting psychology that got way old before the end. Still, Wren is usually entertaining enough to keep reading.
This review summed up my feelings exactly: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I wondered if there were some important missing elements in the free kindle version. Wouldn't be surprised. There was just some little quirky passages that seemed incomplete and confusing.
Recommended to die-hard Wren fans. Otherwise, probably not.
This review summed up my feelings exactly: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I wondered if there were some important missing elements in the free kindle version. Wouldn't be surprised. There was just some little quirky passages that seemed incomplete and confusing.
Recommended to die-hard Wren fans. Otherwise, probably not.
July 5, 2011
ok better than i thought it would be
May 27, 2012
A fun adventure story; I didn't like it as well as Beau Sabeur, but some parts were intriguing.
July 7, 2016
I think this book was very good.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews