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The Devil's Paintbrush
A fascinating, unusual and seductive historical novel by the bestselling author of The Long Firm.
In a Parisian restaurant, Aleister Crowley, the notorious occultist, chances on Major-General Sir Hector Macdonald: once one of the greatest heroes of the British Empire, now facing ruin in a shocking scandal — and vulnerable to Crowley's curious offer of help. An extraordinary night of transgression and revelation ensues . . .
Probing beneath the surface of Victorian conformity, this is an enthralling tale of imperialism, sexuality and the nature of belief, which captures a world on the brink of a brutal new era.
In a Parisian restaurant, Aleister Crowley, the notorious occultist, chances on Major-General Sir Hector Macdonald: once one of the greatest heroes of the British Empire, now facing ruin in a shocking scandal — and vulnerable to Crowley's curious offer of help. An extraordinary night of transgression and revelation ensues . . .
Probing beneath the surface of Victorian conformity, this is an enthralling tale of imperialism, sexuality and the nature of belief, which captures a world on the brink of a brutal new era.
368 pages, hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
8 people are currently reading
168 people want to read
About the author
Jake Arnott
17 books119 followersJake Arnott is a British novelist, author of The Long Firm and four other novels. In 2005 Arnott was ranked one of Britain's 100 most influential gay and lesbian people. When he was included in a list of the fifty most influential gay men in Britain in 2001, it was declared that he was widely regarded as one of Britain's most promising novelists.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
June 25, 2023
Splendid, amusing and provoking.
I had not heard of Sir Hector MacDonald, so for the first half of the book I thought he was an over-the-top invented character. Of course, in many ways he is, in this text.
The history which intersects with Sir Hector's life is compelling, and much of the Aleister Crowley material is also based on some sort of reality. Greatly enjoyable.
I had not heard of Sir Hector MacDonald, so for the first half of the book I thought he was an over-the-top invented character. Of course, in many ways he is, in this text.
The history which intersects with Sir Hector's life is compelling, and much of the Aleister Crowley material is also based on some sort of reality. Greatly enjoyable.
June 8, 2024
Major General Hector Macdonald was in some ways a remarkable man - born to a poor crofter who also worked as a freelance mason in 1853 at 17 years Hector was an apprentice assistant in a drapers shop in Inverness - he abandoned job and family to take the king's shilling and became a private in the Gordon Highlanders. A little over thirty years later he was major-general Sir Hector Macdonald KCB, DCO and aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria and was commander-in-chief of British forces in Ceylon (today's Sri Lanka). There were many who believed the credit for victory at Omdurman was his, not Kitchener's. All of which is splendid and remarkable particularly when you remember that the British army did not believe, like Napoleon, 'That every soldier marched with Marshal's baton in his knapsack'. For them private soldiers, like all the rest of the teaming poor, were born into a place of hard work and subservience and should stay there. There might be exceptions but they proved nothing. But this is not the reason that MacDonald is remembered today and even the reason why he is remembered and celebrated has changed.
MacDonald committed suicide in a Paris Hotel room in 1903 instead of facing a court martial. At the time of his death he was celebrated in Scotland as a victim of English snobbery and hypocrisy and splendid memorials were erected to him at his grave in Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh; Mulbie where he was born and at Dingwall as national memorial. None of these sites, nor the publicity or websites connected to them mention the reason for his death, though in fact that is the reason he is remembered by history and celebrated by a community which didn't even exist when he died. MacDonald, after Oscar Wilde, is probably the greatest and most important 'gay' martyr of imperial Britain.
It is perhaps not surprising that both Wilde and MacDonald came from the empire's Celtic fringe but the comparison can only be taken so far. You do not need to be a novelist to write Wilde's story, he is there in letters, memoirs, newspapers and legal reports but only a novelist can write MacDonald's story. His story is 'known' but ultimately 'unknowable'. There are no letters, diaries, reports, examinations, depositions or trial documents. What ever existed, and exactly what existed, is unknown. MacDonald's history is truly 'written on water'. Once he removed himself from the scene it was easy to ignore, cover up or lose the specifics, There is nothing in any UK or Sri Lankan archive and there are no letters, diaries or memoirs from anyone connected in anyway the case. It is a veritable black hole onto which anything can be written.
Jake Arnott, following on from the success of his 'Long Firm' trilogy and with a reputation as one of 2001's 50 most influential gay men and in 2005 one of Britain's 100 most influential gay and lesbian (younger readers may be surprised to learn that 20 years ago the use of acronyms to identify 'gay' people was unknown), has set out in 'The Devil's Paintbrush' to boldly present a MacDonald for 21st century gays (or 2SLGBTQ+ if you insist). Unfortunately he does this by building on the 'fact' that Sir Hector and Aleister Crowley met in Paris shortly before MacDonald's suicide. I find it impossible to imagine Hector MacDonald having anytime for Crowley who was a bounder of the first order and passed out visiting cars claiming the nonexistent title 'Laird of Boleskine and Abertarff'.
It is via the Crowley connection that Arnott allows MacDonald to travel through his life and in particular his time Egypt when he saved Kitchener from certain defeat at the battle of Omdurman thus ensuring Kitchener's lifelong antipathy and hatred. Arnott's MacDonald is a man destroyed by class hatred and professional jealousy. MacDonald's homosexuality is admitted but confined to a relationship with one socially unacceptable Sinhalese youth who he forms a relationship with and which forms the basis for the denunciation of him as a later day Tiberius.
Unfortunately this version of MacDonald doesn't explain why he abandoned his post and fled back to England nor why the colonial administration in Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known) should have insisted on a court martial. Institutions like the British army protected their own fiercely until forced not to. MacDonald may have been the wrong sort but once embraced he became 'one of us'. I can believe that if he had been born into a more exalted family things might have been different, but the fate of Lord Arthur Somerset and Lord Beauchamp, amongst others, shows that in the face of scandal and publicity that protection will be withdrawn.
The reason MacDonald is of interest is his sex life of which we know nothing for sure except that the threat of exposure was enough to destroy MacDonald. I'd rather imagine him conducting irresponsible but wildly lascivious and fun debauches feasting with and on his Sinhalese panthers after decades of repression. But then it is possible the roots of his downfall were always apparent. But we don't know and never will.
I think MacDonald fails to come alive in this novel because Jake Arnott was embarking down his own rabbit hole in search of occult stories. His next book 'The House of Rumour' is all about spies and occult forces and despite some lively vignettes it all leads nowhere. 'The Devil's Paintbrush' suffers from some of the same problems. There is a long diversion into the camp of Mahdi and Kitchener's campaign which, while not bad, does not rest easy with the rest of the novel. On the evidence of The Devil's Paintbrush and House of Rumour I would say that Jake Arnott is not comfortable or very skilled at deploying a broad canvas or diverse characters. He is good at creating small scenes but to try and carry a broad theme with multiple characters and viewpoints seems beyond him.
Sir Hector MacDonald is a man who can only live through fiction because we know so little and to create a believable MacDonald you need to embrace him as the man he was - I don't mean banish imagination - he needs it desperately. But to try and write MacDonald as a prototype of early 21st century gay manhood is absurd. Nor is it useful to create a caricature of the British army or society that is taken directly from the cliches of 'Oh What a Lovely War'. It is also useful that Arnott has made Kitchener the eminence grise and deux ex machina of MacDonald's downfall. Kitchener is much a cipher, in terms of personal information, as MacDonald. Kitchener is surrounded by myths and legends about his personal life but ultimately there is no evidence, not even soft evidence. It is odd how scrupulously friends and families, well into the post WWII era, expunged any evidence that might have humanised their famous dead and in doing so effectively stripped them of all humanity. A collection of love letters from Kitchener to some young soft cheeked blond subaltern in which he poured out his frustration and unrequited passion would not make him any less an intolerant, bigoted, racist, bully nor banish the callous massacre of the wounded after Omdurman and elsewhere but it would have made Kitchener human because he would appear ridiculous. The same goes for MacDonald. If we had testimony similar to that against Wilde describing Hector MacDonald playing games of hide the sausage with comely youths we would know a man, not a hero, saint or prototype 21st gay martyr. But a man. Someone 'who loved not wisely but too well'.
This novel does no favours to Hector MacDonald he is simply reimagined as a different kind of idol. As a novel it has strengths but it is not a successful novel. I am not sure Mr. Arnott really has the ability to be a great writer and the mention of a time when he was judged one of the 50 or 100 most important gay men in the UK seems not simply outdated but absurd, like Ozymandias crying out:
"Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
It is hard to recall a time that a writer might be regarded as important for simply being a writer and is most likely to make one weep with nostalgia, if one is old enough, or laugh with incredulity if younger.
MacDonald committed suicide in a Paris Hotel room in 1903 instead of facing a court martial. At the time of his death he was celebrated in Scotland as a victim of English snobbery and hypocrisy and splendid memorials were erected to him at his grave in Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh; Mulbie where he was born and at Dingwall as national memorial. None of these sites, nor the publicity or websites connected to them mention the reason for his death, though in fact that is the reason he is remembered by history and celebrated by a community which didn't even exist when he died. MacDonald, after Oscar Wilde, is probably the greatest and most important 'gay' martyr of imperial Britain.
It is perhaps not surprising that both Wilde and MacDonald came from the empire's Celtic fringe but the comparison can only be taken so far. You do not need to be a novelist to write Wilde's story, he is there in letters, memoirs, newspapers and legal reports but only a novelist can write MacDonald's story. His story is 'known' but ultimately 'unknowable'. There are no letters, diaries, reports, examinations, depositions or trial documents. What ever existed, and exactly what existed, is unknown. MacDonald's history is truly 'written on water'. Once he removed himself from the scene it was easy to ignore, cover up or lose the specifics, There is nothing in any UK or Sri Lankan archive and there are no letters, diaries or memoirs from anyone connected in anyway the case. It is a veritable black hole onto which anything can be written.
Jake Arnott, following on from the success of his 'Long Firm' trilogy and with a reputation as one of 2001's 50 most influential gay men and in 2005 one of Britain's 100 most influential gay and lesbian (younger readers may be surprised to learn that 20 years ago the use of acronyms to identify 'gay' people was unknown), has set out in 'The Devil's Paintbrush' to boldly present a MacDonald for 21st century gays (or 2SLGBTQ+ if you insist). Unfortunately he does this by building on the 'fact' that Sir Hector and Aleister Crowley met in Paris shortly before MacDonald's suicide. I find it impossible to imagine Hector MacDonald having anytime for Crowley who was a bounder of the first order and passed out visiting cars claiming the nonexistent title 'Laird of Boleskine and Abertarff'.
It is via the Crowley connection that Arnott allows MacDonald to travel through his life and in particular his time Egypt when he saved Kitchener from certain defeat at the battle of Omdurman thus ensuring Kitchener's lifelong antipathy and hatred. Arnott's MacDonald is a man destroyed by class hatred and professional jealousy. MacDonald's homosexuality is admitted but confined to a relationship with one socially unacceptable Sinhalese youth who he forms a relationship with and which forms the basis for the denunciation of him as a later day Tiberius.
Unfortunately this version of MacDonald doesn't explain why he abandoned his post and fled back to England nor why the colonial administration in Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known) should have insisted on a court martial. Institutions like the British army protected their own fiercely until forced not to. MacDonald may have been the wrong sort but once embraced he became 'one of us'. I can believe that if he had been born into a more exalted family things might have been different, but the fate of Lord Arthur Somerset and Lord Beauchamp, amongst others, shows that in the face of scandal and publicity that protection will be withdrawn.
The reason MacDonald is of interest is his sex life of which we know nothing for sure except that the threat of exposure was enough to destroy MacDonald. I'd rather imagine him conducting irresponsible but wildly lascivious and fun debauches feasting with and on his Sinhalese panthers after decades of repression. But then it is possible the roots of his downfall were always apparent. But we don't know and never will.
I think MacDonald fails to come alive in this novel because Jake Arnott was embarking down his own rabbit hole in search of occult stories. His next book 'The House of Rumour' is all about spies and occult forces and despite some lively vignettes it all leads nowhere. 'The Devil's Paintbrush' suffers from some of the same problems. There is a long diversion into the camp of Mahdi and Kitchener's campaign which, while not bad, does not rest easy with the rest of the novel. On the evidence of The Devil's Paintbrush and House of Rumour I would say that Jake Arnott is not comfortable or very skilled at deploying a broad canvas or diverse characters. He is good at creating small scenes but to try and carry a broad theme with multiple characters and viewpoints seems beyond him.
Sir Hector MacDonald is a man who can only live through fiction because we know so little and to create a believable MacDonald you need to embrace him as the man he was - I don't mean banish imagination - he needs it desperately. But to try and write MacDonald as a prototype of early 21st century gay manhood is absurd. Nor is it useful to create a caricature of the British army or society that is taken directly from the cliches of 'Oh What a Lovely War'. It is also useful that Arnott has made Kitchener the eminence grise and deux ex machina of MacDonald's downfall. Kitchener is much a cipher, in terms of personal information, as MacDonald. Kitchener is surrounded by myths and legends about his personal life but ultimately there is no evidence, not even soft evidence. It is odd how scrupulously friends and families, well into the post WWII era, expunged any evidence that might have humanised their famous dead and in doing so effectively stripped them of all humanity. A collection of love letters from Kitchener to some young soft cheeked blond subaltern in which he poured out his frustration and unrequited passion would not make him any less an intolerant, bigoted, racist, bully nor banish the callous massacre of the wounded after Omdurman and elsewhere but it would have made Kitchener human because he would appear ridiculous. The same goes for MacDonald. If we had testimony similar to that against Wilde describing Hector MacDonald playing games of hide the sausage with comely youths we would know a man, not a hero, saint or prototype 21st gay martyr. But a man. Someone 'who loved not wisely but too well'.
This novel does no favours to Hector MacDonald he is simply reimagined as a different kind of idol. As a novel it has strengths but it is not a successful novel. I am not sure Mr. Arnott really has the ability to be a great writer and the mention of a time when he was judged one of the 50 or 100 most important gay men in the UK seems not simply outdated but absurd, like Ozymandias crying out:
"Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
It is hard to recall a time that a writer might be regarded as important for simply being a writer and is most likely to make one weep with nostalgia, if one is old enough, or laugh with incredulity if younger.
March 14, 2016
Published: 2010
Author: Jake Arnott
I saw the cover of this book and thought that it looked really good as it is a very eye catching cover. As soon as I purchased it I dived right into reading it....then spent about 3/4 of the book being totally baffled and confused as to what was going on and what was happening. But I kept going, determined to finishing it, hoping all will become clear at the end of the novel with all the lose ends being tied up.. however I finished the book and still felt totally confused. I would do a review about what happened but honestly I've still no idea. However the characters in the novel were well described and you could pick out who was talking by the personalities that came through there voice. Jake Arnott is a very good and talented author, I just think that perhaps this book just wasnt for me. But I'd recommend giving it a try if the blurb sounds like your kind of book!
Author: Jake Arnott
I saw the cover of this book and thought that it looked really good as it is a very eye catching cover. As soon as I purchased it I dived right into reading it....then spent about 3/4 of the book being totally baffled and confused as to what was going on and what was happening. But I kept going, determined to finishing it, hoping all will become clear at the end of the novel with all the lose ends being tied up.. however I finished the book and still felt totally confused. I would do a review about what happened but honestly I've still no idea. However the characters in the novel were well described and you could pick out who was talking by the personalities that came through there voice. Jake Arnott is a very good and talented author, I just think that perhaps this book just wasnt for me. But I'd recommend giving it a try if the blurb sounds like your kind of book!
July 16, 2012
Based on a real meeting between the rather strange occultist Alistair Crowley and Major General Sir Hector MacDonald in Paris in 1903, after MacDonald had been informed he would be facing a court martial when he returned to his post in Ceylon, for immoral conduct (well for having sex with men). The plot moves around his career, with Crowley encouraging him to remember the key times in his life and thus accept his sexuality and reject society's judgemental attitude. Jake Arnott shows he is a skilled historical novelist, with a sense of humour, if his previous forays into the 1960s and 1970s hadn't already proved.
Read
July 29, 2011A surprise of a book - only brought it because the cover intrigued me. Turned into a thoroughly enjoyable read combining real characters Alistair Crowley and a very uptight Major facing court martial for sodomy and one steamy and magical night in Paris. A sad ending that is by no means predictable. Recommended
August 10, 2011
I LOVED this book and am getting my copy back from my dear friend Alvin soon! Arnott portrays a young Aleister Crowley and a theater queen who taught him most of what he knew, also an encounter with an involuntarily outed british army officer. It is SO good, scathing, true, how the h e double toothpicks does this Arnott do it? I am crazy about ALL his books.
May 26, 2011
Another terrific tour de force from Jake Arnott! As with all his novels, the language is better than competent, but never quite magnificent. The plot and characterizations, however, are delightful and amazing. On top of that, the history is fascinating and the social commentary insightful.
January 1, 2025
Although expositional flashbacks in the lives of the two MCs form a good chunk of the book, most of the novel happens on 24 March 1903 – the day before Sir Hector Macdonald, imperial war hero, killed himself, after the scandallous allegations made against him take a life of their own.
The book tells of the fortuitous meeting of two very disparate historical characters (the harrassed and repressed Macdonald, and the sybaritic Aleister Crowley, AKA the Beast, AKA the wickedest man in the world), who are brought together by a common experience of exclusion for who they are, and a quest to find inner peace with it.
Arnott takes his time to find his feet (which makes the first half a little hard going) but when he gradually and finally does the story paints a vivid picture of a world in flux and in the procees of losing what innocence it may still possess, and about to plunge into moral wreckage as hubris consumes it.
The book tells of the fortuitous meeting of two very disparate historical characters (the harrassed and repressed Macdonald, and the sybaritic Aleister Crowley, AKA the Beast, AKA the wickedest man in the world), who are brought together by a common experience of exclusion for who they are, and a quest to find inner peace with it.
Arnott takes his time to find his feet (which makes the first half a little hard going) but when he gradually and finally does the story paints a vivid picture of a world in flux and in the procees of losing what innocence it may still possess, and about to plunge into moral wreckage as hubris consumes it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2019
Good book covering a vast, differing array of subjects, most all of which were interesting. Historical detail is exceptional. Naturally the story from the long night in Paris is more what may have occurred but maintains interest throughout and is enthralling.
May 22, 2019
3.5🌟
November 27, 2009
Arnott, best known for his gay inclusive crime novels The Long Firm and He Kills Coppers, has opted for a change of pace with this historical novel featuring the real life characters Major General Sir Hector Macdonald and occultist Aliester Crowley, “The Beast 666.”
Sir Hector rose from the ranks of enlisted men, a hero of many Middle East campaigns, earning the moniker “Fighting Mac.” After decades of service and achieving an international reputation, he shot himself in lieu of facing a court martial for acts of gross indecency. It is a documented fact that these two men met briefly in Paris in 1903; Arnott imagines what may have transpired between the flamboyant magus and the disgraced officer, conjuring a story of adventure, intrigue and sexual repression. Scenes of great daring-do are coupled with others truly poignant.
Though I enjoyed reading this, I must admit that I felt the whole somehow unbalanced. Crowley often seems unintentionally broad and humorous, the characterization a burlesque and not at all menacing, which I feel was the author’s aim. I couldn’t help but think of him as a great buffoon, the Roger Elizabeth Debris of the occult world, or refugee from a Lucifer Box book. This in itself wouldn’t bother me save that it is in direct opposition to the rather grave and sobering tales of Sir Hector, both his reminiscences and present circumstances. I found the Major General’s story fascinating;
another bit of hidden LGBT history. Unlike the notorious traitor Colonel Redl, blackmailed and thus compromised, our hero fell victim to a villain more malignant and pervasive: the snobbish bigotry of the British upper crust.
For all its faults, The Devil’s Paintbrush is a compelling and richly detailed novel, atmospheric and deftly observed.
Sir Hector rose from the ranks of enlisted men, a hero of many Middle East campaigns, earning the moniker “Fighting Mac.” After decades of service and achieving an international reputation, he shot himself in lieu of facing a court martial for acts of gross indecency. It is a documented fact that these two men met briefly in Paris in 1903; Arnott imagines what may have transpired between the flamboyant magus and the disgraced officer, conjuring a story of adventure, intrigue and sexual repression. Scenes of great daring-do are coupled with others truly poignant.
Though I enjoyed reading this, I must admit that I felt the whole somehow unbalanced. Crowley often seems unintentionally broad and humorous, the characterization a burlesque and not at all menacing, which I feel was the author’s aim. I couldn’t help but think of him as a great buffoon, the Roger Elizabeth Debris of the occult world, or refugee from a Lucifer Box book. This in itself wouldn’t bother me save that it is in direct opposition to the rather grave and sobering tales of Sir Hector, both his reminiscences and present circumstances. I found the Major General’s story fascinating;
another bit of hidden LGBT history. Unlike the notorious traitor Colonel Redl, blackmailed and thus compromised, our hero fell victim to a villain more malignant and pervasive: the snobbish bigotry of the British upper crust.
For all its faults, The Devil’s Paintbrush is a compelling and richly detailed novel, atmospheric and deftly observed.
January 5, 2016
This is a very interesting idea for a novel. The execution of that idea is patchy. Some parts are very good. It very nearly hangs together as a whole.
Arnott takes the true story of a night when Aleister Crowley (the famous satanist once described as the most evil man in Britain) met the disgraced hero of the army of the British Empire known as Fighting Mac. He imagines it in detail. At times this gives great insight into the characters of the two men and some peripheral characters. The tale, however, involves the telling of great dollops of military history which is not handled particularly well. At times it reads like a history book, albeit one in the school of 'let's meet Wulf, he lives in a Viking village. He's going to show us round...' variety rather than the sort with lots of dates and listed details of parliamentary bills about economics.
Arnott was an actor and his great strengths are characterisation and dialogue. He captures the speech forms of the early twentieth century well, but flounders a bit when using the same language for description and pontification. Also he can't resist raising an eyebrow knowingly to his audience every now and then. With this cast of famous names from history it's too easy to drop little references to what they would go on to do. This breaks the concentration of the reader.
If you're particularly interested in the historical period, central characters or themes of empire, LGBT history, the occult etc, then I would consider this book well worth a read. If you're looking for something like The Long Firm, this isn't it. Personally, I'm glad to have read it. It's not taxing and its virtues outweighed its flaws for me.
Arnott takes the true story of a night when Aleister Crowley (the famous satanist once described as the most evil man in Britain) met the disgraced hero of the army of the British Empire known as Fighting Mac. He imagines it in detail. At times this gives great insight into the characters of the two men and some peripheral characters. The tale, however, involves the telling of great dollops of military history which is not handled particularly well. At times it reads like a history book, albeit one in the school of 'let's meet Wulf, he lives in a Viking village. He's going to show us round...' variety rather than the sort with lots of dates and listed details of parliamentary bills about economics.
Arnott was an actor and his great strengths are characterisation and dialogue. He captures the speech forms of the early twentieth century well, but flounders a bit when using the same language for description and pontification. Also he can't resist raising an eyebrow knowingly to his audience every now and then. With this cast of famous names from history it's too easy to drop little references to what they would go on to do. This breaks the concentration of the reader.
If you're particularly interested in the historical period, central characters or themes of empire, LGBT history, the occult etc, then I would consider this book well worth a read. If you're looking for something like The Long Firm, this isn't it. Personally, I'm glad to have read it. It's not taxing and its virtues outweighed its flaws for me.
June 25, 2012
Jake Arnott writes about crims and rent boys. In the same way that Quentin Tarantino really needs to make a movie without a gun, it's about time Arnott extends his palate. And in "The Devil's Paintbrush" he does just that, bringing together dark magician Aleister Crowley and a General of the British Army disgraced by his penchant for colonial youths (age uncertain), to offer a broad sweep of Victorian history, colonialism, new technology and arcana. Props to him for moving out of his 1960's comfort zone. But it's really not very good. The book is CLUNKY! It takes place in Paris over 24 hours or so, meaning Arnott crowbars in great tracks of back story and actual history of Empire in leaden flashbacks. The worst of these is when Crowley slips the General a substance to conduct him on to the astral plane, which is fine, but the General then demonstrates an amazing narrative coherence to relay tale after tale, as his imagination fills in the blanks on acts and events he never personally witnessed.The real problem of the novel is that for a book about transgressive desires, be they Crowley's unspeakable dark arts, or the General's homosexuality that can never be admitted, there is a curious lack of libidinousness on offer. It's about as transgressive as a suburban wife-swap party where everyone puts their keys to their Volvos into a Tiffany bowl.
July 28, 2011
I'd read a couple of Jake Arnott's earlier novels set in the British underworld, and enjoyed The Long Firm a great deal. But the second one, He Kills Coppers, was a definite downhill step, and so I hadn't bothered with the subsequent couple of novels. Howevere the subject matter of this one, revolving around an encounter between Hector McDonald, a disgraced military hero, and magician Aleister Crowley, sparked my interest. This is well written (though the astral travel scenes in the Sudan didn't really do it for me) and the compression of the real-time events into just one evening is achieved very well. To his credit, Arnott seems to have done his research, and he seems to understand the Law Of Thelema. Crowley (all that interested me, disgraced army officers not being my cup of tea) is accurately captured, with the blend of chicanery and genuine power well represented. The military figures are clipped and stiff upper lippish and cardboard - but not so seriously as to render the whole thing ridiculous. A worthwhile read.
November 3, 2013
I've never read Jake Arnott before and overall this was highly readable. Based on a true story about the Scottish war hero Major-General Sir Hector Macdonald, who meets Aleister Crowley in Paris, involving a manuscript, secret societies, artistic community, war abroad, and immorality accusations made against Macdonald.
Arnott is highly descriptive (accounts in the desert and war) and there may be moments where you have to suspend your belief, but it is a fictional account, so suspend away. Macdonald's yearning for exotic youths and depictions of the foreign soldiers and servants are stereotypes, despite characters in the story mentioning the West's perceived notions of the East. Not much on that account seems to be challenged here. The author fits in a lot of topics within a shortened format. Macdonald's uptight behaviour is in line with the laws on homosexuality in Britain, where one faced imprisonment and disgrace from society, in comparison to Europe and elsewhere.
Otherwise a sad, funny and enjoyable ride.
Arnott is highly descriptive (accounts in the desert and war) and there may be moments where you have to suspend your belief, but it is a fictional account, so suspend away. Macdonald's yearning for exotic youths and depictions of the foreign soldiers and servants are stereotypes, despite characters in the story mentioning the West's perceived notions of the East. Not much on that account seems to be challenged here. The author fits in a lot of topics within a shortened format. Macdonald's uptight behaviour is in line with the laws on homosexuality in Britain, where one faced imprisonment and disgrace from society, in comparison to Europe and elsewhere.
Otherwise a sad, funny and enjoyable ride.
July 14, 2009
War hero Major-General Sir Hector Macdonald encounters Aleister Crowley in Paris, ficitonalised account of an actual meeting. Great fun.
Arnott can write, phew!
Arnott can write, phew!
Read
December 23, 2022he greatest shock for me reading this fictionalised retelling of history was understanding the meaning of the title. Not that the story itself wouldn’t be considered shocking in it’s day. And would probably be considered more than eyebrow raising now.
The Devil’s Paintbrush is the story of the meeting of Major-General Sir Hector MacDonald, one of the heroes of the British Empire, and the notorious occultist Aleister Crowley. Not a combination you’d expect to find. But meet they did and Jack Arnott breathes life into those events showing both compassion and frankness about his subjects.
It is a quite an extraordinary tale and from the list of acknowledgements I’m willing to consider that Arnott spend a lot of time on the reconstruction of events but at the same time he has to have injected some narrative compulsion to the proceedings.
MacDonald meets Crowley as a great scandal is unfolding around the Major-General and the Beast acts as his savour. Even though limited by the order of the events Arnott takes us and the characters on a journey that goes from Paris to battlefields of Sudan via the backstreets of Edinburgh.
And it’s the battlefields of Sudan that has some of the best moments. Not only do they contain the key to the title but the core of self-destruction of MacDonald. It also shows the dark nature of imperialism. As a solider MacDonald commits some brutal and offensive acts and in private his own sexual needs were at the time offensive.
As I was reading the thing that hit me is what would and wouldn’t be accepted in the modern day and the acts that are so scandalous in MacDonald’s private life at the time wouldn’t be his downfall now. What would bring him down would the acts committed in the name of war.
Crowley’s role in this deconstruction of MacDonald is to help release him from the constraints of Army-life and the situation itself. This isn’t an entirely altruistic act. He’s using MacDonald as a Knight in his own fight with his ex-mentor and to advance his own status through the acquisition of a manuscript and what it represents. He does release MacDonald in a way but it’s not a noble path he shows him.
Arnott has successfully re-imagined the events of those few days and expanded them into a comment on the past and how far we have come.
There are no longer people called ‘Fight Mac’ or ‘the Best’ and maybe they are creations of their own time. I have to praise Jack Arnott for his skill as a storyteller and thank him for shedding light on this forgotten but none the less important piece of history.
The Devil’s Paintbrush is the story of the meeting of Major-General Sir Hector MacDonald, one of the heroes of the British Empire, and the notorious occultist Aleister Crowley. Not a combination you’d expect to find. But meet they did and Jack Arnott breathes life into those events showing both compassion and frankness about his subjects.
It is a quite an extraordinary tale and from the list of acknowledgements I’m willing to consider that Arnott spend a lot of time on the reconstruction of events but at the same time he has to have injected some narrative compulsion to the proceedings.
MacDonald meets Crowley as a great scandal is unfolding around the Major-General and the Beast acts as his savour. Even though limited by the order of the events Arnott takes us and the characters on a journey that goes from Paris to battlefields of Sudan via the backstreets of Edinburgh.
And it’s the battlefields of Sudan that has some of the best moments. Not only do they contain the key to the title but the core of self-destruction of MacDonald. It also shows the dark nature of imperialism. As a solider MacDonald commits some brutal and offensive acts and in private his own sexual needs were at the time offensive.
As I was reading the thing that hit me is what would and wouldn’t be accepted in the modern day and the acts that are so scandalous in MacDonald’s private life at the time wouldn’t be his downfall now. What would bring him down would the acts committed in the name of war.
Crowley’s role in this deconstruction of MacDonald is to help release him from the constraints of Army-life and the situation itself. This isn’t an entirely altruistic act. He’s using MacDonald as a Knight in his own fight with his ex-mentor and to advance his own status through the acquisition of a manuscript and what it represents. He does release MacDonald in a way but it’s not a noble path he shows him.
Arnott has successfully re-imagined the events of those few days and expanded them into a comment on the past and how far we have come.
There are no longer people called ‘Fight Mac’ or ‘the Best’ and maybe they are creations of their own time. I have to praise Jack Arnott for his skill as a storyteller and thank him for shedding light on this forgotten but none the less important piece of history.
January 23, 2018
This book seems to have mixed reviews, so it will be interesting to see what I make of it. As a longtime fan of Jimmy Page, I was sold on Aleister Crowley, the Beast, Master of Boleskine, and the true life story of his single encounter with repressed homosexual British army officer Sir Hector Macdonald, known as 'Fighting Mac'. I have read and enjoyed Arnott's The Long Firm, but this is a more ambitious novel, with echoes of Dreyfus, an outsider rejected and scapegoated by the Establishment.
Hmmmnnnnn. I can see why this novel has its mixed reviews. It's a bit of a mess. As though Arnott couldn't make up his mind whether he wanted to write fiction or a history, and in consequence has produced something neither one nor the other. There is simply too much detail and background information at the expense of story and character.
There's a fascinating Crowley/Macdonald m/m fanfic buried under the weight of colonial and military history, but too much padding for a satisfying novel. Arnott can write but the structure of the novel is clumsy and doesn't hold together, for e.g. the information dumping section when Macdonald recollects his memories under the influence of narcotics slipped to him by the Beast. All the background is filled in by narrative flashbacks that interrupt the flow of the story.
Macdonald's downfall is a tragic (true) story that deserves to be heard but it isn't well served by mixing it up with Crowley's esoteric mumbo jumbo. Repression, snobbery and the English class system brought down the soldier from a humble crofting background, a man whose ancestors had much in common with the native populations of India, Ceylon and the Middle East subjected to British military conquest and imperial rule.
Crowley fascinates in his own right, but putting him together with Macdonald's tragic history is a mismatch that makes me uncomfortable. I'm about three quarters of the way through the novel so Arnott might yet pull it off, but I'm not hopeful.
Now I've finished the novel I'm a bit more positive about it, though its flaws make it a three-star read for me. It's an interesting book, and Arnott just about pulls the disparate strands of his story together at the end. I still think, however, it doesn't quite work. Crowley is such an overwhelming character poor Macdonald gets a little lost and never really comes to life as anything other than a tragic, doomed man.
Hmmmnnnnn. I can see why this novel has its mixed reviews. It's a bit of a mess. As though Arnott couldn't make up his mind whether he wanted to write fiction or a history, and in consequence has produced something neither one nor the other. There is simply too much detail and background information at the expense of story and character.
There's a fascinating Crowley/Macdonald m/m fanfic buried under the weight of colonial and military history, but too much padding for a satisfying novel. Arnott can write but the structure of the novel is clumsy and doesn't hold together, for e.g. the information dumping section when Macdonald recollects his memories under the influence of narcotics slipped to him by the Beast. All the background is filled in by narrative flashbacks that interrupt the flow of the story.
Macdonald's downfall is a tragic (true) story that deserves to be heard but it isn't well served by mixing it up with Crowley's esoteric mumbo jumbo. Repression, snobbery and the English class system brought down the soldier from a humble crofting background, a man whose ancestors had much in common with the native populations of India, Ceylon and the Middle East subjected to British military conquest and imperial rule.
Crowley fascinates in his own right, but putting him together with Macdonald's tragic history is a mismatch that makes me uncomfortable. I'm about three quarters of the way through the novel so Arnott might yet pull it off, but I'm not hopeful.
Now I've finished the novel I'm a bit more positive about it, though its flaws make it a three-star read for me. It's an interesting book, and Arnott just about pulls the disparate strands of his story together at the end. I still think, however, it doesn't quite work. Crowley is such an overwhelming character poor Macdonald gets a little lost and never really comes to life as anything other than a tragic, doomed man.
August 21, 2017
'..... the hush of cooling water simmering in the barrel casings, whispering of tomorrow.'
This is a gripping, exotic, compassionate, complex, challenging and beautifully written novel based on impressive research. Ostensibly based on a meeting between Maj-Gen Sir Hector Macdonald and Aleister Crowley in March 1903, fallen Boys' Own hero Macdonald emerges less a tragically flawed derring-do figure than a victim of self-repression and of his times. But it's a story of technology, as well as of humanity. The 'Devil's Paintbrush' is the Maxim machine gun (well worth Googling for its interface with C19 imperial conquest). At the battle of Omdurman, Arnott tells us, 'the Devil's Paintbrush dabbed away at [the warriors] in murderous pointillism.' Indeed, the details of warfare provide many insights into 'now', as do the gradual merging of belief and magic so that towards the end of the novel it becomes difficult to distinguish battlefield from black mass.
This is a gripping, exotic, compassionate, complex, challenging and beautifully written novel based on impressive research. Ostensibly based on a meeting between Maj-Gen Sir Hector Macdonald and Aleister Crowley in March 1903, fallen Boys' Own hero Macdonald emerges less a tragically flawed derring-do figure than a victim of self-repression and of his times. But it's a story of technology, as well as of humanity. The 'Devil's Paintbrush' is the Maxim machine gun (well worth Googling for its interface with C19 imperial conquest). At the battle of Omdurman, Arnott tells us, 'the Devil's Paintbrush dabbed away at [the warriors] in murderous pointillism.' Indeed, the details of warfare provide many insights into 'now', as do the gradual merging of belief and magic so that towards the end of the novel it becomes difficult to distinguish battlefield from black mass.
July 11, 2025
It was thanks to David Bowie’s ‘Quicksand’ that I first became aware of Aleister Crowley many years ago, but until reading The Devil’s Paintbrush, and probably because I’m Irish not Scottish, Mayor General Sir Hector McDonald was unknown to me. A celebrated hero, it would seem though that his biggest battles were with his true nature and the constant fear of being exposed. Appearing, at first, to be brusque and dull, he evolves through the pages into a very troubled, complex, sympathetic and likeable character, to the point where even Aleister Crowley’s bombastic personality is consigned to a back seat.
Having read other books of his, I find Jake Arnott to be an unusual writer in that he weaves his fiction around factual characters, and the accuracy of his historical detail is a tribute to, what must be, his extensive research, but where he really excels is in instilling those characters with life. A fascinating read!
Having read other books of his, I find Jake Arnott to be an unusual writer in that he weaves his fiction around factual characters, and the accuracy of his historical detail is a tribute to, what must be, his extensive research, but where he really excels is in instilling those characters with life. A fascinating read!
August 12, 2018
A thoroughly enjoyable book which puts a master of the occult of some note alongside a soon to be disgraced war hero and ultimately shows how one revels in scandal whereas the others fall from grace proves too much.
It's a work of historic fiction taking an actual meeting between Crowley and Macgregor and building a tale which shows one's fall from grace and the others rise to infamy.
One of the best works of fiction I have read in a while and likely a contender for when the year closes of my favourite fictional book...of course there's still some months to go but this will take some beating.
It's a work of historic fiction taking an actual meeting between Crowley and Macgregor and building a tale which shows one's fall from grace and the others rise to infamy.
One of the best works of fiction I have read in a while and likely a contender for when the year closes of my favourite fictional book...of course there's still some months to go but this will take some beating.
March 2, 2018
For the subject matter and characters alone, I thought this would be an engaging read, and I'd heard Arnott was a tight writer, but I'm sad to say I found the story telling a little bit like picking through someone's research notes and the language unoriginal and uninspiring. I couldn't finish it. I hear Arnott's noir work is better - I'll give that a try.
May 16, 2018
I've liked all of Jake Arnott's books, this is a true story with his twist on it. He really is an interesting author.
I thought I'd read all of his books but delighted to discover there is another book - now reserved from the library.
I thought I'd read all of his books but delighted to discover there is another book - now reserved from the library.
January 3, 2023
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the bizarre premise was intriguing, and turns out to have its inspiration in reality. Crowley was entertaining, but most of all enjoyed the flashbacks to the wars in Sudan in the late 19th century, about which I knew precisely nothing!
February 27, 2022
Enjoyed the main story - could've done without so much military flashback.
March 10, 2024
A good read and rich story. Macdonald's character comes through especially strongly as the undoubtedly misbehaving General who made it through the ranks.
Borrowed from Jean Jones.
Borrowed from Jean Jones.
July 11, 2015
Jake Arnott's book structures itself around a meeting between two real people and extraordinary people, Sir Hector MacDonald and Aleister Crowley.
It weaves some fascinating stories out of the invented details of that meeting and of Sir Hector's life.
There is a good and well written story here that is quite separate from the known facts of Sir Hector's life. His biography seems to be an unnecessary wrap around that story.
There are also two, as far as I can tell from my brief perusal of his online biographies, historically unsupported and so entirely gratuitous rapes. Both seem entirely at odds with the rest of the description of Sir Hector's character and felt like lazy plot devices. My view is that rape is too serious to be treated like that. At the heart of this is a well written story. It is a shame one has to work through this book in order to reach it.
It weaves some fascinating stories out of the invented details of that meeting and of Sir Hector's life.
There is a good and well written story here that is quite separate from the known facts of Sir Hector's life. His biography seems to be an unnecessary wrap around that story.
There are also two, as far as I can tell from my brief perusal of his online biographies, historically unsupported and so entirely gratuitous rapes. Both seem entirely at odds with the rest of the description of Sir Hector's character and felt like lazy plot devices. My view is that rape is too serious to be treated like that. At the heart of this is a well written story. It is a shame one has to work through this book in order to reach it.
January 8, 2017
Way darker than I anticipated, and definitely not the book you're looking for if you want a light or fluffy read. I mean, the sex and the drug use and homphobia, I was kind of expecting. The rape and the devil worship were a surprise. Still, watching these characters be drawn together and manipulate each other was utterly captivating and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There's also a sense of moral ambiguity, an absolute lack of hero characters, that leaves me a bit uncomfortable. The good type of uncomfortable, though. The ending was sudden and unexpected, but perfectly timed so it wouldn't feel rushed. And the cover is just stunning.
February 15, 2014
I had been really been looking forward to reading this book, having bought it on the strength of its blurb – and, let's be honest, its gorgeous cover, which I first noticed on a poster while on the tube – but I just couldn't get into it. I tried several times, but I never got very far. Despite the exciting subject matter, the storytelling wasn't compelling at all, and I didn't really care about the characters. Perhaps others might find something to enjoy that I didn't, and I am entirely happy to let them.
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