The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

Here is some information about the author of The Black Arrow, Robert Louis Stevenson, from his Wikipedia page. Sounds like he was an interesting person (and kind of looked like Remus Lupin).

Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Kidnapped and A Child's Garden of Verses.

Born and educated in Edinburgh, Stevenson suffered from serious bronchial trouble for much of his life, but continued to write prolifically and travel widely in defiance of his poor health. As a young man, he mixed in London literary circles, receiving encouragement from Andrew Lang, Edmund Gosse, Leslie Stephen and W. E. Henley, the last of whom may have provided the model for Long John Silver in Treasure Island. In 1890, he settled in Samoa where, alarmed at increasing European and American influence in the South Sea islands, his writing turned away from romance and adventure toward a darker realism. He died in his island home in 1894.

A celebrity in his lifetime, Stevenson's critical reputation has fluctuated since his death, though today his works are held in general acclaim. In 2018 he was ranked, just behind Charles Dickens, as the 26th-most-translated author in the world.

Lighthouse design was the family's profession; Thomas's father (Robert's grandfather) was civil engineer Robert Stevenson, and Thomas's brothers (Robert's uncles) Alan and David were in the same field. Thomas's maternal grandfather Thomas Smith had been in the same profession. However, Robert's mother's family were gentry, tracing their lineage back to Alexander Balfour who had held the lands of Inchyra in Fife in the fifteenth century. His mother's father Lewis Balfour (1777–1860) was a minister of the Church of Scotland at nearby Colinton, and her siblings included physician George William Balfour and marine engineer James Balfour. Stevenson spent the greater part of his boyhood holidays in his maternal grandfather's house. "Now I often wonder what I inherited from this old minister," Stevenson wrote. "I must suppose, indeed, that he was fond of preaching sermons, and so am I, though I never heard it maintained that either of us loved to hear them."

Lewis Balfour and his daughter both had weak chests, so they often needed to stay in warmer climates for their health. Stevenson inherited a tendency to coughs and fevers, exacerbated when the family moved to a damp, chilly house at 1 Inverleith Terrace in 1851. The family moved again to the sunnier 17 Heriot Row when Stevenson was six years old, but the tendency to extreme sickness in winter remained with him until he was 11. Illness was a recurrent feature of his adult life and left him extraordinarily thin. Contemporaneous views were that he had tuberculosis, but more recent views are that it was bronchiectasis or even sarcoidosis.

Stevenson's parents were both devout Presbyterians, but the household was not strict in its adherence to Calvinist principles. His nurse Alison Cunningham (known as Cummy) was more fervently religious. Her mix of Calvinism and folk beliefs were an early source of nightmares for the child, and he showed a precocious concern for religion. But she also cared for him tenderly in illness, reading to him from John Bunyan and the Bible as he lay sick in bed and telling tales of the Covenanters. Stevenson recalled this time of sickness in "The Land of Counterpane" in A Child's Garden of Verses (1885), dedicating the book to his nurse.

Stevenson was an only child, both strange-looking and eccentric, and he found it hard to fit in when he was sent to a nearby school at age 6, a problem repeated at age 11 when he went on to the Edinburgh Academy; but he mixed well in lively games with his cousins in summer holidays at Colinton. His frequent illnesses often kept him away from his first school, so he was taught for long stretches by private tutors. He was a late reader, learning at age 7 or 8, but even before this he dictated stories to his mother and nurse, and he compulsively wrote stories throughout his childhood. His father was proud of this interest; he had also written stories in his spare time until his own father found them and told him to "give up such nonsense and mind your business." He paid for the printing of Robert's first publication at 16, entitled The Pentland Rising: A Page of History, 1666. It was an account of the Covenanters' rebellion which was published in 1866, the 200th anniversary of the event.

Each year during the holidays, Stevenson travelled to inspect the family's engineering works—to Anstruther and Wick in 1868, with his father on his official tour of Orkney and Shetland islands lighthouses in 1869, and for three weeks to the island of Erraid in 1870. He enjoyed the travels more for the material they gave for his writing than for any engineering interest. The voyage with his father pleased him because a similar journey of Walter Scott with Robert Stevenson had provided the inspiration for Scott's 1822 novel The Pirate. In April 1871, Stevenson notified his father of his decision to pursue a life of letters. Though the elder Stevenson was naturally disappointed, the surprise cannot have been great, and Stevenson's mother reported that he was "wonderfully resigned" to his son's choice.

In other respects too, Stevenson was moving away from his upbringing. His dress became more Bohemian; he already wore his hair long, but he now took to wearing a velveteen jacket and rarely attended parties in conventional evening dress. Within the limits of a strict allowance, he visited cheap pubs and brothels. More importantly, he had come to reject Christianity and declared himself an atheist. In January 1873, his father came across the constitution of the LJR (Liberty, Justice, Reverence) Club, of which Stevenson and his cousin Bob were members, which began: "Disregard everything our parents have taught us". Questioning his son about his beliefs, he discovered the truth. Stevenson no longer believed in God and had grown tired of pretending to be something he was not: "am I to live my whole life as one falsehood?" His father professed himself devastated: "You have rendered my whole life a failure." His mother accounted the revelation "the heaviest affliction" to befall her. "O Lord, what a pleasant thing it is", Stevenson wrote to his friend Charles Baxter, "to have just damned the happiness of (probably) the only two people who care a damn about you in the world."

Stevenson was soon active in London literary life, becoming acquainted with many of the writers of the time, including Andrew Lang, Edmund Gosse and Leslie Stephen, the editor of The Cornhill Magazine who took an interest in Stevenson's work. Stephen took Stevenson to visit a patient at the Edinburgh Infirmary named William Ernest Henley, an energetic and talkative poet with a wooden leg. Henley became a close friend and occasional literary collaborator, until a quarrel broke up the friendship in 1888, and he is often considered to be the inspiration for Long John Silver in Treasure Island.

On 3 December 1894, Stevenson was talking to his wife and straining to open a bottle of wine when he suddenly exclaimed, "What's that?", asked his wife "does my face look strange?", and collapsed. He died within a few hours, probably of a cerebral haemorrhage. He was 44 years old. The Samoans insisted on surrounding his body with a watch-guard during the night and on bearing him on their shoulders to nearby Mount Vaea, where they buried him on a spot overlooking the sea on land donated by British Acting Vice Consul Thomas Trood. Stevenson had always wanted his Requiem inscribed on his tomb:

Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.

Stevenson was loved by the Samoans, and his tombstone epigraph was translated to a Samoan song of grief.

Feel free to read more of his life on the Wikipedia page. There are no spoilers for the book on there:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_...

Here is some background information about the book, from its Wikipedia page (that page, of course, contains spoilers, but I have not included them below). If it were written today, the book would be classified as Young Adult (or Middle Grade) historical fiction.

The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses is an 1888 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is both a historical adventure novel and a romance novel. It first appeared as a serial in 1883 with the subtitle "A Tale of Tunstall Forest" beginning in Young Folks; A Boys' and Girls' Paper of Instructive and Entertaining Literature, vol. XXII, no. 656 (Saturday, 30 June 1883) and ending in vol. XXIII, no. 672 (Saturday, 20 October 1883)—Stevenson had finished writing it by the end of summer. It was printed under the pseudonym Captain George North. He alludes to the time gap between the serialisation and the publication as one volume in 1888 in his preface "Critic [parodying Dickens's 'Cricket'] on the Hearth": "The tale was written years ago for a particular audience..." The Paston Letters were Stevenson's main literary source for The Black Arrow.

The Black Arrow tells the story of Richard (Dick) Shelton during the Wars of the Roses. The novel is set in the reign of "old King Henry VI" (1422–1461, 1470–1471) and during the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487).

I have started reading it and I think few middle grade/teenagers today could deal with the archaic language. I have read a LOT of classic literature and I found it confusing in the first couple of chapters, who all these people were, what they are referring to from the past, when they are joking vs. being serious, and sometimes even what the words mean!

The Wars of the Roses

Feel free to read any material about the Wars of the Roses. The book mainly deals with the fictional characters (though you will see one notable historical figure), and knowing the historical details will not spoil the book. There is also an interesting video about this time period by Dr. Lucy Worsley.

Some of the events were heavily fictionalized from historical events, and the book is said to begin in 1460. Very late in the book, you will see a discrepancy with that timeline. Let's see who notices! :-)

Some basic info from Wikipedia below. Basically, you need to know that this was an extremely turbulent time period in which different kings from two different houses occupied the throne, and there were many wars to determine the succession. The end of this period marked the end of the Medieval Period and the beginning of the Tudor Dynasty and the English Renaissance:

The Wars of the Roses were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. The wars were fought between supporters of two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet; the House of Lancaster, and the House of York. The wars extinguished the male lines of the two rival dynasties, leading to the Tudor family inheriting the Lancastrian claim. Following the war, the Houses of Tudor and York were united, creating a new royal dynasty, thereby resolving the issue of rival claims to the throne.

Oh, one more thing. Early in the book, you will be reading a lot about wardship and guardianship. Basically, having a ward was a way to make money. The source below is from the Tudor Era, but I think the situation was pretty similar during the era we're reading about. Once you get to this part of the book, feel free to read it if you want to know what's going on. It doesn't talk about the book, but just a way people made money from having wards:

https://englishhistoryauthors.blogspo...

For additional information, although it is nothing to do with the novel, the Wars of the Roses have not been forgotten about in Britain due to the rivalry between two English counties with links to the Royal houses involved. The annual county cricket match between Lancashire (their emblem is a red rose) and Yorkshire (their emblem is a white rose) is almost always referred to in the press as the ‘War of the Roses’ or even just the ‘Roses match.’ There is still a war of words between the two counties as to which is best and the boundary between the two counties is still disputed in many places. Indeed, one part of the disputed boundary runs down the middle of Todmorden cricket pitch.

https://www.forl.co.uk/lancashire-mis....

People have long memories in the North of England.

I think the Wars of the Roses was the basis for the Games of Thrones series (with lots of sex, violence and magic added.)

Trev wrote: "For additional information, although it is nothing to do with the novel, the Wars of the Roses have not been forgotten about in Britain due to the rivalry between two English counties with links to..."

Thanks for the information! Lucy Worsley also spoke to some representatives from Richard III and Henry VII fan clubs, which was kind of baffling to this American here... until I remembered that certain groups of Americans do Civil War reenactments. Not to mention the inexplicable mania around recent public figures...

Robin P wrote: "I think the Wars of the Roses was the basis for the Games of Thrones series (with lots of sex, violence and magic added.)"

I've heard that but haven't seen or read the series. Feel free to point out some similarities as we go along!

Lori wrote: "Robin P wrote: "I think the Wars of the Roses was the basis for the Games of Thrones series (with lots of sex, violence and magic added.)"

I've heard that but haven't seen or read the series. Feel..."

I don't really know any details, just the idea of the two warring factions.

I didn't think I had time for this but, after seeing who's going to read it, I've decided to join so not to miss a good group experience, I got used to the Scots dialect after reading Kidnapped/Catriona but this is set in England anyway so I imagine its easier to understand.
I did read Dan Jones' The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors about 18 months ago so I hope to be able to keep up with the history aspects. And, Abigail seems to promise that my bloodthirsty tendencies will be satisfied. Oh boy.

This could be the Lucy Worsley documentary mentioned by Lori, part of a series in which she debunks some myths about what we know about historical events in British history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dANvI...

The language is more archaic, so sometimes I had a hard time understanding what was going on. (And the battle scenes were hard for me since I don't know that vocabulary, but the details of those weren't so important.)

Trev: Yes, that's it!

For those who want to absorb more about the Wars of the Roses in a digestible fictional version, you could try The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman, which follows all the main events from the point of view of Richard III. (Chunkster warning: it’s about 900 pages, but reads pretty quickly.)

For an alternative take on the Wars of the Roses, why not watch Rowan Atkinson’s ‘Blackadder’ series 1? It is available now on BBC iPlayer, although that may not be accessible outside the UK

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...

I don’t know what Lucy Worsley would make of the ‘factual’ content but I am sure she would like the costumes and she always seems up for a laugh.

Trev wrote: "For an alternative take on the Wars of the Roses, why not watch Rowan Atkinson’s ‘Blackadder’ series 1? It is available now on BBC iPlayer, although that may not be accessible outside the UK

https..."

Thanks, Abigail!

Thanks, Trev! I binged Blackadder a while ago, but I don't remember much from Series 1 besides "That's a neigh, my lord." I'll rewatch it. The BBC player doesn't work for me, but I've found episode 1 on YouTube and I'm sure the others won't be hard to find either.

I am in the U.S, and just checked on my Roku and there are 4 seasons (series?) of Blackadder on the HULU streaming service.

I just canceled Hulu (had a free trial), but Daily Motion has the Blackadder videos.

I wrote a post here but now I cannot find it. I wrote that there is an Italian series from the 70s on the RAI (Italian television) website, La Freccia Nera, . I think I will watch it while reading the book. In those years it was a success.

Daniela wrote: "I wrote a post here but now I cannot find it. I wrote that there is an Italian series from the 70s on the RAI (Italian television) website, La Freccia Nera, . I think I will watch it while reading ..."

It is also on YouTube Daniela.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1zs...

Unfortunately I can’t speak Italian (just schoolboy Latin) and I don’t think subtitles are available. Nevertheless, the opening sequences look exciting.

As Lori notes in Message 2, this was first published in "A Tale of Tunstall Forest" beginning in Young Folks; A Boys' and Girls' Paper of Instructive and Entertaining Literature, vol. XXII, no. 656 (Saturday, 30 June 1883) and ending in vol. XXIII, no. 672 (Saturday, 20 October 1883)

The periodical looked like this: https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/co...

This is where you can access the whole set on the Black Arrow: https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/co...

How interesting! Thanks for posting that, Brian.

The illustrations are delightful!

Thank you, Brian. The pages are really beautiful, it is possible to appreciate every single detail of the drawings. I think I will try to read a little from there, it is thrilling!

It is really good that such delicate periodicals are being preserved in this way for us all to see and read. The layout, the illustrations and the original words really generate that authentic atmosphere of the time and contribute greatly to an overall appreciation of Stevenson’s story. Thanks very much Brian for sharing them with us.

Trev, as you often post helpful historical info for us, in finding and posting the "Young Folks" periodicals, I considered myself doing something I described to myself as very 'Trevian.' That has such a smooth natural ring to it, unlike calling something very 'Brianian.' I think I'd have to be satisfied with 'Brianish.'

Brian wrote: "Trev, as you often post helpful historical info for us, in finding and posting the "Young Folks" periodicals, I considered myself doing something I described to myself as very 'Trevian.' That has s..."

I have found a famous quote by Robert Louis Stevenson that seems to sum up the way this group shares information and ideas.

‘Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.’

Here are 932 other quotes from RLS just for good measure

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quot...

Thanks, Trev!

My lifelong favorite thing from RLS is A Child's Garden of Verses, which I had when I was young in both a regular book and popup book. I still remember a lot of the poems, at least in part. (though some are no longer culturally appropriate). At her retirement party, my mother quoted Where Go the Boats? It's a simple poem about a child launching leaves in the stream, but her message was about her legacy at her long-time job.

Dark brown is the river.
Golden is the sand.
It flows along for ever,
With trees on either hand.

Green leaves a-floating,
Castles of the foam,
Boats of mine a-boating—
Where will all come home?

On goes the river
And out past the mill,
Away down the valley,
Away down the hill.

Away down the river,
A hundred miles or more,
Other little children
Shall bring my boats ashore.

Robin P wrote: "My lifelong favorite thing from RLS is A Child's Garden of Verses, which I had when I was young in both a regular book and popup book. I still remember a lot of the poems, at least in ..."

I don’t know these poems but the one you have reproduced reminds me a little of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence in the way a few simple words within a simple structure can convey so much meaning.

Taken together with his quotes it seems that Stevenson was also something of a philosopher, as are many of the best writers. Although I have only read a brief overview of his biography, I was struck by his determination to play a full part in life despite his physical disabilities and many illnesses. Even though all the travelling he did almost killed him, it must have provided so much material to spark his imagination for his stories and poems.

My reading of The Black Arrow has reminded me of this song/hymn which was sung in assembly at school and occasionally at church.

When a knight won his spurs

When a knight won his spurs, in the stories of old,
He was gentle and brave, he was gallant and bold
With a shield on his arm and a lance in his hand,
For God and for valour he rode through the land.

No charger have I, and no sword by my side,
Yet still to adventure and battle I ride,
Though back into storyland giants have fled,
And the knights are no more and the dragons are dead.

Let faith be my shield and let joy be my steed
'Gainst the dragons of anger, the ogres of greed;
And let me set free with the sword of my youth,
From the castle of darkness, the power of the truth.

More details here:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_a_...

I have just recorded the 1948 movie version of ‘The Black Arrow’ now showing on one of our TV channels (Film Four.) I will watch it after finishing book 5 to compare their interpretation the story. Here are some stills of the film on You Tube. (caution - it may contain spoilers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj5PH...

The Italian series (five episodes) is very different from the book in episodes three and four. I haven't watched episode five, neither I have read the fifth book yet, so I am waiting to see if the end is similar.

Lori wrote: "The Wars of the Roses

Feel free to read any material about the Wars of the Roses. The book mainly deals with the fictional characters (though you will see one notable historical figure), and knowi..."

For anyone who has developed a taste for the Wars of the Roses, you might be interested in Philippa Gregory and her historical novels beginning with The White Queen. She wrote a series of novels focusing on the powerful women from that period who were all involved in the fight to obtain the monarchy. There was also a BBC series called ‘The White Queen’ produced in 2013 which was based on her novels.

Trev wrote: "I have just recorded the 1948 movie version of ‘The Black Arrow’ now showing on one of our TV channels (Film Four.) I will watch it after finishing book 5 to compare their interpretation the story...."

I have just finished watching the 1948 movie production of The Black Arrow. Straight out of Hollywood by Columbia pictures, the characters are all there with RLS’s plot always present in the background. I have made a list of the big changes they made to the plot in the spoilers section at the end.

It was slightly disappointing that Jack Matcham never made an appearance but Joanna was definitely portrayed as the the most intelligent and wisest of the two heroes. In fact my favourite lines of the whole film were when Joanna suggests to Dick ( he was never called that in the film, always Richard) a strategy to outwit Sir Daniel. Richard replies…..

Richard - ‘I bow to your brains, my queen’
Joanna - ‘ Well, it's about time that someone appreciated a woman. England will never be great until she's had a queen or two.’

As I anticipated, to satisfy the Hollywood producers, apart from Dick and Joanna living happily ever after, the ending was completely different to that of the book.

It was worthwhile watching and, in my view, probably better than any adaptations that might be made today.

For those who want to know the major differences without watching the film, here they are……..
(view spoiler)[
1. Dick Shelton had already been knighted (by King Edward) when he came home from the Wars of the Roses.
2. In the movie Sir Daniel was a Yorkist not a Lancastrian
3. Sir John Sedley (Joanna’s father) was John Amend-All who had been falsely blamed for murdering Dick’s father.
4. Sir Daniel attempted to force Joanna to marry him in exchange for sparing her father’s life.
5. Crookback, the Duke of Gloucester was invited by Sir Daniel to his marriage to Joanna. Sir Oliver was shot with an arrow by Lawless whilst standing next to Sir Daniel at the altar. The duke postponed the marriage.
6. Dick (in his monk’s disguise) pleads with Crookback to allow him to settle his dispute with Sir Daniel by throwing down the gauntlet and challenging him to a joust. Sir Daniel agrees and Dick is battered to within an inch of his life before finally skewering Sir Daniel on the end of a broken lance.
Joanna is in the pavilion watching it all and the final scene shows her tending Dick’s wounds followed by the inevitable smoochy finish. (hide spoiler)]

Aside from the absence of Jack Matcham, the movie sounds better than the book! Looks like it's actually on YouTube, will check it out.

I finished the Italian series. There are two big differencies between the book and the series:
1 There is not the part on the boat
2 The final: in the series Dick loses the Duke's support by asking him to spare Bennet Hatch's life; Hatch is saved from hanging but he is not grateful to Dick (he is aware that in his life he made many mistakes and wanted to atone by dying) and they part on bad terms; Dick insists to invite the men of the Black Arrow to his wedding; after the marriage ceremony Dick and Joanna go out of the church to find the Duke and his men on the left and Ellis Duckworth on the right: they have to choose which side they are on, they go towards the Black Arrow men and the Duke is indignant and goes away; then they go together to a castle (it is not clear if it is Moat House or Risingham's house) but they are richly dressed and we understand that they now have some property.

Daniela wrote: "I finished the Italian series. There are two big differencies between the book and the series:
1 There is not the part on the boat
2 The final: in the series Dick loses the Duke's support by asking..."

The boat and sailors never made an appearance in the 1948 film either. Tunstall Moat House was a grand place in the film with drawbridge and battlements, belonging to Dick’s father and inherited by Dick.