Plumed hats, rapiers and heaving bosoms

11 June 2008

/article_images/articledir_1533/766981/1_listing.jpg

Gerald Warner celebrates the unexpected appearance of one last ‘swashbuckling novel’, and mourns the loss of a genre that taught boys honour, courage and chivalry

Today the sword-and-cape novel has again gone offshore: its leading exponent is the Spanish writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte, creator of the Captain Alatriste series. Though well researched and atmospheric, the novels are disfigured by a self-conscious disowning of the attitudes of the 17th century in which they are set. Dumas would never have made such a mistake: he lived fully in whatever period he was chronicling.

Novels of the swashbuckling school provided an effortless education in manners and morals, ornamented with plumed hats, cup-hilted rapiers and heaving bosoms. Boys who had, in spirit, scaled ivy-clad walls with a sword clenched between their teeth, swum the moat of the castle of Zenda, stormed aboard a pirate galleon, or galloped to safety with a rescued heroine perched precariously on their saddle needed no further schooling in honour, courage and respect for women. These are not values inculcated by modern computer games. It may not make much difference, but the return of Alexandre Dumas to take one last bow is as welcome as it is unexpected.

Previous page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

More articles from: Gerald Warner | this section

Print this article | Email to a friend | Permalink | Comments (2)

Post this entry to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit

Post comment

Jane Bodington

June 17th, 2008 11:16pm Report this comment

Well, you've never played 'Monkey Island' have you? Or 'Broken Sword'. Quite a few computer games are full of swash and buckle, and the designers are well-read in the genre and historical context.

But I agree with your main point, about the dearth of historical novels that are true to their period but have a sense of adventure. (Not Sharpe? No sense of humour?).

Anyway Perez Reverte wrote his books as a response to 'Sharpe', offended his sense of national pride, and also because he loves the British Nautical yarns, Hornblower etc., and wanted to do something similar for the Spanish.

In my opinion you forgot 'The Children of the New Forest'by Marryat, 'Kim' by Kipling, Erskine Childers 'The Riddle of the Sands' and Buchan, 'Greenmantle'?

Brian E. Birdnow

July 26th, 2008 4:37am Report this comment

I am an American writer of your magazine and was wondering why you did not place G. A. Henty in your pantheon of swashbuckling novelists. Henty may not have been a master literary stylist but he told a great tale and did so with verve and elan. His subjects were Scottish partisans, soldiers-of-fortune in seventeenth century Germany, and "cavaliers" fighting in the American Civil War. He was undoubtedly politically incorrect, but isn't the whole chivalric ideal politically incorrect today?

Post comment