Book Review: King Solomon's Mines, by Henry Rider Haggard

Went to the local "Trunk or Treat" at the church house with my daughter and wife and my daughter's little friend last evening.  Kids can be so cute sometimes.  One boy I teased because he was dressed as the protagonist "Link" from the video game The Legend of Zelda.  But he was missing the elf ears.  Another little girl was dressed like a gothic vampire, and I told her she couldn't have any candy unless she said "I vant to suck your blood."  Actually got her to say it, too.  Good times.  I've always liked Halloween season.

And on a totally unrelated topic, here is another book review.


Source: Amazon.com


King Solomon's Mines, by Henry Rider Haggard

From the book’s cover:

Allan Quatermain and a group of fellow-adventurers set out to find a missing member of their party. This is the beginning of their adventures in an unfamiliar and unexplored region of inner Africa. The first adventure novel to take place in Africa, King Solomon s Mines achieved wide-spread popularity as soon as it was published in 1885.


Synopsis:

Allan Quatermain, bold hunter of the African bush, is called into action when an aristocrat named Sir Henry Curtis and his friend Captain Good arrive in the area (today its South Africa) and request his help. See, Curtis's brother disappeared while searching for the lost mines of King Solomon (yes, that Solomon), and we can't very well let him rot out there, now can we?

The book is split up into three parts. First comes the accepting of the quest, with the back-story of how this knowledge of the fabulous wealth of Solomon was re-discovered. It's long and complicated - not so bad as portions of Lord of the Rings, but still fairly detailed. Suffice it to say, Quatermain takes the job, even though he admits he is something of a coward (I think this may be a case of false modesty, but I'll get to this more in a minute or two).

The first part includes the journey of our heroes across the great desert, accompanied by several servants, one of which (named "Umbopa") is singled out early as being important. Not terribly subtle, this Henry Rider Haggard guy. Along the way, they face great hardships, lose men - though ironically, none of the white guys gets killed, nor seriously hurt - and eventually find their way to a mysterious mountain range with two peaks called Sheba's Boob... err- Breasts, I mean. Sheba's Breasts. You can tell by the way Haggard describes these peaks that he is a man who appreciates... landscape.

Part Two? The great war. Our fellows get to the top of the hill, as it were (wink, wink), and after surviving hunger, thirst and near death from exposure, they eventually arrive in the city of the Kukuana. These natives are similar to the Zulu in many ways. Honestly, I don't know much about African history, nor the cultures of her sub-Saharan peoples, so I couldn't say much about this part.

Anyway, come to find out, the king of the Kukuana is a real bad guy, but luckily for Quatermain and crew, they just happened to bring the rightful king with them - purely by accident, of course (a lucky happenstance, though our pretender to the throne knows he is noble and just needed a bunch of white guys crazy enough to go halfway across Africa with him in tow so he could arrive to take back his father's throne). Oh yeah, and then a big war happens, with lots of blood and martial spirit and fighting and close calls and stuff. It's cool, but quite involved.

Part Three. Sorry, I'm once again breaking my two paragraph rule. But I'll be quick on part three, as it was the best part, in my opinion. After the bad king is killed, and everything set to right, the new king sends his uncle and a native girl with our band of intrepid white guys to find the source of the wonderful shining stones (diamonds) beyond Kukuanaland (I just like saying that... Kukuanaland, Kukuanaland, Kukuanaland!) They are led by Gagool, the evil old witch who was the old king's sooth-sayer and has been old for as long as anyone can remember in Kukuanaland. This old bitty eventually tricks our heroes and traps them in the mine's secret chamber where the riches are, at the cost of her own life (great part, that was). But our good and noble fellows make it out in the end. And they even manage to haul away a bit of treasure for their trouble. All's well that ends well, as they say.

The author, Henry Rider Haggard. / Source: Wikipedia.com

What I liked about it:

First and foremost, Gagool. Talk about an evil witch. Her speech in front of the evil one-eyed king when she is first introduced is classic. I felt a chill and a thrill together as she expounds the future before the assembled people, and speaks of blood and doom. This is one evil old crone if there ever was one. Well done, Haggard. This villain puts you soundly in the ranks, old chap. Top drawer. Truly first rate and stuff.

I also especially liked that Haggard describes Quatermain as a very human sort of guy. For instance, Quatermain, when faced with battle or the possibility of death in the treasure chamber, expresses genuine fear. This is unexpected in an adventure tale of this vintage, and fairly refreshing. Though as I mentioned earlier, it may be a case of false modesty. After all, Quatermain is certainly willing to do what needs to be done. But he takes several opportunities to speak very much like a real person would in the circumstances described. You know, if you were a British type who is willing to fight in a great war or shoot an elephant or be trapped in a treasure chamber turned death trap. That sort of real person.

The part (first part, that is) where they climb the mountain was exciting. You keep expecting somebody to get it, what with all the hardship and travail involved. And then somebody does. Just not a somebody who is crucial. This happens later in the book too. But I won't stray just yet into things about the book I don't like. And anyway, this is trivial in comparison to my real gripes.

Best of all is the third part. I'd say the second part, where they have the great war of the Kukuana, is the weakest section, in my opinion. But the journey to the actual mines, and what happens there? That got me interested again after being a bit bored during the battles and such. Not to say Haggard doesn't do it well, but I was more hooked by the journey to Kukuanaland (there it is again!) and then the journey and discovery of the mines. And plus - sorry to give this part away - the treasure chamber is actually kinda modest. Yes, it is spectacular, but not over-the-top. I actually found the author's description of the mines to be somewhat believable. There is a ton of ivory, a large amount of gold, and a few chests of diamonds. And the diamonds aren't all flawless grapefruit-sized wonders either. It is this sort of thing that helps the book remain durable today, I think.

These pencil sketches don't quite do the fiend Gagool justice, as they don't capture what I saw in my head.  But they are better than the images from cinema.  I don't think any of them that I saw during a Google search were convincing.  I should note that the guy doing the narrating for the edition of the book I listened to made Gagool come alive through his vocalizations, which were really good.  The accent, the crooning, the menace and the evil glee...  Like I said, Gagool is one bad old lady.  / Source: OlivierMalric.Blogspot.com

What I didn’t like about it:

There are a few things to go over. Of course, before I start, I must say that it is hard to criticize a book that was written over 120 years ago. But I'll give it the old college try, just the same.

First up would have to be the colonial view of African people. Yes, I know this is disputable, because they didn't know much better back then. It was somewhat gratifying that in the first few paragraphs, the author - speaking as Allan Quatermain - goes to write the word "niggers" and then scratches it out and replaces it with "negros." At least it wasn't completely offensive, on that part. And I know there are some fairly progressive thoughts in there from time to time (as to the men of Quatermain's party and their attitudes and treatment of the blacks who travel with them, which fits the period but is not the lesser degree of it at the same time).

And in the same instance, it is still just as old fashioned and racist. I'm not trying to wave some "political correctness" flag here. I just come from a different place and a different time, and to me their actions are sometimes not so noble as the author might have thought himself to be when he wrote it. The whole "noble savage" idea is way out of favor in the twenty-first century, you know.

This can be extended to the hunting of elephants, which is portrayed in brief detail in the first third of the book. I'm not so uptight that I think people from that period shouldn't have been allowed to shoot even one elephant. Yes, they helped hasten the extermination of the species by their casual disregard for other forms of life (and yes I know, not quite extinct yet, but certainly endangered), but as with the color of a man's skin, they didn't really know better yet. But the wanton destruction of seven or eight elephants, with the accompanying regret that they couldn't get more?! That's just sick. Don't kill the animal if you are just going to hack off its tusks, bury them, and hope you'll be able to come back someday and claim the ivory back from the spot you hid it..

I know they couldn't very well take the ivory with them on their journey to the mines, but that still seems like such a horrible waste of such precious animals. I'm afraid I just can't seem to conscience such a thing. Thinking of that carcass lying rotting in the sun, unharvested and stinking. If you must kill, do it for a good reason. One elephant could feed a lot of people. Seven or eight could feed and provide for an army of people. It seems like a bad thing to me.

Ok, what else? Now that I've criticized the nineteenth century and its backward morals on such issues as the treatment of men and beasts, that is.

Well, the whole Deus Ex Machina of the solar eclipse when the party is at the Kukuana people's city is another thing. See, they need to show a sign to the bad one-eyed king and his followers that they are "men from the stars," so they look in an almanac and find out a solar eclipse will happen the next day, and it just so happens it will be fully visible in Africa. How convenient. Seems to me like lazy story writing on the part of Haggard. I must say that I was at a loss as to what they were going to do to show a sign to the evil king, but a solar eclipse seems... well, Deus Ex Machina.

A definition of Deus Ex Machina. # 2 is what I mean here, in case you didn't follow.

Also, the big war between Umbopa's freedom fighters and the forces that stay loyal to the evil king is kind of long and drawn out. I like warfare and such, but to me this part seemed a bit of a drag. But then when this book was written, it probably was amazing stuff. But these days, its been overdone, so Haggard's blow by blow, as it were, left me wanting. Could have shortened it up a bit and gotten on with the rest of the story.



A great representation of the mines.  The three stone figures, known in the novel as the "Silent Ones," are supposedly idols representing the false gods that old Solomon strayed after (if you know your Bible).  / Source: FireInTheJungle.Wordpress.com

 What I learned, if anything:

I learned a few things about Africa from the time. I wonder how much Haggard took from research, and how much he pulled out of thin air. I can't say, not knowing enough on the subject matter. But there were some interesting tidbits. But truly, it was not an educational text, so I can't say I really learned a lot of new things. Just some stuff that might be worth learning more about. And isn't that the best thing fiction can do? Makes you want to learn more? I think so.

Recommendation:

Despite my grumbles in a few instances, I actually recommend the book. It is a bit quaint by today's standards, but at the same time, there are parts of it that are really kinda fun. It's a great adventure tale, and it is a useful case study for looking at how many people viewed Africa and her native peoples and the so-called "White Man's Burden" and all that back when King Solomon's Mines was first written.

And let's face it, Gagool could be a demonstration on how to write evil hag villain characters. I'll keep tooting away at how awesome I thought she was to anyone who asks. Witch was crazy! Yeah, you saw what I did there. Pretty clever, yeah?

Bottom line, King Solomon's Mines is worth your time. If you like old-school adventure fiction, I'd say this should be on your list of have-to-reads, if you haven't already done so. In fact, I thought it was in many ways better than A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burrows. I'll let you know how it compares to Treasure Island by Stephenson, when I finally get around to re-reading that one of these days. Good stuff, and well recommended.

P.S.: According to Wikipedia, the book is the first English novel to feature an African adventure. Also, it appears Haggard wrote it on a bet with his brother that he could do a novel as god as the then-recently released Treasure Island. Cool.


Learn more about King Solomon's Mines, by Henry Rider Haggard, on Amazon.com


The parting comment:

Source: Snopes.com

According to the website I took this from, the lack of changing details in the background means this image was actually fabricated using a web tool called "Church Sign Generator."  Still, the running dialog is worth a chuckle.  Besides, as anyone who knows anything can attest to, dogs have their own heaven.  Just like cats, and rhinoceros, and Unitarians, and Mormons (I can poke fun at my own religion like anybody else), and Buddhists, and nudists (nudist heaven?  Can I look over the wall? haha), and Republicans.  Well maybe not that last group, but the point is, God doesn't have to exclude people or things.  He's God, folks.  He doesn't have to exclude anybody if He doesn't want to.  Except Republicans.  Oh there I go again.  Just kidding, you conservatives.  I am conservative in some things, I swear.  Please don't hunt me down and raise my taxes, ok?