The Riddle of the Sands
Childers's lone masterpiece, THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS, considered the first modern spy thriller, is recognisable as the brilliant forerunner of the realism of Graham Greene and John le Carre. Its unique flavour comes from its fine characterization,richly authentic background of inshore sailing and vivid evocation of the late 1890s - an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and intrigue that was soon to lead to war.
Stats for nerds
2recommend
2mentions
2people
2018–2026years
100% recommend
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- > “Seems like there could be some insights around the input of fresh signals from aligned but not strictly conforming participants.”
Exactly. I think you nailed a good subreddit.
What is the raison d'être of the a subreddit if it’s not to share your emotional quest to “refill the vase” of your love affair with the object of shared affection?
For example, I’ve made my own, somewhat delightful, but also archaic side quests from O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin fiction series.
Gibbon’s “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, interesting authorial voice combining fiction and historical figures, but the characters have only brief moments on the stage.
The excellent narrator Patrick Tull of the A-M series lead me to:
Childers, Erskine, “The Riddle of the Sands” (1903), the archetype of the modern spy novel—with sailing!
So you want to post your find to the community? Maybe you have retained a trace of the author’s voice? So you bring your new books to the subreddit in fellowship.
But woe to you if in your excitement to share your new find you inadvertently, or intentionally, or carelessly, or with too much subtlety, break the “catechism” or moral codes of your subReddit group and insult its saints.
Well, then you’re in trouble. But lest we forget, _fortune favors the bold_. (What are the A-M peeps going to do if I piss them off? SWAT my house?)
- Erskine Childers' "The Riddle of the Sands", an analysis of German naval ambitions pre-WWI masquerading as a tense work of fiction.
Joshua Slocum's "Sailing Alone Around the World". Slocum does that.
George Ade, any of his works: he was the logical successor as a humorist to Mark Twain, yet his work doesn't wear all that well since he was in love with turn-of-the-20th-century slang. With some effort his portrayals of character turn surprisingly deep and sympathetic.
