Customer Reviews

Amateur Cracksman (Raffles)

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Around 1900, E.W. Hornung's Raffles stories were hugely popular in England. Raffles was an English gentleman who was also an amateur safe-cracker and all-around burglar with the aid of his somewhat reluctant junior partner "Bunny".

Raffles and Bunny have been compared to Holmes and Watson and for good reason. Hornung's sister was married to Arthur Conan Doyle and acknowledged his debt to his better-known in-law. Taking the role of Watson, Bunny authored the recollections of Raffles' criminal exploits (necessarily published after-the-fact, however). Whereas Bunny clung (somewhat unsuccessfully) to Victorian morality, Raffles' genius could be not be bounded by mere social custom. Raffles, however, was not evil; he just enjoyed high living and supporting that life style by stealing jewels from indolent rich people struck him as entirely reasonable.

Raffles, by the way, was gentleman by merit, that is, he was a world class cricket player, but did not have the family background or personal wealth to be otherwise qualified as a gentleman. At the time, this manner of entering the British elite was quite new. Only twenty years earlier, being a well-known athlete would scarcely have opened the doors to the social elite. Indeed, merely having money would not have pried open the doors either. The doors opened to such parvenus only in the aftermath of the agricultural depression that devastated the economic power of the land-based aristocracy (followed shortly by declines in their social and political power). See the excellent history The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy by David Cannadine.

Like Doyle with Holmes, Hornung tried to kill off Raffles only to bring him back in response to popular demand. Unlike Holmes, the Raffles stories quickly faded from prominence. This decline in popularity may have been partially due to lingering Victorian unease with the antihero. In my mind it was also at least partially due to the fact that the stories, while quite entertaining, are not as good as the Holmes tales. Recommended.

A great book that's very well written, The Amateur Cracksman is a must read classic. Though it lacks moral value (A. J. Raffles steals mostly just for kicks) it has what most great classics lack, a good sense of humor. It's about Bunny, a broke journalist on the verge of comitting suicide, who seeks help from from his best friend from school. Before he realises it, he has just become the loyal side-kick of one of England's greatest thieves. As Raffles is one of the best cricket players in England, he gets invited (along with the ever-faithful Bunny) to the houses of the rich and famous of England. At night, he robs them blind. Marvelously written, its set in the Victorian period. It's packed with action and adventure, and a lot of cynnical jokes. A great introduction to classics, it is a more relaxed story than most books of it's era. Though A. J. Raffles and Bunny are not exactly great role-models for young readers, their almost devious acts are ammended by their courageous acts on the battle field. I definitely recommend reading the Amateur Cracksman!

This book is a reproduction (including printing errors) of a book originally published in 1907. It collects short stories about A.J. Raffles, "The Amateur Cracksman". Raffles is a gentleman and a cricket player, who supports himself by carrying out ingenious burglaries. His stories are told by his accomplace "Bunny". There are eight stories here, ending with a story in which Raffles and Bunny are finally arrested. That was probably the author's attempt to end the series, but he later wrote more Raffles stories due to popular demand. These stories are quite entertaining.

This entertaining book is almost forgotten now, but during the first part of the century is was one of the favorite books of every teenage boy in the English-speaking world. They loved to read about Raffles, the upper-class and charming Amateur Cracksman (thief) and his adventures.

Raffles himself is indeed great fun, I love the idea of an upper-class young Englishman who takes to crime rather than get a job, which after all would interfere with his high society life and amateur cricket career. The book is a series of related stories, each slyly witty and subversive, each a clever detective story in reverse.

The reason they were indeed detective stories in reverse is simple: E.W. Hornung was the brother-in-law of Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Hornung wrote these stories partly as a satire on Holmes (and Watson, his narrator "Bunny" is a rock-stupid, dead-on parody), and partly just to annoy. It worked, Conan Doyle worried about this book's effect on the public morals!

Now, who wouldn't enjoy a book written to annoy a self-righteous in-law? Especially if the book is actually good? (The book was later made into a weak film starring David Niven, and inspired "To Catch a Thief")