Customer Reviews

Bulldog Drummond

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Bulldog Drummond, recently demobilised from WWI, seeks adventure and soon finds it. With the help of his WWI buddies has gets the girl and saves mother England.

The language is arcane, the politics questionable, the villains incredibly stupid but this is still a ripping read. Fascinating time capsule of post-WWI English mores.

I started Bulldog Drummond keenly, anticipating a good old-fashioned British adventure with lashings of `derring do'. My initial interest in the novel stems from the knowledge that my beloved P.G. Wodehouse read it and presumably enjoyed it, as he borrowed part of the plot for Leave it to Psmith. I am also a fan of `similar' works such as John Buchan's `The Thirty-Nine Steps', and G.K. Chesterton's `The Man Who Was Thursday'.

When a reader embarks on a novel with as much good-will as I did, one is prepared to overlook minor issues of style, plot and characterisation. In the first chapter, I made `allowances' for the patronising, simpleton dialogue given to Mr and Mrs Denny, Drummond's servants. They at least fare better than the Germans in the novel, who are credited with little more than grunting speech and greedy expressions.

`Sapper' wrote Bulldog Drummond shortly after WWI and it's reasonable to presume that he harboured anti-German sentiments (although many allied soldiers could empathise with their fellow foot soldiers in the opposing trenches).

I was however, unable to continue making excuses after reading a disturbing account of Dummond's wartime nocturnal adventures into no-man's land, where he developed a psychopathic knack for killing. He continues to indulge his murderous habits throughout the peace-time events of the story, although most of the killings are unnecessary.

The story does have some exciting moments, but on the whole it is too thin, and the author's purpose too obvious, for it to be really enjoyed. It might work better on the big screen, where one can justify an hour or two spent enjoying an implausible adventure, but I don't think I'll spend any more reading time with Sapper and his dubious psychopath hero.

In short, when looking for a classic British adventure, try Buchan, Chesterton and company instead.