She: A History of Adventure [Paperback]

H. Rider Haggard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004 | ISBN-10: 1419146998 | ISBN-13: 978-1419146992

Some consider this the best of his "small party goes off into jungle and finds" novels. A guilty pleasure.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A strange book . . . full of hidden meaning.” —Sigmund Freud --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

A runaway bestseller on its publication in 1887, H. Rider Haggard?s She is a Victorian thrill ride of a novel, featuring a lost African kingdom ruled by a mysterious, implacable queen; ferocious wildlife and yawning abysses; and an eerie love story that spans two thousand years. She has bewitched readers from Freud and Jung to C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien; in her Introduction to this Modern Library Paperback Classic?which includes period illustrations by Maurice Greiffenhagen and Charles H. M. Kerr?Margaret Atwood asserts that the awe-inspiring Ayesha, ?She-who-must-be-obeyed,? is ?a permanent feature of the human imagination.? --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419146998
• ISBN-13: 978-1419146992
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,564,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Into the fire of pure desire..., April 14, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: She: A History of Adventure (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

Oh, thou-who-hast-not-read-this-book, you know not what you're missing! H. Rider Haggard's "She" is one of the best adventure novels of all, and it is one that inspired some of the best adventure stories of all, like, say, the Indiana Jones series.

A mysterious iron box that cannot be opened for twenty years... a 2,000-year-old quest for revenge... a lost civilization in the depths of Africa... and a mysterious queen called "She."

The story covers a vast landscape that will delight your imagination, and the main characters are distinct and likeable, sturdy partners in this most thrilling of adventures.

The story is so exciting and full of action, it's tempting to write it off as pure pulp fiction, hacked out with little intellgence or deeper meaning. You can read the book this way and still come away having a good time. But, if you're looking for that rare adventure novel with a meaningful subtext, "She" delivers on this level, too. I won't give too much away, but I think it's one of the greatest books ever written that demonstrates the total control desires have over man. Arthur Schopenhauer would approve.

Sigmund Freud called it a book "full of hidden meaning." C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien read it and loved it. Give this one a try, and you, too, might become forever fascinated with "She."

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Page turner, March 31, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: She: A History of Adventure (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

Books don't usually show up on your kitchen counter uninvited but this one did with a note tucked inside saying all in the family must read this. One by one we all read "She" reserving judgement until everyone had finished. Chomping at the bit those who had read it could barely wait for the moment when it could be discussed openly. When the last reader closed the book and placed it on the living room table the comments flew.
"I thought I'd hate it...the writing was so Victorian"

"How did Haggard come up with those wild scenarios"
"I hated her and loved her at the same time"
"Right and wrong became muddled"
"Everything was covered, adventure, excitement, romance, death, religion and morality"
"I continued to turn the pages hardly believing that he could come up with another bizarre scene"
Do we recommend it??? A great big giant YES!!!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Okay, I'll admit I bought this because of Rumpole's habit..., March 4, 2003

By 

E. T. Ashworth "tompaine47" (Richmond, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: She: A History of Adventure (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

... of referring to his wife, covertly, as She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed.

I had every reason to dislike this -- dated, predictable, wordy. But I found it to be a compelling read, one that I'm passing on to friends who might not have bothered to try it.

As when reading of Holmes or Father Brown -- I found myself yearning for times during which I didn't live, nostalgic for things I've never known.

Recommended; the Modern Library Classics is a fairly nifty little edition of it.

It is not, however, recommended that you begin to refer to your wife as She-Who-Must-be-Obeyed. Mine didn't care for it at all.