Anthony Hope

El prisionero de Zenda es una novela privilegiada, pues pertenece a ese extraño y selecto club de los libros que nunca envejecen.Sus ingredientes eran y lo siguen siendo infalibles: amores imposibles, heroes galantes, villanos inteligentes, princesas hermosas, coronas en peligro, fieles servidores Todo ello, situado en el corazon de la Europa elegante de finales del siglo XIX: ese territorio mitico donde se cruzaban viajeros dandis realizando el Grand Tour, condesas misteriosas que tomaban las aguas en balnearios enclavados en magicas montañas, investigadores privados tras la huella del mal en ciudades envueltas en niebla, infieles esposas fugitivas con jovenes apuestos en el Orient Express, ladrones de guante blanco al acecho de las perlas de adineradas jovencitas que paseaban por Niza o leian a Mr. Barnabooth en la terraza de un hotel de Sorrento El prisionero de Zenda nacio tocada por los dioses y, abriendose paso entre grandes del genero, se convirtio en una de las novelas mas leidas, erigiendose ademas como pionera en la creacion de historias ambientadas en paises imaginarios.

Classic / British English (Available May 2008) Rudolf Rassendyll, a daring young Englishman looking for adventure, arrives in Ruritania for the new kings coronation. The two men meet by chance the day before and are shocked to find that they look exactly the same! A trick leaves Rudolf in the kings place while the king becomes the Prisoner of Zenda

El prisionero de Zenda es una novela privilegiada, pues pertenece a ese extraño y selecto club de los libros que nunca envejecen.Sus ingredientes eran y lo siguen siendo infalibles: amores imposibles, heroes galantes, villanos inteligentes, princesas hermosas, coronas en peligro, fieles servidores Todo ello, situado en el corazon de la Europa elegante de finales del siglo XIX: ese territorio mitico donde se cruzaban viajeros dandis realizando el Grand Tour, condesas misteriosas que tomaban las aguas en balnearios enclavados en magicas montañas, investigadores privados tras la huella del mal en ciudades envueltas en niebla, infieles esposas fugitivas con jovenes apuestos en el Orient Express, ladrones de guante blanco al acecho de las perlas de adineradas jovencitas que paseaban por Niza o leian a Mr. Barnabooth en la terraza de un hotel de Sorrento El prisionero de Zenda nacio tocada por los dioses y, abriendose paso entre grandes del genero, se convirtio en una de las novelas mas leidas, erigiendose ademas como pionera en la creacion de historias ambientadas en paises imaginarios.

After his kingdom of Ruritania had been invaded by a score or more of imitators, Mr. Anthony Hope came back to England to sing of a man sans arms, whose victories are as remarkable, if not so renowned, as those of Rudolph Rassendyll. Alexander Quisante becomes a power in the house of commons and a ruler in that realm of finance known in London as "the city," all by the grace of a ready tongue, an adjustable conscience, and the stupidity of his fellow men. His equipment for a hero is very meager. In the first place he was "not quite a gentleman," not merely in the English acceptance of that term, but even in our more democratic diction. The fact that nothing was known of his antecedents beyond the rumor that his father had grown wine in Spain might be overlooked, but not the defects in his manners and morals. On public occasions and in regard to public audiences he possessed a tact and a power of understanding the feelings of his company which entirely and conspicuously failed him in private life. He was ill-bred, but he was not mean; he was a vaunter, but not a coward; he demanded adherence and did not beg alms. This was the attitude of his mind, so strongly contradicted by the cringing of his body and the wheedling of his tongue ...

No character in recent fiction has excited greater interest than the beautiful, wilful, cruel, tender-hearted, proud, witty, and wholly delightful Princess Osra. Anthony Hope is at his best in the stories of which she is the heroine.The Heart of Princess Osra is full of throbs and incidents, and though there are not less than nine of the ladys passages damour, and le pays du tendre is criss-crossed in all directions, you still want a bakers dozen of these stories.

Sport Royal is a collection of Anthony Hopes best short stories. It includes these works:Sport RoyalA Tragedy In Outline.A Malapropos Parent.How They Stopped The "Run."A Little Joke.A Guardian Of Morality.Not A Bad Deal.Middletons Model.My Astral Body.The Nebraska Loadstone.A Successful Rehearsal.

The " Dolly Dialogues " serve much the same purpose that the ballet does in an operathey are a divertissement pure and simple. The winsome, irresponsible "Dolly" picks her steps amid the conversational pitfalls which the adroit " Mr. Carter" spreads for her, with as much dainty sureness as a premiere danseuse, and we cannot but admire and applaud her grace and vivacity. There is no hidden meaning to the "Dialogues " any more than there is to "Dolly." They but reveal the polished inanity of the modern ball-room, the fashionable frivolity of the five oclock tea-table, and the harmless flirtations of the lawn-tennis court. As "trifles light as air," Mr. Hope offered them to us; as trifles we accept them, and who but the most nobly serious could refuse to smile over their gracefulness, their immaculate innuendo! As a hand-book on "Polite Conversations; or, The Art of Saying Nothing Gracefully," these " Dolly Dialogues " might almost take rank as a serious classic.

A novel by one of the greatest of all English romantic writers. The story is laid in the time of Charles II. and has chiefly to do with the English and French courts. These furnish materials for a tale of love, intrigue, and adventure that could not be surpassed, and the author has availed himself of his opportunities in a remarkable manner. The work lies in a slightly different field from that which be has previously cultivated, although the same brilliant and original touch which is so strongly shown throughout Phroso and The Prisoner of Zenda is noticeable in this story.

For this story there can be nothing but praise. It is true that it can scarcely be called literature, as doubtless no one knows better than the author. A writer who leaves off such work as Half a Hero and takes a royal road to fortune, if not to fame, with The Prisoner of Zenda, must be conscious of the change of method. But the work is quite as fine in its different way as if it were of much finer literary quality, and far more interesting than many a better written story. Too many books are worn thin by overuse of literatures tools, too few are endowed with the vitality that makes this tale vividly alive. From beginning to end it moves with a breathless rush. The plot is the purchase by an English nobleman ot an isolated island inhabited by semi-civilised Greeks who have a confirmed habit of killing any man who buys the island. They kill the old lord who sells it, and who dies just as the new owner arrives, so that the story opens with murder, to be followed by attempted assassination, all leading to blood and adventures galore.

Father Stafford is veritably a tragic tale, albeit it appears that he has seen t to give it more the setting of a comi-tragedy. But when the heart of a noble, maguanimous character, like that of Father Stafford, is involved in a serious love affair, with no future but that of blighted hopes and disappointment, one feels like looking upon such scenes with a solemn, thoughtful mien , yet one must smile occasionally, for Anthony Hope has the knack of applying the most sparkling and humorous of dialogues exactly at the right moment, thus saving his dramatic and tragical scenes from going utterly to pieces. However, this is Anthony Hope over and over again. We recognized him as the prince of dialogue in " The Prisoner of Zenda," and although the story of " Father Stafford " is of entirely different aspect, the " speaking parts" are just as delicious. Father Stafford is an Anglican clergyman, and a man of remarkable talents, yet his inclinations would probably have been better directed had he turned them toward affairs of the world. As it is, a good, well-meaning man, who has bound himself to prayers, self-abnegation, and the Church, also taking the vow of celibacy, discovers too late that the esh of mankind is weak, and that love is king of all emotions. His life is one of peacefulness until he meets Lady Claudia Territon at the English houseparty where the story is cast, when life for the " pope," as she charmingly dubs him, begins to drift into other spheres, different from the altitude of the religious devotee, and extremely unfortunate for the young minister, whose duty it is to walk in the ways of the righteous ...

Second String, by Anthony Hope,brings to mind a new tendency in British fiction which has quite been creeping in during the last years of the 19th century; namely, the tendency to concern itself more and more with the social life of middle class people rather than the upper circles. Second String deals with the extremely mixed society of a small English town, in which the hero, Andy Hayes, upon returning home after some years in the Canadian lumber district, finds it somewhat embarrassing to steer successfully between the distinctly "high-life" people on his fathers side of the house and Jack Rock, the village butcher, with whom he is connected through his mothers second marriage. There is nothing of great importance in the main thread of the story; it is a tranquil chronicle of how Vivian Welgood, a frail, timid sort of girl, while engaging herself to another man, discovers that there is something in the physical presence of strong, big Andy Hayes that gives her a certain borrowed courage and self-reliance. And of courseit is no surprise to the reader when the other man finally elopes with Vivians hired companion that she promptly and indeed gladly turns to Andy as second string. The value of the book lies in the deft portrayal of present-day manners, and as such, slight and modest as it is, it rings true.

The many thousands who have read and admired The Prisoner of Zenda will reach eagerly for its sequel, which has been published under the title Rupert of Hentzau. They will not be disappointed. Sequels of successful stories are frequently weaker and somewhat forced, but in this case it must be admitted that Anthony Hope has given us a book as powerful, vigorous and fascinating as the first. It is a cleverly wrought out romance, resplendent with stirring incidents and ingeniously invented adventures, told with the visor which carries the reader swiftly to the end, and which we are accustomed to find in all of Hopes writings. The book will doubtless have as large a sale as The Prisoner of Zenda, and will be gladly welcomed by many a person, who after having been wearied by the daily cares, seeks rest of mind and diversion in a good story.

Mr. Hopes new romance pictures the life of a prince and king under conditions modern, and yet shared by representatives of royalty almost throughout history. The interactions of the people and royalty, the aspirations of the prince, the intrigues surrounding him, the cares of state, and the craving for love, are some of the motives developed, with the accompaniments of incident and adventure, wherein the author proves his mastery of suspended interest and dramatic effect. It is a romance which will not only absorb the attention of readers, but impress them with a new admiration for the authors power.

Mr. Anthony Hope offers from time to time a welcome relief from the special brand of seriousness that has come to be the hall-mark of the school of British novelists. Not that he fails to take himself seriously; on the contrary, few writers in England show a greater contrast between their earlier and their later work than the author of The Prisoner of Zenda and of the A Young Mans Year. From the rainbow air-castles of sheer romance to the practical problem of a young mans first start in the working world is surely a broad enough step to satisfy any demand that present-day fiction shall be serious. But the big difference between the newer school and that which Mr. Hopes later manner typifies is that his interest remains centred in the individual, in spite of all the new problems, social, ethical, moral or religious, that may have their formative influence; while writers like Galsworthy, Wells, and their followers although able to picture memorable characters when they choose to, are obviously more interested in movements and tendencies and problems than they are in the individual man or woman, and not infrequently give us characters that are really little more than types, standing symbolically for groups rather than for persons. That is why Mr. Hopes new volume, without being a big achievement, is a welcome diversion. Yet it is simply a careful, minute and at the same time vivid chronicle of just one year in the early life of Arthur Lisle, who when.we first meet him is a specimen of that essentially British creation, a briefless barrister. As yet he has by no means made up his mind whether he will welcome his first brief, if it ever comes. He is diffident and self-distrustful, and the mere thought of rising to address the Court fills him with an anticipatory ague. Meanwhile, time hanging heavily upon him, he seeks to fill it in by various social relaxations, and forms friendships, some more desirable than others.

Everything is ready for the fashionable London wedding of the heroine and the son of a famous old diplomat. But the bride has simply disappeared. Circumstantial evidence points to the fact that an Italian is connected with the girls disappearance. The outbreak of war just at this time postpones the chase for years.This novel by the author of "The Prisoner of Zenda" and "Dolly Dialogues" is much more closely related to reality in life and character than most other books. One feels that Mr. Hope is now writing to please his own ideals of the art of fiction rather than to amuse the crowd.

For clever dialogue and spirited situations Anthony Hope is eminently satisfactory. "Helenas Path" contains both these characteristics, and much beside; a keen appreciation of humorous values and a delightful emotional restraint. Helenas path is the bone of contention between Helena and the English earl whose estate joins hers. It is a sparkling comedy from cover to cover. Helenas beauty and the earls wit make a good combination when it comes to open war, as it does.

Mr. Anthony Hope is finding out his enviable position. Do what he will, he has the power to please most people. Whatever be his moods, and whatever the quality of his performance, he is never awkward, and elegance of form in any literary matter popularly interesting is so uncommon that gratitude and admiration are widespread and intense in proportion. Now that he is finding this out, it is not surprising that he should take advantage of it, and give pleasure to his numerous admirers as frequently and with as little trouble to himself as possible. It is impertinent to pry into the state of Mr. Hopes soul to see if it is growing demoralised by easy triumphs, but it is quite justifiable to say that a little more effort than is to be found in this book is wanted to keep to the estimate which some sincere but discreet admirers have formed of his powers. The stories here are entertaining, and the youth of fourteen who should disapprove of them would do so from mere dulness. But there are features in it that would lead one to believe they were not written for lads in their early teens. Yet it is not exactly a book for men and women, to whom the tales, excellent in imagining as many of them are, must be spoilt by the artificiality of the mechanism, and the conventionality of all the motives, feelings, and expressions, of the human beings concerned. Mr. Hope is a novelist of power, and he gives us an unimpeachable gift-book of a quality equalled by a dozen boys story writers any Christmas. His Antonio he calls an outlaw ; but he is the outlaw of a maiden-aunts or a schoolmasters imaginationcompounded of demi-god and family pastor. True, he appears to us through the narrative of a holy father, but Mr. Hope chose that medium, and if it was unsuitable for the rough record of the wild men who took to the hills, he is responsible.

Although among his more recent writings, the author of The Dolly Dialogues has done some rather serious and careful work, there is no exaggeration in saying that in literarv technique and human interest and the various other qualities that go to make good fiction The Great Miss Driver is easily the biggest, best rounded, and altogether worthiest story he has ever written, and yet, the first thing you are apt to think of is that the germ idea of the story goes straight back to the Dolly Dialogues; that in a superficial way, yes and perhaps in a deeper way, too, there is a certain rather absurd similarity between them; just as though the author, having once made a pleasant little comedy out of a certain situation, had ever since been turning over in his mind the possibility of using it in a bigger and more serious way, until eventually he evolved the present volume. Not that Jennie Driver, heiress to Breysgate Priory, bears any close resemblance to Lady Mickleham beyond the very feminine desire for conquest,any more than the Air. Austin of the one story is a close relative of Mr. Carter in the other. The resemblance lies in this, that both stories are told in the first person by the man who in his secret heart loves the woman of whom he writes, but knows that because he is poor, because he has the natural instinct of an old bachelor, because, also, she has given her heart elsewhere he must remain content to look upon her joys and sorrows in the capacity of a friend, and not that of a lover.

The scene of this story of mystery and romance is laid in the little town of Inkston, near London, shortly after the world war. Interest centers in three characters: the "puzzling unaccounted-for Mr Beaumaroy," recently of the British army overseas, now companion to an eccentric old man; the old man himself, Aloyslus William Saffron, lonely and crazed by the war, who lives in Tower cottage; and Dr Mary Arkroyd, who attends Mr Saffron in his last illness and who changes her mind about Hector Beaumaroy.