Under Two Skies by E. W. Hornung
Nov. 1st, 2020 07:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
regshoeI've spent a pleasant day making lentil soup and bread rolls (this week's soup batch is a particularly good one, I think), thinking about and doing research for my Yuletide fic (which is now over 1,000 words, wahey!) and filling in a gap in my E. W. Hornung read-through.
Under Two Skies (1892) is Hornung's second published book and first collection of short stories. I initially skipped it on my read-through because I couldn't find a copy—thanks very much totheseatheseatheopensea for locating one :) Anyway, you'll never guess which two countries the title refers to! The seven stories, set some in England and some in a characteristically lovingly described Australia, are generally about complicated, emotionally tangled and thwarted love-affairs and other relationships, with lots of jilting, broken faith and otherwise questionable conduct and a mixture of happy, unhappy and ambiguous endings.
I generally enjoyed them, although I thought some of the judgements of characters on the part of the author were a little unfairly harsh (yes, that was a shabby way to treat someone she was in love with; no, what he decides to do with himself afterwards isn't actually her fault... kind of thing). Overall the collection was good fun, for all that many of the stories are not especially happy: Hornung, newly successful, is playing with language and stories and it's as much of a delight as it always is. There are some brilliant twisty, elliptical descriptive passages and turns of phrase (I say this in every Hornung review, but it's always true!), and Hornung's talent for implying, rather than stating outright, the emotional significance of an ending is used very well.
The most interesting thing in the collection, from a fandom point of view, is the description of the character Edward Nettleship, a cricketer who we meet playing for Oxford at Lord's, in the story 'Nettleship's Score'. Raffles fans, does this sound a little familiar?:
He spends the rest of the story acting in a somewhat nefarious and highly devious, if not actually criminal, way. It is all in the service of obtaining parental permission to marry the girl he loves, and there's no hint of a Bunny character or relationship, so the similarity is somewhat superficial. Nevertheless, it was very interesting to see this turn up, six years before The Amateur Cracksman!
Under Two Skies (1892) is Hornung's second published book and first collection of short stories. I initially skipped it on my read-through because I couldn't find a copy—thanks very much to
theseatheseatheopensea for locating one :) Anyway, you'll never guess which two countries the title refers to! The seven stories, set some in England and some in a characteristically lovingly described Australia, are generally about complicated, emotionally tangled and thwarted love-affairs and other relationships, with lots of jilting, broken faith and otherwise questionable conduct and a mixture of happy, unhappy and ambiguous endings.I generally enjoyed them, although I thought some of the judgements of characters on the part of the author were a little unfairly harsh (yes, that was a shabby way to treat someone she was in love with; no, what he decides to do with himself afterwards isn't actually her fault... kind of thing). Overall the collection was good fun, for all that many of the stories are not especially happy: Hornung, newly successful, is playing with language and stories and it's as much of a delight as it always is. There are some brilliant twisty, elliptical descriptive passages and turns of phrase (I say this in every Hornung review, but it's always true!), and Hornung's talent for implying, rather than stating outright, the emotional significance of an ending is used very well.
The most interesting thing in the collection, from a fandom point of view, is the description of the character Edward Nettleship, a cricketer who we meet playing for Oxford at Lord's, in the story 'Nettleship's Score'. Raffles fans, does this sound a little familiar?:
His jet-black hair was a sheer anachronism in its length and curliness, and would have been considered extremely bad form in anybody but Nettleship. Also, his pale face was vexatiously deprived of the moustache which might at least have modernised him; but then his features were notably of a classic cast. ... They were now, it was remarked, a trifle sharp and angular. ... His eyes were blue, and keen, and searching; his smile had of late taken a cynical curl...
He spends the rest of the story acting in a somewhat nefarious and highly devious, if not actually criminal, way. It is all in the service of obtaining parental permission to marry the girl he loves, and there's no hint of a Bunny character or relationship, so the similarity is somewhat superficial. Nevertheless, it was very interesting to see this turn up, six years before The Amateur Cracksman!
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Date: Nov. 1st, 2020 08:26 pm (UTC)I'm so impressed about the state of your Yuletide fic... bravo!! I'd say good luck for the rest of it, but it sounds like you don't need it! Truly awesome!!
And I'mglad that this elusive book appeared eventually--Zlibrary is really a good resource to try when everything else has failed!
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Date: Nov. 2nd, 2020 06:18 am (UTC)It does look like a very useful resource for those obscure faves, thanks for linking to it!
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Date: Nov. 1st, 2020 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Nov. 2nd, 2020 06:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Nov. 2nd, 2020 07:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Nov. 2nd, 2020 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Nov. 3rd, 2020 08:37 pm (UTC)I ordered a secondhand copy of Flight of the Heron based on hearing you talk about it! I'm excited to try it.
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Date: Nov. 4th, 2020 06:14 am (UTC)Oh, excellent! I hope you enjoy it :D