She

Rating:
Summary: Blockbuster from the Victorian Period.
Review: "She" is a good example of popular Victorian literature as influenced by the British empire. Because of this, it has some literary merit. Otherwise, the novel is fantastical garbage about two men, Holly and Leo (who is the descendant of a pharoah) from England who sail to Africa to confront Ayesha, a 2000 year old woman. That's not to say it's not a fun read. In fact, I believe a movie has been made from it, and if it was written today, it would be transformed into a cinematic extravaganza along the lines of "The Mummy," etc. It's a good adventure story. And perhaps, although I doubt Haggard was conscious of this, the novel reflects a contemporary English fear of female authority and/or foreign power. I wouldn't worry too much about that though. Enjoy "She," but just because it's a "World Classic," don't spend too much time looking for any deep meaning.

Rating:
Summary: Dramatic scenes of adventure, but a bit hard to read
Review: H. Rider Haggard's style is the ornate, 19th century melodrama style. There is none of the stylish repartee of Conan Doyle or the sharp characterization of Dickens. Despite its literary flaws, H. Rider Haggard's vivid imagination make "She" an enduring classic.

"She", or "She-who-must-be-obeyed" , a.k.a Ayesha, is a mysterious and powerful queen in a subterranean land laced with horrible terrors in darkest Africa. To disregard her word is instant death for her savage subjects. Holly and his adopted nephew Leo explore through her realm and after nearly getting murdered in the most horrible way, meet up with She. Leo is dying from a fever, and Holly, an explorer and a man educated in languages and the classics, contends with Ayesha. The very ill Leo is meanwhile attended by Ustane, a local gal who marries herself to him in the local custom of girl-takes-boy and stands by him loyally. Who is this local girl? Is she really just a native lass as she seems? And what has She to do with Ustane? Rider's description of Ayesha is brilliant, Holly is a sympathetic character and the ending of the tale is spectacular. The only reason I give three stars is that the writing is murky, convuluted and overly ornate. Still, when Rider describes scenes of high drama, horror or beauty, he cannot be beat.

Rating:
Summary: A very scary book
Review: I found this book VERY freaky. I listened to the unabridged recording of it, and I am glad, beacuse the lengthy descriptions would have been VERY hard for me to cope with. The setting in this book is one of things that unnerved me the most. To begin with, having a man who was near to death enter the scene to give some incredibly...different...instructions certainly adds to the suspense. The setting in northern Africa and the customs of teh Amahager(sp) are very scary and,um, not very pleasant to listen too. Despite these things I have enjoyed She and I think that an abridged version would be a better choice to read.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, but a little long
Review: I would've given it 5 stars if it weren't so long. The story really drags in some places. I found myself skipping whole sections to get back to the story.
That said, I loved the plot, the adventure, and the twists. I can't decide if I like the woman or hate her. I guess that's what Haggard was looking for, and he did a splendid job of it.
Character development was very good, and the visual affects of the scenery and what was happening were just wonderful. Definitely a good novel, and excellent characters, especially after being so succesful with hunter Quartermain.

Rating:
Summary: Archetype of the collective unconcious
Review: The "lost tribe" myth was not a new concept to Victorian audiences. Ideas of primitive civilizations hidden throughout the world were rampant in English society at the time of H. Rider Haggard. As such, Haggard did not invent the "lost tribe" concept--he merely used it as a vessel for popular fiction about Africa.

It is important to keep in mind that H. Rider Haggard was an Imperialist, as were the majority of his contemporaries. Still, the themes of misogyny, racism, and imperialism are at times a little too heavy-handed in She. Haggard's anti-feminine stance, in particular, comes into full swing when the reader is introduced to the despotic matriarchal queen of the Amahagger tribe. The Amahagger society itself is a direct inverse of male-dominated Victorian society, so there is no surprise that the Amahagger are portrayed as uncivilized cannibals.

If for no other reason, you should read this book to get an understanding of the xenophobia inherent in Victorian society. This book is an invaluable aid to any student of 19th century English literature--it effectively portrays English attitudes towards women, foreigners, and colonization. It's also a very exciting book, so most students will find it easy to read in a single weekend.

So, why only 3 stars? The writing is not amazing. Haggard was, after all, a genre novel author. At times, the allusions are extremely heavy-handed, and the characters are archetypical. This is a plot-driven book, but it could have been much better if Haggard had paid more attention to his characters. They had the potential to be very fascinating. Also, there are better examples of 19th century English literature about Africa. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is a vastly superior novel, but it also has an antipodal take on the positives and negatives of imperialism. If you have the time, I would suggest reading both novels to get a feel for both sides of the discussion on British Imperialism.

Rating:
Summary: Archetype of the collective unconcious
Review: There was a reason that this was a novel that intrigued Freud, who called it "A strange book, but full of hidden meaning". She, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein, Peter Pan and a similar select company of works of popular fiction, works on a concious level of fantasy adventure narrative and multiple other levels of meaning, in this instance involving race, colonialism, sexuality, 19th Century anxieties, etc. While totally un-PC (so be warned if the books you read need support 21st Century views of the third world and women)it has a wonderful dreamlike feel that taps into a collective unconcious of symbols and archetypes. Besides which, it's a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Old time fantasy story
Review: This fantasy adventure story takes place in England and later transports the reader to the bowels of Central Africa. The story starts when Horace Holly makes a deal with his dying friend. His friend, knowing the end is near, has a young son, Leo, who he leaves an iron trunk to. Horace is instructed not to open the chest until the boy's 25th birthday. In addition, Horace must take care of Leo and raise him.

On Leo's 25th birthday, Horace and Leo open the chest and in it they discover that Leo is part of a historic lineage which goes back to the ancient Egyptians. They also discover that everlasting life can be found off the coast of Africa by bathing in a magical fire. They soon venture to the hidden area to discover an ancient race of cannibalistic people who are lead by Ayesha, otherwise known as She. She is a very beautiful temptress and has the secret to everlasting life. Also, she was in love with Leo's family centuries ago. When Leo arrives, She is much smitten with him.

This book was well written and the adventure well thought out. The level of detail that Haggard uses to describe the Amahagger's (the tribe Leo and Holly discover) were extraordinary. She is easily understood to be a sophisticated woman who has strong powers of life and death over her subjects. However, I found the book a little hard to read. The lengthy paragraphs that detailed the Amahagger society were not needed and slowed the pace of the book. Still not a bad adventure book but the pace kept being diverted by lengthy descriptions.

Rating:
Summary: The nature of woman revealed
Review: When it comes to women H. Rider Haggard has the inside track as revealed in this "Show and tell" novel. We see the workings and wonders of the nineteenth century mind. You may also find some interesting attitudes towards the other people in Holly's crew.

I have read some different versions of the book and found the Barns & Noble books New York (ISBN 0760752400) to have the best introduction (by Clifton Ganyard) that falls just short of Cliff's Notes in explaining Haggard's background and writings. The illustrations are the same as in the Modern Library version but are clearer and larger. You get to see the writing on a potshard that I have not taken the time to see if it is a real language. Of all the versions I prefer most the recording with narrator Fred Williams; at first he seems to be monotone and out of breath. Then as he approaches the adventure he picks up a bit. By the time he comes to the cliff hanger he is huffing and puffing. He actually has the sound and feel of some old person recalling a long past adventure.

Holly is visited by his dying friend in the middle of the night. He is sworn to secrecy and given a mysterious chest to hold onto and asked to take charge of the friend's son (Leo). When the time came to open the chest and find the contents, the adventure began. I will not relate the story as it is the unfolding that is a good part of the mystery. However if you are expecting an adventure story It is there but there is much more with philosophical discussions of science and society.

The story is over way too soon so be sure to get the next book "
Ayesha: The return of She."

Rating:
Summary: Movie Material
Review: When the young psychologist Sigmund Freud picked up this book, it presented him with the idea of the Anima or eternal feminine, which as a concept was picked and enlarged by his peers, metaphysicians and astrologers (e.g. Liz Greene's work on relationship astrology). That such a catchy idea came from what was effectively an off the shelf best seller with no literary pretentions indicates just what a fun and fascinating read it presents, especially for a young man who wishes a read encapsulating the perfect specimen of womankind.
This particular edition is good for it contains an excellent introduction by Professor D. Karlin with extensive and helpful notes. Karlin makes it clear that the book is a sort of fantasy within a fantasy and the joke is usually on us. It's contents are so "out there" that the author is at pains to state "every word is true" through his chosen first person mouthpiece, and he adds several details that makes the book's events plausible while you are in it.
The book is a masterpiece of archetypes including the Anima, acient civilization and archaeology, exploration, hunting and Africa as she used to be. It further represents the last mysterious possibilities that could be squeezed out of a world whose potential to amaze was fast disappearing due to the advent of transport and exploration. It is an old fashioned Indiana Jones type epic with explorers making a big discovery that could shake the British Empire to its very core.
The elements come from Haggard's own association and love of Africa (he includes the extinct Quagga one of the descriptions)
and his contact with an angelic woman with whom his fascination was was not satiated as he was married already. There is a great deal of swashbuckling adventure hived off from Livingstone, Egyptology, linguistics, classics and history as well of prevailing views and outlooks - but all this is eventually fused in a saga that is anything but boring in the same dynamic and suspensive style of bestsellers of the time (serialised in popular magazines) as S. Holmes and Jules Verne.
Needless to say, the book is over the top even for that time and is a literary equivalent of Jurassic Park, taken up by everyone but academia and the gatekeepers of high culture.
The subtext has disturbing and provocative elements which could by identified as mysoginy, soft porn and the frustrated psyche of the average young male at the time. She is destroyed in the end and provides the perfect excuse for both the principal male protagonists to give up women.
Haggard himself has recently been discovered to have had a secret relationship which bore him an illegitimate child and we also realise he was not really an imperialist and supported free tendencies for Africans in the shadow of imperialism. He predicted the inevitable independence of African states and the imperial overtones in the book should not be misread as jingoistic.
For people too rushed to pour over Trollope or Dickens, this is Victoriana at its greatest with many interesting contemporary themes including the theory of evolution which reads extremely fast. It is a window into history and an ultimate fantasy exploring the sources of life and immortality itself and represents something made in a hurry in the "white heat" of the author's anvil. A performance he probably never repeated.
Absorbing, mysterious and shocking - some people will find it unravels a great deal of their innermost tendencies and sexuality into the limelight of coherence and myth.