Marie

Edgar G. 2 years ago

I don't think that in reality there ever were any horses that could act like Haggard's horses. Ride 120 miles in 13 hours, or 15 in 30 mins.
And Marie 's end was totally tearjerkng and not only inappropriate but the most stupid form of suicide ever committed by a person deeply in love and expecting to like a happy 50 more years.
Allan was long ago far away and safely hidden. She could have revealed herself to her guards as soon as they came to wake her in the morning. Of course it was allfor public pathos na dto cause periera's death, who it was so miraculous that he remaned alive all through the story, and that her demented father, whose secret aversion or need to cling to him knowing him a complete scoundrel, was never revealed. And, as I was on the pint of writing that an obviously lunatic should be allowed to carry a loaded lethal weapon. he had given ample proof a dozen tmes that he needed to be locked up tight. I'd assumed that when they went to Dingane's city that he would start it all off by shooting an inoffensive person. I recall thinking this when I first read this book over 60 years ago. Still , Haggard is one of my very best authors, always was from the start and still is. This is the 3-4th time I have read all of Haggard's books, and I actually have them all, now collectors items. Another is Edgar Wallace, but you don't have nearly all his books. I read them on another site whilst safely preserving the actual books.

Edgar G. 2 years ago

This book, and this particular scenario of the period just before Retief visits the Zulu king, and Alan's marriage, show the Boers in a very dense mental haze. They are living right beside a maniac with total power, and seem so trusting as to visit him, a commander of 100.000 warriors, in a large enough party that he can believe to be a war party tom overawe him. Also they know his hatred of Boers, and Alan has just given the great Retief, a very good example of his manaical cruelty to kill innicent peole so as to attract vultures, for Alan to shoot , failing his success to slaughter his whole party. I can NOT understand how Retief, historically as well as in this book, would be so trusting, with a whole lifetime of experience with Kaffirs, to ignore the open warning signs shown him by Alan, and ignore them with a bawdy excuse as a reason. They knew that Dingaane, was a madman and even worse than Shaka, who was a conqueror bent on invasion and expansion. I believe that to show his power he ordered whole impis of 3,000 soldiers to march off a cliff to their death. People like that are
MAD.