José Antonio Vidal Sales (1921–2008)

“Is there no man that will draw my veil and look upon my face, for it is very fair? Unto him who draws my veil shall I be, and peace will I give him, and sweet children of knowledge and good works.”

And a voice cried, “Through all those who seek after thee desire thee, behold! Virgin art thou, and Virgin shall thou go till Time be done. No man is there born of woman who may draw thy veil and live, nor shall be. By Death only can thy veil be drawn, oh Truth!”

And Truth stretched out her

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arms and wept, because those who sought her might not find her, nor look upon her face to face.

I have wanted to read She for so long, at first enflamed by the knowledge that one of my favourite writers, J. R. R. Tolkien, loved it and was inspired by it, and many years small embers were added to to the pile from various places where the author H. Rider Haggard was touted to be a juggernaut of adventure fiction. Having read She, the praise is well-deserved. Haggard is an excellent writer of adventure, and I was surprised to find that even elements of Gothic mystery and even a pinch of Lovecraftian horror permeated through the text, most stronger in the latter half. Haggard even goes philosophical in certain sections, and these too are rendered with polished prose and deep thoughts—and never once did they feel like asides from the main yarn but a natural part of its unravelling.

And in all this, the titular character ‘She’ takes the spotlight with her Ozymandian pride, her Siren-like beauty, her Circean infatuation, and her cynical philosophy (which we never truly excavate). He loves deeply as she hates, her mirth is as deep as her sorrow, and her moods are fickle but at the same time measured. She is an awesome figure in the realm of stories, a terrible and sublime villain, cruel and cunning to those who oppose her, yet warm and friendly to those who find favour with her.

Go and read She and meet She. show less

This novel won me over, but it's not reflected in my initial impression: a quaint 19th century image of Africa as the European adventurer's romantic playground, abounding with MacGuffins to be discovered. The MacGuffin of choice for this outing is a seemingly immortal woman's kingdom, lying somewhere inland from the coast of Zanzibar (now Tanzania) where the swamps are naturally thickest. While there's a long-lasting family grudge to be motivated by, our heroes seem driven mostly by the show more thought of wandering into the unknown just to see what happens. Solid pacing and detailed narrative are the primary selling features as the Brits tough it out with stiff upper lips, struggling through deadly swamp gases, cannibals and other hazards like men's men. Haggard perilously stakes everything on successfully introducing She to the stage, a build-up that lasts to the halfway point.

Surprisingly, She delivers real tension into the story. She has power and presence, her affect on the adventurers is overwhelming, and a sequence of revelations and key plot points are well orchestrated. Aeysha is like Galadriel from Lord of the Rings, but amoral and somewhat maddened by a lost love. Stiff upper lips mean nothing to her, and she rules the story like she rules her kingdom. It only partly ends like I expected, in a way that I doubt would play well if directly translated to a Hollywood screen (I haven't seen any versions) but it has real impact in novel form. It's what it says on the can, a solid adventure story, and it's only somewhat saddled by 19th century style, language and views. I hear at least some of the sequels are also worthwhile. show less

I read “She” to see the inspiration behind Tolkien’s Galadriel and C.S. Lewis’s The White Witch. It’s wild that they are both based on the same character! It’s also super interesting to me that Lewis decided to make his version of Ayesha the actual devil, while Tolkien decided to make his version of Ayesha good to the core.

Ayesha’s title, “She-who-must-be-obeyed,” reminded me of the name for the Harry Potter series villain, Voldemort, referred to as show more “He-who-must-not-be-named.” And the character Job, in my opinion, was clearly the inspiration for Tolkien to create Samwise Gamgee.

A word of caution, though: only read “She” if you are willing to wade through a foul swamp of racism and misogyny to get to the good stuff. This was written in the Victorian Era, and it shows. All of Haggard’s storytelling decisions are affected by his racist and misogynistic beliefs. I knew that going in, so for me, this was more of a research read than a fun read. And while the beginning and middle are pretty riveting plot-wise, towards the end it loses steam and starts to drag unnecessarily. And it has an ending that was a total letdown for me as a reader (but has very interesting implications for how Haggard viewed Ayesha as a powerful woman).

All things considered, it gets 4 stars from me for being an interesting, innovative and one-of-a-kind read. show less

"Yea, all things live forever, though at times they sleep and are forgotten."

One evening young Cambridge University professor, Horace Holly, is visited in his rooms by a colleague, Vincey, who tells Holly a fantastical tale of his family's history and that he, Vincey, will die before the night is out. Before his departure Vincey begs Holly to bring up his young son, Leo, with instructions that a locked iron box which he brought along with him should not to be opened until Leo's 25th show more birthday. Holly agrees, and indeed Vincey is found dead the following day.

Holly, with the aid of a male nurse Job, raises Leo as his own and on the boy's 25th birthday they open the iron box. Inside they discover a piece of pottery, the "Sherd of Amenartas", which seems to tally with Vincey's unlikely story.

Following the instructions on the Sherd the three men travel to eastern Africa where they are shipwrecked. With the exception of their Arab captain, Mahomed, they are the sole survivors of the wreck and the four men travel towards the interior only to be captured by the savage Amahagger people who speak a form of Arabic and are ruled by a fearsome queen, known as Hiya or "She-who-must-be-obeyed" or simply "She".

Holly in particular is befriended by Billali, an elder, who introduces the newcomers into the ways of his people, whilst Ustane, a Amahagger maiden, takes Leo as her husband in accordance with tribal traditions. In contrast, Mahomed is seized by a group natives who intend to eat him. In an attempt to save Mahomed Holly accidentally shoots him dead along with several of the attackers. Leo is seriously wounded in the melee and only saved when Ustane throws herself onto his prostrate body and Billali timely entrance.

Fearing for their safety and despite Leo being gravely injured Billani takes the three Englishmen to the home of the queen, which lies inside a dormant volcano near the ruins of the lost city of Kôr, a once mighty civilisation that pre-dated the Egyptians. Once there, Holly is presented to the queen, a white sorceress named Ayesha. Ayesha reveals that she has learned the secret of immortality and has lived in the realm of Kôr for more than two millennia, awaiting the return of her lover, Kallikrates (whom she killed in a fit of jealous rage).

The next evening She visits Leo to heal him and declares him to be the reincarnation of her former love Kallikrates. On his recovery Leo becomes bewitched by the beautiful Ayesha who in explaining her own history shows him the perfectly preserved body of Kallikrates, which she has kept.

In the climax of the novel, Ayesha takes the three Englishmen to see the Pillar of Fire determined that Leo should bathe in the fire to become immortal and that together they can become the all-powerful rulers of the world. On arrival Leo questions the safety of entering the flame and to allay his fears, Ayesha steps into the flames. However, this second immersion, has the opposite of the intended effect, Ayesha reverts to her true age and dies.

This novel was first published at the very end of the 19th century when very little was known about the interior of Africa and shows many of the sadder traits of the day, namely misogyny, racism and sexism. Unpleasant as these are what I really disliked was the author's overwritten style which made large parts of it feel very repetitive. In short this is a boy's own adventure that shouldn't be taken too seriously but be read purely as a piece of literary Victorian history that has seen it's day.

"There is no such thing as magic, though there is such a thing of knowledge of the hidden ways of Nature." show less