Hussein: An Entertainment
by Patrick O'Brian
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A glittering adventure set in India at the height of the British Raj. The New York Times compared Patrick O'Brian's early novel to Kipling's Kim and called it "a gorgeous entertainment." Published when he was in his early twenties, Patrick O'Brian writes of Hussein: "In the writing of the book I learnt the rudiments of my calling: but more than that, it opened a well of joy that has not yet run dry." Hussein is a young mahout--or elephant handler--who falls in love with a beautiful and show more elusive girl, Sashiya, and arranges for another of her suitors to be murdered with a fakir's curse. The dead man's relatives vow vengeance. Hussein escapes and his adventures begin: snake-charming, sword-fighting, spying, stealing a fortune, and returning triumphantly to claim his bride. All of this is set against an evocatively exotic India, full of bazaars, temples, and beautiful women-- despite the fact that O'Brian had never been to the East when he wrote the story. show lessTags
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His first book. The narrative gifts show, his delight at storytelling. And the elephant is a fine character. And I'm a sucker for stories of boys and their elephants...
I did not appreciate the advice given to Hussein, in the ending, about how to treat the woman he was going to marry. What can I expect, when the author was probably a misogynist.
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154+ Works 76,959 Members
Patrick O'Brian is the author of twenty volumes in the highly respected Aubrey/Maturin series of novels. (Publisher Provided) Patrick O'Brien was born in Ireland in 1914. His education included the Sorbonne. O'Brian has produced a variety of works, including biographies of Picasso and Sir Joseph Banks and translations of the novels and memoirs of show more Simone de Beauvoir, but he is best known for the creation of an unlikely pair of Napoleonic War-era heroes in the Aubrey-Maturin Series. British naval officer Jack Aubrey and Irish scholar and physician Stephen Maturin have been featured in more than a novels published in Great Britain (five of which have also appeared in America). He died on January 2, 2000. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Members
- 98
- Popularity
- 329,164
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.45)
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 2
