Rumpole of the Bailey

The original six "Rumpole" stories, originally published by Penguin in 1978, and published here in hardcover for the first time. I wish I'd read these first as my introduction to Rumpole. When I've finally accumulated the entire Rumpole oeuvre, I think I'll go back and read them in sequence. Anyway, this is a fine beginning to a series of stories and novels about Rumpole of the Bailey, an aging curmudgeonly British barrister at law who still entertains the quaint notion that the accused are innocent until declared guilty by a jury of their peers, and that every defendant deserves a vigorous defense.

Rumpole has become a favorite character of mine in literature, a cynic in all ways except for the concept of legal justice, an area in show more which he is as idealistic as a beginning law student, although he'd never admit to it. I love the frequent nuggets of the curmudgeon's humor. To his son Nick, who is returning to the States where he lives with his American fiance: "There's one thing you'll have to be careful of, you know, living in America."
"What's that?"
"The hygiene! It can be most awfully dangerous. The purity! The terrible determination not to adulterate anything! You will be very careful of it, won't you, Nick?" show less

This collection of six stories was published in 1978 and features the indomitable barrister Horace Rumpole as he faces a series of different crimes (and the odd divorce). Rumpole is a man of his times. He quotes poetry (Wordsworth and Keats) and Shakespeare, is a heavy drinker, smoker of small cigars, slightly misogynistic, and a man who is irreverent of marriage (he constantly refers to his wife as "She who must be obeyed") and irreverent of the law. Which is rather odd for a barrister (or lawyer, for those in the United States). He flies in the face on convention, is a man set in his ways, and enjoys rocking the boat. Rumpole would rather look for the truth rather than just serving the law, doing what he knows to be right even in the show more face of opposition.

Rumpole's flaws are what make him endearing (when viewed through a lens of history and remembering when John Mortimer wrote the character). The six stories in this collection cover a range of years from the 1960s to the late 1970s and follow in chronological order. Each is independent of the other, though Rumpole - a man who admittedly likes the sound of his own voice - often refers to his past successes. He serves to hold up a satirical mirror to the legal system in England focusing on the attitudes of barristers, solicitors, and judges. His willingness to jump in to seek the truth often involves him getting caught (figuratively) with his wig askew, though Mortimer does apply some Deus Ex Machina on occasion to both get Rumpole into and out of sticky situations.

I listened to the audio version read by Frederick Davidson who did an excellent job of bringing voice the the character of Rumpole and the other members of Chambers.

Overall I liked this book. It provides a wonderful glimpse into the world of English law from a time before computers and was written before a heavy shift to CSI-like police thrillers. Rumpole lives and defends his clients (he never prosecutes) by his wits and the occasional lucky break. If you enjoy a good legal thriller then I recommend Rumpole. show less

Rating for this audiobook edition, 4★ for the book itself.

About the book:
These vignettes hover between crime and humor. Rumpole is much more concerned with getting a favorable verdict than he is in finding or knowing the truth, yet in his somewhat bumbling way he does manage to figure out the rights of things.

I had forgotten how much Rumpole and Erskine-Brown opposed each other. E-B really is a toad in the book. I was first exposed to Rumpole through the BBC/PBS TV series and they must have toned down Erskine-Brown.

Speaking of the TV show brings me to the narration. Frederick Davidson does an OK job but the voice of Rumpole in my head is still that of the actor from the TV series -- even while listening to someone else! So Davidson's show more narration ended up being a disappointment. However, if you don't have the TV show stuck in your brain, this would be a very good narration. show less

Given my fondness for older British works, especially mysteries, I thought I might very much enjoy Rumpole. I was, however, mistaken; I found him merely all right. I think it’s partly the later date—just not quite as… charming? or something… as the earlier books. The manners aren’t as polished, for instance. Rumpole’s lackluster marriage to She Who Must Be Obeyed isn’t the kind of thing I enjoy, either. And his cases are often, though not always, unsatisfying. For instance, he’s making great headway towards getting a young woman off for selling drugs, arguing that the undercover policeman was an agent provocateur, when she insists on telling him why she had decided to sell drugs (before she ever met the policeman), and show more then he has to tell her to plead guilty. She gets three years. And so on. I finished the book, but won’t be taking in any more Rumpole. show less

Could anyone not like Rumpole, the witty, curmudgeonly barrister who toils at the coal face of the criminal judicial system; at the mercy of She Who Must Be Obeyed, and his clerk Henry. Mortimer's Rumpole books are as evocative of a time and place in England as P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves & Wooster novels - and just as funny.

This is a collection of short stories dealing with Rumpole and his clients. Of course, Hilda or She Who Must Be Obeyed, is a constant presence. The biggest problem is the English vernacular opposed to American slang. I decided the watch several of the stories that were presented as a series on BBC. Many of the nuances that are missed in the book are depicted on the screen. The humor is not the slapstick humor of I Love Lucy, but more like the Kramdens of the Honeymooners. The British court system is different than the American court system and the flow of the story suffers from this difference. I like the underlying lesson of each story, such as a parent's responsibility for a child or the loyalty of one employee to another employee

i love rumpole. the mix of personal, professional and cases is perfect. i just watched the tv series and decided to listen to the books. the books are just like the show(word for word)