The Way of an Eagle

The Way of an Eagle is one of those books that's so bad, it's good. A stirring melodrama of courage, cuckolding, and colonialism, it starts in a besieged fortress and never lets up until the very end. The British commander of the fort knows the gig is up and that his reinforcements will not arrive in time, therefore he asks one of the three other surviving officers to make sure his daughter is saved. Nick volunteers and promptly drugs her and hauls her out during the relative safety of the night. Now Nick is not only ugly as sin, he is a man's man: people do what he orders because he's the kind of man you can't disobey. Upright and principled, he refuses the Victoria Cross for saving Muriel because all he did was "run away". Muriel, show more meanwhile is both attracted and repelled by her savior, which is good, because if she weren't conflicted this book would be very short indeed. They become engaged while she is recovering in Simla, only to be torn apart when Muriel believes gossip coming from one of Nick's enemies. She returns to England and he soon becomes engaged to another siege survivor—a man as handsome and charming as Nick is ugly and uncouth. And naturally, because this is that kind of book, he is just as weak and unprincipled as Nick is willful and honorable. Not that Muriel can bring herself to admit that for 100+ pages. Because naturally Nick has lost an arm in India and comes back to recover in the same corner of England as Muriel. Meanwhile, we have some adultery, scarlet fever, and nervous hysteria to keep us entertained. Muriel now realizes that she was wrong to ever reject Nick, but now she is back in India and he is nowhere to be seen. Whatever is she to do? Cue the suspense.

I love bad books. I once went out and bought a particular one solely because a book named it as an example of non-literature. So therefore this book was right up my alley. Those who demand quality plots instead of potboiling drama will not enjoy it nearly as much. But it does show some interesting light on pre-Great War British attitudes toward India and Indians as well as a lot of middle class Edwardian values. Not to mention that it has some of the most amazing purple prose you are ever likely to meet. A bestseller in its day, it's the perfect book for the hopeless romantic or for anyone who is looking to add more drama to their life. Definitely a marmite book, but it's my kind of marmite. show less

November 2022 re-read: Still compulsively readable, but with more angst than I usually go for these days. It takes itself pretty seriously. It's very imperialist. It's very dramatic.

Also... I'm confused by the ending. Are they... are they on Mount Everest? And if so.... but....