The Prisoner of Zenda

Posted on 11 March 2017 by Anthony Hope

Anthony Hope s swashbuckling romance transports his English gentleman hero, Rudolf Rassendyll, from a comfortable life in London to fast moving adventures in Ruritania, a mythical land steeped in political intrigue Rassendyll bears a striking resemblance to Rudolf Elphberg who is about to be crowned King of Ruritania When the rival to the throne, Black Michael of Strelsau, attempts to seize power by imprisoning Elphberg in the Castle of Zenda, Rassendyll is obliged to impersonate the King to uphold the rightful sovereignty and ensure political stability Rassendyll endures a trial of strength in his encounters with the notorious Rupert of Hentzau, and a test of a different sort as he grows to love the Princess Flavia Five times filmed, The Prisoner of Zenda has been deservedly popular as a classic of romance and adventure since its publication in 1894. Free Download [ The Prisoner of Zenda ] author [ Anthony Hope ] – kino-fada.fr It was not an interesting read, though it seemed to be at first I started with some expectations but I soon realized I am going to be bored Yet I kept reading and did not stop till I finished the novel Now, my reactions about the book are not all positive The premise of the book, as seemed to me, was unrealistic but plausible But it was not this that upset me it was the shallow characterization done by the author.The characters were shallow, and uninspiring Anthony Hope never tried to g It was not an interesting read, though it seemed to be at first I started with some expectations but I soon realized I am going to be bored Yet I kept reading and did not stop till I finished the novel Now, my reactions about the book are not all positive T...The Prisoner of Zenda is one of those books I ve been meaning to read for about twenty years Over the Thanksgiving holiday I finally took the time to read this classic adventure written by Anthony Hope in 1894.The Prisoner of Zenda brings the fairy tale of Mark Twain s The Prince and the Pauper 1888 and Pudd nhead Wilson 1893 4 into the adventure genre for adults Anthony Hope s story of a king kidnapped on the eve of his coronation and his English cousin who takes his place is derring do a The Prisoner of Zenda is one of those books I ve been meaning to read for about twenty years Over the Thanksgiving holiday I finally took the time to read this classic adventure written by Anthony Hope in 1894.The Prisoner of Zenda brings the fairy tale of Mark Twain s The Prince and the Pauper 1888 and Pudd nhead Wilson 1893 4 into the adventure genre for adults Anthony Hope s story of a king kidnapped on the eve of his coronation and his English cousin who takes his place is derring do at its best.Sure the story has been done over and over again but that s because the story is so entertaining It was written at at time before two world wars forever altered the map of Europe Ruritania exists in a time when it was possible to still imagine tiny kingdoms and principalities tucked among the better known countries Think of Ruritania existing along side the duchy of Luxembourg and the principality of Monaco.The hero and narrator of Zenda is twenty nine year Rudol...Rereading this for the 400th time in prep for writing my own version for Riptide s Queered Classics series This time, I read it from the perspective that the narrator is a lying SOB It s amazing how well it lends itself to that Brilliant book th...Rudolf Rassendyll,an Englishman, takes a vacation to Ruritania, don t look on a map to find it,you won t.Set in the 1890 s.A new king, is to be crowned, in this Eastern European nation.Rudolf is curious to see his distant cousin,and look alike, Rudolf the Fifth a century old family affair, was the cause of this connection.The traveler ,decides to explore a Ruritanian forest, on foot.Getting sleepy, he lies down and falls into a slumber.Imagine when the King ,while hunting with his entourage, d Rudolf Rassendyll,an Englishman, takes a vacation to Ruritania, don t look on a map to find it,you won t.Set in the 1890 s.A new king, is to be crowned, in this Eastern European nation.Rudolf is curious to see his distant cousin,and look alike, Rudolf the Fifth a century old family affair, was the cause of this connection.The traveler ,decides to explore a Ruritanian forest, on foot.Getting sleepy, he lies down and falls into a slumber.Imagine when the King ,while hunting with his entourage, discovers the visitor The monarch, has a big laugh and makes plans to trick his older , half brother ,by a morganatic marriage, Black Michael.This man hates King Rudolf, believing that, he deser...I was almost immediately reminded of The 39 Steps when I started this book Both open with a 1st Person account of the protagonist lacking occupation and being idle just before the action begins and both betray unpleasant attitudes, too Buchan s Hannay is much worse in this regard than Hope s Rudolf Hannay is racist, sexist, Imperialist, arrogant and frankly unlikeable Rudolf, however, makes one fairly mild sexist remark There are differences, though Hannay is bored of being idle whereas Ru I was almost immediately reminded of The 39 Steps when I started this book Both open with a 1st Person account of the protagonist lacking occupation and being idle just before the action begins and both betray unpleasant attitudes, too Buchan s Hannay is much worse in this regard than Hope s Rudolf Hannay is racist, sexist, Imperialist, arrogant and frankly unlikeable Rudolf, however, makes one fairly mild sexist remark There are differences, though Hannay is bored of being idle whereas Rudolf would happily be idle for the rest of his life None of this really matters beyond chapter one of either book, though It s interesting to compare with Thomas Hardy He was contemporary with both Hop...What a great story, a brief but epic adventure Perhaps some may be tempted to rate it lower because it is not the standard rose coloured fairytale, but I don t think that is fair The adventure is fun a monarchy, a feud, a capture, a farce and a fight, but it is the heroic romance which makes it truly great.Zenda shows the antithesis of Twilight s selfish, obsessive love There s a paragraph in my Twilight review which is apt here One of the most serious issues in Twilight is the glorificatio What a great story, a brief but epic adventure Perhaps some may be tempted to rate it lower because it is not the standard rose coloured fairytale, but I do...The Prisoner of Zenda is a fun little tale of adventure and derring do written at the turn of the century the 19th century, that is by Anthony Hope It is a well known tale There is danger to a famous personage in this case, the King of Ruritania and there just happens to be a distant cousin who looks exactly like him on the spot who can fill in and help out There have been many a book and many a film based on this idea Danny Kaye starred in perhaps five different versions of this sort o The Prisoner of Zenda is a fun little tale of adventure and derring do written at the turn of the century the 19th century, that is by Anthony Hope It is a well known tale There is danger to a famous personage in this case, the King of Ruritania and there just happens to be a distant cousin who looks exactly like him on the spot who can fill in and help out There have been many a book and many a film based on this idea Danny Kaye starred in perhaps five different versions of this sort of thing , but told right it makes for a good story Fortunately, Anthony Hope tells it right.In Zenda we have Rudolf Rassendyll, an English gentleman whose family has distant wrong side of the blanket ties to the royal family of Ruritania These ties are evidenced by the red hair and straight nose which shows up every couple of generationsand which our hero, Rudolf, of course, displays At the beginning of the novel, ...The Prisoner of Zenda is a classic story taking place in the fictional German state Ruritania a word which has come to be a generic term for small fictional country in Europe which saved the writer the trouble of too much research , so well known was Anthony Hope s story once I should probably state up front that I love fictional places countries, cities, stately homes, the occasional uninhabited island You name it That I would sooner or later have to visit Ruritania was obviously inevi The Prisoner of Zenda is a classic story taking place in the fictional German state Ruritania a word which has come to be a generic term for small fictional country in Europe which saved the writer the trouble of too much research , so well known was Anthony Hope s story once I should probably state up front that I love fictional places countries, cities, stately homes, the occasional uninhabited island You name it That I would sooner or later have to visit Ruritania was obviously inevitable.The basic story is what I like to call the Two Peas In A Pod plot You ve encountered it before in Mark Twain s The Prince and The Pauper, Dumas The Man in the Iron Mask, the film Dave You ve surely encountered it in some form before The idea is that you have two pe....D

English
11 March 2017

Anthony Hope