Book: 'King Solomon's Mines' (1885) by H Rider Haggard

'King Solomon's Mines' represents one of the biggest flip-flops I've had from being disinterested or even a little put off to enjoying a story that I've experienced in a long time. In the beginning it's a sometimes unpleasant hunting tale (oh, those poor elephants!), which then transitions into a desert survival story, which then moves into a lost people adventure, and then a historical war tale, before we finally reach the cursed treasure chamber that motivated the whole thing.

The story is told from the point of view of the veteran hunter Allan Quartermaine, well versed in the lore and landscape of southern Africa, and reluctant to chance his fate without good reason. Quartermain didn't live to become a veteran without knowing when not to reach for the golden ring. In this case, in his most famous adventure, he is hired by a couple of English explorers who are setting out to find a long-lost relative, who disappeared after going on a quest to find the legendary King Solomon's diamond mine and treasure vault.

You almost have to rate each episode in the adventure separately, and park modern sensibilities selectively at the door. The trophy hunting near the beginning does leave a sour taste, as it should in 2020, but it's a very small part of the story in terms of the pages and if it has to serve a function then let's call that function 'seeing the past for what it actually was'. Quartermaine is a very interesting character and narrator. He's a blend of impulsive idiot and wisely balanced old head, being carried away by events, and stepping away from danger as the circumstance permits. Older protagonists are somewhat rare, aren't they? In this case, his two clients are more cliched British silly people, one of whom is reduced to trouserlessness as it impresses the natives of the lost tribe. This can't be the first instance of the European impressing the lost native with his paleness (and half a moustache and monocle), can it?

Overall, a solid and sometimes very well written adventure story indeed. Good to very good, depending on the part. The end sequence in the vault is still eerie, even after all this time.

O.