Rogue Male

Household, Geoffrey. Rogue Male. New York: New York Review of Books 1939. Print.

First Sentences:

 

I cannot blame them. After all, one doesn't need a telescopic sight to shoot boar and bear; so that when they came on me watching the terrace at a range of five hundred and fifty yards, it was natural enough that they should jump to conclusions. And they behaved, I think, with discretion.

Description:

Geoffrey Household's Rogue Male came to my attention because it was repeatedly mentioned in another great book, The Ministry of Time. One of the men in this other novel, a man destined to be killed in World War I, was snatched by this future experimental Ministry to prove people could be relocated to the present era from the past. They could then be studied to observe how they adapt to the modern age. This unwilling WWI time-traveling soldier now had to live in the new, unfamiliar world of the present. During this time-switch he was constantly reading Rogue Male, so many times that the book cover fell off. 

 

Now that is a book I just had to explore.

 

Written in 1939, Rogue Male opens with a British gentleman sportsman lining up his high-powered rifle sights on an unnamed, vicious European foreign leader. This "sportsman" is unexpectedly apprehended and questioned, all the while claiming he was just performing an intellectual challenge to test whether a skilled hunter could break through this leader's security. Already an internationally-known hunter, he somehow escapes his enemies, only to begin months of pursuit and survival.

 

He is doggedly chased by two men whom, as fellow huntsmen, he cannot shake. He has several close escapes from them, sometimes even after confronting them face to face, as he uses his ample wits to flee from one hiding place to another. He must use all his hunting skills avoid capture and, if caught, to insure there is no tie-in to the British government whom his pursuers think is responsible for his "assassination attempt. To him, this situation was only a mental challenge.

And dawn, I think, is the hour when the pariah goes out....It is the hour of the outlawed, the persecuted, the damned, for no man was ever born who could not feel some shade of hope if he were in open country with the sun about to rise.

There is a strong sense of honor, of British dignity, loyalty to country, and general life in rural parts of Europe that provide the backbone of the novel. The narration by the sportsman is formal, clipped, and gripping, and always in control. His words and thoughts reminded me a bit of a James Bond figure but without any weapons, gadgets, or exotic locations. Just clear, organized thoughts about his next steps and potential consequences.

 

It is a fairly short book, only 182 pages, but written with such beautiful language that it was a pleasure to spend time enveloped in the mind and words on a pre-WW II British gentleman on the run. Highly recommended for lovers of intrigue, thrillers, survival, and wondrous language.

 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:] 

  

Howarth, David. We Die Alone.   

Twelve men try to sabotage a German military post in northern Norway, but only one survives the mission. He swims through freezing water and is forced to elude enemy pursuers through icy Norway, without boots, gloves, shelter, or friends. Riveting true survival story (Previously reviewed here.)

Happy reading.

Fred

 

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