Rogue Male
by Geoffrey Household
Published: 1939
In all of my reading I'd never encountered the book, nor heard of the author.
Upon deeper research, it would seem that Geoffrey Household, the writer, routinely explores certain characters and basic plot lines in his fiction, typically of a singular male figure, at least at some level an analogue of the "English gentleman," or "gentle Englishman," who must survive an ultimate test, or duel. The character, the English gentleman, is the "embodiment of that myth of foreigners...I will not kill; to hide I am ashamed. So I endure without object."
We learn that he has walked over the border of Poland to an unstated place where he is watching a "house" through telescopic sights. He is a sportsman, stalking the "impossible," a man. Many reviewers have suggested that he is in Germany, and that he is stalking Hitler.
From the point at which the Protagonist leaves the ship and begins to figure out his predicament, the book is almost the prototype of modern action films - impossible chase scenes, brilliant coups and counter-coups, endurance beyond belief, and wry observations on himself, the situation, and the greater world about him. And it works.
Making his way to a river which will provide him an avenue to reach his next destination, the Protagonist writes that his "arrival was noticed only a boy and girl, the inevitable boy and girl to be found in every dark corner of a great city."
He eventually meets with his solicitor, whom he trusts and who is willing to keep his secret and help him stay out of sight. The Protagonist has funds, so his managing to stay in hiding is a possibility. Saul, the solicitor, tells the Protagonist that he has been contacted by a "Major Quive-Smith," who is looking for information on the Protagonist's whereabouts. The Protagonist wonders whether Quive-Smith is, in fact, English, and remarks that he (knew) "as much about my own people (the English) as he did - perhaps more, since I had been in exile long enough to see them from the outside."
Published: 1939
While reading another novel, I became curious about a reference to a book that one of the characters was reading. Looking it up, I found it was a real novel, and that it had been written in 1939. I ordered it.
In all of my reading I'd never encountered the book, nor heard of the author.
It's a novel that, at least upon first reading, I'd suggest become part of a school's curriculum.
Upon deeper research, it would seem that Geoffrey Household, the writer, routinely explores certain characters and basic plot lines in his fiction, typically of a singular male figure, at least at some level an analogue of the "English gentleman," or "gentle Englishman," who must survive an ultimate test, or duel. The character, the English gentleman, is the "embodiment of that myth of foreigners...I will not kill; to hide I am ashamed. So I endure without object."
The rogue male, then, is the gentle decent chap who takes on the duel, who will fight, who will survive by wits and power and tenacity. He is marked by his natural fit within Class X, the natural "elite." No matter what his assigned situation, whether "proletariat" or "bulging capitalist" or "cabinet minister," his true nature will be clear by his actions and demeanor.
There are elements of the book that are left to the reader's imagination, and were perhaps the one provoking part of an otherwise superior story: why was our hero out on a quest to kill another man at the opening of the book? Who was the mysterious woman he mentions so briefly but doesn't continue explaining?
The book is written in the first person, though thankfully past tense, as he has written in three sections in a kind of diary or notebook.
We learn that he has walked over the border of Poland to an unstated place where he is watching a "house" through telescopic sights. He is a sportsman, stalking the "impossible," a man. Many reviewers have suggested that he is in Germany, and that he is stalking Hitler.
He is captured in the act and tortured for his audacity, ultimately hung over a cliff and dropped, but he falls into a bog and escapes.
He eventually makes his way to a ship crossing to England, and is befriended by a first officer, Vaner, who holes him up in a empty spare water tank, and provides him with food and an eventual escape in England. By now our hero, the Protagonist, (he is never named) and Vaner are both aware that the Germans know of his escape and have been hunting him. In Vaner we find an admirable man, one who will break the rules for a worthy purpose; who is kind and decent and has a sense of humor.
From the point at which the Protagonist leaves the ship and begins to figure out his predicament, the book is almost the prototype of modern action films - impossible chase scenes, brilliant coups and counter-coups, endurance beyond belief, and wry observations on himself, the situation, and the greater world about him. And it works.
Making his way to a river which will provide him an avenue to reach his next destination, the Protagonist writes that his "arrival was noticed only a boy and girl, the inevitable boy and girl to be found in every dark corner of a great city."
He eventually meets with his solicitor, whom he trusts and who is willing to keep his secret and help him stay out of sight. The Protagonist has funds, so his managing to stay in hiding is a possibility. Saul, the solicitor, tells the Protagonist that he has been contacted by a "Major Quive-Smith," who is looking for information on the Protagonist's whereabouts. The Protagonist wonders whether Quive-Smith is, in fact, English, and remarks that he (knew) "as much about my own people (the English) as he did - perhaps more, since I had been in exile long enough to see them from the outside."
Of his lawyer, the Protagonist says, "He mingled abuse with affection in a way I hadn't heard since my father died." It is these gems of insight peppered throughout the book that make reading it a delight. Where description of his lawyer's age or hair color or clothing might have conveyed a similar look at him, Household writes about the character in a way that obviates the need for description. We can "see" very clearly this fellow who mingles caring with a teasing and fatherly criticism without the descriptive details.
There is a beautifully written chase scene in a train station that is perhaps the grand-daddy of them all. The Protagonist and the two we now know are after him - BirdMan and Black Hat - run up and down stairs, take a lift and get off at an unexpected floor, hop on a train and off hoping to trick the other into a trap. Eventually, BirdMan does indeed end up riding away on a train, and the Protagonist kills Black Hat in a tunnel. And when he does, Household doesn't express it in so many words. Instead, we read, "I can still hear them, and the sound of steps and his scream and the hideous, because domestic, sound of sizzling. They echoed along that tunnel which leads Lord knows where. A queer place for a should to find itself adrift."
Protagonist has fried his adversary on a hot rail. And afterwards, he laments killing another creature in a tunnel, because he himself wants to "die in the open," and swears that he will never kill another one below ground.
He makes his plans, realizing (and this was a fascinating observation from something written close to one hundred years ago): "In these days of visas and identification cards it is impossible to travel without leaving a trail that can, with patience, bribery, and access to public records, be picked up." One wonders what Household would make of visibility in today's world.
After a long series of clever maneuvers, fakes, double-fakes and close calls, the Protagonist makes his way into the country where he finds the perfect spot to create a "bolt-hole" where he can hide.
Another series of adventures, including a bullet that only misses killing him because of the flask he has in his breast pocket, and he returns to his lair, where he observes: "I think I wrote in some other context which I have forgotten that the Almighty looks after the rogue male." And in some sense, this is the heart of Household's story.
The reader is certainly rooting for the Protagonist at this point, knowing he isn't perfect, but that he's smart and has a conscience, and has adopted a feral cat he's named Asmodeus (a powerful demon king, the lord of lust and temptation) of whom he writes: "all you can do to Asmodeus is to shoot where he ought to be but never is." That is a man who understands a cat!
There are pages of detail about the digging and equipping of the bolt-hole; his life as he remains there hiding; his speculation about the future; and a few little, tantalizing more snippets about the woman he deeply loved who had discovered this small piece of land with him many years before. And there are small moments of philosophical observation that are rewards in themselves: "Living as a beast, I had become a beast, unable to question emotional stress, unable to distinguish danger in general from a particular source of danger."
Deep in the heart of the book there are moments of what it appears the writer was really wrestling with: good versus evil; rugged individuals vs. the state; a cause versus right and wrong, and finally "I distrust patriotism; the reasonable man can find little in these days that is worth dying for. But dying against - there's enough iniquity in Europe to carry the most urbane or decadent into battle."
Taken in the light of the Nazi action in 1939, Household's fascination with motives for fighting back seem clear and obvious: what would make a man take up arms? He refers to the "second murderer," a reference to a character type in Shakespeare who lacks the immediate motivation of the "first" murderer, the one who has been harmed and who seeks revenge. Household would think it dishonorable to be the second murderer, the one who is in it only to assist, because he is paid, because he is compelled. But being the first might be right, or fair, or honest.
This is the kind of book that will inspire many readers to wish it had been read with a high school or college instructor supervising so none of these nuggets of wisdom and references would be missed.
Comments