"The Golden Journey" (The Saint) Reviewed
Dr Hermes
after literally finding three in a row (published years apart) where a
seemingly innocent citizen asks Simon Templar for help but turns out to
be a con man trying to use him as a patsy; of course, our boy is hip to
the trick all along and turns it to his advantage, making off with the
boodle while the scam artist takes the fall. The repetition was becoming
frankly a bit tedious.
But "The Golden Journey" is a complete delight and completely different
in plot from any of the other Saint stories I've come across. This yarn
first appeared in 1934 in NASH'S PALL MALL MAGAZINE and was later
included in the book THE SAINT IN EUROPE. It's a remarkably touching and
peaceful* exploit for the Robin Hood of modern crime, one reason why it
took me off my guard and had such charm for me.
Here's the score. Simon Templar makes the acquaintance a young engaged
couple in Munich, sizes up the young bride-to-be as a thoroughly
pampered and spoiled brat who will make both lives miserable in a
marriage, and takes it upon himself to enlighten her. As her fiancee
Jack leaves on a hiking expedition (to meet her later), pretty little
Belinda Deane is stunned to find that her bag with all her money and
passport and so forth has been stolen. She is stranded without a penny,
and everyone from the hotel management to the local police to the
American consulate are not only unsympathetic, they are visibly hostile
to her. She is going to be thrown out on the streets in what she's
wearing.
What we know (but she does not) is that the Saint has swiped her bag
himself, and by making a few phone calls with skillful use of accents
and fast talking, has convinced everyone that Belinda is a sharpie and
not to be trusted. Simon himself is apparently uninterested in her
predicament, but (since he himself is going on a lengthy hike through
the Brenner Pass into Italy). he agrees he might allow her to accompany
him as far as Innsbruck to meet up with Jack.
My first thought was, what colossal nerve to pull a stunt like this!
Then I remembered whose adventures I was reading.
The rest of the story is a beautifully detailed account of their journey
on foot. I would bet money that Leslie Charteris himself must have made
this trip himself, his lovingly phrased descriptions have too much
conviction to be just conjectured from a guidebook. ("You take a trail
that runs halfway up the wall of the world," the Saint says in his
occasional pagan poetry.) Belinda is steaming with rage at the unfawning
and unimpressed Simon. He doesn't mistreat her, but if she wants to eat,
she has to do her share of the chores, whether scrubbing the frying pan
in a stream or gathering firewood. More than once, it looks as if she is
seriously going to try to murder him in his sleep. Between the fuming
rage and miserable self-pity at having to walk and sleep out under the
sky, she goes through a trial by fire she is not even aware of yet.
"And then came the incredible night when she slept straight through
until morning, and woke up contented. For a while, the feeling baffled
her and she lay on her back and puzzled about it."
Yep, Belinda has experienced a spiritual awakening. Physically toughened
and refreshed, she also becomes suddenly aware of the achingly beautiful
scenery around her. Her mind is clear in a Zen way for the first time.
"When she looked directly upwards, nothing came between her gaze and the
arching tent of the sky where three fluffy white clouds floated slowly
eastwards with the red glow of the recent sunrise catching them like the
reflection of a fire. She had never really seen a sky before, or the
glory of trees and rolling hills."
But even now, there is still a twist or two in the telling. For Belinda
will meet up again with her fiancee, and although she has been
figuratively reborn, he's the same chap he was just a week ago....
There is so much about this rather short tale that I enjoyed. Okay, it
does show enormous chutzpah for Simon to decide he should break this
woman down and let her be recreated by exposure to Nature. But then, the
whole career of the Saint is based on his meddling with other people's
lives one way or another. This sort of unasked-for interference is
entirely in character for a man who happily tackles dangerous criminals
and breaks every law he finds objectionable. It seems he has judged
rightly in this case, but then Belinda's final reaction about returning
to her old life makes one wonder just what is going to happen to her and
Jack.
Also, we are so used to observing the Saint leading the life of luxury
himself, that it's pleasing to see him voluntarily hiking through the
mountains with bare necessities and loving it thoroughly. He cheerfully
socializes with the innkeepers and wandering gypsies and peasants they
encounter; one thing that separates the Saint from most pulp heroes is
that he genuinely likes people and is interested in them.
References in the early stories to Simon Templar as a very young man
wandering the globe, having heart-stopping adventures everywhere from
the Amazon jungles to the South Seas, have always made me wish Leslie
Charteris had turned out at least a handful of tales about those
years... "Untold Tales of the Saint", as it were. This story gives us a
glimpse of how much at home he is in the wilderness, an aspect not
usually seen in his frequenting fine restaurants in London or mingling
with the aristocracy in palaces as he plots how to transfer that diamond
tiara into his ownership.
________
*Okay, Simon does get slapped twice by the girl and he does give her a
serious spanking ("When a girl strikes a man, she's trading on a false
idea of chivalry.") But that's the extent of any action. THE SAINT IN
NEW YORK, this isn't.
Joe Pfeiffer
> This was a pleasant surprise. I had faded back on reading Saint stories
> after literally finding three in a row (published years apart) where a
> seemingly innocent citizen asks Simon Templar for help but turns out to
> be a con man trying to use him as a patsy; of course, our boy is hip to
> the trick all along and turns it to his advantage, making off with the
> boodle while the scam artist takes the fall. The repetition was becoming
> frankly a bit tedious.
I love The Saint -- but it seems like that's the standard formula for
a Saint short story...
I've snipped most of your review for brevity; it's odd that I have
absolutely no recollection of this story. I've got the book.... time
for a re-read....
> Also, we are so used to observing the Saint leading the life of luxury
> himself, that it's pleasing to see him voluntarily hiking through the
> mountains with bare necessities and loving it thoroughly. He cheerfully
> socializes with the innkeepers and wandering gypsies and peasants they
> encounter; one thing that separates the Saint from most pulp heroes is
> that he genuinely likes people and is interested in them.
Oddly enough, that strikes me as the best thing about Lord Peter
Wimsey, as well. I like the early, shell-shocked Lord Peter with
Bunter managing his life the best, but I digress... there are also
some episodes in which Lord Peter is going camping, and is just as
happy in that environment as in his usual pampered luxury. At some
level, he (like the Saint) has found peace with himself, and is able
to simply be happy regardless of surroundings.
The Saint is also at his best when we focus on "The Robin Hood",
rather than "of Modern Crime."
> References in the early stories to Simon Templar as a very young man
> wandering the globe, having heart-stopping adventures everywhere from
> the Amazon jungles to the South Seas, have always made me wish Leslie
> Charteris had turned out at least a handful of tales about those
> years... "Untold Tales of the Saint", as it were. This story gives us a
> glimpse of how much at home he is in the wilderness, an aspect not
> usually seen in his frequenting fine restaurants in London or mingling
> with the aristocracy in palaces as he plots how to transfer that diamond
> tiara into his ownership.
Same here. I spent years trying to find those stories, before
reluctantly realizing they didn't exist. Curiously, of the early
Saints that do exist, the very first, "Meet the Tiger!" aka "The Saint
Meets the Tiger" is the only one I lack.
--
Joseph J. Pfeiffer, Jr., Ph.D. Phone -- (505) 646-1605
Department of Computer Science FAX -- (505) 646-1002
New Mexico State University http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~pfeiffer
Dr Hermes
I had the darndest time finding a copy of MEET THE TIGER and finally
ordered it through an out of print service. As I understand it, the
rights were sold to a different publisher than the one who owns rights
to the rest of the series; also, Charteris was not happy with this very
early work and wrote in his preface that he was reluctant to see it kept
in print. MEET THE TIGER is in fact a bit crude and it misfires here and
there, but the book does give us the first meeting of Simon Templar and
Patricia Holm, and I'm glad I tracked down a copy.
One funny thing about Leslie Charteris.Although after 1940, his prose
became increasingly less flippant and chatty (becoming a bit dull and
colorless, I think), in the introductions to those 1960s Saint
paperbacks (with Roger Moore photos on the covers), his style is as
breezy and playful as ever. So he was deliberately toning his baroque
writing mannerisms down to fit the more prosaic style of the 1940s and
1950s..
Joe Pfeiffer
> I had the darndest time finding a copy of MEET THE TIGER and finally
> ordered it through an out of print service. As I understand it, the
> rights were sold to a different publisher than the one who owns rights
> to the rest of the series; also, Charteris was not happy with this very
> early work and wrote in his preface that he was reluctant to see it kept
> in print. MEET THE TIGER is in fact a bit crude and it misfires here and
> there, but the book does give us the first meeting of Simon Templar and
> Patricia Holm, and I'm glad I tracked down a copy.
Sigh.... do you remember what service you used? I tried going that
route with no luck (I don't remember who I tried).
> One funny thing about Leslie Charteris.Although after 1940, his prose
> became increasingly less flippant and chatty (becoming a bit dull and
> colorless, I think), in the introductions to those 1960s Saint
> paperbacks (with Roger Moore photos on the covers), his style is as
> breezy and playful as ever. So he was deliberately toning his baroque
> writing mannerisms down to fit the more prosaic style of the 1940s and
> 1950s..
And I find the Saint books from the '40s to get increasingly dull, and
the '50s to be unreadably boring.
Dr Hermes
My local bookstore is the Golden Notebook in Woodstock, which carries a
very eclectic and Bohemian range of books.. well, it IS Woodstock. They
have always had a service where you can tell them your price range and
acceptable condition and in a week or so, they will let you know if they
have turned up a copy. I think they call other stores they have an
arrangment with.
I don't know why I don't want to use eBay or Amazon or ABE books, but
the idea just puts me off. A lifetime lurking aound flea markets, yard
sales and musty used bookstore has given me a huge collection of odds
and ends, but there are a few items I just wasn't likely to ever stumble
across that way.
Condition doesn't mean much to me. As long as the text is readable, I
can take a book that has the covers taped on, phone numbers written in
the margins, susicious stains... I'm not much for grading, so it's easy
for them to find a copy I'll accept. Since I usually have a paperback in
my coat pocket or under the front seat of my car, any book I buy is not
likey to remain in pristine condition anyway,
And I agree that after 1940, the Saint (the character and his stories)
became altogether too respectable and stodgy. With a few surprising
exceptions (like the surrealistic "The Darker Drink"), I haven't seen
many stories after WWII I would recommend. Too bad, really, because that
seems to be the bulk of the saga. The Kingston library has only six or
seven lame Saint books from the TV script adaptations, which would give
a newcomer entirely the wrong impression.
cat...@aol.com
MEETS THE TIGER is out there somewhere -- bought it at a used booksale,
quit reading around chpater3 or 4, and donated it to another.
I can't read The Saint anymore, which is too bad -- I used to love
those stories -- had drawings of The Saint stick figure all over my
notebooks one year in Junior high. The wartime stories are grim --
read an early post-war novel set in Palm Springs that read like Simon
was auditioning for the Rat Pack - all booze and babes and innuendo,
not to mention chain smoking -- he has one going all the time.
My all time favorite is the one at Lock Ness -- can't quite remember
the title, but it is well-anthologized. If I have to teach Reading
next year, I think I'll try and get it for the kids.
Dave
Dr Hermes
The Loch Ness story would be "The Convenient Monster", and I found it in
THE FANTASTIC SAINT. This also had "The Man Who Liked Ants" (with giant
varmints), a Voodoo story with real zombies, and "The Darker Drink"...
this kids might really enjoy this one. Simon seems to be meeting
characters who live within someone's dream, and there are clues he's in
the dream, too. This story has a killer last line. (Longtime fantasy
readers might see it coming, but for youngsters it would a real twist.)
Considering how the Saint used to smoke and drink nonstop, not to
mention his typical breakfast of a huge pile of bacon, eggs and
mushrooms, I'm surprised to lived to make it to the War years. Or that
he didn't look more like Nero Wolfe.
Ian Dickerson
> I had the darndest time finding a copy of MEET THE TIGER and finally
> ordered it through an out of print service. As I understand it, the
> rights were sold to a different publisher than the one who owns rights
> to the rest of the series; also, Charteris was not happy with this very
> early work and wrote in his preface that he was reluctant to see it kept
> in print. MEET THE TIGER is in fact a bit crude and it misfires here and
> there, but the book does give us the first meeting of Simon Templar and
> Patricia Holm, and I'm glad I tracked down a copy.
When his career started to gain momentum he moved to Hodder &
Stoughton and stayed there for the rest of his career.
At present all rights to all Saint books are with The Estate of Leslie
Charteris but in line with Leslie's wishes they won't let anything be
done with MEET THE TIGER, which disappointed the radio producer who
asked after it recently...
Ian
dag...@yahoo.com
within the last maybe 20 years. I have a Charter edition. But it sees
like one of the Curtis books lists "other titles" and Meet the Tiger is
among them. One Curtis book I have has a cover by I think Peter Carras,
where The Saint portrayed by Steve Holland.
cat...@aol.com
Dave