Biggles - Secret Agent
Aug. 27th, 2024 08:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosanicusI did have to look up the punctuation for this title.
Anyway: I got a copy of this in an Oxfam Bookshop in Henley-on-Thames and delighted the cashier by doing so, which was nice. It's one of the few early books I don't own, and I got it in the blue-and-yellow Oxford University Press edition which fits in nicely with my hardbacks of Hits the Trail, Defies the Swastika AND Charter Pilot. It's also an edition which contains Keir Starmer Algy, which I will mention every time I possibly can due to my moral obligation to horrifyblack_bentley.
The Ruritanian romance is such a good vehicle for Bigglesian hijinks, I'm sad WEJ seemed to fall out of love with it as a subgenre during the SAP era. I know the literary world moved past it somewhat but god I just love it. If I am mistaken PLEASE tell me which Biggleses to elevate to the top of my teetering TBR! Lucrania is a feasible enough micronation and I really liked the detail of it being ringed by mountains. It's also more specifically linked to current events at the presumed time of writing (I know it was published in 1940 but it feels like it was written pre-WW2) and has some firm Stance-Holding from WEJ on anti-semitism (he is against it). For all that the representation of Simon Kretzner is not exactly stellar, I appreciate that our main man William Earl went for it. Weirdly, I read this a few days after my mum expounded on the virtues of The Chalet School in Exile, which also features characters being staunchly against anti-semitism to the extent that they have to flee the country (if I ever read Chalet School I may start here).
Obviously I cannot review this book without mentioning that it is an early von Stalhein book and therefore chock-full of cheerful homoeroticism and Spy Nonsense. I really enjoyed EvS's attitude in this book - he's flirtatious when he's confident and flirtatious when he's bluffing and even insouciant when being held at gunpoint outside his own car. I probably shouldn't just quote the entire scene in the hotel bar but - look. It's just unbelievable how much fun Biggles and EvS have in this period of canon. I will however include one quote which I feel hasn't had much play and made me CACKLE.
I still can't tell how sarcastic this is supposed to be but it is so funny to me. Erich, you like three English people and two of them are sat opposite you at this bar table. The interwar Biggles/EvS dynamic is simply delicious and I can't believe I've RUN OUT. Devastated. Throughout the book they are locked in a long distance battle of wits in which they constantly surpass, trick and outwit one another and it's just so wonderful. They are perfectly matched nemeses and I wish they would kiss about it.
On the actual plot front, I obviously loved the setting of the huge abandoned castle, the secret tunnels and the CROSSDRESSING. I correctly guessed the general identity of the mysterious fellow guest at the hotel, but when the crossdressing twist occurred you'd better believe I was fucking delighted. Any Biggles book with crossdressing immediately gains another letter grade. I hope Gustav got to England with his father and discovered a whole new subculture to enjoy. The ending with the cross-country chase, multiple vehicle theft and plane hijacking was just absolute pitch perfect balls to the wall Biggles and I loved every word - especially the poor beleaguered wireless operator who has no choice but to Deal With Biggles at his most Bigglesy (on a roll, in charge, running on zero sleep and with no fucks left to give).
Overall, I had a fantastic time reading this one. Now I need to go think about Algy/EvS hatesex set at some point in his imprisonment...
Anyway: I got a copy of this in an Oxfam Bookshop in Henley-on-Thames and delighted the cashier by doing so, which was nice. It's one of the few early books I don't own, and I got it in the blue-and-yellow Oxford University Press edition which fits in nicely with my hardbacks of Hits the Trail, Defies the Swastika AND Charter Pilot. It's also an edition which contains Keir Starmer Algy, which I will mention every time I possibly can due to my moral obligation to horrify
black_bentley. The Ruritanian romance is such a good vehicle for Bigglesian hijinks, I'm sad WEJ seemed to fall out of love with it as a subgenre during the SAP era. I know the literary world moved past it somewhat but god I just love it. If I am mistaken PLEASE tell me which Biggleses to elevate to the top of my teetering TBR! Lucrania is a feasible enough micronation and I really liked the detail of it being ringed by mountains. It's also more specifically linked to current events at the presumed time of writing (I know it was published in 1940 but it feels like it was written pre-WW2) and has some firm Stance-Holding from WEJ on anti-semitism (he is against it). For all that the representation of Simon Kretzner is not exactly stellar, I appreciate that our main man William Earl went for it. Weirdly, I read this a few days after my mum expounded on the virtues of The Chalet School in Exile, which also features characters being staunchly against anti-semitism to the extent that they have to flee the country (if I ever read Chalet School I may start here).
Obviously I cannot review this book without mentioning that it is an early von Stalhein book and therefore chock-full of cheerful homoeroticism and Spy Nonsense. I really enjoyed EvS's attitude in this book - he's flirtatious when he's confident and flirtatious when he's bluffing and even insouciant when being held at gunpoint outside his own car. I probably shouldn't just quote the entire scene in the hotel bar but - look. It's just unbelievable how much fun Biggles and EvS have in this period of canon. I will however include one quote which I feel hasn't had much play and made me CACKLE.
"I am staying not far away, so naturally I take a great interest in all our visitors - particularly English people, for whom, as you know, I have a great regard."
I still can't tell how sarcastic this is supposed to be but it is so funny to me. Erich, you like three English people and two of them are sat opposite you at this bar table. The interwar Biggles/EvS dynamic is simply delicious and I can't believe I've RUN OUT. Devastated. Throughout the book they are locked in a long distance battle of wits in which they constantly surpass, trick and outwit one another and it's just so wonderful. They are perfectly matched nemeses and I wish they would kiss about it.
On the actual plot front, I obviously loved the setting of the huge abandoned castle, the secret tunnels and the CROSSDRESSING. I correctly guessed the general identity of the mysterious fellow guest at the hotel, but when the crossdressing twist occurred you'd better believe I was fucking delighted. Any Biggles book with crossdressing immediately gains another letter grade. I hope Gustav got to England with his father and discovered a whole new subculture to enjoy. The ending with the cross-country chase, multiple vehicle theft and plane hijacking was just absolute pitch perfect balls to the wall Biggles and I loved every word - especially the poor beleaguered wireless operator who has no choice but to Deal With Biggles at his most Bigglesy (on a roll, in charge, running on zero sleep and with no fucks left to give).
Overall, I had a fantastic time reading this one. Now I need to go think about Algy/EvS hatesex set at some point in his imprisonment...
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Date: 2024-08-27 08:13 pm (UTC)And as revenge for you ONCE AGAIN calling my attention to Keir Starmer Algy (the HORROR), I'm just going to openly pimp my very own Secret Agent Algy/EvS hatesex missing scene right here in your comments: and not to yield
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Date: 2024-08-27 08:21 pm (UTC)I'm just going to pounce on this and drag it off to my lair, which is knee deep in fic tabs already but there's always room for more.
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Date: 2024-08-27 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2024-08-27 08:17 pm (UTC)I do so wish that WEJ had had more of a chance to write more pure von Stalhein japes before WWII started and he had to start writing him massively OOC D:
(The world definitely needs more Algy/vS hatesex. I'm just saying. If you wanted to go there. I would be here for that.)
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Date: 2024-08-27 08:20 pm (UTC)(It may emerge... at some point. Term starts soon and that always does unexpected things to my fic brain!)
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Date: 2024-08-28 08:34 am (UTC)I had a stab at The Chalet School In Exile but haven't managed to finish it yet...
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Date: 2024-08-28 09:08 am (UTC)Once I've finished Prisoner of Zenda I will consider crossover potential... it's been too long since I wrote a Biggles crossover of any kind.