The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Black Arrow
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Whiling away my time in the library of The American School in London, I found this book purely by chance. I was in the seventh grade at the time.

The Black Arrow is set in England in the days of Henry VI. It opens with the knight Sir Daniel leaving a trail of rack and ruin across the countryside surrounding his Moat House. The villainous archer Appleyard (veteran of Agincourt), man-at-arms Bennett Hatch and Sir Oliver Oates assist Sir Daniel. The outlaw Jon Amend-All vows revenge against all four of them, taunting them in this note nailed to the door of the church:

Dick Shelton took the page in his hand and read it aloud. It contained some lines of very rugged doggerel, hardly even rhyming, written in a gross character, and most uncouthly spelt. With the spelling somewhat bettered, this is how they ran:

I had four blak arrows under my belt,
Four for the greefs that I have felt,
Four for the number of ill menne
That have oppressed me now and then


One is gone; one is wele sped;
Old Appleyaird is dead.
One is for Master Bennet Hatch,
That burned Grimstone, walls and thatch.


One is for Sir Oliver Oates,
Who cut Sir Harry Shelton's throat.
Sir Daniel, ye shall have the fourth;
We shall think it fair sport.


Ye shall each have your own part,
A blak arrow in each blak heart.
Get ye to your knees for to pray,
Ye are dead theeves by yea and nay.

From Jon Amend-All of the Green Wood and his jolly fellowship

"Now, well-a-day for charity and the Christian graces!" cried Sir Oliver, lamentably. "Sirs, this is an ill world, and daily groweth worse."

The book was filmed in 1911 and 1948. It was also an Australian TV special in 1973.

Lost Legends of New Jersey by Frederick Reiken

The Lost Legends of New Jersey
By Frederick Reiken
312 pp. Harvest 2001

Almost too good to be true, this novel wins my personal award for book of the year. Simply yet skillfully written, it's about adulterous adults, confused teenagers, families breaking up and living with mistakes and loss in suburban New Jersey.

On those strengths alone, the book enthralled me. But two added features put it over the top.

First, it's set in the very spot in New Jersey where I grew up. Most of the action takes place in Livingston. Also mentioned are Millburn, where I went to high school; South Mountain Arena, where I learned to ice skate; the Turtle Back Zoo, scene of grade school field trips; and the teenage hangouts Don's Restaurant and Friendly's.

That's a nice coincidence for me personally. But what's even better is the author's admirable skill in making his points in multiple ways. He often uses the plot and characters to deliver his message. But then he'll deliver the same message in a different way, often with metaphors. The more closely I read, the more of this I discovered. It gave me the sense that the book was working on several levels at once, and it unfolds in a way that seamless and natural.

Here are two of my favorite examples.

Anthony, the central teenage character, is drawn to Juliette, the tough Italian girl next door. Anthony wants to save Juliette from a broken family, her own bad decisions and a meathead jock boyfriend with a mean streak. Reiken handles this first in a literal sense, with Anthony giving Juliette advice. Then the writer approaches the same issue symbolically. One night, Anthony helps Juliette to recognize the constellation Leo, also her astrological sign. At first, she can't see it. Then she recognizes it, and it's bigger than she expected. She also notices more stars than she's ever seen before. Reiken's telling us to learn to see ourselves clearly, to rise above pain and turmoil and see the beauty of life. This is my kind of symbolism -- obvious and accessible, the kind I can understand without too much effort.

In another episode, Anthony loses his virginity. But Reiken reverses the usual boy/girl roles. An older girl seduces Anthony. He's smitten, but she discards him after a one-night stand. She'd rather spend after-school time becoming a junior paramedic so that she can improve her chances of getting into medical school (heartless!). Later, after Anthony knows the affair is over, she gives him a ride in her car, which has a removable blue light and siren for paramedic use.

She said, "I'm glad I robbed your cradle. Aren't you?"

”I wish I knew."

She kept watching him for a moment. Then she said, "Well, we'd better get this siren in."

She hit the switch for the power window. She reached outside, pulled it in, and the whole car filled up with its blue light. She said, "Look into my crystal ball. If you look hard, you'll see your future." Anthony looked and for a moment the light was blinding. Then it died. She had pulled the plug.

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More information: Harcourt Books website

The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard

The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian
by Robert E. Howard
463 pp. Ballantine Books 2003

The first 13 of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian stories have just been re-published in this trade paperback.

Don't judge these by the standards of the Schwarzenegger films. (I happen to like those films, but for other reasons.) Written in the 1930s, these are literally the original sword and sorcery stories, with the brutal Conan constantly encountering monsters, enslaved princesses and evil sorcerers. Anyone who likes fantasy should read at least a couple, even if only to see how the genre began. My personal favorite is "The Tower of the Elephant."

Now for the caveats.

These stories were aimed at a largely male pulp magazine audience. This was the 1930s equivalent of today's action film. Therefore, the testosterone quotient is pretty high. Women are usually depicted as weeping damsels in distress, which won't please some female readers.

The plots shamelessly cater to adolescent male fantasies and insecurities. Conan, the man of action, is always able to master whatever unexpected situation he's thrown into, usually by kicking butt all over Cimmeria, or Aquilonia, or whatever mythical country he finds himself in. Beautiful women melt at the mere sight of him. The plots are contrived so that these women are forced by circumstances to share his company. By the time the story's over, they refuse to leave him.

When you get right down to it, the sullen, inarticulate Conan is essentially a rather one-dimensional character. But I didn't care about that when I read these stories as a teenager.

After Howard committed suicide, other authors somehow took over the franchise and kept writing new Conan stories. Avoid these inferior works. I think they are now out of print, but they turn up regularly in used bookstores.

To the Castle Dangerous

From "The Tale of Sir Gareth" in Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur

Sir Gareth and an unpleasant nameless "lady" are forced to seek shelter in Sir Persaunte's castle. Gareth retires to bed and finds his virtue sorely tested -- a recurring theme in these tales:

That evening he (Sir Persaunte) summoned his beautiful daughter, who was aged eighteen: "My daughter, if you would please me, go to Sir Gareth, lie in his bed, take him in your arms and kiss him, and make him welcome as only a woman can."

At her father's bidding, the daughter went to Sir Gareth's bed, quietly undressed, and got in beside him. Sir Gareth swore, and asked: "Pray, who are you?"

"Sir, I am Sir Persaunte's daughter, and I come at his command, not of my own free will."

"Are you a maid or a wife?"

"Sir, I am a maid."

"Then God forbid that you should remain. It would be as shameful for me as for your father; so I beg you, return to him."

The daughter duly returned to her father, and told him all that had happened. "He must indeed be of noble blood," her father responded.

In the morning Sir Persaunte asked the lady where she was taking Sir Gareth.

"To the Castle Dangerous," she replied.

From Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, A New Rendition by Keith BainesMentor/New American Library ©Copyright 1962