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Prester John
 
 

Prester John [Kindle Edition]

John Buchan , Trevor Royle
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Product Description

South Africa, 1900. After his father dies, nineteen-year-old David Crawfurd is sent off to South Africa to earn his living as a storekeeper in the back of beyond. A strange encounter on the journey suggests that dark deeds and treacherous intrigues are afoot - all bound up with the mysterious primeval kingdom of Prester John. Written as a boys' adventure story and set mostly in South Africa (where Buchan had worked), "Prester John" was published in 1910 when Buchan was 35. It's a fast-moving thriller in the style of Robert Louis Stevenson and Rider Haggard.

About the Author

One of Alfred Hitchcock's favourite writers, John Buchan was a Scottish diplomat, barrister, journalist, historian, poet and novelist. He published nearly 30 novels and seven collections of short stories. He was born in Perth, an eldest son, and studied at Glasgow and Oxford. In 1901 he became a barrister of the Middle Temple and a private secretary to the High Commissioner for South Africa. In 1907 he married Susan Charlotte Grosvenor and they subsequently had four children. After spells as a war correspondent, Lloyd George's Director of Information and Conservative MP, Buchan moved to Canada in 1935. He served as Governor General there until his death in 1940.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 623 KB
  • Print Length: 405 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1847022758
  • Publisher: Polygon (4 Oct 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B00796E8T2
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #154,710 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 52 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Re-reading Prester John 30 Oct 2003
Format:Paperback
I first read this book some 6o years ago. It entranced me then and I re-read it several times. As in all his best books (The Dancing Floor; The Courts of the Morning; The Far Islands; possibly Greenmantle) in Prester John there is a captivating sense of ancient, hidden knowledge ... meretricious, of course, but seductive. There is also clean prose and the bite of a well written thriller. My reason for re-reading it was to see if nowadays its inherent racialist snobbery made it intolerable. Interestingly, it does not. It had no effect on me as a child and, if you feel your way back into the strangely innocent mind-set of the imperialist elite, it is something you may observe with curiosity ... and gain historical understanding. Naturally, the thrill of the story has faded a bit with longer experience and a more jaded palate - but it is still a darn good tale.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A Rollicking Adventure Story 12 Aug 2008
Format:Paperback
Having read Buchan's '39 Steps' many years ago I thought it was time I re-acquainted myself with this master of the short thiller/adventure.

I wasn't disappointed ! A thoroughly enjoyable read, the somewhat anachronistic language highlights the changes in society's attitudes towards race since it was written but in no way detract from the book's charm.

Buchan's crisp and fast moving prose make this a real page turner !
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for a winter afternoon 1 Dec 1999
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
A classic page-turner!! The story of the stereotypical colonialist 'plucky young lad' out to make his fortune in Africa. Unsurprisingly, he gets tangled up in the midst of an African tribal uprising. While perhaps propagandist at one time, somehow the stereotypical colonialism from the turn of the century doesn't really strike the reader. What does is the fast paced, 'Boy's Own' narrative of one person's heroic adventures. A great adventure story to take you away for an afternoon to a world that now seems far removed from this one. A time to remember adolescent dreams of glory in far-off lands.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A great adventure story 8 Dec 2010
Format:Paperback
A great adventure story. No point debating wheher it could all actually have happened; this is entertainment, just enjoy it!

It begins with a strange and dangerous incident during the narrator's boyhood in Scotland, involving a visiting African Christian minister who secretly combines his Christianity with more ancient beliefs.

The story swiftly moves on to South Africa, where the narrator goes to seek his fortune after the death of his father forces him to abandon previous plans to go to university and enter the ministry.

He soon finds that beneath the surface calm the natives are restless and something strange is going on, linked in some way to an inaccessible cave and the old legend of a Christian king somewhere in Africa called Prester John. Soon, the natives are revolting!

Quite a short book, so not too forbidding to pick up and begin reading.

Really, the book has two heroes, the black leader of the African revolt and the white man who helps to foil it, both of whom have remarkable qualities, regardless of which of them is ultimately right.

As other reviewers have already commented on it, it may become a little tedious to go on about the race and colonialism issues, but it is hard not to mention it in a modern review.

The author John Buchan assumes that black Africans' dreams of expelling the white man and restoring their past African kingdoms are in some ways a noble endeavour but ultimately, for the foreseeable future, Africans are better off under colonial rule as long as it introduces modern technology, education, law and Christianity. Frankly, given the unhappy history of quite a few African countries since independence, we should not assume that Buchan was completely wrong to believe that.
... Read more ›
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Childhood revisited 22 Aug 2011
By John
Format:Paperback
Read this as a boy and thoroughly enjoyed it. Forty years on enjoyed it again. Comes in the category of 'Ripping Yarns'. Written a century ago and politically incorrect today but who cares - a great story.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Great adventure but past prejudices 10 April 2013
Format:Kindle Edition
This is a real boys adventure story set in South Africa over 100 years ago. There is plenty of action that keeps you turning the pages. There is an Indiana Jones type of feel about it.
However many may be put off by the awful racial prejudice against the native population. They are the "baddies" - either evil or stupid - in the way that native Americans were in the old western movies.
I found it instructive to read for that very reason - knowing the false assumptions that the Europeans across the world were indoctrinated with from childhood helps understand ( but not forgive) apartheid.
If you ignore the prejudices it becomes a good read.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars John Buchan Classic 13 Jan 2013
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
A Classic, read and re-read, with quite a bit of Buchans persona in the main character, as in all his books
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars My first Kindle Book 13 Jan 2013
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Because this is an old book, it isn't politically correct. However, it is a rip-roaring adventure set in Africa. EXCELLENT.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Set in Scotland and South Africa
Entertaining account of a Scottish lad seeking his future in South Africa and encountering a character from his past who has a mission to fulfil. Read more
Published 15 days ago by F. Cooper
4.0 out of 5 stars Quality story trelling.
The author knows his subject;Africa. His employment as a senior British Government provided him with an excellent fund of material from which to draw.
Published 1 month ago by vincent s spring
5.0 out of 5 stars Prester John
a ripping yarn told by that wonderful author from the 'High Noon' of empire John Buchan a powerful story set in South Africa in Victorian times Prester John is a great read with... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dr. J. Buchan
5.0 out of 5 stars A very good read
I have always loved this book first read it when I was eight read it several times, I am now sixty eight
Published 2 months ago by F M E Hamilton-Taylor
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read
Like an early 'Bourne' adventure. Now needs someone to produce a modern film version. John Buchan should be essential reading for all Eng Lit students despite the quaint language... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Faradap
5.0 out of 5 stars good story
Read this book at school many years ago, re read and what a cracking tale, albeit wouldn't pass a PC test.
Published 2 months ago by Clive Shaw
5.0 out of 5 stars Prester John
Although I have not read this since I purchased it, I read it at school during English literature. Have always remembered bits of it but will read again soon. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Zelda
5.0 out of 5 stars Prester John
An excellent read .I first read this book as a boy of 12yrs I enjoyed it just as much at aged 71
Published 3 months ago by Alan Snapes
3.0 out of 5 stars Prester john
I found the old way of refering to natives of Africa distasteful .I know it is the attitude of the period but it spoiled the book for me.
Published 4 months ago by Barbara Everest-Todd
2.0 out of 5 stars Disapointment
Having heard so much about this book I had to purchase it and read it for myself. Unfortunately I found that it did not come up to the standard I was expecting.
Published 5 months ago by Bill Shields
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