Name: Cleopatra
SKU: 57934186
Price: 720.00 TWD
Availability: InStock
Author: Henry Rider Haggard
ISBN: 9781722195472

Type

Physical Book

Author

Henry Rider Haggard

Publisher

Createspace

Language

English

Pages

280

Format

Paperback

Dimensions

22.9x15.2x1.5 cm

Weight

0.38 kg.

ISBN13

9781722195472

Synopsis "Cleopatra"

Cleopatra: Being an Account of the Fall and Vengeance of Harmachis is a novel written by the author H. Rider Haggard, the author of King Solomon's Mines and She. The book was first printed in 1889. The story is set in the Ptolemaic era of Ancient Egyptian history and revolves around the survival of a dynasty bloodline protected by the Priesthood of Isis. The main character Harmachis (the living descendant of the pharaoh's bloodline) is charged by the Priesthood to overthrow the supposed impostor Cleopatra, drive out the Greeks and Romans and restore Egypt to its golden era. As is the case with the majority of Haggard's works, the story draws heavily upon adventure and exotic concepts. The story, told from the point of view of the Egyptian priest Harmachis, is recounted in biblical language, being in the form of papyrus scrolls found in a tomb. Haggard's portrait of Cleopatra is quite stunning, revealing her wit, her treachery, and her overwhelming presence. All of the characters are mixtures of good and evil, and evoke both sympathy and loathing. While much of the material on ancient Egyptian ritual is overdone, the often brilliant dialogue and the fateful interactions between the principal characters make the book quite unforgettable in comparison to Haggard's better known but more conventional adventure novels. The character of Mark Antony, introduced in the later part of the book, is fleeting and lacks importance, though historically it seems that the book has some importance as the references made are based on facts about the romance between Cleopatra and Mark Antony and the fall of both from power. Cleopatra goes unrecognized in most discussions of Haggard-perhaps because of its stilted language.

Henry Rider Haggard

(Author)

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Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856–1925) was a prolific British novelist, a pioneer of the adventure genre, and known for his stories set in Africa and ancient Egypt. Born in Bradenham, Norfolk, he was the son of a lawyer and a writer. After studying at Ipswich high school and working in South Africa as the secretary to the governor of Natal, Haggard returned to England in 1882. There, he wrote a story about the Zulus and prepared to enter the Bar, although his literary career soon eclipsed his legal practice.

His greatest success came with King Solomon's Mines (1885), an African adventure novel that introduced the character Allan Quatermain. This book marked the beginning of the "lost worlds" subgenre and was followed by She (1887), which became a classic of fantasy literature. The protagonist of She, Ayesha, was cited by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung as a prototype of the feminine.

Throughout his career, Haggard wrote more than 60 novels, many of them set in Africa or other parts of the British Empire. His work influenced later writers such as Rudyard Kipling and Edgar Rice Burroughs. He was knighted in 1912 for his services in the agricultural reform of the British Empire. He died in 1925 in London and was buried at St. Mary's Church in Ditchingham, Norfolk.

Although his novels reflect the imperialist ideals of his time, they also show a remarkable sympathy towards the native African populations, which distinguishes them from other colonial works of his time.
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