Books Fatal to Their Authors

Twenty-first century writers have it far, far too easy.

They might think that the critics for the New York Review of Books are difficult to please, but the jibes and barbs of critics are nothing compared to what writers faced in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when publishing a new work often meant taking your life into your own hands. Writers who challenged the status quo faced fates far worse, such as torture, burning, boiling, having various bits hacked off or, in the case of seditious libel, being subjected to a red hot branded "SL" on the cheek--surely a far cry from the cozy world of academia where the worst that could happen is a rejection letter from the Journal Science or a C-minus on your short story for your writer's workshop about your dysfunctional family. Writing used to be serious business, and publishing was not for the faint of heart.


Books Fatal to Their Authors (1895) by P. H. Ditchfield

In modern times, pitching a book that catalogs the demise of dozens of authors and publishers who ran afoul of Papal and civil authorities and were chased, hounded and ultimately put to death for their efforts might be a tough sell for the big publishers, but Ditchfield does a good job of making his subject matter engaging and even entertaining. This is essentially a book of anecdotes that tell of the trials of rogue theologians, historians, political and social critics, fanatics, astrologers, poets, dramatists and publishers. However, this anecdotal approach to the material can be a little repetitive, so this is a book that one might read a little at a time. All in all, this is a merry, dry witted but scholarly romp through lives ruined by censorship.

Consider Polish theologian Cazimir Lisznski, whose claim that "God is not the creator of man, but man is the creator of God" got him executed by order of the Bishop of Potsdam in 1689 and whose ashes were shot out of a cannon. Or Galileo, whose confirmation of Copernicus' theory that the earth revolves around the sun earned him a visit from the Spanish Inquisition--a body whose henchmen were too stupid to even understand his work ("Are these then my judges?" he asked). Or Italian satirist Trajan Boccalini, whose Pietra del paragone politico (1615), a withering criticism of Spanish misrule in Italy, bought him a visit from four big guys who held him down on a couch and beat him to death with sand bags.

Riveting stuff, indeed. Ditchfield isn't above expressing his own opinions or displaying a few sparks of wit, either. "Whether to burn a man is the surest way to convert him," he writes, "is a question open to argument. " The infamous Bastille is referred to as a proven  "reformatory for audacious writers". His off-the-cuff critiques of religious works and theological tracts reveal his bias as a minister in the Church of England, proclaiming some authors and works as ridiculous (in all fairness, some of them were ridiculous), but strongly arguing against censorship. He was a man of his time.

Ditchfield presents authors and works both well known and extremely obscure, preferring to cite the original titles in Latin, French and Italian and sometimes quoting these works at length in their original language, but readers can get through the rough spots in context easily enough. And it's okay to skip longish passages of Latin, French and Italian without feeling as though you're cheating. Good bathroom reading.

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Two Novels About Different Guys Named Guy

"So these two Guys walk into a castle…"

Sir Walter Scott pioneered the historical novel, writing dozens of books centered around his native Scotland that enjoyed a worldwide audience and the acclaim of his peers. William Harrison Ainsworth also wrote historical novels, and while he was a lesser writer than Scott and the flame of his popular and critical notoriety burned out much more quickly, both of these authors have found parity in the degree to which their works have been neglected by readers and academics. Scott's Ivanhoe and Ainsworth's The Tower of London are the most famous works by these two men that are still read (the former considerably more than the latter). 

But both of these guys wrote novels that were fun to read: Scott wrote richly plotted, lush romantic tales of his native land with the skill and grace of the poet he was, and Ainsworth wrote action-packed tales plucked from English history with a sharp eye for historical detail and the broad popular appeal of Hollywood blockbuster movies.

For our purposes, what both of these guys really did was to write novels about guys named Guy.


Guy Mannering (1815) by Sir Walter Scott

Despite what the title might suggest, this is not an etiquette guide for bachelors. This was Scott's second novel, the follow up to the enormously successful Waverley--a difficult act to follow, as first novels often are. While Waverley focused on the Jacobite uprising of 1745, this novel takes place a few decades later, roughly between 1760 and 1780, in southwest Scotland.

Guy Mannering, a Colonel in the British army who dabbled in astrology as a young man, drew a horoscope that boded ill tidings for Harry Bertram, the newborn son and rightful heir of a Scottish magistrate whose estate Mannering happened to visit on a trip to Scotland. The five-year-old Bertram becomes the victim of a kidnapping plot that contributes to the downfall of his family's fortunes. The heir's return does not bode well for those who seek to gain from keeping his true identity a secret. But that's not even the half of it. This is a very difficult novel to synopsize for all its layers of plot and characterization. Bertram's troubles spring from a power struggle between magistrates, lawyers and smugglers. Add to all this the haunting presence of the gipsy Meg Merrilies, one of the most striking and evocative characters in all of English literature and the only character in the novel who sees through the deceptions and lies that keep Bertram from assuming his rightful position as head of his family estate.

This is a fine novel, and for what it lacks in the sheer emotional power that made Waverley such a gem, it makes up for with an intriguing story and unforgettable characters. If you like inventively plotted, exciting and mysterious tales, Guy Mannering is for you. As usual, there's lots of authentic Scottish dialect used here, but you'll get the hang of it if you can give it a chance.
 
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Guy Fawkes (1841) by William Harrison Ainsworth

The first of Ainsworth's series of very successful historical novels, this is the story of the famed Gunpowder Plot in which the notorious Guy Fawkes and a group of English Catholics tried and failed to blow up Parliament in 1605--an event celebrated with bonfires every year in England on the fifth of November.

Ainsworth was a meticulous researcher whose attention to accurate historical detail in matters of dress, custom and architecture gave his readers an uncanny, vivid sense of time and place. But he was also equally reckless with the details of the real life events he portrayed, and gleefully rearranged the facts and characters to create a compelling story that would appeal to his readers--largely middle class folks who read for pleasure rather than intellectual stimulation. Purists may scoff and titter at Ainsworth's tinkering, but mixing fact and fiction in this way is precisely how legends have been created in nearly all cultures for centuries. Ainsworth's historical novels are part of a time honored tradition of storytelling.

The Gothic and supernatural touches he adds make this novel read like a lushly illustrated comic book. The action moves well and the pages turn of their own volition, but don't look too deeply or you won't enjoy the ride. Though this is probably not "great literature" in the strictest sense, I have much affection for Ainsworth. Historical novels superimpose the values and prejudices of the eras in which they were written upon the eras that they portray, and like all of his historical romances, Guy Fawkes mythologizes English historical events in a decidedly Victorian way that reveals much about how the people of the nineteenth century viewed their own collective past. A modern-day novel of the Guy Fawkes legend would reflect our own times, and the results would be markedly different. Something to ponder, anyway.
 
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Here, you can watch an amusing BBC documentary about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot.

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Happy New Year, everyone!