Anthony Hope (1863–1933)

A classic of swashbuckling adventure, The Prisoner of Zenda gave name to a subgenre called Ruritanian romances: set in a fictional country, usually in Central or Eastern Europe, these are typically swashbuckling adventure novels, tales of high romance and intrigue, centered on the ruling classes, almost always aristocracy and royalty. Ruritania, of course, is the name of the kingdom where The Prisoner of Zenda takes place.

The King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in order for the king to retain the crown, his coronation must proceed. Fortuitously, an English gentleman on holiday in Ruritania who resembles the monarch is persuaded to act as his political decoy in an effort to save the unstable political situation of the interregnum.

This book is light and silly, but fun. It has romance, heroism, sword fights, dashing rescues... It's short and a quick read, narrated in first person by the daring Englishman who pretends to be the kidnapped king in order to save the throne.

It's maybe not as good as I would have hoped, based on its fame. When it started, I found the narrator funny and snarky, but this comedy element was side-lined once the adventure started. The adventure is kind of silly, in the sense that neither the heroes nor the villains are the brightest bulbs, but that was easy to accept for me, because I expected a light adventure rather than serious political intrigue, and that's what I got.

One thing I didn't like is that the experience of pretending to be the king is kind of glossed over. We don't really see much of the court, and it feels like the main character is most of the time with only his two Ruritanian companions.

Don't expect much of the romantic subplot. This is an adventure novel, not romance, and what we get is basically love at first sight to add to the plot.

Despite all that, there is an energy and verve to the story that makes it fun to read.

I have never made a hobby of looking for homoeotic undertones in fiction, but I have to say that the main character has something of a man crush on Rupert of Hentzau, the dashing daredevil who is one of the main henchmen of the villain of the story.

Goodreads informs us that this is the second book in a trilogy. Forget that. The supposed book 1, The Heart of Princess Osra, is a collection of stories that have nothing to do with The Prisoner of Zenda other than being set in Ruritania a century earlier. It's not necessary to read it. The Prisoner of Zenda works well as a standalone, and if you want more you should read the sequel, Rupert of Hentzau, since at least it's about the same characters, and not The Heart of Princess Osra.… (more)

Long ago as a teenager, I enjoyed this swash-buckling romantic adventure. In this re-read (decades later) one of my new impressions is that author Anthony Hope may well have written a satire on late nineteenth-century European politics. As such, it is a rollicking adventure, including over-the-top derring do.

The original plot was clever, the twin to a king successfully masquerading to hide the fact the real crown prince was incapacitated by his villainous brother to prevent the coronation. Unfortunately, I found so much of the fantastic action became tedious and unrealistic. By current standards, it reads as rather turgid, repetitive sequences with too-abrupt changes in pacing and a plot with obviously fated love. By all means, it will appeal to readers who enjoy cavalier, rambunctious action somewhat like the action in The Scarlet Pimpernel, which Baroness Orczy wrote in 1905.… (more)

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-prisoner-of-zenda-by-anthony-hope-the-androi...

In case you don’t know, the story concerns one Rudolf Rassendyll, a minor English aristocrat, who visits the central European kingdom of Ruritania only to discover that he is an exact double of the new king. The new king gets drugged and kidnapped by his half-brother, who is scheming to take the throne, and Rudolf is co-opted to pretend to be the monarch, through the coronation, and courting the lovely princess Flavia. There’s lots of exciting sword-fighting and derring-do, especially around the castle of Zenda where the real king is being held, and the half-brother’s henchmen include an evil Belgian. It’s a slightly deeper book than most readers may think, with reflections on dynastic duty and honour, and it’s a cracking good and short read.… (more)