Thu 21 Nov 2013
BLACK MASK Review by Captain Frank Cunningham: CAPTAIN A. E. DINGLE – Gold Out of Celebes.
Posted by Steve under Pulp Fiction , Reviews[9] Comments
CAPTAIN FRANK CUNNINGHAM:
CAPTAIN A. E. DINGLE – Gold Out of Celebes. Little Brown and Co, US, hardcover, 1920. Previously serialized in The Argosy, October 5 through November 2, 1918. Several POD editions are currently available, as well as a free download from Project Gutenberg.
Jack Barry, a seaman stranded in Batavia, and Tom Little, an enthusiastic salesman lusting for adventure, join forces in the employment of one Cornelius Houton, the owner of various interests in the island of Celebes. Thither the two men journey in a boat provided by Houten and commanded by Barry to investigate an agent of whose honesty Houten has become suspicious.
On their arrival the two quickly proceed to concern themselves with an effort to save a fair young missionary from the evil intentions of another agent. Things happen quickly to the two young men, not always pleasantly, and Little’s thirst for action is fully gratified, while the perplexing attitude of the charming missionary, who apparently does not wish to be saved, reduces Barry to desperation.
Bewilderment succeeds bewilderment in their minds as they pass from one puzzling circumstance to another, but doggedly they hold to their purpose. Not until the very close of the story do the incidents link up and the mystery unfold itself to the two adventurous spirits.
November 21st, 2013 at 2:25 pm
He doesn’t say if it’s any good.
November 21st, 2013 at 3:47 pm
Right you are. It’s more of a summary than a review, but the way he describes it, I think you can read through the lines well enough for you to decide if you’d enjoy it or not.
For me, without knowing more than is here in this post, the answer is yes.
November 21st, 2013 at 4:19 pm
I rarely care if the critic liked it or not, I am more interest in what the story is about and what style is it told. Even if the critic had hated it I would still add it to my reading list. Why? Its free so no risk in trying it. And, the “two men seeking adventure” story from that era tended to feature a certain style. The bit about rescuing a missionary who doesn’t want rescuing leaves me hopeful I will find my required amount of wit and clever twists in the book.
November 21st, 2013 at 4:45 pm
Steve Holland has put together a long biography/bibliography for Captain Dingle and posted it on his blog. It makes for very interesting reading:
http://bearalley.blogspot.com/2008/09/captain-e-dingle.html
November 21st, 2013 at 5:48 pm
I recall bidding on a batch of Argosy magazines at Pulpcon years ago … a number of them contained stories by Captain Dingle. (I won the bid) Bob Briney who was sitting next to me at the auction became convulsed with laughter
November 21st, 2013 at 6:45 pm
The chances are if it was in Argosy from that period and was reprinted in hardcover it was fairly good. In general Argosy demanded a certain level of competence from contributors.
It sounds good.
It is certainly in good company. Loring Brent who wrote the Peter the Brazen tales was George F. Wort’s pseudonym and Wort’s was a good hand at adventure and mystery.
In any case doesn’t that $4 a year subscription sound nice for one of the core pulps of the entire era?
November 21st, 2013 at 8:05 pm
I think the $4 would convert to something like $100 today, still not too bad for a weekly publication chunk full of nothing but top notch reading material.
November 22nd, 2013 at 5:39 pm
I should add that what caught Bob Briney’s eye was not so much the name of Capt, Dingle, but that the cover story was called “Not All the Pirates are Dead.”
November 23rd, 2013 at 12:21 am
This and another actual pirate novel, The Pirate Woman, are available either as free ebooks or at low prices, and or to read on line. At least one site refers to The Pirate Woman as ‘An Erotic Victorian Adventure,’ which seems more than a little unlikely since it appeared in 1918 (Edwardian, not Victorian Era) and originally was serialized in All Story Weekly before it joined with Argosy.
Haven’t read them yet, but just a scan looks interesting.