book log: Leslie Charteris - Enter the Saint

[julesjones]

50) Leslie Charteris - Enter the Saint

Second book in the Saint series, a trio of novelettes/novellas rather than a novel. Simon Templar continues in his adventurer ways, a moral criminal who only targets immoral criminals, bringing a little justice to the world a la Robin Hood and taking a 10% fee to cover his expenses. These stories introduce the Saint's gang of like-minded honest crooks, and one of the stories is largely about Dicky Tremayne. Great fun from the 1930s.

LibraryThing entry

Comments

[katlinel]

I thoroughly enjoyed the Saint novels when I used to get them out of the library. I've got a few here I picked up second-hand (Trust the Saint, The Saint Bids Diamonds, The Saint Plays with Fire and The Saint and Mr Teal). It tickled me enormously when we had a candidate standing in one of the elections here with the name 'Sebastian Toombs' (close enough, I thought). I remember being fascinated by the adverts printed in my father's copy, long-gone, of Saint Overboard, especially the one for the watch that was purported to work underwater and have all sorts of other features, all highly apposite to the story!

I also recall hearing a story that Leslie Charteris enjoyed Saint fanfic, writing a charming letter in response to a fan who sent Charteris a copy of their fic.

[julesjones]

I had a couple of titles myself, but then Watervole asked me a couple of years ago if I'd like the boxful that Waveney had finally been persuaded to admit he was never going to read again even if he loved them. :-) They're dreadfully battered and falling apart copies from the 1950s, but that only adds to their charm.

[watervole]

I love the dialogue in the early Saint books. There's a fabulous use of simile and a sense of fun.

[julesjones]

Yes, his use of language is delightful.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I used to love the Saint books. Sadly I read them all from the library, or they were cheap paperbacks bought to read on holiday which somehow disappeared after I left home, so I haven't been able to re-read one for an awful long time.

[julesjones]

I was given a boxful of battered paperbacks by someone else who was having a purge of much-loved but never to be read again books. :-) I've just started working my way through them.

It looks as if some titles were common enough that they're available second-hand on Amazon at a reasonable price. Failing which, if I get through to the end of the set and decide that I want the shelf space for something else, I'll put a "who wants them next" note on LJ.

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

My battered Saint paperbacks are yellowed with age and well-thumbed, a mixture of Hodder and Pan imprints - looks like 26 of them. I love Charteris's language and the whole 1930s feel. Got into them in school when my maths teacher was quite surprised to see the Saint emblem on the back of my pencil case. Every so often I get the urge to indulge myself and wallow in a 1930s world where there is no M25 and country roads are open and free of traffic. ;)

[julesjones]

I'd picked up a couple of paperbacks years ago, probably as a result of reading one or two that were lying around my grandmother's house, but having been given a large batch of them I am gleefully working my way through the early books. :-)