A few more words about John Buchan's Greenmantle

Several of John Buchan's books have been featured and/or referenced in a variety of articles on here. I didn't expect to have anything more to say about him and his works, but I recently came across something that has inspired yet another Buchan-themed post.

I found some merchandise in the form of commemorative mugs; some of them have a picture inspired by Greenmantle, my favourite John Buchan story. This reminded me of the book and prompted me to look for a few more things to say about Buchan's exciting adventure story, or 'shocker' as he called it. 

Mugs as Buchan memorabilia:

Greenmantle covers

The picture on the mug of the prophet Greenmantle in his turban reminded me that the cover art on some editions of the book is often of poor quality and doesn't do justice to the story. John Buchan deserves better!

Here are two examples of such covers:

This one is of slightly better quality:

Defence Against the Dark Arts Part XXXI: Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle books

Even though they don't contain material suitable for quoting on here, I felt that the Rupert Bear books deserved a mention because of the very positive effect that they had on me when I first encountered them. Featuring these books was a way of repaying my debt to them.

It is much the same with Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle books, which I first came across in the public library when I was very young: I thought it time to say a few words about the books and their author in return for the great enjoyment that they gave me as a child. 

I loved the stories with their amusing and unusual illustrations by the author. I admired Doctor Dolittle for his humanitarianism and dedication to animal welfare; I envied him for his travels and adventures with his animal companions.

I didn't notice anything wrong at the time, but, just as with the Rupert books, some of the material is now considered unacceptable because of the racial stereotyping. The Dr. Dolittle books have been issued in revised editions, but it is still possible to find the original versions in the Open Library. 

Something about the Doctor Dolittle books
Although the simple text makes it easy to get through each book very quickly, it would take a while to re-read all 15 or so of them, so for now I will just mention some highlights from my memories.

I particularly liked the first two books in the series i.e. The Story of Doctor Dolittle (1920), which introduces the main characters, and The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922), which features the Great Glass Sea-snail.