Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman

By E.W. Hornung and Ernest William Hornung

Book Overview

Art for art's sake is a vile catchword, but I confess it appeals to me'

Gentleman by day and thief by night, A. J. Raffles lives a double life. Taking 'Art for art's sake' as his motto, Raffles supports his debonair lifestyle by performing lucrative, artistic, and ingenious burglaries of the wealthy elite of Victorian London. Dedicated to his brother-in-law Arthur Conan Doyle, Hornung's first collection of Raffles stories, The Amateur Cracksman (1899), can be seen as an inverted spin-off of the former's celebrated detective stories. But it is Raffles' outlaw status that has drawn generations of readers to these swift-paced tales of a charismatic and cool-headed thief and his less worldly partner, Bunny. Hornung had Oscar Wilde in mind as much as Sherlock Holmes when he created Raffles, and the account of their double life offers one of the turn of the century's most touching accounts of a same-sex couple.

Frequently adapted for stage and screen, Hornung's original stories have never lost their power to captivate readers. Admired by writers like George Orwell, Graham Greene, and Anthony Powell, Hornung's crisp prose evokes a late Victorian London of clubland bachelors, hansom cabs, champagne suppers, Australian heiresses, and South African diamond moguls.

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192866346
• ISBN13: 9780192866349
• Release Date: December 2024
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Evil thieving Sherlock Holmes

Yep this book pretty much gives you a take on what would happen if genius detective Sherlock Holmes were instead genius cat burglar Justice Raffles. Raffles commits high collar petty theft for fun and profit. He steals jewelry etc and uses his connections as a gentleman to sniff out new opportunities. At one point as he describes the many middle men involved in reselling a piece of stolen jewelry as he explains to Bunny how crime doesn't pay - financially anyway. Often he steals something just because of the challenge involved in stealing it, which leads to interesting and varied stories for us to read. Bunny is his unwitting and later witting accomplice. He narrates the stories, as a sort of Watson to Raffles' Holmes. These were very charming stories. If you like Sherlock Holmes and other victorian fiction then you will probably like these.

Evil thieving Sherlock Holmes

Yep this book pretty much gives you a take on what would happen if genius detective Sherlock Holmes were instead genius cat burglar Justice Raffles. Raffles commits high collar petty theft for fun and profit. He steals jewelry etc and uses his connections as a gentleman to sniff out new opportunities. At one point as he describes the many middle men involved in reselling a piece of stolen jewelry as he explains to Bunny how crime doesn't pay - financially anyway. Often he steals something just because of the challenge involved in stealing it, which leads to interesting and varied stories for us to read. Bunny is his unwitting and later witting accomplice. He narrates the stoires, as a sort of Watson to Raffles' Holmes. These were very charming stoires. If you like Sherlock Holmes and other victorian fiction then you will probably like these.

Evil thieving Sherlock Holmes

Yep this book pretty much gives you a take on what would happen if genius detective Sherlock Holmes were instead genius cat burglar Justice Raffles. Raffles commits high collar petty theft for fun and profit. He steals jewelry etc and uses his connections as a gentleman to sniff out new opportunities. At one point as he describes the many middle men involved in reselling a piece of stolen jewelry as he explains to Bunny how crime doesn't pay - financially anyway. Often he steals something just because of the challenge involved in stealing it, which leads to interesting and varied stories for us to read. Bunny is his unwitting and later witting accomplice. He narrates the stoires, as a sort of Watson to Raffles' Holmes. These were very charming stoires. If you like Sherlock Holmes and other victorian fiction then you will probably like these. I haven't read this particular ebook version and have no idea how good it's quality is. You can download the text for free at Gutenburg Project.

Wonderfully entertaining

When Bunny (a public-school nickname) finds himself hopelessly in debt, and on the verge of ruination, he turns to an old school chum of his, A.J. Raffles. It turns out that Raffles can help him, but not in the manner he had imagined. Having found himself in a similar predicament years ago, Raffles took a novel solution, he became an amateur cracksman, that is, a cat-burglar. Remarkably free from any sort of moral qualms, Raffles takes Bunny on as his assistant, and together they lead a life of gentleman criminals. Sometimes they score stunning coups, and sometimes they suffer humiliating defeats; this is the life of Raffles and Bunny. A man who was Arthur Conan Doyle's brother-in-law and friend wrote this story in 1899. This book reflects the more gentle style of Victorian literature (as also seen in the Sherlock Holmes stories), where the emphasis is placed on dialogue and suspense, rather than gunplay and action. Raffles is a gentleman, one without a moral compass, but one does know that there has to be a comeuppance somewhere, right? This is a wonderfully entertaining book, one that I recommend to you.

A great classic!

A great book that's very well written, The Amateur Cracksman is a must read classic. Though it lacks moral value (A. J. Raffles steals mostly just for kicks) it has what most great classics lack, a good sense of humor. It's about Bunny, a broke journalist on the verge of comitting suicide, who seeks help from from his best friend from school. Before he realises it, he has just become the loyal side-kick of one of England's greatest thieves. As Raffles is one of the best cricket players in England, he gets invited (along with the ever-faithful Bunny) to the houses of the rich and famous of England. At night, he robs them blind. Marvelously written, its set in the Victorian period. It's packed with action and adventure, and a lot of cynnical jokes. A great introduction to classics, it is a more relaxed story than most books of it's era. Though A. J. Raffles and Bunny are not exactly great role-models for young readers, their almost devious acts are ammended by their courageous acts on the battle field. I definitely recommend reading the Amateur Cracksman!