Review: King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard

Allan Quatermain has heard rumours and stories of King Solomon’s mines, and the indescribable richness of diamonds therein, for decades, but has always thought them to be tall tales. One day, he runs into Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good, who are looking for an acquaintance they think may have gone in search of the mines. Determined to find him, they soon draw Quatermain into their plans — and so begins the adventure of a lifetime, one not even the seasoned elephant-hunter Allan Quatermain has ever experienced or could ever foresee, and which he relates faithfully in this tale of danger, daring, and untold treasures.

I read this book once before when I was much younger — too young to pick up on or care about the problematic elements in the book, which were all to glaringly obvious to me as an older reader. Back then, I enjoyed the story for the adventure and the writing style, and that was about it.

The book is set in Southern Africa and written during the 1800s, so naturally there are rampant elements of everything that comes with the setting — colonialism, imperialism, racism, and a healthy dash of sexism, too. Being South-African born myself, this book contains plenty of the things that bother me about my roots.

The main character is a hunter, and there are several references and depictions of animal death and animal cruelty. I was especially disgusted by a scene in which the main characters formed a hunting party and killed several elephants, merely for the enjoyment of it as there was no possible way that the small group was going to be able to use up all the meat or anything else the animals provided (I take it the main goal was to obtain the ivory). This struck me as wasteful and tragic, though it was probably all too normal in those days.

Women are not treated any more kindly in the book than animals; there are very few female characters, and those that are there consist of a cunning and vicious old hag with no good or redeeming qualities, and helplessly weak, fawning and devoted young ladies.

All comments made regarding women are in addition derogatory and dismissive. The book itself is dedicated to boys and boys only; this soured me a little before I even began, irritated by the idea that only a boy can enjoy an adventure story.

There are also mountains in the novel that are referred to repeatedly as “Sheba’s Breasts”, which struck me as an irritatingly male way of naming things (especially coupled with their repeated description of the mountains’ shape and their “nipples” — I was thoroughly sick of it by the book’s end).

There is also plenty of that particular brand of masculinity that always shows up in this type of novel — where being brave and strong is everything, showing your emotions is a weakness, etc., etc.

The most problematic issue by far, however, is the racism that permeates the novel from beginning to end. Offensive and outdated terms are used to refer to people of colour and African descent, several slurs are used, and all characters who are not white are represented as fundamentally “less than” in both worth and intelligence compared to their European counterparts. The depictions and descriptions of the native African men and women in the story are derogatory and insensitive, including in the way their speech and actions are presented.

What’s more, when referring to a certain African people featured in the novel, Quatermain repeatedly observes that they are surprisingly good-looking because of their lighter skin and more European features — openly citing that he considers traditionally African features to be ugly, unpleasant and even hideous. To quote the book directly: “these women, for a native race, are exceedingly handsome”, before he goes on to observe the ways in which their features are similar to Europeans’ in both appearance and mannerisms rather than their fellow Africans.

I was shocked and disgusted by the blatantly open attitude that was displayed by these comments, and they completely marred my enjoyment of the story.

As far as less harmful content warnings go, there are also some mild depictions of witchcraft and witch-doctors, as well as war and battle scenes and other gory violence and creepy moments that could scare younger readers. There are also mild references to drinking and smoking.

I have mixed feelings about this novel; on the one hand, it really is a well-written, rollicking adventure that keeps you engaged and on the edge of your seat for the whole yarn — but on the other hand, the problematic elements of the story were way too big to ignore. I am fully aware that this book is a product of the time in which it was written, but at the same time I think that that cannot excuse the content.

It is well written enough, for what it’s worth; I never felt bored reading it, and it draws the reader into the surroundings and the happenings of the novel, as all good writing must. The descriptions of the natural surroundings were very well done, and sparingly used enough that you never got tired of them. In addition, there are plenty of funny moments scattered throughout the pages.

However, I don’t know that I could recommend this novel to anyone. The attitudes and views that are presented are too far against my own beliefs and what I think is right, that I wouldn’t be able to tell anybody to read this book in good conscience.

This all contributes to my rating of this book at 1.5 stars. Other readers have had far different opinions, and that is okay, but this is mine.

Personally, if you are looking for an adventure story, I would much rather recommend to you other books along the same lines but without such offensive content, of which there are plenty available.