Raffles and Miss Blandish
Encyclopedia
Raffles and Miss Blandish is an essay by George Orwell
written in 1944. It compares the A. J. Raffles
crime stories to No Orchids for Miss Blandish
by the crime writer James Hadley Chase
.
In many ways it can be compared to his later essay Decline of the English Murder
(1946). In both, he suggests that crime has somehow been trivialised and brutalised by the war mentality, and that this has changed the English psyche from one where a murder was a scandal to one in which it is commonplace and nothing to be bothered about.
He comments that Raffles, for example, has the standards of a gentleman – he does not rob from the houses he enters as a guest, at least, not while being a guest, and he never commits a murder (Orwell admits he did once kill a man, and perhaps another one.)
It is published in collections called Decline of the English Murder
(UK) and Dickens, Dali and Others (US). It is also in the Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
written in 1944. It compares the A. J. Raffles
A. J. Raffles
Arthur J. Raffles is a character created in the 1890s by E. W. Hornung, a brother-in-law to Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of Holmes — he is a "gentleman thief," living in the Albany, a prestigious address in London, playing...
crime stories to No Orchids for Miss Blandish
No Orchids for Miss Blandish (novel)
No Orchids For Miss Blandish is a 1939 crime novel by the British writer James Hadley Chase. The novel was influenced by the American crime writer James M. Cain and the stories in the pulpmagazine Black Mask....
by the crime writer James Hadley Chase
James Hadley Chase
James Hadley Chase is the best-known pseudonym of the British writer Rene Brabazon Raymond who also wrote under the names James L. Docherty, Ambrose Grant, and Raymond Marshall. Chase is one of the best known thriller writers of all time...
.
In many ways it can be compared to his later essay Decline of the English Murder
Decline of the English Murder
"Decline of the English Murder" is an essay by George Orwell, where he analysed the kinds of murders depicted in popular media, and why people like to read them...
(1946). In both, he suggests that crime has somehow been trivialised and brutalised by the war mentality, and that this has changed the English psyche from one where a murder was a scandal to one in which it is commonplace and nothing to be bothered about.
He comments that Raffles, for example, has the standards of a gentleman – he does not rob from the houses he enters as a guest, at least, not while being a guest, and he never commits a murder (Orwell admits he did once kill a man, and perhaps another one.)
It is published in collections called Decline of the English Murder
Decline of the English Murder
"Decline of the English Murder" is an essay by George Orwell, where he analysed the kinds of murders depicted in popular media, and why people like to read them...
(UK) and Dickens, Dali and Others (US). It is also in the Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell
External links
- Raffles and Miss Blandish, review of No Orchids for Miss Blandish by George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...