E. W. Hornung (1866–1921)
Author of Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman
About the Author
Series
Works by E. W. Hornung
Raffles Collection (The collected stories of A. J. Raffles. Four books in one volume!) (2000) 17 copies
The Complete Raffles Collection by E.W. Hornung (Unexpurgated Edition) (Halcyon Classics) (2010) 15 copies
THE COMPLETE RAFFLES SERIES - A Novel & 45 Short Stories: The Amateur Cracksman, The Black Mask, A Thief in the Night,… (2017) 5 copies
Raffles 2 copies
The Raffles Megapack: The Complete Tales of the Amateur Cracksman, plus Pastiches and Continuations 2 copies
British Mystery Multipacks Volume 7 – The Detectives: Father Brown, Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, The Old Man in… (2015) 2 copies
The rogue's march, a romance 2 copies
Le Premier Pas 2 copies
Some Persons Unknown 1 copy
Raffles no ha muerto 1 copy
Proezas de Raffles O Gatuno 1 copy
Gentleman and Players 1 copy
The Thousandth Woman 1 copy
COLLECTOR'S EDITION – COMPLETE RAFFLES SERIES & SHERLOCK HOLMES ADVENTURES: 60 Novels & Stories in One… (2016) 1 copy
Novas Aventuras De Raffles 1 copy
MYSTERY & CRIME COLLECTION (Illustrated): Dr. John Dollar's Mysteries & Adventures of A. J. Raffles, A Gentleman-Thief… (2016) 1 copy
La Mascara Negra 1 copy
Out of Paradise 1 copy
E.W. Hornung - Raffles: Further Adventures of The Amateur Cracksman: "I transcribe the thing as I see it before me, all… (2018) 1 copy
A Schoolmaster Abroad 1 copy
Associated Works
The World's Greatest Detective Stories: Intriguing Mysteries from the Greatest Writers of Crime Fiction (1978) — Contributor — 26 copies
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Greatest Detective Stories: 1837-1914 (2019) — Contributor — 25 copies
Classic Crime Stories: 13 Tales from Edgar Allan Poe to Lawrence Block (2007) — Contributor — 2 copies
Raffles: Series 3: BBC Radio 4 full-cast [radio play] — Original author — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Hornung, Ernest William
- Birthdate
- 1866-06-07
- Date of death
- 1921-03-22
- Burial location
- St.-Jean-de-Luz, France
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- England, UK
- Birthplace
- Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England, UK
- Place of death
- St. Jean de Luz, France
- Places of residence
- Mossgiel, New South Wales, Australia
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
London, England, UK
Posillipo, Naples, Italy
West Kensington, London England, UK
Arras, France (show all 8)
Amiens, France
Cologne, Germany - Education
- Uppingham School
- Occupations
- writer
poet
tutor
journalist - Relationships
- Doyle, Arthur Conan (brother-in-law)
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 97
- Also by
- 35
- Members
- 1,839
- Popularity
- #13,999
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 55
- ISBNs
- 417
- Languages
- 11
Raffles and Bunny met at their public school and are very close friends. Their relationship carries a delicious homoerotic subtext. At first I thought this was my fevered imagination but Hornung knew Oscar Wilde and it seems that echoes of the Wilde/Bosie dalliance were also entirely intentional. Raffles and Bunny inhabit a Wildean world of paradox, moral relativism and aestheticism. Raffles is criminal as artist relishing the conception, plotting and realisation of his crimes. He steals partly to maintain his lifestyle but also for the sheer creative fun of it. And there’s a whiff of socialism in the privileged air: challenged by Bunny about his depredations Raffles avers that crime is wrong but the distribution of wealth is wrong as well.
He has a talent for cricket and plays for England - ‘a dangerous bat, a brilliant field, and perhaps the very finest slow bowler of his decade’. His fame on the field provides cover for his secret life of larceny as well as allowing Hornung to spin parallels between the game of cricket and the game of crime. George Orwell had a talent for writing perceptive essays and he wrote one about Raffles. Orwell points out that cricket is the perfect sport for Raffles as it is bound up, in England at least, with notions of style and fair play; the phrase ‘it’s not cricket’ to express ethical disapproval is not entirely obsolete even in the 21st century. By making his burglar a cricketer, observes Orwell, Hornung was ‘drawing the sharpest moral contrast that he was able to imagine’.
Raffles is an amateur cricketer, just as he is an amateur cracksman, and he regards with condescension the professionals in both occupations. Raffles, you understand, is a Gentleman and most emphatically not a Player. Which brings us to the essence of these delightfully absurd adventures: snobbery. By making his hero a toff Hornung catered to his readers fantasies about upper crust society but making his toff a criminal also enabled him to playfully subvert Victorian values. Raffles has it both ways with great panache and so does Hornung. These interrelated stories are awash with period charm, cleverly plotted and a rattling good read.… (more)