Say what you will about Capstick, but he could certainly turn a phrase. From the Editor's Note to Big Game Hunting in Central Africa by William Buckley.

"Africa, when the sun falls like a molten ball, is amber: the low fire, the gleam through the passed bottle of Haig reflecting the seared tan of both the whiskey and sun-leathered skins of the seekers of white gold. Ivory."

That's good stuff there.

Without a doubt. Stand by for the bashing, even though post 1980s Safari Industry probably owes it's life to him and his writings.

A true wordsmith. From "Safari : The Last Adventure", p. 168 on Lion. "The seconds flicker and twitch by like crippled minnows in dark water..."

Certainly no bashing from me. I credit Capstick with my strong desire to see Africa and hunt all of it's classic safari destinations.
Personally, I put Capstick as a writer in the same league as Ruark. Both were very clever wordsmiths that could make Africa come alive for a 17 year old in Texas...

"I was already awake when the alarm clock sounded off with the mechanical clatter of a soprano rattlesnake. For once, I had outsmarted the bloody thing, greeting the cool, smooth morning with pureness of brain if not soul. I had not entered into my clients debate over the relative merits of Hennessey versus Oudemeester brandy and had thus been spared the shaggy teeth, the sunset eyes, and the little gnome who takes up skull trephining on so many safari mornings. Hail, happy dawn. Today we go elephant hunting."

Just finished Death in Silent Places for about the 5th time. I really enjoy his writing.

The reason my interests in hunting turned to Africa...

quote:

Originally posted by Heym 450/400:
The reason my interests in hunting turned to Africa...

After 40 years of chasing Mule Deer inspired by Jack O'Conner my path mirrored yours.

I am quite sure he took certain literary liberties, but he sure could spin a wonderful story.
I have definitely enjoyed many hours in his books.

Capstick gets full credit for fanning the flame for me. This is the opening paragraph of my first safari hunt report..........

"It was 1979 and as a bored 17 year old suffering through my senior year of High School. I was perusing the library shelves for something interesting to read when I stumbled upon a new book titled Death in the Long Grass written by a guy named Peter Hathaway Capstick. I started reading it right there at the shelf and became so engrossed that I ended up checking it out to take home and read. By the time I finished that book I knew that I would one day travel to Africa and hunt for Elephant and Cape Buffalo. Over the years I read other books by the author as well as collected the writings of most of the African greats. Life and career took over for a while but I always had my dreams of hunting Africa. Zimbabwe, long known for its abundance of wildlife and a population of elephants that exceeds the carrying capacity of the land,is also recognized as one of the more affordable places to conduct a management type hunt for tuskless elephant. In the fall of 2011 an opportunity to hunt cape buffalo and tuskless elephant came along, and after a flurry of emails, reservations (and shots!) it all came together………… "

http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/2261089761

quote:

"Africa, when the sun falls like a molten ball, is amber: the low fire, the gleam through the passed bottle of Haig reflecting the seared tan of both the whiskey and sun-leathered skins of the seekers of white gold. Ivory."

That's good stuff there.

Mike. I disagree. I knew Peter and count myself among his fans, but I didn't recognize the purple prose you quoted and for a brief moment I thought the passage was an entry for the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, which rewards authors of the year's worst writing (see "dark and stormy night" below).

Capstick was better than that passage. There must have been a lot of Haig-passing when he wrote it.


Bill Quimby


In literary criticism, purple prose is prose text that is so extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw excessive attention to itself. Purple prose is characterized by the extensive use of adjectives, adverbs, zombie nouns, and metaphors. (From Wikipedia)

“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” — Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (opening lines of his 1830 novel "Paul Clifford")

First, there were vintage books of my youth.
Second, were PHC's writings.
Third, were Mark Sullivan's videos.
Cal

Mike:

Below are a few of the winners in the 2014 Bulwer-Lytton purple prose competition. To these entries, I've added the Capstick quotes on this thread. Wherever he is, I think it will make him smile.

Bill Quimby

"I fell into my Swedish lover Sven’s strong grip like a prime piece of organic mahogany held in the iron grasp of a log clamp on a wet November afternoon." — Elizabeth Blair, Portland, MI

"Tomorrow was Cindy’s favorite day; not tomorrow-as-in-May-Eighteenth, but tomorrow as in the concept, like freedom – the idea of a time that has not yet come to pass, like the zombie apocalypse or the rapture – and which, therefore, her mother-in-law had not yet ruined." — Cat Clerkin, Greensboro, NC

"His ex-wife’s personality was like chocolate – not the smoky, tangy, exquisitely rich and full-bodied type, but the over-sweet, tooth-cracking, factory-processed, made-with-vegetable-oil kind that leaves one with diabetes and an aneurysm the size of a grape." — Shalom Chung, Hong Kong

"The young lovers’ lips latched to each other not unlike the way in which two coital snails would, with much slime and suction, frothing as if someone had just poured salt on them." — Peter J. Bjorkman, Roclin CA

"The full moon over distant hill bathed the lovers in joyful radiance, glowworms merrily winked and glimmered, swamp gas emanated an ethereal shimmer, and fireflies twinkled, flickered and fluttered – pinging their pinprick flashes like optical exclamation points, the whole light show engendering a veritable cornucopian cacophony of Kinkadesque scintillation." — Kenneth Leake, Fairbanks, AK

"Africa, when the sun falls like a molten ball, is amber: the low fire, the gleam through the passed bottle of Haig reflecting the seared tan of both the whiskey and sun-leathered skins of the seekers of white gold. Ivory. . . . I was already awake when the alarm clock sounded off with the mechanical clatter of a soprano rattlesnake. For once, I had outsmarted the bloody thing, greeting the cool, smooth morning with pureness of brain if not soul. I had not entered into my clients debate over the relative merits of Hennessey versus Oudemeester brandy and had thus been spared the shaggy teeth, the sunset eyes, and the little gnome who takes up skull trephining on so many safari mornings. Hail, happy dawn. Today we go elephant hunting . . . The seconds flicker and twitch by like crippled minnows in dark water..." — Peter Hathaway Capstick, Waterkloof RSA

Having lived in Africa for 40 years, I believe I know "the story" with regard to Peter Hathaway Capstick, but I was still pretty wet behind the ears when I read Death in the Long Grass. I enjoyed it, and all of his writings, immensely. So he perhaps wasn't exactly who and what he said he was, he was one of the greatest outdoor writers of the 20th century, and I can identify strongly with those who say that his writings were responsible for their getting to know the real Africa.

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:

Mike. I disagree...and for a brief moment I thought the passage was an entry for the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, which rewards authors of the year's worst writing

Absolutely. PHC should have read Orwell's rules of writing... particularly the one relating to the elimination of any word that can possibly be eliminated.

quote:

Originally posted by tendrams:

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:

Mike. I disagree...and for a brief moment I thought the passage was an entry for the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, which rewards authors of the year's worst writing

Absolutely. PHC should have read Orwell's rules of writing... particularly the one relating to the elimination of any word that can possibly be eliminated.

However his prose was both descriptive and romantic and he had a knack of inviting you deep into the tangled swathes of long grass.

Plus he liked a good drink so nothing wrong with that.

quote:

Originally posted by tendrams:

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:

Mike. I disagree...and for a brief moment I thought the passage was an entry for the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, which rewards authors of the year's worst writing

Absolutely. PHC should have read Orwell's rules of writing... particularly the one relating to the elimination of any word that can possibly be eliminated.

What?!?!? PHC did fine without Orwell's rules of writing.

Sitting around a fire this past weekend in a remote part of the Coahuila desert in Mexico, Capstick came to mind. We had this very discussion how he fueled the fire for many to hunt Africa. I was one of them and agree with bwanamrm 100%. I count myself as a lucky one to actually have set down with Peter after a DSC meeting many years ago and share a brew. Good times!!!

quote:

What?!?!? PHC did fine without Orwell's rules of writing.

I'll amen that.
His style worked & worked very well.

Read Orwell's "Shooting an elephant" and Capstick side by side. Orwell has much more skill, Capstick tells a better story. I'll take them both. Capstick didn't need to heed Orwells advice; they were not trying to accomplish the same thing.

That one passage was particularly bad, but good writers know when to break the "rules".