Not trying to stir shit here but all these Capstick threads being pulled up have prompted me to post something I have been curious about for many years.

First off, I like his stuff, so much so in fact that I used to correspond with him way back when I was a starving college student back in the 1980s.

The "Death in" books; "Death in the Long Grass", "Death in the Silent Places", and "Death in the Dark Continent" as well as "Safari" seem to be the pinnacle of his writings. I have all of his books and after the aforementioned it seemed to me his writing sort of went downhill. I just don't find the later stuff to be that enjoyable or exciting. I don't know if that is due to his running out of material or what but I like the earlier stuff the best.

I understand that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to follow up a home run like "Death in the Dark Continent", it was a masterpiece of Africana, but the other two "Death" books were pretty damn good in their own right. It just seems to me that the later stuff after the "Death in" books was not so good.

Anyone else observed this and have any theories as to why his writing went downhill?

I have noticed the same thing with many authors, I have always wondered if it was a change in the literature or a change in my taste.

quote:

Originally posted by 505 gibbs:
I have noticed the same thing with many authors, I have always wondered if it was a change in the literature or a change in my taste.

I've noticed the same thing with many writers; Hemingway, Ruark, and Steinbeck come to mind. In their cases, I have wondered if success coupled with a worsening alcohol problem was the culprit.

Thanks.
I will start with the last one and go forward to the first book.

How dare you piss on a dead mans grave......

Capstick was a master of the short story. Capsticks "Death in" series were essentially collections of short stories. His later books were book length stories, rather than collections of short stories and seemed not to be his forte.
Some writers do seem to collapse under some unknown weight or perhaps the weight of their demons. Others, like Stephen King, Michael Chrichton, and Nelson Demille, just seem to be turn out new and better books at an amazing rate.
It must be hard to come up with new stories to tell every day, day after day, month after month, year after year. Might drive me to drink.
Bfly

I like Sands of Silence and Return to the Long Grass very much. Not so keen on Maneaters. The 'collection' books are OK, but I;d say his style changed a bit between the early and later books but I like them as much.

I'd like to read some letters from Capstick. The only person I have met who knew him was Tink Nathan, other than that, as far as I can tell, there is not much in the way of letters etc from him. You can tell hell of a lot by reading personal correspondence that you cannot tell by reading a persons books.

BaxterB:
Do styles change or perhaps do the authors get lazy as they have their success and know they don't have to work so hard at it? For the record, I'm a PHC fan but believe he was full of himself and shit at the same time. But, I have a complete collection of his works and they will stay with me until I die as his early works were responsible for my going to Africa to hunt.
Cheers,
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
BaxterB:
Do styles change or perhaps do the authors get lazy as they have their success and know they don't have to work so hard at it? For the record, I'm a PHC fan but believe he was full of himself and shit at the same time. But, I have a complete collection of his works and they will stay with me until I die as his early works were responsible for my going to Africa to hunt.
Cheers,
Cal

Hey Cal,
Wow Ditto, Ditto and Ditto.

Looking forward to our DR hunt!

Steve

quote:

'm a PHC fan but believe he was full of himself and shit at the same time

Most writers (myself included) are. :-) When I was young and full of myself and had just gotten into Africa stuff I drove to Chicago to see the lions of Tsavo on the way to a friends wedding in MIchigan. I had to overnight in Gary Indiana and I sat at the bar of an Applebee's and had a small group of people I met totally entranced while I regaled my bullshit stories of being an elephant hunting PH. This went on for about 2 hours. It only ended when I told them I had to get back to my hotel and get a good night's rest as I had a speech to give at the Field Museum the next day. I bet they still talk about that young elephant hunter they met in Gary, Indiana...

Back to PHC... when I get sick of all the fist pumping this and that and corporate hunting shows and I want to go back and remember what really got me interested in Africa I re-read his books and I am right back there. It's good stuff...

I think Black Fly hit it perfectly - he was a great short story teller. Also he was still living in the bush when his first two books were published.

Secondly, several of the later books that bear his name were not actually written by him- he owed the real authors a favour or two, and the best way to repay was for him to edit the books and insert some of his classic style, phrases and flavour - and then put the book on the market with his name on it- guaranteed to sell 10x as many copies than if it were released under the original Authors name.

Booze only affected his last book as far as I can tell He waved the same 80 pages of Warrior under my nose for at least 18 months...just couldn't seem to move forward with the Book. Fiona finished it - and actually the one I like the most!

Most writers (myself included) are. :-) When I was young and full of myself and had just gotten into Africa stuff I drove to Chicago to see the lions of Tsavo on the way to a friends wedding in MIchigan. I had to overnight in Gary Indiana and I sat at the bar of an Applebee's and had a small group of people I met totally entranced while I regaled my bullshit stories of being an elephant hunting PH. This went on for about 2 hours. It only ended when I told them I had to get back to my hotel and get a good night's rest as I had a speech to give at the Field Museum the next day. I bet they still talk about that young elephant hunter they met in Gary, Indiana...

Great post!

quote:

Secondly, several of the later books that bear his name were not actually written by him- he owed the real authors a favour or two, and the best way to repay was for him to edit the books and insert some of his classic style, phrases and flavour - and then put the book on the market with his name on it- guaranteed to sell 10x as many copies than if it were released under the original Authors name.

That's an interesting claim. But how does putting pHC's name on another guys book help the other guy? You saying that PHC signed over checks from ST MArtins to other people? I honestly cant say I find THAT much difference in tone (approach, yes e.g. telling historical events versus personal ones [which is what I meant above[) between the books.

I don't know if it was the case with PHC but I reckon what often happens is an author will write his first book and then get subsequent 2/3/4 etc book deals from a publisher where he he gets a better deal but usually a time constraint and that last book of the deal often has to be hurried and is consequently not so good and/or sometimes a different subject/genre as the previous ones.

Without wanting to name names, I'd say this is sometimes very evident with even some extremely well known authors.

I personally enjoy PHC immensely. I'm curious if someone can put into words the "it" about Capstick. I can say this: Capstick's writing evokes a now different cultural tone; at least in America. When he was writing there was no Internet yet, urban white boys weren't wearing their pants below their arses and decorum was still adhered to in many places.

To illustrate, I am reminded of one of his passages wherein he describes hunting elephant and, at one point, admonishes the client, and we the reader, that plinking elephant from a distance is "simply not done, old boy". In contrast, today "it" is often done however one wants, owing I believe to a de-centralization of sporting ethics, and ethics generally, and replaced by a ethical/moral code largeley centered around the individual. At least to me this stands out in PHC's writings.

BTW, I just received my copy and read your article on the 600 NE, Cal and enjoyed the piece.

Jeff

This may be totally off base here, but I think it all has to do with personality and the opinions of others.

Capstick, like about 99% of us, was full of himself. Most of us blind ourselves to full of ourselves we are. We notice it however in those around us.

Capstick wrote some great stuff early on, and folks got to expecting it with each subsequent book or article after that. As a frustrated writer that hjas done some columns in local newpapers/hunting.fishing magazines, it gets hard to keep coming up with new stuff since so much stuff just goes running together especially if your busy.

Peoples names and locations and actual happenings get jumbled together and unless you are tape recording everything or taking copious notes, stuff falls thru the cracks, couple that with the daily grind in your personal life and throw in a little alcohol and having a good time, and even more things fall thru the cracks and some things become less important.

Take someone that is full of themselves, add a couple of highly accepted books or television appearances, add a personality that has no trouble selling themselves, and you have a celebrity.

You also end up with people that are jealous of that person, because they feel that they know more or have had more experiences, but the difference is they can't sell themselves for whatever reason, whether as a writer or an on air personality.

No disrespect to Craig Boddington with this next statement, but there are probably several folks on this site that have done just as much or more than Craig as far as hunting goes, but their looks/personality or demeanor would never let them to take his place because in the long run, it is the folks behind the scenes that publish the books or produce the TV shows or videos that do the actual packaging and selling of the individual.

The problem comes in when people actually get to see the non-public, human side of the personality, and they see that the "celebrity" is a real person with the same problems/prejudices and vices as everyone else.

Hope that totally confuses everyone.

I'd love to read a proper, warts and brilliance biography of PHC. I'd put it right beside all the PHC books I enjoy. I understand that, understandably with the money his estate must generate, Fiona is very careful talking about him and I assume holds his papers tightly. Hopefully a respected biographer will change that before everyone who really knew him dies.

Dean

I think that problem is that some people who write only have one or two good books in them. If the first one is popular, they sign a deal for three more, collect the advance and then have to produce. I rather suspect that might be at least part of what happened with Capstick. (For the record, I too really liked Death in the Long Grass and feel it by far his best book. I also agree that the last few were pretty mediocre by comparison. I bought most of them anyway!)

Capstick was the master at writing about other hunters and famous figures in Africa's history. Any of his works where he is clearly writing about the lives of these great men are nothing short of wonderful to read. Any of this stuff where he starts to blend the line between himself and others is impossible to believe. He understood that the extraordinary events in these men's lives is what made their stories great. He knew that for his stories to be as interesting they too needed some of these over the top events so he just invented them.

De Mortuis nil nisi bonum...All critisism should end there.

I knew the man - we were never friends- he wrote some great books which were well worth what I paid for them (for pay I did - only one was a complimentary signed edition). I would encourage any who hunt Africa to read his stuff.

If anyone pays attention in his first few books Capstick drops enough names places and dates that if he was a fraud he could have been well and truly exposed in his own lifetime. By people who actually knew him.

But he wasn't.

It seeems that only well after his death that people who never knew him, who've heard things from a guy, who knew another guy, who met someone who knew Capstick, are throwing stones...

I like Capstick. I like his books and he was always a gentleman at the conventions.

Do you remember the movie "Big Fish"??

Will Bloom: "That was my father's final joke, I guess. A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him. And in that way he becomes immortal."

Capstick was a consumate racontuer. In the end, he is his own story.

Now how often does one see an author who can produce "best sellers" everytime out the gate I ask you.

Nonetheless, Peter works sold and surely did do as he hoped before putting pen to paper. He will certainly never be forgotten and I for one enjoyed his works simply put. I will always hold Peter and his writings in high regard!

Does anyone know where I can find a complete listing of all the books Mr. Capstick wrote? Thanks, smoker1

quote:

Originally posted by Smoker1:
Does anyone know where I can find a complete listing of all the books Mr. Capstick wrote? Thanks, smoker1

Here you go: [URL=http://www.shakariconnection.c...-capstick-books.html]PHC complete list[/URL]

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Smoker1:
Does anyone know where I can find a complete listing of all the books Mr. Capstick wrote? Thanks, smoker1

Here you go: PHC Complete list

Thank you gentlemen. I thought I was missing a few and I am. Mr. Capstick was probably the most influential writer in helping me to make a PG hunt in 2010. I will look for the books I'm missing. smoker1

Steve never mentions it but his wife has a very good list of books written on every thing african take a look at the book shelf section of his web site you will enjoy it

quote:

Originally posted by ddrhook:
Steve never mentions it but his wife has a very good list of books written on every thing african take a look at the book shelf section of his web site you will enjoy it

Kind of you to say so buddy.

Several thousand Africa hunting and Africa related titles/topics HERE

We've been a bit distracted in recent weeks but she's also working on adding a very large section on hunting in India.

Might take a while though as she's just busy catching the flu from me.

OHHHH are you in for it now you gave it to her and now your going to pay the price