h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

oh sorry... if I'd have paid attention I would have put it back into present...

A5212874

Grace added, I think I found all the past tenses.

I also added a footnote after I googled for Calliope, and discovered it was launched in 1884.

I liked the sentence "Sharpe an officer but not a gentleman in an army where breeding was more highly valued than the talent to lead men." very apt, added it to 'Introducing Sharpe' section.

Emmily

right, I'm now half way through Prey. Yes, it's the Guards who have the "dual rank" officers, because they consider themselves better than everyone else

I also found a fantastic quote, to describe Sharpe, given by General Baird (the general, incidentally, who sent Sharpe off on his mission in India (Sharpe's Tiger) which ultimately led to his promotion (and - temporary - riches). They met in a tavern and the General, on hearing that Sharpe wanted to leave the army (he couldn't sell his commission because it wasn't a "proper" one) anyway, here's the quote, if you want to use it:
>>
'There are three kinds of soldier, Sharpe,' he said. 'There are te damned useless ones, and God knows there's an endless supply of those. Then there are the good solid lads who get the job done, but would piss in their breeches if you didn't show them how their buttons worked. And then there's you and me. Soldiers' soldiers, that's who we are.'

Sharpe looked sceptical. 'A soldier's soldier?' he asked.

'We're the men who clean up after the parade, Sharpe. The carriages and kings go by, the bands play, the cavalry prances past like bloody fairies, and what's left is a mess of dung and litter. We clean it up. The politicians get the world into tangles, then ask their armies to make things right. We do their dirty work, Sharpe, and we're good at it. Very good. You might not be the best officer in King George's army, but you're a bloody fine soldier. And you like the life, don't tell me you don't.'
<<

it's the last two sentences which I think might be useful for the entry, but I wanted to put it in a bit of context.

Sho

I liked the first paragraph, what do you think of this for under 'Sharpe the Officer'

>>It was not all glory and victory for Sharpe; he had his low times too. It was during one of these low times in Sharpe's Prey, while drowning his sorrows in a tavern that a general noted Sharpe's natural talents as a soldier and a leader. General Baird told Lieutenant Sharpe:

'There are three kinds of soldier, Sharpe,' he said. 'There are the damned useless ones, and God knows there's an endless supply of those. Then there are the good solid lads who get the job done, but would piss in their breeches if you didn't show them how their buttons worked. And then there's you and me. Soldiers' soldiers, that's who we are. The politicians get the world into tangles, then ask their armies to make things right. We do their dirty work, Sharpe, and we're good at it. Very good. You might not be the best officer in King George's army, but you're a bloody fine soldier. And you like the life, don't tell me you don't.'>>


Emmily

oh yes, nice one

Ok, added to the Entry, with a very slight change and a Footnote. Have also added about the books published by The Sharpe Appriciation Society and a few changes and additions under Introducing Sharpe section. Will hopefully be back soon to add some more.

Emmily

if you're around the Cornwell site, or there is anyone here who knows...

the answers to these questions might be interesting:

1) there is no mention of Sheffield until late in the writing process. Is that a nod to Sean Bean?

2) one of the books is dedicated to Sean Bean. Presumably that means that Cornwell is as convinced as we are that he _is_ Sharpe.

answers

1) Could well be. I think Cornwell uses the name South Essex as a sort of tribute to Essex, he grew up in Essex, after being adopted. He portrayed Harper and Hogan (good guys) as Irish as he'd spent some enjoyable years in Ireland and found it friendly place.

2)Yes. I recall, not sure if in a book or online, Cornwell saying that after the TV series he saw Sean Bean's image as he wrote the stories. Which book is dedicated to Sean please sho, if you know

Emmily

Found it - "Sharpe's Battle is for ASean Bean"

Emmily

I'd like to meet Bernard Cornwell - he sounds like an interesting chappie.

Me too. Have you read any of his other books Sho? I've read Gallows Thief, was good IMO.

Can you let me know which book mentions Sheffield. I'll incorperate info from last few posts into Entry.

I made a few changes on the Hakeswill section, added a bit at the end of Sharpe Women can't remember without looking if I've added about Josefina and Helene, or whether Helene is still in Word. Any other females that deserve a mention, and a little info about them; just a sentence or two would be great.

Should have been at work 5 mins ago be back later.

Emmily

oh goodness... ok, I think the mention of Sheffield comes in the one where he bleeds Wellesley's horse. There is mention that he killed someone in London (?) and ran away and ended up in Sheffield - were due to his size & strength he got a job working for a drayman - hence his experience of horses which conveniently didn't extend to riding them.

And I've just realised... in Prey they mention that Jem (from the foundling home) had tried to sell him to a sweep, but that Sharpe knew that meant probable death, he ran away.

I'm wondering now if it was the sweep he killed or if that came later - nah, it must have come later, because if they were trying to sell him to a sweep, he would have to have been pretty small.

I think I'm overthinking this!

I've altered Sharpe's Early Years to include about the sweep.

for the link in the other thread, I hadn't read that before, found it quite amusing

My current plan is to have this Entry in Peer Review at the beginning of next week, so cross-fingers it's nearly at the end of its journey.

Emmily

have you looked around that site? it's fantastic - although I think it hasn't been updated in a while because I think that some of the books are missing.

it does a fairly comprehensive summary of characters, including which book/ep they were in.

and then there's the fanfic... and the gallery

Hmmm this is gonna sound a bit weird...I had seen that site before, but not read any of it as I didn't want to be too influenced before I had finished the Sharpe Entries. I might have been tempted to re-word their work, so I avioded it, to make sure I didn't.

I've not read hardly any of The Sharpe Appreciation Society pages for the same reason, that's something I can look forward to when these are finished Though I did skim them recently and discovered some great links for the TV series Entry.

As your the only one replying at the moment Sho, can you tell me if you can understand what I'm saying about the books here.

>>Although the novel's basic story is consistent, it's not a continuation, and can be read in any order. In fact, Cornwell has written the novels in such a way that the reader soon learns from any of the novels about Sharpe's history; his rise from the ranks, his victorious battles, his friends, his enemies and his women. >>

Emmily

>>Although the novel's basic story is consistent, it's not a continuation, and can be read in any order. In fact, Cornwell has written the novels in such a way that the reader soon learns from any of the novels about Sharpe's history; his rise from the ranks, his victorious battles, his friends, his enemies and his women.<<

I see what you mean. I guess you mean the novels, rather than one novel (in which case the apostrophe in the first sentence should be here: novels') I would probably word it like this:

Although the novels present a consistent basic story they can be read in any order. Cornwell has written the series in such a way that the reader can lean enough about Sharpe's history - his rise from the ranks, his victorious battles, his friends, enemies and his women - from any of the novels not to be confused.

(and I would add, on a personal note, having read them first in publicaton and then in chronological order, that for me, publication order is best. Sharpe's history is actually cleverly revealed in dribs and drabs, and it adds to the interest, and the lust to read ever more about him. But that's just me - terminaly in love with a character from a book!)

Ok I've gone with your suggestion, with a few words from your personal note added.

>>Although the novels present a consistent basic story they can be read in any order. Cornwell has written the series in such a way that the reader can learn enough about Sharpe's history; which is cleverly revealed in dribs and drabs - his rise from the ranks, his victorious battles, his friends, enemies and his women - from any of the novels not to be confused.>>

Emmily

eek, that "from any of the novels" should be "in" not from.

that'll teach me to preview!

don't listen to me, from is totally right

oh, it's too late and I have too much to do!

so why am I here?

Glad I'm not the only one who gets easily confused

Emmily