As the 18th century draws to a close Private Richard Sharpe finds himself persecuted, bored and ready to run from the British Army while stationed in India. After a particularly brutal (and undeserved) punishment he's given the chance to escape from the tyrannical (and insane) Sergeant Hawkswill, when he is sent into the midst of the enemy to rescue a senior officer and just possibly save the army from an ignominious and catastrophic defeat.
Although, in chronological terms, this is the first novel in the Sharpe series, it was actually one of the later books to be published. As such Cornwell seems to have far more of an idea of his main characters traits and rather than going through a natural progression throughout the book, it was almost as if they were transplanted "ready-made" from the very first page. While this doesn't make them any less believable it does make them less "fresh", after all both Cornwell and regular readers know how they are going to turn out.
But perhaps you'd like to know a little more about these characters, well my answer to that is read the book, there is no way I could do justice to them. I can only tell you whether they were believable (or not), whether I could emphasise with them, and the sort of feelings I had towards them. The main character, Sharpe, is well drawn, but does come across as somewhat over ruthless at times, there are parts of his character that I like, but believe me, I wouldn't want to cross him. I think what makes him so realistic is that he isn't the perfect all action hero, he has very real flaws and desires, he's greedy, he yearns wealth and women, and is willing to break a few rules to get them. The clever use of Lieutenant Lawford, who accompanies Sharpe into the jaws of the enemy, with his almost goody-two-shoes, gentlemanly behaviour serves perfectly to accentuate Sharpe's ruthlessness and down to earth attitude to life.
The only other character that is particularly well-drawn (although he only plays a very small part in this book) is Sergeant Obadiah Hawkswill, the man that any fan of either the books or TV series loves to hate. He is perfectly described and although I couldn't help but picture Pete Postlethwaite (who played the role in the TV series), I think that is actually a testament to Postlethwaite, in that he captured the essence of the slightly insane, and thoroughly evil twitching sergeant down to a tee. The more minor characters, are slightly less well developed (which is hardly surprising), but there does seem to be just about enough background to each of them to make them believable.
That's enough about the characters, lets move onto what I thought about the plot and writing style... Well, I'm sorry to say this but although I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I found the actual writing style a little dryer than those books in the series which were written prior to this. Somehow it just didn't seem as fresh as Sharpe's Rifles or Eagle. Locations were particularly well described, and even within the first chapter I could almost feel the heat and dust that Sharpe and his comrades were experiencing. There were however a few occasions when I felt that there was perhaps a little too much description and not enough action, which meant that the narrative didn't flow quite as well as it could have. Saying that the plot is still action packed, with some gruesome violence, gory battle scenes and even some humorous interludes, there was no point at which I was actually tempted to give up, and I did find myself thinking "I'll just finish this chapter then take a break" only to find I'd read another couple of chapters and still hadn't put the book down.
I think I've finally put my finger on one of the reasons that the book wasn't quite as good a read as those written earlier in the series. And that is the fact that certain parts of the storyline had to follow a pre-defined route, those of us that have read the later books or watched the series, already knew about certain events. But even though there has been an obvious effort at filling in the missing details, there are still a few inconsistencies, not very many, but a few and anyone who has read others in the series will pick up on them.
Whether or not the book is historically accurate is, to be honest, not for me to say. I am not an expert in the era, and never studied it at school. But when compared to the few novels I've read that were actually written in the era, it does feel right. And after reading the very handy historical note added at the back of the book, it does feel that although he has taken a few liberties, Cornwell certainly did do his research. Lets just say that there are no glaring inconsistencies that would deflect from your actual enjoyment of the story and let's remember that's what it is a fictional work, not a history text book.
So the ultimate question is whether I'm recommending this book and if so who to? And the answer is yes, I am recommending it, but not for younger readers (there is perhaps too much graphic violence), or as a first sojourn into Sharpe's world. Rather I am recommending it to those who have read other books in the series and want to fill in the details of Sharpe's life before he became an officer. This is not a demanding or particularly thought provoking read, but rather one that is full of action and adventure that easily transports you to another time and continent and as such is perfect for the casual as well as the more avid reader.
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Brilliant books. You get hooked to the series. You will love it, unless you are Indian of cause ;-)
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While being one of the later books in terms of being written, this is the first Sharpe book chronologically in the series. It seems to be the now recommended starting point for reading the books according to the authors website.
I had only ever seen the TV series of Sharpe, with this being my introduction to the books, so I was interested to see how the two would gel together.
It is a quite light and easy read and Cornwell does a very good job of interweaving the history with the fiction of the story. There is a section at the end of the book as a historical note which shows the lengths that he has gone to make the fictional story entertaining while retaining as much as possible of what actually happened.
It is also very interesting to learn some more of the origins of Richard Sharpe, including how he met Hakeswill and Wellington, what happened for him to be whipped, etc.
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Having read all of the wonderful Flashman and most of the Jack Aubrey novels I came to Sharpe with a little trepidation. I decided to start at the beginning, chronologically speaking and so picked this one up. I was very pleasantly surprised. Admittedly Cornwell's writing is not a patch on that of McDonald Fraser or O'Brien. There is none of the sophisticated wit of the former or meticulous attention to period nuance of the latter but then, Cornwell clearly does not aspire to these sort of qualities. Instead he simply sets out to tell a rip-roaring adventure story full of drama, tension, heroism and sometimes mind-boggling details of 19th century military tactics and equipment, and he achieves this with aplomb. You can't help but cheer Sharpe on as he battles with the Tipoo's heavies and, incredibly, takes on a Tiger. My only real criticisms would be that a) I wanted to know more about Sharpe's back story, who he is, where he comes from and how he has become the person he is. Hopefully that will come later, and b) I really struggled with the character, or rather caricature, of Hakeswill who really is as ridiculous as a pantomime dame. Generally though I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would and approach the next twenty two books with relish.
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Well I must say that I thought Sharpes's Tiger was excellent. It was the read I was after, a story that was out and out excitement and a real Boy's Own adventure. The novel was an easy read and I recommend starting with this story as chronologically this is novel number 1 so you're beginning with Sharpe's early adventures.
I have never seen the TV series so I have had nothing to compare this novel with as I have seen other reviews stating that Cornwell has altered Sharpe's descriptions in later novels to match that of Sean Bean but after reading this book I am now tempted to check out the programme. Anyway, enjoy this book.
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