Some stray excerpts from Biggles Goes to War

[sholio]

I thought I had read this one, but it turns out I only read the first chapter or so, and not the rest of it.



I haven't finished reading it yet - I last left them in two feet of snow surrounded by "about thirty or forty" wolves - Biggles why is your life like this. However, what this book made click for me (I had had this thought before, to a degree, but this one really drove it home) is that Biggles's basic archetype is "trickster hero."

The scene that made me think about this is the one where he steals the fighter plane from the German delivery pilot. He doesn't just order the guy out of the plane at gunpoint and take off with it, which he could very easily have done - no, he has to convince the guy to parachute out of his plane over the Ruritanian capital so Biggles can steal it in the air and fly off with it. It's not like the outcome is any different! It's just - that's his problem-solving set; he absolutely can shoot or punch his way out of things, but when it comes down to it, his default is trick/fake/bluff, and he loves getting one over on his opponents in that particular way. And this book is full of that, like the false-flag bridge-bombing operation. (He's not content to just blow up the bridge; he's also got to fly back and see everyone freaking out about it, because of course he does.)

(I was going to say that this is one thing he and EvS don't have in common - all spies are tricksters to some extent, but EvS doesn't seem to revel in it the way Biggles does. But then I remembered we're talking about Erich "resorts to a fake beard at the drop of a hat" von Stalhein, Erich "riding around in the enemy camp while pretending to be British" von Stalhein, and yeah, no, he actually likes it too, he's just more practical about it.)

Anyway, I love how much of this book leans into Biggles being essentially a force of nature to the people around him.

The princess faltered. It was obvious from her manner that she had hardly been prepared for Biggles's direct methods. His intense personality was drawing her secrets from her; or it may have been his sincerity that moved her to speak.

Also, just ... this:

Biggles sat down on an empty oil-drum, and stared thoughtfully at the ground. Algy and Ginger found seats near him. Ludwig remained standing.

It was a quarter of an hour before Biggles spoke again. 'I can think of only one way,' he said at last, slowly.

Biggles: sits perfectly still staring at the ground for 15 minutes
Everyone else (except Ludwig): finds a seat and accepts their fate

I love how by this point they've recognized what's happening when Biggles goes quiet and stares off into space and just let him do his thing. Also, Ludwig is the one of them who clearly doesn't seem to realize that this could go on for a while.

And have I mentioned how much I love his dry sense of humor?

'I rushed down at once to see what had happened.'
'Then you can rush back and tell her Highness that all is well.'

... and he definitely enjoyed blowing up that bridge.

[The Count]'You might try the bridge.'
[Biggles]'We might, but it wouldn't be much use.'
'Why not?'
'The two middle arches are missing.'
'What!'
'The most important part of the bridge, which is the middle, is no longer there.'
'Where is it?'
'In the river.'
'Great heavens! How did it get there?”
'It got in the way of a lump of high explosive and came off second best.'
'How on earth did that happen?'
'It didn't exactly happen. I dropped a bomb on it.'