Oddsfish!

by Robert Hugh Benson

Interwoven with the accurately portrayed events and places of the time are fictitious characters, including the narrator, Mr. Roger Mallock and his cousin and lady-love Dolly. Sent by Pope Innocent XI to Charles' court as a diplomatic representative of the Vatican, Mallock becomes a trusted confidant of the King and acts upon Charles's deathbed wish to give his confession to, and receive absolution from, a Catholic priest.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Catholic

380 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Mrsgr. Robert Hugh Benson AFSC KC*SG KGCHS was an English Catholic priest and writer. First an Anglican pastor, he was received into the Catholic Church in 1903 and ordained therein the next year. He was also a prolific writer of fiction, writing the notable dystopian novel Lord of the World, as well as Come Rack! Come Rope!.

His output encompassed historical, horror and science fiction, contemporary fiction, children's stories, plays, apologetics, devotional works and articles. He continued his writing career at the same time as he progressed through the hierarchy to become a Chamberlain to Pope Pius X in 1911, and gain the title of Monsignor before his death a few years later.

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the first half of the book, I thought that Robert Hugh Benson was not making a good end of his historical novels; by the end I was exerting all the strength I could spare from reading to keep my crying unnoticeable to the others in the room. I do not often cry while reading. It takes very skillful, very true writing to bring me to tears. Therefore I give this story five stars. Read it. I can't say much without giving away the ending, but let's just say that it gives one a lot to think about! I reverse my first impression and declare that Robert Hugh Benson is solid gold to the very end.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: This is Benson's historical novel about the end of the reign of Charles II of England. I found it inferior to his other historical novels. I don't find reasonable The idea of the Pope's sending a 21-old young man to act as a secret agent for him and for the King. And in the third part of the novel, the involvement of the protagonist in a historical conspiration and the methods used by the conspirators are too convoluted to be credible.

The main fictional characters are Roger, the protagonist; Tom, his older cousin; and Dolly, Tom's 15-year old daughter (at the beginning of the novel), whom her father wishes (at first) to marry Roger. I don't understand why Roger sees courting her as setting both father and suitor against the intended fiancee.

Overall, the historical part of the novel gives a very good idea of the reign of Charles II. The scene of the king's conversion is moving and faithful to what is known to have happened. But I can't empathize with the fictional part and the love story.

ESPAÑOL: Novela histórica de Benson sobre el final del reinado de Carlos II de Inglaterra. Me pareció inferior a sus otras novelas históricas. No veo razonable que el Papa envíe a un joven de 21 años para actuar como agente secreto en su nombre y en el del rey. Y en la tercera parte de la novela, cómo se involucra el protagonista en una conspiración histórica, y los métodos empleados por los conspiradores son demasiado enrevesados para resultar creíbles.

Los principales personajes ficticios son Roger, un joven de 21 años; Tom, su primo más viejo; y Dolly, la hija de Tom de 15 años (al principio de la novela), que su padre desea se case con Roger. No entiendo por qué Roger considera que cortejarla enfrenta al padre y al pretendiente con la joven.

La parte histórica de la novela da una idea muy buena del reinado de Carlos II. La escena de la conversión del rey es conmovedora y fiel a lo que se sabe que ocurrió. Lo que no acaba de convencerme es la parte ficticia y la relación amorosa entre los dos jóvenes.

[The Hofs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This only appealed to me while in the depths of boredom of summer. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. My entire family was adequately impressed with Robert Hugh Benson, the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury who was also an Anglican priest before he converted to Catholicism. If you can find it, read it! You wont be disapointed.

[Mariangel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Benson’s writing always manages to keep me reading to see what happens, even though I didn’t like this book as much as the King’s Achievement, partly because at times the writing was repetitive. The spying and the plot were very interesting. The love story between Roger and Dolly seemed a bit strange and artificially done.

[Olivia Dimatteo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a rollercoaster. Dense & un-relatable in so many ways, but it really highlights some of the simple joys. I took some of the characters for granted & felt truly sad when the book came to an end. I keep thinking about everyone on the journey. Learned a lot, thought a lot, felt a lot.

[Luca Urbani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Al protagonista, Roger Mallock, un novizio benedettino, è affidato l’incarico papale di convertire il Sovrano, riportando il Regno d’Inghilterra nelle braccia della Chiesa. È ancora una volta la calunnia – nella fattispecie attraverso l’invenzione di una congiura papista contro il Re – a impedire il naturale scorrere degli eventi attraverso lo scatenamento di una violenta persecuzione nei confronti dei cattolici.

Come in altre opere dedicate al periodo dello scisma anglicano, Benson riesce a farci vivere il clima di terrore in cui i cattolici britannici erano costretti a vivere.

[Chris Fellows · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story cannot quite bear the weight of all the research, and staggers under masses of information and a cast of thousands of name-dropped historical figures. If the title character had been more glancingly associated with the intrigues of the later years of Charles II's reign, and had more of an arc of his own, it would have been much more satisfactory, methinks.
Poor Dolly! It was obvious from the start that she was doomed and the narrator would end up a monk. Also, has anyone else noticed that the fathers in Msgr. Benson's novels are either absent or dreadful? I can't recall any decent ones.