Book Review
King Of the Conjurers: Memoirs of Robert-Houdin
by Robert-Houdin
Harry Houdini
has rightfully earned the reputation for being the most prestigious
stage magician of the modern era. Not as many people know of his
predecessor and inspiration, the man who lent him his name,
Robert-Houdin. King Of the Conjurers: Memoirs of Robert-Houdin had
a significant impact on the young Harry Houdini. It is an
entertaining autobiography that gives us a nice glimpse into the mind
of a man who could be considered the grandfather of modern conjuring.
In
simple prose, Robert-Houdin describes his childhood in Blois, France
during the early 19th
century. The son of a watchmaker, he developed an early interest in
mechanics. In one memorable passage, the young boy gets reprimanded
at boarding school for trapping mice and rats which he hooks up to
miniature farm tools he created for fun during his spare time. This
fascination would later spark his interest in building automata (if
you know nothing about this, look it up on Youtube since
it is very interesting).
Robert-Houdin
also writes of how he develops his fascination for stage magic, also
known in his day as prestidigitation, a word he claimed
to have coined himself, though like many of the
claims in this book, the authenticity is in dispute by historians.
His early encounter with a street-performer and con-artist is one
good story and another is how he met up with Torrini, a traveling
conjurer who had a great influence on the young man and helped him
get started in his career.
The stories with the life
story of Torrini and his assistant Antonio is one of the great parts
of this narrative.
As
he
goes on, Robert-Houdin gives details about how he developed his stage
act, how he built on his
previous performances and developed new tricks. His early encounters
with strange people, sleazy businessmen, and unruly crowds were
learning experiences for him. Along
the way he learns the art of publicity and builds his reputation to a
fine crescendo. Meanwhile
he gives descriptions of his tricks and how the audience responds;
this is a little disappointing at first because he explains how a lot
of the illusions are created. Magic is a lot more fun when we agree
to allow ourselves
to be deceived since the secrets of the trade make the fascination
of illusion disappear.
As
the life story goes on, Robert-Houdin reveals less and less of his
secrets. Meanwhile his reputation grows to the point where King Louis
XVIII of France and Queen Victoria of England demand private
performances. The story climaxes when, after retirement in old age,
the French colonial authority summons
him to tour Algeria to perform for the Muslim tribal leaders. This is
a very politically incorrect passage. The whole purpose of his tour
is to prove that the supernatural powers of French magicians are
superior to the performances give by the traditional
Algerian magicians called Aissaoua. Without a trace of guilt in his
conscience, Robert-Houdin sets out to assist in proving to the Arabs
of North Africa that the French are superior to them in every
way.
Robert-Houdin’s
writing style is sometimes good and sometimes lacking. The prose
moves along in a consistently even-handed and gentle pace. However,
there are times when these memoirs could benefit
from more description. This is especially true when he describes his
automata. He probably wrote this book without the knowledge that this
art form would eventually fade into obscurity so that most readers of
our time would not know enough about them to really get what he was
describing. His descriptions of other people in his life could use
some enhancement
as well. In a strange way, the characters don’t come off as
two-dimensional the way people in genre fiction do. Instead
they seem like three-dimensional people whose third dimension is
hidden; as
a reader, you know it
is there but you just can’t see it. Maybe it is like a painting by
Edouard Manet who worked with the concept of fitting three spatial
dimensions into the two-dimensional space of a canvas. The spatial
surfaces and depths interplay in a way that forces
you to shift
your perceptions.
But Manet did this
intentionally and in terms of writing style it makes some characters
seem flimsy and incomplete.
A
lot of what Robert-Houdin wrote in King Of the Conjurers
may not be one hundred percent
accurate. There is no doubt he took some literary license and gave
himself credit for tricks he stole from other magicians. This should
not stop you from reading it. It
is an entertaining story nonetheless.
Like a member of the audience at a theater, it is most rewarding if
you agree to play along with the magician’s game and just accept
the illusions as they are.
Robert-Houdin. King Of the Conjurers: Memoirs of Robert-Houdin. Dover Publications Inc., New York: 1964.
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