Rise If You Must

So “Assassin of Secrets” was written under the pen name Q.R. Markham. 

Certainly not coincidentally, Kingsley Amis once wrote a post-Fleming James Bond novel under the pen name Robert Markham.

This thing is becoming a puzzle inside of an enigma. 

I think every word in the book comes from another book, which means the guy meant to do it.

Like, he tried to write a book using only pieces of other books. Even the author’s name.

I’m having trouble believing this whole Q.R. Markham/Quentin Rowan plagiarism scandal isn’t some kind of intentional hoax.

The very first passage I looked at in the book (which I got to through the Huffington Post’s link) is stolen.

Q.R. Markham: “The room into which Chase was shown was used for dining. Handsome carpets, heavy and thick, covered the floor. There were big bedouin pillows and a long, low dining table. Tapestries embroidered with gold thread hung from the eaves. Hidden musicians tuned their instruments. Servants scurried about. One of them brought Chase a gin and tonic in a tea glass. Another offered him figs. Behind the table, all in a row, a half-dozen hooded peregrine falcons perched motionless on should-high T-shaped perches inlaid with what looked with ivory and lapis lazuli.”

Charles McCarry’s Old Boys:  “The tent into which I was shown after the drive from the airstrip was used for dining. Handsome carpets, heavy and thick, covered the sand floor. There were the usual big pillows and a long low dining table. Tapestries embroidered with gold thread with verses of the Koran hung from the eaves, gently stirring in the moving air. Hidden musicians tuned their instruments. Servants scurried about. One of them brought me a gin and tonic in a tea glass. Not my favorite drink, but I was glad to have it. Another offered him figs. I ate two, my first food since Istanbul. Behind the table, all in a row, a half-dozen hooded peregrine falcons perched motionless on should-high T-shaped perches inlaid with what looked with ivory and lapis lazuli.”

I recognized the “hooded peregrine falcons” from memory, despite not having read Old Boys for years. It’s hard to believe someone could lift this extensively and not expect to be detected.

Update: And this passage, about the Wandervogel, is from McCarry’s Second Sight. It’s so distinctive, comparing hippies to Nazi Youth, that it is instantly recognizable.