Smuggling in literature
Encyclopedia
This list of smuggling in fiction includes works of fiction (in both prose and poetry) where smuggling
is a prominent theme. Smuggling is a common trope
or theme in literature and can be found in a wide range of works – from the 18th century novels of Charlotte Turner Smith
to Prosper Mérimée
's 19th century novella
, Carmen
(the inspiration for numerous films as well as Bizet
's opera, Carmen
) to the James Bond
novel (and later film) Diamonds are Forever
.
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
is a prominent theme. Smuggling is a common trope
Trope (literature)
A literary trope is the usage of figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their literal meaning...
or theme in literature and can be found in a wide range of works – from the 18th century novels of Charlotte Turner Smith
Charlotte Turner Smith
Charlotte Turner Smith was an English Romantic poet and novelist. She initiated a revival of the English sonnet, helped establish the conventions of Gothic fiction, and wrote political novels of sensibility....
to Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
's 19th century novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
, Carmen
Carmen (novella)
"Carmen" is a novella by Prosper Mérimée, written and first published in 1845. It has been adapted into a number of dramatic works, including the famous opera by Georges Bizet.-Sources:...
(the inspiration for numerous films as well as Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's opera, Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
) to the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novel (and later film) Diamonds are Forever
Diamonds Are Forever (novel)
Diamonds Are Forever is the fourth of Ian Fleming's James Bond series of novels. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on 26 March 1956 and the first print run of 12,500 copies sold out quickly...
.
Novels
- Eric AmblerEric AmblerEric Clifford Ambler OBE was an influential British author of spy novels who introduced a new realism to the genre. Ambler also used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books co-written with Charles Rodda.-Life:...
: The Light of Day (1962) (filmed as TopkapiTopkapi (film)Topkapi is a heist film made by Filmways Pictures and distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by the emigre American film director, Jules Dassin...
) - Eric Ambler: Passage of ArmsPassage of ArmsPassage of Arms is a novel by Eric Ambler, written in 1959. It is a fast paced thriller about the discovery of a cache of arms abandoned by communist insurgents in the jungle of Malaya, and the transfer of the arms via Singapore to Indonesia. The book is structured as a story within a story within...
(1959) - Paul BowlesPaul BowlesPaul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
: The Sheltering SkyThe Sheltering SkyThe Sheltering Sky is a 1949 novel by Paul Bowles. The story centers on Port and Kit Moresby, a married couple originally from New York who travel to the North African desert accompanied by their friend Tunner...
(1949) - Samuel Rutherford CrockettSamuel Rutherford CrockettSamuel Rutherford Crockett was a Scottish novelist, born at Duchrae, Balmaghie, Kirkcudbrightshire, the illegitimate grandson of a farmer....
: The Raiders (1894) – a novel about smugglers in GallowayGallowayGalloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire... - George Payne Rainsford JamesGeorge Payne Rainsford JamesGeorge Payne Rainsford James , was an English novelist and historical writer, the son of a physician in London. He was for many years British Consul at various places in the United States and on the Continent...
: The Smuggler: A tale - Daphne du MaurierDaphne du MaurierDame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
: Jamaica InnJamaica Inn (novel)Jamaica Inn is a novel by the English writer Daphne du Maurier, first published in 1936. It was later made into a film, also called Jamaica Inn, by Alfred Hitchcock...
(1936) – a novel about both smugglers and wreckersWrecking (shipwreck)Wrecking is the practice of taking valuables from a shipwreck which has foundered near or close to shore. Often an unregulated activity of opportunity in coastal communities, wrecking has been subjected to increasing regulation and evolved into what is now known as marine salvage...
in CornwallCornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
- J. Meade FalknerJ. Meade FalknerJohn Meade Falkner was an English novelist and poet, best known for his 1898 novel, Moonfleet. An extremely successful businessman as well, he became chairman of the arms manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth during World War I.-Life and works:Falkner was born in Manningford Bruce, Wiltshire and spent...
: MoonfleetMoonfleetMoonfleet is a tale of smuggling by the English novelist J. Meade Falkner, first published in 1898. The book was extremely popular among children worldwide up until the 1970s, mostly for its themes of adventure and gripping storyline...
(1898) - Ian FlemingIan FlemingIan Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
: Diamonds Are ForeverDiamonds Are Forever (novel)Diamonds Are Forever is the fourth of Ian Fleming's James Bond series of novels. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on 26 March 1956 and the first print run of 12,500 copies sold out quickly...
(1956) - Raelynn HillhouseRaelynn HillhouseRaelynn Hillhouse is an American national security and Intelligence Community analyst, former smuggler during the Cold War, and a spy novelist.-Personal history:...
: Rift Zone (2004) - Mollie HunterMollie HunterMaureen Mollie Hunter McIlwraith, more commonly known as Mollie Hunter , is a Scottish writer. Born and bred near Edinburgh in the small village of Longniddry. She currently resides in Inverness. Her debut was The Smartest Man in Ireland in 1963. She writes fantasy for children, historical stories...
: The Lothian Run (1971) – a novel for young readers about Jacobite smugglers. - Prosper MériméeProsper MériméeProsper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
: CarmenCarmen (novella)"Carmen" is a novella by Prosper Mérimée, written and first published in 1845. It has been adapted into a number of dramatic works, including the famous opera by Georges Bizet.-Sources:...
(1845) - Charlotte Turner SmithCharlotte Turner SmithCharlotte Turner Smith was an English Romantic poet and novelist. She initiated a revival of the English sonnet, helped establish the conventions of Gothic fiction, and wrote political novels of sensibility....
: The Old Manor House (1793) - Barbara Smucker: Underground to CanadaUnderground to CanadaUnderground to Canada is an historical novel for young readers by Barbara Smucker. Published in 1977, it tells the story of two girls, Julilly and Liza, who with their friends, Lester and Adam, are slaves in the Deep South the book is based on a true story that tells about the hard life slaves had...
(1977) – children's novel about the Underground RailroadUnderground RailroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
which smuggled escaped slaves from the American South into Canada. - Russell ThorndikeRussell ThorndikeArthur Russell Thorndike was a British actor and novelist, best known for the Doctor Syn of Romney Marsh novels...
: The Doctor SynDoctor SynThe Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn is the smuggler hero of a series of novels by Russell Thorndike. The first book, Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh was published in 1915. The story idea came from smuggling in the 18th century Romney Marsh, where brandy and tobacco were brought in at night...
novels – a series of seven novels about Doctor Syn, the Smuggler of Romney MarshRomney MarshRomney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 mi ² .-Quotations:*“As Egypt was the gift of the Nile, this level tract .....
, published between 1915 and 1944
Poetry
- Rudyard KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
: A Smuggler's Song (1906) – this poem appears in "'Hal o' the Draft", one of the stories in Puck of Pook's HillPuck of Pook's HillPuck of Pook's Hill is a historical fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. The stories are all narrated to two children living near Burwash, in the area of Kipling's own house Bateman's, by people... - James Sheridan KnowlesJames Sheridan KnowlesJames Sheridan Knowles , Irish dramatist and actor, was born in Cork.-Biography:His father was the lexicographer James Knowles , cousin of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The family removed to London in 1793, and at the age of fourteen Knowles published a ballad entitled The Welsh Harper, which, set to...
: The Smuggler (1810)
Plays and operas
- Georges BizetGeorges BizetGeorges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
: CarmenCarmenCarmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
(1875) – In act 3 of the opera, Carmen and her lover join a camp of gypsy smugglers - Winsome PinnockWinsome Pinnock-Life:She graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London, and Birkbeck, University of London with an MA in Modern Literature.The Women's Theatre Group, commissioned her work....
: Mules (1996) – a play about JamaicaJamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n women working as mulesMule (smuggling)A mule or courier is someone who smuggles something with him or her across a national border, including bringing in to and out of an international plane, especially a small amount, transported for a smuggling organization. The organizers employ mules to reduce the risk of getting caught...
for cocaine smugglers - Bedřich SmetanaBedrich SmetanaBedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
: The KissThe Kiss (opera)The Kiss is an opera in two acts, with music by Bedřich Smetana and text by Eliška Krásnohorská, based on a novel by Karolina Světlá. It received its first performance in Prague on November 7, 1876.- Roles :- Act I :...
(1876) – an opera based on a novel by Karolina SvětláKarolína SvetláKarolina Světlá was a Czech female author of the 19th century. She was a representative to the literary May School. She married Professor Petr Mužák in 1852, who had taught her music. She also had an affair with Jan Neruda. She introduced Eliška Krásnohorská to literature and feminism... - Michael WallMichael WallMichael Wall , was a British playwright. He wrote over forty plays, the most well-known of which are Amongst Barbarians and Women Laughing....
: Amongst BarbariansAmongst BarbariansAmongst Barbarians is* a play by British playwright Michael Wall first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester prior to a transfer to the Hampstead Theatre in London ; and...
(1989) – a play based on a true story of two English drug-traffickers executed in Malaysia