Pipe Smoking In Books

[alaskanpiper]

As everyone is probably aware, there have been many threads regarding pipe smoking on TV and in movies, and there may have been on books as well but I don't remember seeing one lately.

Recently I've been reading through the works of Ken Kesey again, and tobacco pipes show up pretty regularly in his novels. I just finished his magnum opus "Sometimes a Great Notion" which was an excellent read set (and written) in the early 1960's around a labor union dispute with a family of gyppo loggers in Oregon. The book features multiple pipe smoking characters, including a couple scenes with said characters smoking their pipes upside down in the rain.

Prior to this I read one of his later works "Sailor Song" which, while a decent read up until the extremely weird ending, also featured multiple references to pipe smoking, including at one point a clay churchwarden. Certainly not on par with the former novel qaulity wise, although this could be related to Kesey's decades of dosing himself completely out of his gourd with various psychedelics, as it was written in 1994, well after his various adventures in the world of the Merry Pranksters.

What books have you read that featured pipe smokers?

I think we all have heard plenty about Lord of the Rings, so let's leave that one off the table, hahaha.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

There is a whole series of the Hangman's Daughter, set in 17th century Bavaria. The main character smokes a pipe, packed with what is described as the most foul smelling tobacco. Several instances in the book include stories of the tobacco trade, as well as the beginnings of Germanic aromatics, where the confectioner trades use the same spices on the tobaccos. Regardless, tobacco is a common subject throughout the series. It is an awesome series, very well researched. I give it two thumbs up...
The Hangman's Daughter
The Dark Monk
The Beggar King
The poisoned Pilgrim

 

[cosmicfolklore]

This book drove me crazy. Never have I read about such a stupid main character. If I was ever around someone who is such a dumbass, I would be compelled to him out of his misery, but regardless I laughed at this son of a bitch throughout the entire book. But, at times... it was tough to pick the book back up. But, smoking pipes, tobacco plantations, and utter stupidity is ubiquitous in The Sot-Weed Factor.

 

[autumnfog]

The Maigret novels by Georges Simenon comes to mind.

 

[jpberg]

Any John Buchan novel - Mr. Standfast, The 39 Steps, etc..

 

[shanez]

What books have you read that featured pipe smokers?

I think we all have heard plenty about Lord of the Rings, so let's leave that one off the table, hahaha.

What about The Chronicles of Narnia and The Wind in the Willows? ?

 

[kilroyjune6]

I'm currently reading "Forever And A Day," by Anthony Horowitz. It's a James Bond novel, and the first chapter features M lighting his pipe, tamping with his thumb.

"The heavy, sweet smell of Capstan Navy Flake hung in the air. M used the pipe to punctuate his thoughts. The age-old ritual, the lighting and the relighting, gave him time to consider the decisions that had to be made."

 

[wolflarsen]

I assume that just about everyone here has read My Lady Nicotine.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of My Lady Nicotine, by J. M. Barrie

"It was now that I approached him with the Arcadia Mixture. I seldom recommend the Arcadia to men whom I do not know intimately, lest in the after-years I should find them unworthy of it. But just as Aladdin doubtless rubbed his lamp at times for show, there were occasions when I was ostentatiously liberal. If, after trying the Arcadia, the lucky smoker to whom I presented it did not start or seize my hand, or otherwise show that something exquisite had come into his life, I at once forgot his name and his existence. I approached Gilray, then, and without a word handed him my pouch, while the others drew nearer. Nothing was to be heard but the water oozing out and in beneath the house-boat. Gilray pushed the tobacco from him, as he might have pushed a bag of diamonds that he mistook for pebbles. I placed it against his arm, and motioned to the others not to look. Then I sat down beside Gilray, and almost smoked into his eyes. Soon the aroma reached him, and rapture struggled into his face. Slowly his fingers fastened on the pouch. He filled his pipe without knowing what he was doing, and I handed him a lighted spill. He took perhaps three puffs, and then gave me a look of reverence that I know well. It only comes to a man once in all its glory—the first time he tries the Arcadia Mixture—but it never altogether leaves him."

 

[Chasing Embers]

The Wind in the Willows?

That one has recently had the pipe art removed. When I found out about that I ordered a vintage copy.

 

[Casual]

That one has recently had the pipe art removed. When I found out about that I ordered a vintage copy.

Me too. The kids aren’t old enough yet, but close. Found the original art from a used bookstore.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Me too. The kids aren’t old enough yet, but close. Found the original art from a used bookstore.

Got a vintage Twas the Night Before Christmas as well where Santa still smokes a pipe.

 

[Lyon0oq]

The Maigret novels by Georges Simenon comes to mind.

Those were the first thing I thought of as well.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Philip Pullman's adult male characters in the His Dark Materials series of books will occasionally pack a pipe and smoke, with really good descriptions of the process. Actually, I've encountered many pipesmokers in most modern novels. They are about as detailed as any of the LOTR books.

While I love CS Lewis's work, he didn't have any pipesmokers in his novels. I'm not so sure why those two are so enamored in pipe circles, when there are so many pipesmoking authors and pipesmokers in novels.

 

[shanez]

Philip Pullman's adult male characters in the His Dark Materials series of books will occasionally pack a pipe and smoke, with really good descriptions of the process. Actually, I've encountered many pipesmokers in most modern novels. They are about as detailed as any of the LOTR books.

While I love CS Lewis's work, he didn't have any pipesmokers in his novels. I'm not so sure why those two are so enamored in pipe circles, when there are so many pipesmoking authors and pipesmokers in novels.

Trumpkin the dwarf in Prince Caspian comes to mind. I can't remember but I think Mr Beaver in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe did. So did Puddleglum the Marshwiggle in The Silver Chair though it's questionable as to what he smoked. It produced a dark smoke the drifted down and hung about near the ground.

There's probably more but I'd have to look for them.

Oh yeah, several of the characters in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. One sailor even comments that his "baccy is getting a bit low".

Perhaps professor Kirk too.

Uncle Andrew smoked cigars.

 

[BlueMaxx]

Hie to the Hunters by Jesse Stuart...one of my favorite books and a regional author for me.
A lot to do with tobacco...


He was a pipe smoker also...

Amazon.com

 

[trubka2]

The Maigret novels by Georges Simenon comes to mind.

Simenon is a master of the tobacco pipe as literary device. Nobody else I've read even comes close. Maigret's pipe is absolutely central to the construction of the novels.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Trumpkin the dwarf in Prince Caspian comes to mind. I can't remember but I think Mr Beaver in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe did. So did Puddleglum the Marshwiggle in The Silver Chair though it's questionable as to what he smoked. It produced a dark smoke the drifted down and hung about near the ground.

There's probably more but I'd have to look for them.

Oh yeah, several of the characters in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. One sailor even comments that his "baccy is getting a bit low".

Perhaps professor Kirk too.

Uncle Andrew smoked cigars.

I stand corrected. I was all into these in 4th grade. I need to check them out again.

 

[Lyon0oq]

There is a whole series of the Hangman's Daughter, set in 17th century Bavaria. The main character smokes a pipe, packed with what is described as the most foul smelling tobacco. Several instances in the book include stories of the tobacco trade, as well as the beginnings of Germanic aromatics, where the confectioner trades use the same spices on the tobaccos. Regardless, tobacco is a common subject throughout the series. It is an awesome series, very well researched. I give it two thumbs up...
The Hangman's Daughter
The Dark Monk
The Beggar King
The poisoned Pilgrim

View attachment 21555

This series looks right up my alley actually, so I hopped on Ebay after I saw your post (and did a little research) and ordered the first three for a whomping $17. We have a "What are you listening to" thread on here for the audiophiles, is there a "What are you reading" thread? May have to start one if there isn't.

 

[alaskanpiper]

This series looks right up my alley actually, so I hopped on Ebay after I saw your post (and did a little research) and ordered the first three for a whomping $17. We have a "What are you listening to" thread on here for the audiophiles, is there a "What are you reading" thread? May have to start one if there isn't.

There is one! I just resurrected it the other day, but it gets less traffic than the other “what are you....” threads so you sometimes have to go down a page or two on the forum list.

 

[judcole]

John Grimes, the hero of one of A. Bertram Chandler's series of novels, was a pipe smoker - as was Chandler.