Restless: A Novel

Book Description

It is Paris, 1939. Twenty-eight year old Eva Delectorskaya is at the funeral of her beloved younger brother. Standing among her family and friends she notices a stranger. Lucas Romer is a patrician looking Englishman with a secretive air and a persuasive manner. He also has a mysterious connection to Kolia, Eva's murdered brother. Romer recruits Eva and soon she is traveling to Scotland to be trained as a spy and work for his underground network. After a successful covert operation in Belgium, she is sent to New York City, where she is involved in manipulating the press in order to shift American public sentiment toward getting involved in WWII.
Three decades on and Eva has buried her dangerous history. She is now Sally Gilmartin, a respectable English widow, living in a picturesque Cotswold village. No one, not even her daughter Ruth, knows her real identity. But once a spy, always a spy. Sally has far too many secrets, and she has no one to trust. Before it is too late, she must confront the demons of her past. This time though she can't do it alone, she needs Ruth's help. Restless is a thrilling espionage novel set during the Second World War and a haunting portrait of a female spy. Full of tension and drama, emotion and history, this is storytelling at its finest.

Customer Reviews:

A Terrific Page Turner!.......2007-10-04

I'm new to this author so I didn't know what to expect, especially when I read that the story was about espionage that took place during Nazi Germany. Robert Ludlum has always been my favorite author for stories during this period, but I must say William Boyd ranks right up there with Mr. Ludlum. The story was a thrilling read and the research was apparent in the details that the author ensured was portrayed in the story. Once I started reading the book it moved along at brisk pace and soon I found myself reading page after page. I could hardly put the book down. Just a terrific page turner and a super read.

Weakest Boyd I've read.......2007-09-21

This is a well enough written book, as one would expect from William Boyd. That said, its the weakest Boyd I've ever read. This time his portrayal of real life characters in interesting times and extraordinary circumstances falls flat. I found it very hard to care even a bit for the daughter's story. I found it only a little harder to care for the mother's pretty-girl-turned-murderous-spy plot. Even the wartime situations the mother is involved in and that lead up to the climax of the novel are very far from enthralling. Its almost as if this is a novel without protagonists, since the protagnists themselves and the plot around them is so uninteresting. Emphasizing all this are the surrounding characters (ie the Iranian english student, the estranged german father of Jochen, his brother and Ilse) who not only add nothing to the plot but provide no really interesting subplots of their own (actually, to the contrary).

Boyd can be wonderful. But for wonderful Boyd please go for "An Ice Cream War".

he's my favorite contempo writer.......2007-09-18

i have read all of william boyd's novels, his short stories, screenplays and most of his essays--he's far and away my favorite contemporary novelist.

"Restless" is brilliant; it's right up there with his best novels, "The New
Confessions," "Brazzaville Beach," and "Any Human Heart."

the only ones that don't come up to scratch are "The Blue Afternoon" and
"Armadillo."

if you like Ishiguro, Amis, McEwan, or the divine David Mitchell, you will LOVE Boyd's stuff.

just get it!

A real page turner.......2007-09-15

Ruth is a single mother who teaches English as a second language in Oxford, England. One day her mother hands her the first installment in her autobiography, and Ruth discovers that everything she thought she knew about her mother's background is a lie, and that her mother was actually a secret agent by the name of Eva, who worked for the British immediately prior to and during WW2.

From here, the book alternates between Ruth's life in the present day and her mother's story during the war. Like Ruth, I found myself caught up in the spy saga and hungry to see how it developed. William Boyd has done a great job of creating a plausible and intriguing storyline for Eva - more John le Carre than James Bond. While he captures the isolation of Eva's world and the mundane elements of her job, the story also builds with genuine tension and pace. Ruth's life, on the other hand, is more prosaic, but as she gets caught up in her mother's story, she loses her jaded view of the world and starts to see potential intrigue in the people and events around her.

This is an easy book to read and I enjoyed it very much. The details about Eva's training and life as a spy felt real and fascinating to me. The twists and turns in her story kept me hooked without feeling contrived or false. As I read the book I could feel it building towards some kind of climax but I had absolutely no idea where it would go. The mother's and daughter's stories eventually intersect in a way that I found very satisfying. I thought it was a great read from start to finish.

a surprisingly good read.......2007-09-13

I haven't read anything by William Boyd in quite a few years and can't recall which of his earlier books I did, in fact, read but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was wondering if any of his earlier books go into similar territory.
I thought the technique of shifting back and forth between Eva's wartime adventures and the current period (though the whole book is evidently a flashback to the 70's)when she reveals her exciting past to her daughter was very well done and made this a compelling read. In some respects, this book reminded me of several of Alan Furst's or Ward Just's novels. Well researched and with a real element of suspense.

Shoulder the Sky: A Novel (World War One Novels)

Average customer rating:

A slow second act.
Absolutely Riveting!
Can't wait for the next edition in this series
For heavens sake
Lest we forget the price paid for our freedoms...

Shoulder the Sky: A Novel (World War One Novels)
Anne Perry
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0345456556
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Book Description

In the firmament of great historical novelists, Anne Perry is a star of the greatest magnitude. First there were her acclaimed Victorian mysteries, sparkling with passion and suspense. Now readers have embraced this bestselling new series of World War I novels–which juxtapose the tranquil life of the English countryside with the horrors of war.

By April of 1915, as chaplain Joseph Reavley tends to the soldiers in his care, the nightmare of trench warfare is impartially cutting down England’s youth. On one of his rescue forays into no-man’s-land, Joseph finds the body of an arrogant war correspondent, Eldon Prentice. A nephew of the respected General Owen Cullingford, Prentice was despised for his prying attempts to elicit facts that would turn public opinion against the war. Most troublesome to Joseph, Prentice has been killed not by German fire but, apparently, by one of his own compatriots. What Englishman hated Prentice enough to kill him? Joseph is afraid he may know, and his sister, Judith, who is General Cullingford’s driver and translator, harbors her own fearful suspicions.

Meanwhile, Joseph and Judith’s brother, Matthew, an intelligence officer in London, continues his quiet search for the sinister figure they call the Peacemaker, who, like Eldon Prentice, is trying to undermine the public support for the struggle–and, as the Reavley family has good reason to believe, is in fact at the heart of a fantastic plot to reshape the entire world. An intimate of kings, the Peacemaker kills with impunity, and his dark shadow stretches from the peaceful country lanes of Cambridgeshire to the twin hells of Ypres and Gallipoli.

In this mesmerizing series, Anne Perry has found a subject worthy of her gifts. Illuminating the murderous conflict whose violence still resounds in our consciousness–as well as the souls of men and women who lived it–Shoulder the Sky is a taut, inspiring masterpiece.

From the Hardcover edition.

Download Description

CHAPTER ONE

It was shortly after three in the afternoon. Joseph Reavley was half asleep in the April sun, his back to the pale clay wall of the trench, when he heard the angry voices.

¿They be moi boots, Tucky Nunn, an¿ you know that well as Oi do! Yours be over there wi¿ holes in ¿em!¿ It was Plugger Arnold, a seasoned soldier of twenty, big-boned, a son of the village blacksmith. He had been in Flanders since the outbreak of war in August. Although he was angry, he kept his voice low. He knew it carried in the afternoon stillness when the men snatched the three or four hours of sleep they could.

The German trenches were only seventy yards away across this stretch of the Ypres Salient. Anyone foolish enough to reach a hand up above the parapet would be likely to get it shot. The snipers seldom needed a second chance. Added to which, getting yourself injured on purpose was a court-martial offense.

Tucky Nunn, nineteen and new this far forward, was standing on the duckboards that floored the trench. They were there to keep the men¿s feet above the icy water that sloshed around, but they seldom worked. The water level was too high. Every time you thought it was drying out at last, it rained again.

¿Yeah?¿ Tucky said, his eyebrows raised. ¿Fit me perfect, they do. Didn¿t see your name on ¿em. Must ¿ave wore off.¿ He grinned, making no move to bend and unlace the offending boots and hand them back.

Plugger was sitting half sideways on the fire-step. A few yards away the sentry was standing with his back to them, staring through the periscope over the wire and mud of no-man¿s-land. He could not afford to lose concentration even for a moment, regardless of what went on behind him.

¿They¿s moi boots,¿ Plugger said between his teeth. ¿Take ¿em off yer soddin¿ feet an¿ give ¿em back to me, or Oi¿ll take ¿em off yer and give yer to the rats!¿

Tucky bounced on the balls of his feet, hunching his shoulders a little. ¿You want to try?¿ he invited.

Doughy Ward crawled out of his dugout, fully dressed, as they all were: webbing and rifle with bayonet attached. His fair-skinned face was crumpled with annoyance at being robbed of any part of his few hours of sleep. He glared at Joseph. ¿ `Thou shalt not steal.¿ Isn¿t that right, Chaplain?¿

It was a demand that even here in the mud and the cold, amid boredom and sporadic violence, Joseph should do his job and stand for the values of justice that must remain, or all this would sink into a purposeless hell. Without right and wrong there was no sanity.

¿Oi didn¿t steal them!¿ Tucky said angrily. ¿They were . . .¿ He did not finish the sentence because Plugger hit him, a rolling blow that caught the side of his jaw as he ducked and struck back.

There was no point in shouting at them, and the sound would carry. Added to which Joseph did not want to let the whole trench know that there was a discipline problem. Both men could end up on a charge, and that was not the way for a chaplain to resolve anything. He moved forward, careful to avoid being struck himself, and grasped hold of Tucky, taking him off balance and knocking him against the uprights that held the trench wall.

¿The Germans are that way!¿ he said tartly, jerking his head back toward the parapet and no-man¿s-land beyond.

Plugger was up on his feet, slithering in the mud on the duckboards, his socks filthy and sodden. ¿Good oidea to send him over the top, Captain, where he belongs! But not in moi boots!¿ He was floundering toward them, arms flailing as if to carry on the fight.

Joseph stepped between them, risking being caught by both, the worst part of which would be that then a charge would be unavoidable. ¿Stop it!¿ he ordered briskly. ¿Take the boots off, Nunn!¿

¿Thank you, Chaplain,¿ Plugger responded with a smile of satisfaction

Customer Reviews:

A slow second act. .......2007-04-29

I could read Perry's descriptions of a English countryside for hundreds of pages, but I can not say the same about the way she goes on about the emotions the characters are experiencing in this book. When Perry did give descriptions of the horrors of the first World War the book picked up very well, and even the side excursion to Gallipoli was done well. The story does get sidetracked from original murder mystery, but not to a point of no return. The ongoing chase of 'The Peacemaker' still entertains, but his machinations do not seem overly inspired in this book. If the third novel goes the same directions, in terms of exploring the emotional side of the characters, vice historical fiction and mystery I will give up on the series. Instead, I will pick up on the new Arturo Perez-Reverte series sooner then I expected.

Absolutely Riveting!.......2007-01-28

In her second book of her World War I series, Shoulder The Sky, Anne Perry delivers another stunning story revolving around the Reavley siblings. The death of a young war correspondent, Eldon Prentice, at first seems to be one of the many casualties of war. Upon closer inspection, Joseph Reavley, a Chaplin working on the front lines in Ypres, suspects Prentice was not a casualty of war, but murdered. Meanwhile Matthew Reavley, a diligent employee of the Secret Intelligence Service, continues to track down the elusive Peacemaker. While the plot line itself is fantastic, it is Perry's ability to paint a vivid picture of life during the war that captivates the reader. Perry is unrelenting in her description of life in the trenches. She has a unique ability to convey the horrors of war, but at the same time express the fierce companionship between the men fighting for what they believe in. Even if the plotline does not interest you, her meticulous research and dramatic presentation of the war effort is well worth the read. I find it hard to believe that after writing so many novels Anne Perry is still able to present us with fresh storylines, incredibly realistic characters and a vivid reconstruction of life during World War I. This is definitely one of Perry's better works.

Can't wait for the next edition in this series.......2006-08-08

I am not usually an Anne Perry fan, but this series is wonderful, can't put the books down. I have read all three books in the series, starting with Shoulder the Sky. I can't wait for the next one. I am now an Anne Perry fan.

For heavens sake.......2006-07-06

I cannot say I enjoyed this book, largely because the main character, Joseph Reaveley, seemed to me to be self-absorbed and oddly moralistic in his approach to the horrors of war and the challenge of defending what often seems entirely indefensible. For example, there is the rotten war correspondent who forces (though heaven knows why) a courtmartial of a poor wounded soldier who may or may not have deliberately maimed himself to get out of the trenches and tunnels he was wounded in. It is never quite clear why in the face of no evidence of self-mutilation this fellow is courtmartialed and possibly (we never know) likely to be hung. It is, apparently, because, morality and honor require this??? Then, when this same correspondent turns up dead (with everyone thinking it couldn't have happened to a nicer fellow)- Saint Chaplain Reavely takes it upon himself to find out if he was murdered and if so, by whom. This, in the midst of trench warfare, poison gas - and then the idiocy of Gallipoli - where Joseph appears to confront another war correspondent who thinks the stupidity of that battle should be reported. Oh no, says our Joseph who is horrified that anyone in England should know of this - and tries to stop him - risking his own death (how incredibly brave) as well as that of another poor wounded fellow who, of course, is ready and willing to die, because Joseph knows best. Then, of course, there is Joseph's moral outrage at his sister who is chastely yearning for a General, and his "courageous" decision to ruin his best friend's life because doing so is "the morally defensible and right thing to do" despite the fact that Joe knows what his friend did was necessary to save England from the truth of the horrors of war. Really? This was the most disappointing of this series. Joe's previous moralizing was a bit much - but tolerable. This one was way over the top and thoroughly unbelievable.

Lest we forget the price paid for our freedoms..........2006-04-26

I became interested in WWI not as a person looking for tragedies (which it most definitely was) but rather in doing geneaology and learning about a great-uncle of mine who served in Europe during that time period. That geneaology also led to my finding out that my great-grandmother who suffered from epilepsy was placed in a 'poorhouse' due to epilepsy, where she died from influenza that struck the world at the end of the war. All this information made my family seem more real to me, and made me want to read more about their lives then, what was good, what was bad.

I've found a few very excellent mystery writers who write within this time frame, such as Charles Todd. I love his books,and though I am not absolutely crazy about Perry's other mysteries, I knew she was a fairly good writer...so I thought I'd give these a try.Other than being overly repititious, Perry did an interesting story here. There are a few subplots going on, involving a family of four adult children who in the midst of living their lives are also trying to find the person who assassinated their parents (in the first book which I have yet to read).

Two of the children are at the front; one as a chaplain who is feeling somewhat useless in the face of so much carnage, and one is a voluntary ambulance driver who seems to have found her calling. A rather objectionable journalist finds his way to their area of the front, and proceeds to antagonize everyone, and it is obvious that he means to blow the lid of this can of worms about how useless this war is and discourage other young men from signing up for the draft and keeping other countries from assisting Germany. What is not known is this man is in cahoots with the man who killed Reavely parents for ulterior reasons of splitting the world up into basically two halves, and greatly curtailing individual freedoms.

This man is killed, and though no one is mourning his loss, the priest finds it necessary for his own peace of mind to determine who killed him and bring that person to some form of justice. In doing so, he ends up hurting himself...which sometimes happens when we do what is right.

Many of the accolades given to Perry on her writing are true. She does do justice to the time period, when so much seemed so bleak, and where it is difficult to find a moral compass when so much is at stake. I enjoyed this and will continue to read them as they come out.

Karen Sadler

Average customer rating:

WONDERFUL as EVER!
gremlins
Lacks Dahl Magic
original
At last, Disney & Dahl's lost treasure.

The Gremlins
Roald Dahl , Artists and Writers Guild , and The Disney Studios
Manufacturer: Dark Horse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1593074964

Book Description

Published in 1943 and long unavailable, Dark Horse Books is proud to present this landmark book from the author of such beloved tales as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and Matilda. Digitally restored, this remarkable presentation of Dahl's classic story, lavishly illustrated by the artists of the Walt Disney Studios, will delight readers of all ages! The Gremlins is the story of Gus, a British World War II fighter pilot, who during the Battle of Britain turned to look out on the wing of his plane only to see an amazing sight: a little man, no more than six inches tall with horns growing from his head, drilling a hole in the plane's wing. Gus was the first man to ever see a Gremlin, and what happened after that would change the war, and the world, forever. Bought by Walt Disney to be produced as an animated motion picture (and considered to be the first story featuring the mythical airplane sabotaging creatures known as Gremlins), the project was ultimately shelved and is reprinted here for the first time in over 60 years.

Customer Reviews:

WONDERFUL as EVER!.......2007-04-06

I have both the "Dark Horse" edition and the original and both are outstanding books. I got my first "Gremlins" in probably 1950 or so and find the new copy to be as good as the original.

The price on this edition sure beats the going rate for an original and the artwork is fine, at least to me. Probably a child of today won't appreciate the art and the story line but the "Gremlins" themselves are fantastic!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who remembers the original and also "the days of old."

gremlins.......2006-11-10

A wondeful discovery after 60 years. Sadly the colour quality of the full page colour pictures this 2006 edition is poor when compared with my original 1943 Christmas present. The original pictures are bright & sparkly while those of the new 2006 edition are dark & even the colours have different hue. For example the picture of Gremlin Gus on the joystick. In the original the instrument dials are all clearly legible this not the case in the 2006 edition.
However how many people are priviledged to have an original to make comparisons with?
So thanks for the dicovery, maybe now Disney will release the film.
Eric Fletcher

Lacks Dahl Magic.......2006-10-30

I'm a Roald Dahl fan but this book doesn't come close to being as good as his other stories. It reads like a rough draft of an idea he had that was never fully developed into a finished story. I'm amazed Disney decided to have it published.

The characters are flat. You never really like or dislike the gremlins, even though they are supposedly an enemy of the airforce, but later become friends. And Gus, and airforce pilot, is stupid and dull. Dahl has other stupid and dull characters in other stories but they are usually the villans and are presented with delicious, twisty Dahl humor. In The Gremlins, Gus is supposed to be a hero. The biggest disappointment was the lack of Dahl's signature humor. The story lacks so much of what you normally expect in a Dahl tale I kept asking myself with disbelief, "this is a Roald Dahl story?"

original.......2006-10-25

I have an original signed 1943 edition of this picture book, which my parents read to me as a child, and I now own as a family treasure. A treasure it certainly is...one of the most poignant children's books ever written.

At last, Disney & Dahl's lost treasure........2006-10-06

I'm a Disneyphile and I've been coveting this book ever since I first heard about it. I've scoured Australian secondhand bookstores for years, hoping, by some miracle, that I might find an original copy tucked away in a dusty corner somewhere with a $2 sticker on it, but to no avail. [...].

But recently I went to Abebooks just to check if there were any reasonably-priced copies available, and I nearly fell off my chair when I saw a copy for less than $10! Then I saw another one, and another one, and another one, and I immediately thought with great joy: "It's been reproduced!" And sure enough, Dark Horse Comics have lovingly restored and reissued this lost treasure, a fascinating collaboration between two of the greatest creative minds of the 20th century: Walt Disney and Roald Dahl. Previously only available to collectors with deep pockets, this whimsical tome is now available for everyone to enjoy, the young and the young at heart alike. Bravo, Dark Horse! My only regret is that the film version never got off the ground, but this book is the next best thing ... until maybe one day John Lasseter decides to do what Peter Jackson did with the "lost spider pit sequence" from the original King Kong and actually remake it from scratch as a labour of love.

Average customer rating:

Ponderous Prose, Predictable Plot
A novel about the wounded of World War I
Crimson Portrait is so-so... no Picasso
Evocative Tale
Sadly Disappointing!

The Crimson Portrait: A Novel
Jody Shields
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316785288

Book Description

This haunting love story--the magnificent new historical novelby the author of the national bestseller The Fig Eater--makes unforgettablyreal the ravages of love and war.Spring 1915. On a sprawling country estate not far from London, a youngwoman mourns her husband, fallen on a distant battlefield. The eeriestillness in which she grieves is abruptly shattered as her home istransformed into a bustling military hospital. Recoiling from the chaos,unhinged by grief, the young widow finds unexpected refuge in a tenderyoung soldier whose face, concealed by bandages, she cannot see. Theiraffair takes a fateful turn when she confronts--and seizes upon--theopportunity to remake her lover in the image of her lost husband. THE CRIMSON PORTRAIT is a novel of glittering surfaces that belie darktruths. Its rich cast comes into focus as the novel peels back layers ofsuspense and intrigue to illuminate the abiding mysteries of affinity anddesire.

Customer Reviews:

Ponderous Prose, Predictable Plot.......2007-06-12

Very disappointing.
Beautiful young widow has her gorgeous estate requisitioned by the military. The servants have all gone off to help the war effort, and she
is helpless. Military doctors move in, she retreats to the third floor, doesn't want to know what is going on in the house, which has become a military hospital. Thats all that happens in the first 50 pages.
Yawn.

A novel about the wounded of World War I.......2007-05-30

At some point in our lives, all of us have found fault with our own faces. Maybe it was the passing anxiety of youthful acne, freckles, oddly paired dimples, or stick-out ears. Perhaps it's the lifelong irritation of inherited imperfections, like a crooked nose, puffy eyelids, receding chin, sagging jowls, or turkey neck.

Yet, as dissatisfying as we sometimes find ourselves when looking in the mirror, I can wager a week's worth of coffee breaks that every last one of us would passionately miss our flawed "ordinary" faces if suddenly they weren't there anymore.

In THE CRIMSON PORTRAIT, author Jody Shields delves into medical history from the Great War (1914-1918) to build her remarkable, often arrestingly beautiful romantic novel around the traumatic post-combat lives of British soldiers whose faces were horribly disfigured by explosion wounds.

Amid the emotional, spiritual and physical pain endured by these sequestered patients (even their families were barred from seeing them), we meet an exceptional community of medical and physical caregivers. Thrown together in unexpected assignments at a commandeered English country house-turned-hospital, they muddle through their own fears, uncertainties, relationships and obsessions, along with the estate's owner --- the recent widow of yet another war casualty --- who is still suffering the initial throes of grief and denial.

Shields unravels their intersecting stories with a powerful delicacy one might never expect to find within such a potentially grotesque theme. She does it so well, in fact, that it is difficult to tell who the primary players really are.

There is the seemingly tireless surgeon who devotes his entire short-lived retirement to repairing soldiers' faces; the dentist-turned-bone sculptor, whose eastern European past remains a mystery; the deposed "chatelaine" tortured by fleeting glimpses of her dead young husband; the pragmatic artist whose skill at drawing surgical procedures competes with her anguished affection for two lovers; the teenaged draft dodger who yearns to be a surgeon; and finally, the "model" patient whose poetic good looks were blasted away forever in a trench across the English Channel. Perhaps the realization that they are all superbly crafted composite characters is what adds so much to the strength of this story, which transcends mere fiction by a quantum leap.

While war has often served to accelerate the development of surgical "miracles" that have become medical standbys in peacetime, no other injuries have ever posed challenges as technically difficult or as heart-rending as those affecting the human face.

We may be brought up on the truism that appearance is only superficial and that the "real person" within is most important, but as recovering soldiers sketched in THE CRIMSON PORTRAIT learn, nothing will ostracize a human being faster than the sight of his or her destroyed face. Except for a brief glimpse or two of the appalled "normal" residents in a nearby rural village, however, Shields leaves that part of her story prophetically untold.

Read this book and you may well forget you are reading fiction; it is brilliant, poignant, eloquent and humbling, in all the best ways fine literature can be.

--- Reviewed by Pauline Finch

Crimson Portrait is so-so... no Picasso.......2007-05-21

I bought this book because it was highly recommended. I thought it was mediocre.

Evocative Tale.......2007-03-17

This novel brings the WWI setting to life with the characters seen through the prism of another character, who is also struggling with the rapid and unwelcome changes that the war, and especially the military hospital bring to their lives. This may be something like what is sometimes called a psychological novel, but it's quite readable, and I enjoyed it.

Sadly Disappointing!.......2007-01-15

The premise of this book sounded great. Then I read it. For me it read at a snails pace. I thought the story was supposed to be about Catherine, based on the book jacket. Instead it was about Dr. McCleary, the surgeon, or so it seemed to me. Thank goodness I liked his character. I didn't care for any of the others. The author never really got into their heads, all except McCleary. The book dragged for me and the only reason I read daily was just to finish it so I could move on to another book. I had no interest in the ending of Portrait. Speaking of which, it was confusing. I was left with many questions. Why did Anna not like Catherine? Why did Anna keep rejecting Dr. Kazanjian when she followed him because she liked him? Did McCleary die? Did Catherine end up with Julian? Did he know about his mask? All in all, I would not recommend this book to anyone. Also, I got very bored with her over- usage of the word "crimson." I wish she'd try using red for a change.

Average customer rating:

Dull
Great first book to a fascinating new series
A very bad title to a pretty good mystery
Maudlin history
Not my favorite, but still Very Good

No Graves As Yet (World War One Novels)
Anne Perry
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 034545653X
Release Date: 2004-08-31

Book Description

On a sunny afternoon in late June 1914, Cambridge professor Joseph Reavley learns that his parents have died in an automobile crash. Joseph’s brother, an officer in the Intelligence Service, reveals that their father had been en route to London with a mysterious secret document– allegedly possessing the power to disgrace England and destroy the civilized world. Now, that explosive paper has vanished, and Joseph is left to wonder: How had it fallen into the hands of his father, a quiet countryman? But Joseph is soon burdened with a second tragedy: the shocking murder of his most gifted student, who was loved and admired by everyone. Or so it appeared. And as England’s seamless peace begins to crack, the distance between the murder of an Austrian archduke and the death of a brilliant student grows shorter every day.

Download Description

Through Anne Perry's magnificent Victorian novels, millions of readers have enjoyed the pleasures and intrigue of a bygone age. Now, with the debut of an extraordinary new series, this New York Times bestselling author sweeps us into the golden summer of 1914, a time of brief enchantment when English men and women basked in the security of wealth and power, even as the last weeks of their privileged world were swiftly passing. Theirs was a peace that led to war.

On a sunny afternoon in late June, Cambridge professor Joseph Reavley is summoned from a student cricket match to learn that his parents have died in an automobile crash. Joseph's brother, Matthew, an officer in the Intelligence Service, reveals that their father had been en route to London to turn over to him a mysterious secret document -- allegedly with the power to disgrace England forever and destroy the civilized world. A paper so damning that Joseph and Matthew dared mention it only to their restless younger sister. Now it has vanished.

What has happened to this explosive document, if indeed it ever existed? How had it fallen into the hands of their father, a quiet countryman? Not even Matthew, with his Intelligence connections, can answer these questions. And Joseph is soon burdened with a second tragedy: the shocking murder of his most gifted student, beautiful Sebastian Allard, loved and admired by everyone. Or so it appeared.

Meanwhile, England's seamless peace is cracking -- as the distance between the murder of an Austrian archduke by a Serbian anarchist and the death of a brilliant university student by a bullet to the head grows shorter by the day.

Anne Perry is a sublime master of suspense. In No Graves as Yet, her latest haunting masterpiece, she reminds us that love and hate, cowardice and courage, good and evil are always a part of life, in our own time as well as on the eve of the greatest war the world has ever known.

Customer Reviews:

Dull.......2007-09-19

This was my first (and probably last) Anne Perry novel. Neither the story nor the characters caught me. I forced myself to finish it....

Great first book to a fascinating new series.......2007-05-11

Anne Perry's new series is off to a great start with "No Graves as Yet." Her historical fiction is well researched and her characters portray the feeling and attitudes of the day. When I finished reading this book, I couldn't wait for next one. I'm currently reading the last book in this series of five that have been progressively riveting. I feel that I'ved learned much about the British perspective of World War I from these novels and why these wars had such a huge influence on British life and attitudes even today. The effect on the U.S. is negligible by comparison.

A very bad title to a pretty good mystery.......2007-03-19

I had trouble putting it down once I started.
There is a mention of women voting rights people planting bombs
that was interesting as I had never heard they had done anything like that.
The idea that very smart people who are also good looking are hated
just for being somewhat human is an interesting and probably true plot twist.
I was rooting for the headmaster as the murderer
but she chickened out at the end...
Very English, what?

Maudlin history.......2007-03-12

I used the audio version of this book so may be a bit skewed in my view. Perry writes with wonderful detail and feel for the characters of this era (immediate pre WWI upper class England), yet I found the characters overwrought and hence somewhat unbelievable. While not really convinced of the conspiracy that drives this plot I enjoyed the details surrounding the plot. The "Irish problem", the assination of an Austrian archduke in Serbia, and how gradually WWI came into being. Not everyone's cup of tea.

Not my favorite, but still Very Good.......2006-05-03

Conspiracy theories are not my favorite plot device. It is hard for me to identify with the strong feelings expressed by many of the characters in this book, but I do believe people, particularly of the English upper classes, felt them. This is not my favorite Perry, but it is hard to deny that she is a superb writer. Her ability to crease a sense of time and place are unparallel.

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Takes a while to get started
Chimamanda Adichie's comments on Unburnable
A Must Read
Not a Fluff Read!
Long Story Short

Unburnable: A Novel
Marie-elena John
Manufacturer: Amistad
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060837578
Release Date: 2006-04-11

Book Description

In this riveting narrative of family, betrayal, vengeance, and murder, Lillian Baptiste is willed back to her island home of Dominica to finally settle her past. Haunted by scandal and secrets, Lillian left Dominica when she was fourteen after discovering she was the daughter of Iris, the half-crazy woman whose life was told of in chanté mas songs sung during Carnival: Matilda Swinging and Bottle of Coke; songs about a village on a mountaintop and bones and bodies; songs about flying masquerades and a man who dropped dead. Lillian knew the songs well. And now she knows these songs -- and thus the history -- belong to her. After twenty years away, Lillian returns to face the demons of her past, and with the help of Teddy, the man she refused to love, she will find a way to heal.

Set partly in contemporary Washington, D.C., and partly in post-World War II Dominica, Unburnable weaves together West Indian history, African culture, and American sensibilities. Richly textured and lushly rendered, Unburnable showcases a welcome and assured new voice.

Customer Reviews:

Takes a while to get started.......2007-09-07

I took a little while for me to get into this book. I, quite frankly, didn't care about Lillian the main character until I was almost a third of the way through. The most dimensional and complex characters were of course Matilda and Iris. Once the novel's focus shift primarily to them, it becomes a page turner. If you feel like investing the time to get to the heart of this tale, give it a read.

Chimamanda Adichie's comments on Unburnable.......2007-07-23

Chimamanda Adichie (Half of a Yellow Sun, Purple Hibiscus: A Novel) had these wonderful things to say about UNBURNABLE in the book review section of London's Guardian newspaper on Saturday June 23, 2007:

"I read Marie-Elena John's novel Unburnable on the plane from New York to Copenhagen. I laughed aloud so often reading this wondrously intelligent book about Dominica and the United States and Africa, about gender, class and race, about love and sexuality, that the bespectacled man sitting next to me put his Wall Street Journal down and leaned over to see what the title was. He asked what it was about. I could have told him how it dealt honestly with issues without ever forgetting to keep character and soul as its centre, but instead I told him a tiny anecdote from the book about black women and thongs. And I much enjoyed his blush."

A Must Read.......2007-03-27

This is a great book to kick back in silence and just immerse yourself into suspense, deep thinking, and a few tears. I was just a little disappointed with the ending, but all in all this was a great read.

Not a Fluff Read!.......2007-01-14

I have been blessed enough in the last week to read not one but TWO great books this one being the greater. I will admit I wasn't wrapped up in the book by page two but by page ten I was all caught up in this story. Marie-Elena John is an EXCELLENT story teller. Her words are beautiful and her descriptions come off the page so effortlessly. I could've easily believed this was her third novel instead of her first. I laughed, I cried and I called all my friends and advised them to please read this book. I did not know anything about Dominica before picking up this novel and now I cannot learn enough. This book intrigued me to no end and I cannot wait to read future publishings from Marie-Elena John. This story is not in the least predictable and her knowledge on the subject matter is outstanding! If you are looking for a mind challenging novel that will shock and educate you at the same time then look no further.

Long Story Short.......2006-11-08

Interesting story, you have to continue to read this book and not stop or you might get side tracked if you put it down for too long.

The Doctor's Wife (Oxford World's Classics)

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Isn't life like a novel in 3 volumes?

The Doctor's Wife (Oxford World's Classics)
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192833014

Book Description

`Isabel Gilbert was not a woman of the world. She had read novels while other people perused the Sunday papers...she believed in a phantasmal world created out of the pages of poets and romancers.' The Doctor's Wife is Mary Elizabeth Braddon's rewriting of Flaubert's Madame Bovary in which she explores her heroine's sense of entrapment and alienation in middle-class provincial life married to a good natured but bovine husband who seems incapable of understanding his wife's imaginative life and feelings. A woman with a secret, adultery, death and the spectacle of female recrimination and suffering are the elements which combine to make The Doctor's Wife a classic women's sensation novel. Yet, The Doctor's Wife is also a self-consciously literary novel, in which Braddon attempts to transcend the sensation genre. This is the only edition of a fascinating and engrossing work, and reproduces uncut the first three-volume edition of 1864.

Customer Reviews:

Isn't life like a novel in 3 volumes?.......2000-05-13

The Doctor's Wife is the 4th of Mary Elizabeth Braddon's novels which I have had the good fortune to read. There are 76 more, so, Oxford World's Classics, bring them on! In this, my favorite so far, the heroine reads novels and dreams of her life being like those heroines in her novels. She especially seems to have an affinity with Edith Dombey. Isabel marries a decent, honest, but not much of a dreamer type man. He is very sensible and loves her much, but doesn't satisfy her emotionally, while someone else does. Braddon's wonderful word paintings of the nature scenes, and her many literary allusions were what brought this book to be my favorite of hers so far. And I thought the story was also a little more interesting. I highly recommend this author to anyone who reads 19th century literature for FUN, which is why I do it.

Life of Johnson (Oxford World's Classics)

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One of the Lions of England
Reputations die hard
TRULY A WONDERFUL BOOK THAT JUST TAKES YOU TO ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE
It's a book
Biographical Master Classic. A Must for all Prose Lovers.

Life of Johnson (Oxford World's Classics)
James Boswell
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192835319

Amazon.com

James Boswell is for some the ideal scribe, for others a sycophantic toady. Edmund Wilson, for example, memorably labeled him "a vain and pushing diarist." Boswell can even be seen as someone unconsciously intent on undermining his idol in sonorous, balanced sentences. Early on in his massive Life, he puts all manner of ideas into our heads with his boobish attempts to clear the youthful Johnson of potential impropriety: "His juvenile attachments to the fair sex were, however, very transient; and it is certain that he formed no criminal connection whatsoever." And while it's often tempting to ignore Boswell's more personal intrusions and delight solely in the melancholic master's words and deeds, there are suchdelightful admissions as, "I was at this time so occupied, shall I call it? or so dissipated, by the amusements of London that our next meeting was not till Saturday, June 25..."

Samuel Johnson was born in 1709 and died in 1784--a long life, though one marred by depression and fear of death. On April 20, 1764, for example, he declared, "I would consent to have a limb amputated to recover my spirits." Many of the quotes Boswell includes are a sort of greatest hits: Johnson's definitions of oats and lexicographer, his love for his cat Hodge, as well as thousands of bon, and mal, mots. ("Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel"; "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprized to find it done at all.") But there are also many unfamiliar pleasures--Boswell's accounts of Johnson's literary industry, including the Dictionary, The Rambler, and Lives of the Poets; Johnson's singular loathing for Scotland and France; and the surprising hints of revelry. Awakened at 3 AM by friends, he greets them with, "What, is it you, you dogs! I'll have a frisk with you." This at age 42. Johnson's final years were marked by pain and loneliness but certainly no loss of wit.

Book Description

This complete and unabridged edition is the only complete critical edition in paperback. Samuel Johnson was a poet, essayist, dramatist, and pioneering lexicographer, but his continuing reputation depends less on his literary output than on the fortunate accident of finding an ideal biographer in James Boswell. As Johnson's constant and admiring companion, Boswell was able to record not only the outward events of his life, but also the humour, wit, and sturdy common sense of his conversation. His brilliant portrait of a major literary figure of the eighteenth century, enriched by historical and social detail, remains a monument to the art of biography.

Customer Reviews:

One of the Lions of England.......2007-08-17

'No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money,' Samuel Johnson.
Sorry, it is a hobby.

Samuel Johnson the writer of the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, which was a very big deal in his day as the elite felt the English language was in decline due to it being influenced by so many foreign influences and the marvel of Samuel Johnson's efforts and method of writing made him, according to Lord Chesterfield Lord Chesterfield's Letters (Oxford World's Classics), as someone to be deferred to as the Caesar of the English language. Samuel Johnson, along with his friend and former pupil David Garrick, helped place Shakespeare as the permanent king of the English language; further, Johnson was a great and singular essayist and has an eternal place as a minor poet of the English language. His dictionary shot Johnson into the inner circle of elite in English society.

Boswell's "Life of Samuel Johnson" is a fascinating read as Boswell traces Johnson's life story. Samuel Johnson and Edmund Burke, a friend of his, and together the center of English political and cultural life with the 'Literary Club' that they had both started were big players in forming the English reaction to the major liberal events going on in their day and could be said to be the fathers of modern conservatism. They were alive to face the genesis of modern liberalism, in the form of Jean Jacque Rousseau along with the American Revolution, theirs was the conservative response. 'What hypocrites are the drivers of negroes to be demanding liberty,' Johnson in reference to the Americans. (It is funny that Samuel Johnson was against slavery while the more liberal Boswell was for it). Although, I know Edmund Burke felt England to be in the reconcilable wrong with the American Revolution Edmund Burke's Speech on conciliation with the American colonies,: Delivered in the House of commons, March 22, 1775; ed., with notes and a study plan ... I. Crane (Twentieth century text-books) the Doctor, Samuel Johnson, did not and felt the Revolutionaries hypocritical ingrates. What is good about conservatism lays with these two fellows, Burke and Johnson. It is also amusing that Johnson's conservativism included the observation that countries should be judged by the condition in which their poor lived, disapprobation given to the worse.

Samuel Johnson came from very humble roots and his early life was spent in modest means, fortunately he was surrounded by books. His first years in London were quite a struggle, near pennyless, sometimes sleeping on the streets. The money he ended up getting for writing the dictionary wasn't much in the end, it was the fame that got him some wealth.

A marvelous read. Giving advice about the legal profession, education: his advice - just do it; habits form early and habits are hard to break... lots of interesting views from how to conduct oneself socially (Boswell seemed in constant search of this) to political commentary (one of my favorite was his advice on being weary of those that wrap themselves in the flag)... too much to write about. Boswell, when he first meets Johnson is so filled with awe and reverance but it mellows out some, he even starts playing games with the Doctor; however, he always greatly respects him but the idolitry disipates.

Although Samuel Johnson's conservativeness and strong opinions might turn people off I find it refreshing compared to the stealth tactics of politics today. Politicians don't say what they mean and that is also probably why the Doctor was discouraged from entering politics in his day by some close friends with ties in that area, somethings change only by degree. James Boswell, the author, didn't agree with the Doctor all the time but appreciated the hard, realistic way of looking at things and amusingly delivered (mostly by quirky analogies) that Samuel Johnson did.

Then Boswell is a story in himself. Boswell's Rousseau-ist fever for the notions of the 'Noble Savage, Natural Man' The Noble Savage: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1754-1762 was interesting also; his generation caught it and he had strong sentiments towards it despite Johnson's arguments against its reasoning. This fever also, at the least, lent cover to the American Revolution.

Johnson could only afford one year of college. Received an honarary Doctorate for his dictionary.

One of the books one should read before they turn 20.

The best synopsis of Rousseau and in his own words is probably 'Creed of a Priest of Savoy' The Essential Rousseau (Essentials)

Reputations die hard.......2007-07-24

If you feel obliged to wade through the canon once in a while, this won't be a waste of your time, though these days Gibbon's roughly contemporaneous history is a much better read, Boswell's extreme formality being a bit wearing over 1200 pages (in the edition I read).
On the other hand, Boswell's telling of Johnson's life is sprightly and certainly not so tedious as the writings of Johnson himself. People who choose to read the Life will not be disappointed.
On yet another hand, I can easily understand why the library copy I borrowed, though purchased in 1949, had not yet been read (the uncut pages showing me so): except to specialists, I would not recommend this book in lieu of, say, 1000 or so others.
I guess this actually is a useless review: if you have already decided to read this, you shan't have gone wrong; if you're looking for a good read, you're probably not looking here.

TRULY A WONDERFUL BOOK THAT JUST TAKES YOU TO ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE.......2007-06-07

I own the Penguins Classics edition but no matter. The story is wonderfully rich. Boswell really is a master story teller because at no point did the story become dry. I literally read and savored every single word.

All I knew of Johnson is that he wrote the first English Dictionary. But I had no idea this man was full of wit. He had a temper no doubt and definitely went through periods of what sound like moderate to severe depression followed by periods of bursting with energy, joy and wit and incredibly prolific and productive in those bursts, enough so that he surprised most people with his abilities in those bursts of creative genius. I am biased as I am a psychiatric physician but it sound like bipolar disorder to me.

Whatever the case may be, I drank this book up. I'm still reading it, have about 40 pages left and haven't put it down since I picked it up.

A must read just because of the sheer wonderful story contained within!

It's a book.......2007-05-13

Haven't read it yet. But the processing job on the book itself was faulty...several pages were bent over and thus not trimmed properly.

Biographical Master Classic. A Must for all Prose Lovers........2006-09-06

I have read alot of biographys until a recently a Cambridge graduate friend recommended the first great biography-Life of Johnson. My British friends have a much better view of literature at large than I do so I listening and purchased this piece. I only appreciated Samuel Johnson for his work with the first English Dictionary which a first edition now retails for over $35000. James Boswell his biographer deplicts his life with such vivid respect and admiration so as to make me better understand what a true friend can be. They obviously had a great relationship for more than 40 years. Samuel Johnson is captured with all his great and abundant humor and deep insight. I love this quote" One man may lead a horse to water but twenty may not make him drink". All in all it is 1400 pages worth reading because its insight into 18th century life in London is so heart felt. Additionally alot of the their conversations took place at a Pub called the Mitre. It is located on Mitcham high street in Tooting, UK. I lived near by and spent a few nights their with friends. Little did I realize I was in the very pub where so many infamous conversations took place some two hundred years ago. A great read.

Average customer rating:

shirley hazzard is a gift to the world!
Maybe my favorite novel I've read recently
beautiful and smart
What breathtaking descriptions and heartbreaking sincerity
The Great Fire: A Novel

The Great Fire: A Novel
Shirley Hazzard
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374166447

Book Description

A Great Writer's Sweeping Story of Men and Women Struggling to Reclaim Their Lives in The Aftermath of World Conflict

The Great Fire is Shirley Hazzard's first novel since The Transit of Venus, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1981. The conflagration of her title is the Second World War. In war-torn Asia and stricken Europe, men and women, still young but veterans of harsh experience, must reinvent their lives and expectations, and learn, from their past, to dream again. Some will fulfill their destinies, others will falter. At the center of the story, a brave and brilliant soldier finds that survival and worldly achievement are not enough. His counterpart, a young girl living in occupied Japan and tending her dying brother, falls in love, and in the process discovers herself.

In the looming shadow of world enmities resumed, and of Asia's coming centrality in world affairs, a man and a woman seek to recover self-reliance, balance, and tenderness, struggling to reclaim their humanity

Download Description

The year is 1947. The great fire of the Second World War has convulsed Europe and Asia. In its wake, Aldred leith, an acclaimed hero of the conflict, has spent two years in China at work on an account of world-transforming change there. Son of a famed and sexually ruthless novelist, Leith begins to resist his own self-sufficiency, nutured by the war. Peter Exley, another veteran and an art historian by training, is prosecuting war crimes committed by the Japanese. Both men have narrowly escaped death in battle, and Leith saved Exley's life. The man have maintained long-distance friendship in a postwar loneliness that haunts them both, and which has swallowed Exley whole. now in their thirties, with their youth behind them and their world in ruins, both must invent the future and retrieve a private humanity. Arriving in occupied Japan to record the effects of the bomb at Hiroshima, Leth meets Benedict and Helen Criscoll, the Australian son and daughter of a tyrranical medical administrator. Benedict, at twenty, is doomed by a rare degenerative disease. Helen, still younger, is inseperable from her brother. Precocious, brilliant, sensitive, at home in the books they read together, these two have been, in Leith's words, delivered by literature. The young people capture Leith's sympathy; indeed, he finds himself struggling with his attraction to this girl whose feelings are as intense as his own and from whom he will soon be fatefully parted. A deeply observed story of love and seperation, of disillusion and recovered humanity, The Great Fire marks the much-awaited return of an author whose novel The Transit of Venus won the National Book Critics Circle Award and, twenty years after its publication, is considered a modern classic.

Customer Reviews:

shirley hazzard is a gift to the world!.......2007-08-25

A book brilliant in conception, sublime in beauty, and crafted of delicate and profound power, The Great Fire continues to establish Shirley Hazzard as one of the pre-eminent prose stylists and novelists of international reach at work today. The novel won the National Book Award, and is a striking compliment to her 1981 National Book Critics Circle Award winning The Transit of Venus.

Maybe my favorite novel I've read recently.......2007-08-21

Hazzard's multi-character romance in 1947 and 1948, is set in the Far East and in England, a world recovering from the deep ravages of WWII. The main plot centers around a romance between a decorated English war veteran named Aldred Leith (age 32) and a young girl, Helen Driscoll (age 16), with an important subsidiary character, an Australian friend of the Brit, Peter Exley, who is pursuing war crimes prosecution in Hong Kong.

This is just an amazing novel. It's one of those books that has some flaws but is so terrific that I just have to disregard them and strongly recommend it to you. Hey, "Jane Eyre" and "Crime and Punishment" have serious flaws, too. I'll briefly summarize the problems: I think Hazzard's generally beautiful and understated prose can tend towards the purposefully obscure -- a little more information is sometimes needed (this novel is not for the dim) -- although the story is very clear, even in its details. I also didn't like that the British protagonist's main act of heroism in war was never described (only the events behind his less important decoration were, as I understood it). Most importantly, the Australian's story was never resolved, which I think is a serious error.

Finally, I also want to point out that there is some serious suspense about the final resolution of the plot. Which makes a few of the negative reviews below kind of funny.

Go read this novel. I loved it. I mean loved it.

beautiful and smart.......2007-07-02

I find it humorous that people gave this book a bad review because the author used too many big words. I think you do have to be knowledgable about history and used to reading literature to find the rhythm of this book. This author is amazingly brilliant in terms of history and literary device.

What breathtaking descriptions and heartbreaking sincerity.......2007-06-04

The characters in this book are so real, so tender and injured and brutal with each other, 1940's Japan really blossoms for the reader. The historical perspective, the underlying love story, the crystal clear descriptions of the land, make this an interesting book.

The Great Fire: A Novel.......2007-03-23

Ugh! What a boring book!

In my Top Five Boring Books! (Snow, Reading Lolita in Tehran, The Piano Tuner, Accidental Tourist) just to give you perspective.

Read Magical Seeds, or Lolita, or some Steinbeck.

Don't waste your time here.

The Thirty-Nine Steps (Oxford World's Classics)

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On the Run from German Spies
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Flawed but fun
Don't stop here
Good over evil.

The Thirty-Nine Steps (Oxford World's Classics)
John Buchan
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192839314

Book Description

In The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), the best-known of his thrillers (made into a popular movie by Alfred Hitchcock), John Buchan introduces his most enduring hero, Richard Hannay, who, despite claiming to be an "ordinary fellow," is caught up in the dramatic and dangerous race against a plot to
devastate the British war effort.
In this, the only critical edition available, Christopher Harvie's introduction interweaves the writing of the tale with the equally fascinating story of how John Buchan, publisher and lawyer, came in from the cold and, via The Thirty-Nine Steps, ended the war as spy-master and propaganda
chief.

Customer Reviews:

On the Run from German Spies.......2007-08-25

This classic spy novel published in 1915 is a fine read for the twenty-first century; it's fast-moving with a driving narrative. I read this book when I was a kid and loved it. Three movie versions have been made, the most famous being the Hitchcock version of 1935.
In November of 2006 in London I saw and greatly enjoyed a hilarious stage version based more upon the movie treatment than the book. It had only four characters, and two of them were called Clowns. The Clowns played all sorts of characters in the play including cops and spies. A female actress played three roles. The stage effects simulating the movie action were wonderful. It is scheduled for a Broadway production during the 2007-2008 season. Any similarity between the play and the novel are purely coincidental.
In the novel there is no love interest, and there are no important female characters, but in the stage and movie versions women play key roles.
In most of the book Richard Hannay is on the run, mainly in Scotland, a fugitive from the police and the German spies. Most people he meets aid him in his flight. He's a cunning man who can decipher coded messages and foil plots that are a lead-up to the First World War. The book is still worth reading and is a good diversion. Don't expect subtlety, but do expect a clever yarn, a well-told tale.

The Daemon in Our Dreams
Nine Lives Too Many
The Rice Queen Spy

The Man Who Knew Too Much.......2007-05-26

Richard Hannay was visiting London in May. He had left Scotland at age six to work and find a small fortune in South Africa. Hannay was tired and bored after a month in London. At his flat a neighbor asked to speak to him in private, and asked for help. This stranger told of his travels in the Balkans and the things he learned about those who stirred up a revolution. Its all due to a conspiracy (money can be made on a falling market). But now Franklin P. Scudder knows too much to be allowed to live. An important foreign leader will visit London. He will be murdered by an Austrian and the evidence will point to Vienna and Berlin. Scudder told how he faked his own death! Hannay believed him, and sheltered him for days. When Hannay returned to his flat he found Scudder stabbed dead. Hannay now believes Scudder's story to be true. But Hannay will either be the next target or be charged and convicted for the murder. Life is no longer dull.

Hannay took steps to disguise himself and disappear. He found Scudder's notebook and tried to decipher its coded entries. Hannay must evade the police search and those seeking to kill him. The chapters tell of his flight and the events of his capture by the killers and escape. Buchan describes the country and the characters Hannay met. Some of the words are obscure ("burnside"). Hannay finally meets Sir Walter and learns more. The police will no longer be an inconvenience. There is a new surprise when Hannay returns to Sir Walter's London mansion. Hannay figures out who is the spy, and his method. The next step is to intercept and stop him before he leaves England with the secret information. Of course this story has a happy ending.

The 1930s film by Alfred Hitchcock changed very many of the details of this story, so the novel will be fresh and interesting to a reader. Note how a person can simply disguise himself by a complete change of clothes and hat. Dashiell Hammett also mentioned this in his "Red Harvest". People remember clothing better than a face.

Flawed but fun .......2006-07-24

Entertaining story about a man on the run from some secret German society, although it is never really explained who these people exactly are and what their actual secret is. Every now and then the word "black stone" is thrown into the text, but....???? In most chapters the hero, Richard Hannay, gets cornered and then makes a miraculous escape. It's set against a political background (the outbreak of WW1), but there's no political meaning/message or any other deeper meaning in this book, except some anti-semitism here and there. It's entertainment first, and if you read it like that, it's not a bad read.

Don't stop here.......2006-07-07

Buchan's famous proto-thriller, a suspenseful foot-to-the-metal flight through pre-WW1 Scotland, is handled deftly and masterfully throughout. It is neither well-thought-out nor intricately plotted, but a good part of the fun comes from seeing Buchan inventing as he goes along with incredible ease and skill. Unlike his more serious works, it's concise and tautly-constructed, but it also lacks the character development and philosophical insights of his other books. An excellent place to start reading Buchan, but a bad place to stop! If you read this book, make sure you read the sequels: they keep getting better.

Good over evil........2006-06-22

As Europe is bracing for the Great War everyone knows is inevitable, Richard Hannay meets an interesting American outside his London flat. He's Mr. Franklin Scutter of Kentucky and he's privy to a secret which will bear heavily on the national security of Great Britain in the days to come. Scutter shares his disturbing secret with Hannay. Though short on details, it involves a sinister German plot to intercept top secret information about the planned deployment of the British fleet.

Soon thereafter, Scudder is murdered for knowing what he knows and Hannay flees London to avoid a similar fate. Hannay winds up in his native Scotland where he's pursued by both Scudder's killers and the British police who believe he's the murderer. Traveling primarily by foot, Hannay covers a great deal of Scottish countryside. Author John Buchan helpfully describes how Hannay traverses the glens, the heaths, the moors, the ridges, the high roads, the burns, the hollows, the vales and the occasional bog. (For a while there, I thought I was reading National Geographic.)

This book was first published in 1915, a good 20 years before Eric Ambler, acknowledged father of the modern spy story, wrote his first novel. It is one of the seminal works in the now very popular genre of international espionage. Sad to say, The 39 Steps has not held up well to the test of time. Though fast paced and not without charm, this novel fails to make the grade in today's literary world. The reason is that the plotting is so unrealistic, it goes beyond just being outlandish to find itself firmly ensconced in the realm of the utterly preposterous. Too much of the narrative relies on coincidence, luck and events that could never occur in the real world, then or now.

The 39 Steps gets 4 stars for the important place it occupies in the pantheon of spy novels. But based on the merits it deserves a lesser rating.

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