Alistair MacLean (1) (1922–1987)

I read this book because a MacLean fan of my acquaintance insisted that the literary hell I was put through by "Where Eagles Dare" was a fluke, and that his other books were better. Big mistake. This one is worse.

MacLean has an infuriating habit of writing military commanders who perpetually endanger their soldiers, their missions, and other innocents through an inexplicable refusal to kill enemy combatants. In "Where Eagles Dare," the supposedly heroic mission leader makes a ridiculous and show more irrelevant effort to arrest a pair of Nazis in Germany during wartime and bring them home to face a trial--yes, a trial--instead of just shooting the stinking Nazis like any good soldier would do. The eventual result is that the Nazis die anyway, but not before they make corpses out of most of his soldiers. So: no trial, and a whole lot of Allied families are needlessly bereaved because of our hero.

"South by Java Head" turns out to be no different. In this case, a captain must shepherd a stricken and parched lifeboat full of wounded survivors through Japanese-infested waters to reach safety in Australia. And just to spice things up, guess what additional passengers the captain thinks it's vitally important to bring back on his boat: a full crew of pirates! Why? To stand trial, of course! If you know MacLean, then the result is predictable: there's no trial, because the pirates wind up dead en route, but only after taking a bunch of innocents with them.

I console myself by picturing MacLean proudly and dramatically explaining to the bereaved families the senseless vanity that their sons and husbands were sacrificed to, and then those families beating the stuffing out of him.

(Incidentally, after a while it becomes almost comical the way MacLean seems unable to describe Japanese people without throwing in the adjectives "leering" and "yellow.")

This is, I swear on all that is sacred, the last MacLean I'll ever read. I don't care if it turns out he ghost-wrote Harry Potter; I'm done with him. show less

Growing up in the UK my reading material was an eclectic mixture of Enid Blyton children's adventure novels, Ian Fleming and John Gardner espionage tales and Alistair MacLean wartime escapades. It was in this environment that my love for well crafted tales of suspense, adventure and espionage was fostered and nowhere is this more apparent than in the MacLean thriller WHERE EAGLES DARE.
Second among my favorite MacLean works (my all-time favorite being WHEN EIGHT BELLS TOLL) the storyline for show more WHERE EAGLES DARE was faithfully recreated for the 1960s movie with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood (not surprising really since MacLean adapted his own novel for the screen).
A group of British Commando's along with an American Ranger parachute behind the German lines in World War 2. Their stated mission: the rescue of an American General who has been captured by the Nazi's and taken to a mountaintop fortress.
Of course like many I had seen the movie several times before finally settling down to read the book, but settle down I did and what a ride MacLean treated us to. The action is well described with white-knuckle realism and MacLean's complex and intricate plotting is both well structured and compelling. For those unfamiliar with either the book or the novel there is also a nice twist that to this day has me marveling at its pure ingenuity.
Okay so the dialogue may not be the best, but I for one do not read MacLean novels for their dialogue.
For adventure novels, MacLean is the master as much as Agatha Christie is the Queen of the whodunnit. I wish that the entire series of novels would be reprinted for a new generation to enjoy. show less

Oh my god, this book was excruciating. The protagonist may be the worst action hero I've ever read. He keeps doing rash, stupid things, continually endangering his men and his mission through an inexplicable refusal to kill Nazis. (He thinks they should be sent to England to stand trial.) And yes, some of his men die for this vanity. MacLean dresses that up as heroism. I just sat there wondering why I bothered finishing the damn book.

Warning: this review contains spoilers

****

For a first novel, this is very accomplished. It recounts in unsparing detail the mind-numbing tedium, full-throttle panic and bone-chilling cold that characterizes life on the Arctic convoys during the Second World War. The crew of the Ulysses are worn out and on the brink of mutiny. So what does the Admiralty do? Send them on another convoy. Great. And this one looks like it's going to be hit by everything the enemy's got.

This book is an show more instruction manual in leadership (good and bad, as exemplified by Vallery and Starr, respectively) as well as a harrowing and moving account of the horrors of war. The Glasgow Evening News calls this book "not for the squeamish", and some of the aerial attacks would definitely fit that category, not to mention the horrific ways people can die aboard ship just by being trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time. The men, however, prove unbelievably resilient, giving everything they have and pushing the ship to the limit.

I cried a few places toward the end (e.g. when Vallery died) and exclaimed "Oh thank goodness he survived" when Brooks was revealed to have made it off the Ulysses in time. Some of the men did not have very many distinguishing characteristics, but as a unit they inspire a great deal of sympathy, and you want the old ship to give the enemy whatfor and go out in a real blaze of glory.

I did, however, have to roll my eyes at a couple of the men not saying things that were on their mind. At one point, Ralston is ordered to fire torpedoes at a struggling ship in their convoy to give it a quick and merciful death. He refuses to obey for the longest time and then finally does so, and turns around and mentions something to the effect of "you know how I lost most of my family in a bombing raid and my dad's at sea? That was his boat I just sank." WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO? They might have been able to get someone else to do it! Also McQuater, trapped in a confined space with a fire raging, is told to open the sprinklers. After much effort, he does so, and then tells them "By the way, the hatch is jammed, so we're going to drown in here." *sigh* Maybe these guys didn't say anything until it was too late so that nobody's mind could be changed, but it was mildly exasperating.

This is highly recommended if you are interested in WW2, the Arctic convoys, ships, and a no-fuss story without tacked-on romances or other side plots. show less