Most helpful customer reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Think Too Hard, Nov 18 2003
Alistair MacLean was not famous for his subtlety. He wasn't even a very good writer (he hated the physical act of writing). But no one ever spun a more taut yarn than MacLean. His early books might be tiresome in spots (even the famous "Guns of Navaronne"), but by the time he wrote books like "When Eight Bells Toll", "Ice Station Zebra", "Breakheart Pass", and others, he whacked out all the fat and built aaction/suspense stories of amazing complexity, that grip from the first page and never let go. With "Where Eagles Dare" he was at the height of his storytelling abilities. It's an unremitting book. Oddly enough, though Clint Eastwood slaughters Germans in their thousands in the movie, in the book the characters are more restrained and only kill out of necessity. A great trait of MacLean's is the ability to coil stories through double and treble crosses -- and perhaps more! There's always a traitor in the midst in MacLean, and this slab of treachery is mind-boggling. This is a book that's difficult to put down. MacLean isn't Tolstoy -- but Tolstoy couldn't have written anything so full of hair-raising adventure, either.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
MacLean's finest suspense work, Feb 6 2003
I read all of MacLean's books when I was a kid, and although Where Eagles Dare is not his best, it is easily his most exciting. I remember being up at 4 a.m., unable to stop reading. Unusually, this is MacLean's only book in which he wrote a screenplay first, then based the novel on his script (that's why the film seems such a faithful adaptation). As a result, the book is shorter and leaner then many of his novels, and it definitely works for the story. The suspense never stops building, the action sequences - especially atop the cable car - are some of the best he's ever written, and the characters have a very entertaining repartee between them, particularly Smith and Shaffer. Where Eagles Dare also features some of MacLean's sexiest female heroes, not always present in his books. The Guns of Navarone had a greater scope and deeper character development, H.M.S. Ulysses was harrowing, gritty and deeply humanistic, Ice Station Zebra had a plot with more twists and double-crosses, but Where Eagles Dare was MacLean's all-time action/suspense fest.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
The dialogue is awful and the plot is hard to believe, Feb 5 2003
I expected to enjoy this book, since I love military and suspense novels. However, I soon realized that this book wasn't what I thought it was. The dialogue is truly awful, unless you enjoy comic book tough guy language. The heroes use flippant humor when they are in grave danger, not just once or twice, but continuously. I almost stopped reading, it was so annoying. And a Brit writing American slang dialogue for one of the characters is almost as bad as an American writing British dialogue. It just doesn't sound quite right.The plot, although certainly creative, just wasn't believable. Maybe this type of novel isn't meant to be believable, but it sure is something I like to see. And there weren't just one or two instances of these improbable plot elements. They just kept coming and coming. For example: an escape from their German captors based on a brilliant improvisation. In another instance, an impersonation of a double agent based on unbelievable luck, gullibility of the SS (not generally known for this) and a few convenient added elements that seemed just too good to be true. Now I should say that this type of book might appeal to a teenage boy. I think I would have enjoyed it at that age. But as an adult, I would look for better writing and a more realistic plot. If you are looking for something in the way of a 20th century military novel, I would recommend the following authors: Jack Higgins, James Webb, Tom Clancy, Patrick Robinson, Herman Wouk, James Jones, Larry Bond, Dale Brown, and Anton Myrer. _The Eagle has Landed_, _The Caine Mutiny_ and _The Hunt for Red October_ are among the best of these novels that I have read. Jack Higgin's books are probably most similar to MacLean's, with exciting plots and heroic characters, but with more realism and better dialogue.
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by Alistair Maclean
by Alistair Maclean
by Alistair Maclean
by Alistair Maclean
by Alistair Maclean
