Customer Reviews

Enigma

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For captivating true life signals intelligence there are several books one can go to, including those by James Bamford on the American system (Puzzle Palace, Body of Secrets) but for really getting into the enormity of the challenges and the thrill of the individual code-breakers when they succeeded, this is the book I recommend.

It completely ignores the enormous contributions made by the Poles (who gave the English two Enigma machines at the beginning of the war) as well as the heroic deeds of Tommy Brown (youngest George Medal winner at 16, survived with code materials taken from a sinking German ship), but I have found no better novel to communicate the absolute goose-bump emotional roller-coaster that the Bletchley Park gang experienced.

If anything, this novel convey a human side to code-breaking that offsets the modern-day obsession with massive computers.

Harris has described a time in history when Britain still was able to produce genius but lacked the wherewithall to capitalize. The book describes the hardships of fighting World War II on a shoe string and the heroism of the various cogs in the wheel. It is one of my five favorite books and I have read it many times over, finding something new each and every time. Highly recomended.

Robert Harris has done it again, after the triumph of Fatherland he has written another masterpiece thriller about the British codebreakers during The Battle of the Atlantic. Harris's hero Tom Jericho is a great mathematician and codebreaker at Bletchley Park who is out of the game due to a nervous breakdown, but is called back to Bletchley Park when the Allies find out that the Germans have changed their codes all of a sudden. The reason Jericho is called back is that since he broke the Germans's code last time, his superiors think he can do it again, but there is another element that puzzles Jericho: The girl he was having a relationship with, Claire Rommily, has stolen some cryptograms and disappeared into thin air! Suddenly the Forign Office begin an investigation on her, is there a spy in Bletchley Park? Jericho (with the help of Claire's housemate Hester Wallace) intends to find out just that. It would be a crime for me to give away any more. One of the things I loved the best in this book is Tom Jericho's character, he is a normal human being. Not Superman (as some of my favourite authors tend to do, Tom Clancy, Frederick Forsyth, Robert Ludlum etc.). He is not particularly good looking(although I hear that Dougray Scott has been cast as him), suave or strong. I believe that with this book, Harris has proved himself to be the succesor to John LeCarre in passing on moral messages without actually writing them out loud! Please continue to delight us Mr. Harris!

I REEAALLY loved this book, given to me by a friend! It's really exiting, and keeps the reader's attention right until the end. The characters are very real, and the book is colourfully written. A definate must for any bookshelf, 10/10!

The seven sections of the book are introduced by one definition from "A Lexicon of Cryptography". These should have been in the front of the book rather than dispersed since most of the terms are already introduced in the first section without explanation. Consequently the flow of the narrative can be hampered by readers' ignorance of technology. Does this spoil the suspense? It did for me. The plot itself is obscure and leaves unanswered questions for the reader after the conclusion. The first hundred pages are best described as boring. This book isn't lacking in some episodes of suspense but the work does not come even close to the high calibre suspense and comprehensible plot of the author's Fatherland.

ENIGMA' by Robert Harris, is a mix of history and fiction blended nicely together to make a very interesting book. The story takes place during World War II, before the United States entered the war. During this period, the German's had a type of code, called 'Shark' by England's cyptoanalysis teams, which was used to send coded messages to and from German U-boats. The story is about the English cryptoanologists that attempt to crack this code and how they go about doing it. The main character of the story is Tom Jericho, who is a math nerd, and has no life outside of math, crossword puzzles and chess. He also has a girlfriend named Claire Romilly who is also a cryptoanologist. While they are working to crack the code, the English find that there is a leak in their team that has been giving information to the Germans. Tom and Claire are both suspects, but Claire is much more so. During the course of the story, Tom tries to clear her name while, at the same time, trying to crack the German code.

This book is enjoyable because it includes so much factual information about World War II, and at the same time has two different plot lines that are both interesting and exciting. The reader will learn a lot about World War II from the English point of view, which is quite different from what we Americans think of the war. This book is highly recommended to anyone who enjoys reading about World War 2 or just wars in general. The writing is first rate, along the lines of Jackson McCrae's CHILDREN'S CORNER or possibly some of other of Harris's novels (think his POMPEII-no it's not about the volcano). So rather than just getting some page turner that's now well done, you get a pretty good literary piece also. ENIGMA should be on the top of your reading list.

I think he has put out much better books and this one was the first to really disappoint me. The book is an average book, but I had just read Fatherland so this one was a let down. The story was interesting and could have been one of the first major attempts to take on the code breaking by the UK in WW 2. The staples of a Harris book are there, a great cast that you get to know, a well thought out story etc, I just came into the book expecting too much. The author also tried to go down the path of the "dark, brooding" lead and he did not pull it off. Overall, not that great of a book. There are many others out there that are better.

I found this a harder book to wade through than Fatherland.
I suppose this was partially due to a darker tone to the book, maybe this was imparted by the fact that much of the book take's place in the middle of the night. I am sure another aspect was that the some of the subject matter was a bit redundant to me, having recently finished the lenghty tome Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I was also put off by the now familiar, having read FatherLand and Archangel previously, literary and thematic twist that Harris employs of couching the revealation of historical pogroms and monstrostisties as the cause of the books mystery. All of these three books employ this same device, so that by the end of Enigma I was not that surprised by the historical cause of the "enigma".

Having said all of that, I did enjoy the book, especially the insight into the accomplishments of Bletchley Park as well as the mystery Claire's dissapearance. I guess it was just not as enjoyable as Fatherland, and it was probably a mistake to tear through three of his books in so short a time period.

Vividly recreated portrait of Bletchly Park, offering a real historical insight into the birth of the computer age. With his prose, Harris manages to bridge the gap between the fast flowing, exciting (but throwaway) fiction of lesser thriller writers and the more literary and intense writing of John le Carre.

Enigma is the 2nd book by Robert Harris that I've read. Once again, he has a knack for drawing the reader in. I was very impressed with the way in which he wove historical fact into this work of fiction. I found the information about WWII to be very interesting. At times the story is flat and not too interesting, but all in all it's a good read. History buffs and mystery lovers alike can enjoy this book.