THE GUNS OF NAVARONE by Alistair MacLean

Alistair MacLean is a legend of the adventure novel.  His work, especially his first several novels, is the standard all other adventure novels are measured.  And it is a large and uncomfortable fit for nearly every novel and writer in the genre.  Much of his best work is about the daring exploits of men at war, which is interesting because Mr MacLean held antiwar viewpoints.  In an essay he wrote for Companion Book Club, which is included as an introduction to recent editions of his novel The Guns of Navarone, he stated—

“I wanted to write a war story—with the accent on the story.  Only a fool would pretend that there is anything noble or splendid about modern warfare, but there is no denying that it provides a great abundance of material for a writer, provided no attempt is made to glorify it or exploit its worst aspects.”

I have also read Mr MacLean was disappointed in the Where Eagles Dare film, which he developed as a screenplay before writing the novel.  In Chris Willis’s biographical essay for its Alistair MacLean entry in British Mystery and Thriller Writers Since 1960, Ian Chapman, MacLean’s editor at Collins, quoted Mr MacLean’s reaction to Where Eagles Dare—

“This is terrible!  I didn’t kill as many Germans as this.  I was writing an antiwar film.”

I can only imagine a wry smile, or a half chuckle when Mr MacLean said those words because as a fan of both the film and the novel I can’t possibly see the “anti” part of the war story, but it has been some years since I read the novel; maybe I missed something?

I bring all this up because I recently reread Alistair MacLean’s second novel The Guns of Navarone, and it, somehow, was better than I remembered.  Which is impressive because I remember it being pretty damn good.  Navarone is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea where the Germans built a nearly impervious artillery emplacement deep in its stone cliffs.  The Allies have made every attempt to destroy the guns because with them in place the Germans’ control the passage to the small British held island Kheros where some 1,200 soldiers are stranded.

In a last ditch effort British Intelligence creates a strike force composed of five men.  The men are tasked to infiltrate Navarone and destroy the guns before the Royal Navy attempts its rescue of the men on Kheros.  If they fail, the naval ships will be destroyed by the guns, and the soldiers on Kheros will be captured, or worse.

The Guns of Navarone is a larger than life war story painted on a small canvas; the action is limited to a single objective with extraordinarily fine plotting, and the perspective is limited to the eyes of the strike force.  The plot and action live up to the old writing adage, “Get your protagonist up a tree.  Throw rocks at him.  Then get him down.”  In this case, the tree is Navarone, and the rocks are more boulders than stones because anything that can go wrong does—from wild weather to an expectant well-trained German occupation force and a nearly impenetrable fortress of stone protecting the guns. 

The action is compressed into four wildly eventful days.  The men are dispatched to Navarone on a dilapidated Greek fishing boat, which miraculously not only gets to the destination, but makes it through a heavy storm and a German patrol boat.  Once on the island it takes everything, including some luck, for the team to reach its destination.  The team is comprised of five men who, save two, have never met or worked together before the mission.  The core of the team is comprised of three men—Keith Mallory, the leader and famous mountaineer before the war, Andrea, a former Colonel in the Greek army, and Dusty Miller, a smart-aleck American who spends a great deal of his time trying to escape duty. 

The characters are built for the story, but there are surprising moments of something more.  One of the men, a young mountaineer named Andy Stevens is driven by fear.  The turmoil he creates, and endures, is quite powerful.  His true fear is the men around him will know he is a coward, and he will do anything to keep his secret.  The characters, for the most part, are simple designs of superhuman composites; Andrea is a killing machine, Miller is the humorist, and Mallory is the responsible leader who thinks his way through trouble.  Interestingly, like much of Mr MacLean’s early novels, there is not a female to be found.

The Guns of Navarone was originally published in 1957 and it is as exciting and relevant today as it was when it was released.  It is a representation of the best of Alistair MacLean’s work.  The plot is tight and tricky—in a good way with both betrayal and surprise—and believable in that over the top manner MacLean was able to do so well.

Navarone

I learned something interesting a few weeks ago—Alistair MacLean’s Navarone series (The Guns of Navarone and its somewhat less successful sequel Force 10 from Navarone) has been continued by British author Sam Llewellyn. Llewellyn is best known, at least at my house, as the author of eight sea adventure / mystery novels published by Pocket Books; beginning with Dead Reckoning (1987) and ending with Maelstrom (1994).

Mr Llewellyn wrote two Navarone novels in the 1990s. The titles were never published in the United States and the reviews over at Amazon are less than glowing, but damn, two new novels featuring the boys from Navarone; two novels written by a writer whom I haven’t read in a decade or more, but a writer who could spin a terrific mystery / adventure story.

The titles are: Storm Force from Navarone (1996) and Thunderbolt from Navarone (1998).

The Amazon.com description of Storm Force:

“Alistair MacLean's gritty heroes from Navarone are not dead, and definitely not forgotten. Mallory, Miller and Andrea, the surviving commandos of Force 10 from Navarone, are sent on operation Storm Force a perilous mission through the Pyrenees to disable the greatest threat to the success of the D-Day landings, the Werewolf U-boats. They have less than six days to locate the subs and destroy them, operating outside of normal channels, without any backup . . . a true mission impossible, and a worthy modern successor to the original novels.”

The description for Thunderbolt:

“Fresh from their mission against Werewolf U-Boats, Mallory, Miller and Andrea are summoned to Naval HQ and given their mission: to reconnoiter Kynthos and determine the German development of the lethal V3 rocket, and destroy any facilities. A rocket expert accompanies them but can they trust him.”

My only hesitation? I was burned more than once by those disappointing “Alistair MacLean” novels written by Alastair MacNeill (Death Train, Red Alert, Code Breaker, etc) a decade or so ago.

Although, to be fair, Alistair MacLean couldn’t write Alistair MacLean past about 1970. Wow, that sounds snarky.

Three Alistair MacLean Trailers

A few weeks ago I posted five trailers based on the work of Alistair MacLean, and over the weekend I found a few more. I haven’t seen The Satan Bug, but I have seen the other two films—Force 10 from Navarone and River of Death. I have fond memories of Force 10; although it isn’t even close to the equal of The Guns of Navarone. But River of Death? It stars Michael Dudikoff. Enough said? Enjoy.

Force 10 from Navarone



The Satan Bug

River of Death

A Quintet of Alistair MacLean Trailers

I started out this evening cruising through IMDB looking for films based on the novels of Alistair MacLean and I ended up at YouTube watching the trailers for a few. They reminded me of two things: 1) how much I like the work of Alistair MacLean; 2) how much I like some of the films based on the work of Alistair MacLean.

So here are five trailers for five films based on the work of Alistair MacLean.

The Guns of Navarone



Ice Station Zebra



Where Eagles Dare



Breakheart Pass



Bear Island

The Covers of H.M.S. Ulysses

Over at the Rap Sheet a few days ago J. Kingston Pierce posted, in response to a meme, the different covers of the Erle Stanley Gardner novel--as by A.A. Fair--Turn on the Heat. I wasn't tapped for this one, but I'm going to do it anyway. I love cover artwork; specifically paperback artwork and I have been known to grab different editions of the same novel when I stumble across them.

My choice is H.M.S. Ulysses by Alistair MacLean. It was published in 1955 and it was MacLean's first novel. I've read it a few times and it gets better with every read--the action is fast, the plot is tricky, and it is vintage Alistair MacLean. It should be I guess, since it was his first.

This is what Wikipedia has to say about H.M.S. Ulysses:

"The novel features a light cruiser, one of a unique type similar to the real Dido class cruisers (MacLean had served on HMS Royalist of that class), extremely well armed and one of the fastest ships in the world. But her crew is pushed well beyond the limits of endurance, and the book starts in the aftermath of a mutiny on board. The Ulysses puts to sea again to escort a vital convoy FR-77 (based on the ill-fated Convoy PQ-17) heading for Murmansk. Predictably, all elements have a part to play against them: an unusually fierce arctic storm, the German ships and U-boats, as well as airborne attacks, all slowly decimate the convoy from 32 ships to only 5. The Ulysses herself is lost, fittingly, in a failed attempt to ram into an attacking cruiser, after all her other weapons had been destroyed. There is a true story of HMS Rawalpindi an armed Merchant Cruiser that sacrificed itself"




























The obvious cover scan missing up top is the Fawcett edition. Maybe I'll post it later. Maybe.

RIVER OF DEATH by Alistair MacLean

I'm fond of a quote I read somewhere years ago: I keep the story moving so quickly the reader doesn't have time to slow down and realize how poor the writing is. It is attributed--at least in my memory--to novelist Alistair MacLean and while I don't agree that his writing is poor, I definitely agree that his stories are thrilling, wild, and extremely fast.

Mr. MacLean was a mega-bestseller in the Sixties and Seventies and was one of the first writers whose work really connected with me. He wrote sleek little thrillers that were long on action, loaded with dialogue, and populated with hard men that had a certain British sophistication that read just right. And none of the characters in his stories was exactly what they seemed; the bad guy was often not revealed until the final pages and it was usually a bit of a surprise.

I try to read a novel or two of MacLean's work each year, but I've fallen behind the last few. So a few nights back I decided to make amends and pulled one of his later titles off the bookshelf and devoured it in a few sittings. The title: River of Death.

River of Death is classic MacLean--two brutal and tough men playing a game that will end in the destruction of one and a mean victory for the other. It is populated with the usual: the wealthy businessman who is as comfortable in the shadows as he is in the boardroom; the mysterious stranger who is more than anyone estimates; and the strong but fragile woman who could bring down the house.

It takes place in the deep jungles of Brazil and has a few twists, a heap of action, a mysterious lost city, Nazi gold, murder, genocide, and nearly everything else you can think of. And it does it all in 215 pages--and that's in mass market!

River of Death is a great piece of escapist fiction. It took my mind off taxes, accounting, leaky windows, and everything else that keeps me awake at night. It enthralled me for a few hours with exhilarating action, suspense, and style. It is one of the last novels Alistair MacLean wrote--it's a common thought that his later work is inferior to his early stuff and I absolutely agree. It isn't nearly on the level of Where Eagles Dare, H.M.S. Ulysses, or The Guns of Navarone, but even with the lack of depth--characterization, sharper and more clever plotting, richer settings, and tighter prose--his earlier work had, River of Death is still pretty damn good. And it made me want to get all those other old MacLean titles down for another peruse.

A NOTE: River of Death was made into a mediocre film in 1989 starring Michael Dudikoff, Donald Pleasance, and Roberth Vaughn. It was directed by Steve Carver. I rented this one as a teenager, and I really don't remember much about it except disappointment. But who knows, maybe it's better than my memory.

A World Without Used Bookstores

A few days ago Ed Gorman wrote a blog post about used bookstores and the writers who hate them. Apparently, and there is very probably some truth to this, many writers feel they are losing large amounts of royalty monies because used bookstores—both Internet, and brick-and-mortar—makes it easy for readers to purchase used books at discount prices. It got me to thinking, what would the world be like without used bookstores? I spent most of my youth, and, heck, most of my current adult life skulking through the dusty confines of used bookstores.

First I want to make it clear that I purchase new books, and probably too damn many of them—I won’t be able to retire until I’m 93. I can’t walk past a bookstore without going in, and most of the time I find myself pining for a bookshop I’ve never been in. I’m always certain if I found the right shop I’d discover a treasure that would change my expectations of reading forever. So the thought of a world without used bookstores is desolate, stark, and shameful. Especially when you consider that something like 99% of books that have been published are currently out-of-print, and I bet that’s a conservative number. It’s probably more like 99.9999%.

I usually don’t buy many books that are currently in print at used shops, but it has happened. I recently picked up Lost Echoes by Joe R. Lansdale at a Friends of the Library book sale, but that is the exception rather than the rule. At this particular sale I purchased a dozen novels—The Emerald Illusion by Ronald Bass, (Signet, 1984), The Red Fox by Anthony Hyde (Ballantine, 1986), One-Shot Deal by Gerald Petievich (Pinnacle, 1983), several old Alistair MacLean novels published by Fawcett Gold Medal in the 1970s—cover art so cool I want to hang them on the wall—and a couple old thrillers from the 1970s that haven’t seen print in thirty years.

I absolutely support writers of all stripes—fiction, non-fiction, etc.—to be able to make a living from their work. But get real. Can you imagine a world without used bookstores? Maybe Ray Bradbury had something when he wrote Fahrenheit-451. Or is that too harsh?

To read the Gorman post click Here.

Books Covers--UK vs. USA (Richard Laymon)

I'm a sucker for book covers--the more interesting the better. Over the last few decades I've been an interested spectator of the changing artwork on different editions of the same novel. As a teenager I loved the work of Alistair MacLean (still do), and every time I chanced into a thrift shop I would look for a title or two. I wasn't looking for any new titles because I already had them all, but rather I was looking for new or different artwork from the titles I already had. I loved the Fawcett Gold Medal editions from the 1970s with their colorful covers and bold, lusty artwork.

It got me thinking. How are the US and British versions of the same titles different? I don't see many British books around here, but alas thanks to the Internet I can at least see their electronic images. So here we are. A comparison of a few Richard Laymon titles--both their US and UK cover artwork.

The first stop, Into the Fire, published in the UK as Glory Bus. I do like the UK title better because it fits the story better. I'll let you decide which cover is the best. The UK version is on the left and the US version is on the right.

The Lake

Mmm. Tough call, but I'm leaning--ever so slightly--towards the UK versions. They have more standard artwork--something you would see hanging on a wall--and less Photoshop photography. Although the US artwork is kind of cool in its surreal and seemingly haunted way.