The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Twelve hundred British soldiers are isolated and waiting to die on the small island of Kheros, off the Turkish coast. All these lives could be saved if only the vigilant, savage and catastrophically accurate guns of Navarone could be silenced. Navarone itself is a grim iron fortress, manned by a mixed garrison of Germans and Italians. To Captain Keith Mallory, skilled saboteur and trained mountaineer, falls the task of leading the small party to scale the vast, impossible precipice of Navarone to blow up the guns.’

The Guns of Navarone is an adventure / thriller novel written by the popular World War II novelist, Alistair MacLean. While MacLean has disappointed me in the past with some of his works such as The Caravan to Vaccares and The Last Frontier, the work often touted as his best would not be something that would miss my attention for too long and thus, I thought I would give the author one more chance.

The story takes place with the Second World War in the backdrop; about a near suicide mission to rescue 1,200 British soldiers stranded in the Greek island in the Aegean Sea under German control. Apart from the Germans, the problem for the British is the German fortress in Navarone with highly accurate mortars capable of sinking any ship within its vicinity and in order to rescue the soldiers, they would have to first silence the Guns of Navarone. The British assemble a team led by Captain Keith Mallory, a mountaineer from New Zealand supported by Corporal Miller, an American who is an expert with explosives and Andrea, a brutish Greek soldier (ironic that none of them are British). For the mission to succeed, they have to get past the German patrols in the Aegean Sea, then scale the cliff under unfavourable weather conditions (which is deemed impossible) to get into the island of Navarone and finally, neutralise the German troops and destroy the guns of Navarone and considering the circumstances, this was indeed a near impossible mission.

I enjoyed the fact that the author chose to base the book on a real incident (refer Battle of Leros) which makes such novels all the more interesting. The author had built his characters well, each of the three main protagonists from varied backgrounds with differing skills; Mallory for the mountaineering and overall responsibility for the team; Miller who also acted as the paramedic for the team and Andrea was the expert in combat. I also liked the fact the author didn’t digress throughout the book and in fact, this is the first Alistair MacLean book which I have read where there is no needless romantic sub-plot. Being a thriller, there were also twists and turns to look forward; with traitors and double agents appearing during the course of the book and I liked it that the three main protagonists were quite intelligent and made through tough situations owing to good planning and clever thinking rather than mere brawn. Apart from all these, the author also described the location and the setting really well that visualisation was very easy and of course, I could effortlessly read the book owing to his lucid writing.

However, I have got to say that while the protagonists were highly intelligent and capable, I felt their opposition was really weak making the impossible circumstances more possible for the three main protagonists. Of course, suspension of logic is quintessential to enjoying a MacLean novel as in every novel of his, the protagonist has a near impossible mission and this book is no different and for someone who wants a more rational plot, they would perhaps be disappointed by the book. As always, I have never been impressed by MacLean’s dialogues and feel that they are too direct and this book is no exception to it.

On the whole, the book had a highly gripping and engaging plot and it is a thoroughly enjoyable experience for those who enjoy reading World War thrillers and I for one am glad that I was willing to give Alistair MacLean one more chance.

I would award the book a rating of seven on ten after consideration of whatever I have stated above.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

The Last Frontier by Alistair MacLean - Book review

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Publisher's write-up:

'Doctor Jennings, a noted scientist in possession of a precious secret, has gone over to Soviet Union: it's Michael Reynolds' mission to get him back.

Jennings' visit to a scientific congress in Budapest, gives Reynolds a unique opportunity: a chance to contact Jennings and offer him a motive to return.

To penetrate behind the Iron Curtain and reach his quarry is difficult enough; but to bring out a man uncertain, elderly and too well known is impossible. Until Reynolds discovers, within that terrifying organisation there are men ready and able to help.

These dedicated Hungarian patriots - high minded, resourceful and, when necessary, as ruthless as their enemies could be the key to Jennings' success in this deadliest missions.'

The Last Frontier is a novel by the popular writer Alistair MacLean; with a story that takes place in the east of the Iron Curtain and not his usual World War II novel. In this Michael Reynolds, a British secret agent, is given the task of bringing a nuclear scientist, Dr. Jennings back to the UK. The task is not that simple, as Jennings is based in Soviet Union and is visiting Hungary for a conference and Reynolds, is to carry out the task in Hungary; beating all odds, including the brutal secret police of Hungary, the AVO. In this mission, he has the help of certain locals; mainly a former Soviet military general named Jansci and an insider within the AVO, known as The Count.

The novel follows the standard template MacLean uses; a near impossible mission, a romantic sub-plot, and an absolute hate rant against those whom the protagonist is against. For starters, the novel maintained a good pace and got straight to the point and in the very first chapter, Reynolds crosses the border into Hungary. I also appreciate the fact that the author chose Hungary as the place for setting the novel considering, there is a lot of literature available on oppression in Communist regimes, mainly by Soviet Union and I have even read one, in Romania (The Land of Green Plums) but there is very little available on Hungary. I loved the way the author built the character of The Count, in particular, shrouded in mystery with a lot of untold past and the author brought it out little by little as the story progressed. Jansci was yet another beautifully built character with many similar characteristics, such as a troubled past and his determination to bring freedom to the peoples under Communist regimes.

But then, while I praised the way the author built the sidekicks, my main problem was with the protagonist, Michael Reynolds. He is possibly the lousiest secret agent I have ever read about; walks into obvious traps, has no original ideas and ultimately, is completely dependent on The Count and Jansci. There wasn't a single instance where he accomplished something on his own and if ever he tried, he had to be bailed out either by The Count or Jansci. Moreover, the romantic sub-plot between Reynolds and Jansci's daughter was ... lifeless; could have rather not had it at all and last, the author told very little about Reynolds himself and as a reader, I was never able to connect with him as much as I was able to, with the other two characters. Moreover, Alistair MacLean was on his hate rant again, against all the Communists; though I commend him for the fact that he tried to defend them a little, through the Count or Jansci while the Japanese or the Germans in his earlier books did not have any such lawyers. It was all the more annoying with Reynolds snatching every opportunity to say the same naive thing; the fall of Communism would bring peace and is a solution to all problems. While I am not a Communist sympathiser myself, I still found his book too one sided and yes, to be honest, a lot of modern readers might not even be able to connect with the hate campaign considering, it is nearly three decades since the fall of Communism but then, I wouldn't exactly blame the author for the problems faced by readers in future.

My expectations on this book was rather high, considering this book was said to be among the best works of Alistair MacLean but then, it disappointed me, considering that it was a very ordinary thriller and yes, if it had an extraordinary protagonist like it did in The South by Java Head, I perhaps might have enjoyed it more but the biggest drawback of this book was Michael Reynolds. I would say that this book would perhaps appeal only to hardcore Alistair MacLean readers or those who are merely enthused by blind anti-Communist literature (PS: Once again, I am not a Communist sympathiser myself but MacLean went too far).

Coming to the question of rating the book, I would say that this book is a reasonable thriller, with a lot of flaws but then, a flaw in the protagonist is a very basic flaw and thus, I would not be able to deem the book as a good read with a rating of six and hence, my rating for this book would be a five.

Rating - 5/10

Have a nice day,

Andy