Just realised I haven't read anything other than non-fiction for years (give or take the odd pratchett book via the missus, but then they're just an afternoon in the Garden) & thinking that I might be too deep in the rivet counting side of things, does anyone have a particular recommendation for a novel set in WW2, or relating to, or even written at the time but having a 'flavour' of the war? I think the last one I read was 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin'. Loved it. Cheers, Adam.
Hello Adam. Years ago I read "On The Marble Cliffs" by Ernst Juenger . Wikepedia has quite a long piece about him . It was written in 1939 . I remember being impressed by Juenger , but I don't remember what the book was about . Linden
Adam Shortly after I retired, some twenty odd years ago, I thought it might be fun to write a novelette based on my wartime experiences. It finished up as 148 pages of fiction based on fact and remains un-published. Only because you were rash enough to ask for examples, here is the prologue: SEMPER's REVENGE A novel by Ron Goldstein Prologue 0430 hrs. Wednesday May 2nd. 1945 The dank grey mist hung low at ground level over the Italian field on this bleak May morning in 1945. It swirled over the hard ground, eddied by the biting cold wind coming from the Urals in the North and as it filtered through the small olive grove it hit a large immovable object that stopped its progress for one brief moment. The object, some nine feet high and twenty feet long was a Sherman Mark IIa tank and the mist, impelled relentlessly forward by the wind, climbed up the side of the tank as if to measure and identify the object in its path. As the hazy damp cloud reached the turret it spread sideways until it reached the extremities of the cupola shaped turret and then rolled on, to drop over the other side of the hull and continue its progress. Whatever was touched by the mist became damp and this included the olive green wooden box strapped to the side of the metal ammunition container at the rear of the turret. The box had German army markings on it, the most prominent of which was a stylised black eagle and various numbers and letters had been stencilled on the lid to indicate that the contents of the box were, or should have been, ammunition for a Spandau machine gun. It was not all that unusual for a British army tank to be carrying German equipment at this stage of the war, most army vehicles seemed to have accumulated a large variety of items that by no stretch of imagination could have been described as Army Issue, British. What was different about this particular wooden Wermacht container was its present contents, namely, 60,000 US Dollars, all neatly packed with typical German efficiency into green waterproof packets and then stacked with loving care into the box's interior.
Cheers for those chaps, Doesn't read too bad to me Ron, the beginning of a detective tale?, thriller?, or a rip-roaring 'Kellys heroes' style romp? Raises the thought of novels about war written by those who've actually experienced it, but I suppose an entire generation of 20th century novelists would have served in the first and second world wars.
More please . I persuaded my father to record his war memories and I'm so grateful for these tapes . I'm also thinking about giving copies to the Imperial War Museum . More please
Adam Len Deighton's 'Bomber' comes to mind - well told story, as I recall. If I remember correctly, it was done as a 'real-time' play one night on BBC Radio 4, some few years ago. I can't find the book, so can't confirm. (His 'Fighter' was a non-fiction study of the role of the fighter in WW2) Also, Norman Mailer's 'The Naked and the Dead', US forces in the Pacific theatre, very powerful and very controversial when first issued. Jim
The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins is very good, although I didn't like the seqeul (surprise, surprise!) All Len Deighton is top notch, Bomber, Goodbye Mickey Mouse, SS-GB, etc.
I greatly enjoyed The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk and highly recommend it. If you have seen the movie, it starts much earlier in time than the movie and continues on after the court martial, until the end of the war.
I'd certainly agree with Deighton, loved Bomber & enjoyed SS-GB etc. but I'd forgotten all about 'Goodbye Mickey Mouse', can't remember any detail except the missus and I really enjoyed it years ago, might have to dig that out. Like the sound of a bit of Mailer (I could pretend to be an intellectual!). Could be a good way to start on the pacific too as I never seem able to get cracking on that.
Adam Len Deighton's 'Bomber' comes to mind - well told story, as I recall. If I remember correctly, it was done as a 'real-time' play one night on BBC Radio 4, some few years ago. I can't find the book, so can't confirm. (His 'Fighter' was a non-fiction study of the role of the fighter in WW2) Also, Norman Mailer's 'The Naked and the Dead', US forces in the Pacific theatre, very powerful and very controversial when first issued. Jim Yes, Len Deighton's 'Bomber' was done as a BBC play. You can get it on cd and it's well worth a listen. Narrated by Tom Baker. Book is also very good.
Cheers Jeff, I faintly remember the film. The Deighton Bomber dramatisation I do remember, they transmitted it in 'real time' over a day or so didn't they? If the book said it was 7PM, then that was when the excerpt went out?
I agree mate, did 'em both and still rate Fatherland as an excellent book, never been so chilled by the thought of a solitary brick in my life (the one at the eradicated KL site). Suppose I ought to put in a plug for Guy Sajer's 'Forgotten Soldier' too as I now see it as a novel. Well worth a look for anyone who's not read it and fancies a grim evocation of one man's war in the East, pretty unforgettable really.
I think 'Enigma' is one of my all time favs. Don't forget 'Where Eagles Dare'. Also Robert Radcliffe 'Under a English Heaven'. About a B-17 crew.
Coldharbour by Jack Higgins is very good, as is Lucky Luciano. Anything by Douglas Reeman according to my mum. She loves them but they are difficult to get hold of, a definite Amazon search.
Hi Didn't think I had read any war stories and was surprised to see that I had indeed read the Len Deighton books. I also remember enjoying The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw which as I recall was quite thought provoking. The most moving autobiography I ever read was For Those I Loved by Martin Gray about a lad in the Warsaw ghetto who is taken to a death camp but escapes. His experiences post war are just as traumatic. Definitely a 5 tissue box book!!! Cheers CTNana
I enjoyed the James Rouch books when I was a teenager. Tiger, Gateway To Hell & War Machines. Give them a Google.
And there's also C.S.Forester's 'The Ship', about a Light Criser in the Murmansk run. I don't think I'll have the guts to read that book again.
Hey Rodinu! There's nothing wrong with a bit of Sven! (though somehow 'novel' doesn't seem the right word ) 'The Ship' is one my old man has suggested I read... I might even have a copy, hmmmm. I'm going to have to exclude Autobiographies I'm afraid CTN, despite the fact so many of 'em are largely fiction! There's a film of 'the Young Lions' if I recall? Cheers, Adam.
