The Eagle Has Landed

 

 

Well I picked this because I simply loved "The Day of Jackal" by Frederic Forsyth and another of his book and my research of this book told me that Jack Higgins if not better than Frederic is in the same league and Eagle Has Landed surpasses The Day of the Jackal.

 

Unfortunately whenever you have high expectations from something it generally disappoint, even if if it has been good if not compared.

 

The story depicts how Hitler orders his General to plan to kidnap Winston Churchil from Britain so that it will turn the tide of the World War II back in favor of Germany and how one of his Major devises the whole plan in which 16 paratroopers were to land in a small coastal village of England where Churchil was planning to spend a quite weekend. The book narates how they prepared to carry out the capture with the help of an old lady who was residing in that small town and was serving Germany as a spy since a long time with the sole hope of causing damage to Britain and an IRA soldier Liam Devlin who reached the village early and made all the arrangements. Like Day of the Jackal this too unfolds a meticulously planned plot which some how fails due to an act of bravery and sacrifice by a German soldier for the people of that village.

 

Honestly I did not like this book as much as I loved The Day of the Jackal. Yes Jack Higgins is comparable to Frederic Forsyth but the content and execution comes just short off.

 

Before I come to why so, let me first list down the pros of this book

 

Pros
1. The subject of Adolf Hitler ordering the kidnap of Winston Churchil right in the fag end of World War II is indeed quite fascinating and attractive.
2. Naratives and the charatcers are really admirable and to an extent lovable.
3. Despite it being a war / assassination themed story, there is large scale humane touch in it. It characters make you think that everything is not black and white in war. Even in the enemy ranks there are people who are good and likable.
4. Like I mentioned for The Day of the Jackal, despite you knowing that its a fictious failed attempt you crave for it to succeed.

 

Cons
1. Well the fact that the Day of the Jackal mentions to you in the second page itself that assassination attempt failed ,you still till the last page hoped for them to succeed. But in this book that feeling was not strong enough and you somehow were hoping it to fail sooner than later.
2. The books could had a few more twists and turns :) It looked too plain and simple at times.
3. For me the book failed to keep me revited to it as can be seen from the fact that it took me almost 2 months to finish.
4. Some questions were left unanswered in the end which I would have loved to know about.

 

Overall I would have give it 3 and 1/2 rating.

 

I can't say if I would like to read more from this author but as they say you never know when you might fall in love with a book ;)

The Day of the Jackal

I had completed the Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. Arguably the fastest I have completed any book of substantial length.

Well I won't call it a scintillating thriller although it has an intriguing webs of twists and turns that makes you continue reading.

The book is about an attempt to assassinate the President of France , General Charles De Gaulle by the OAS which is the rebellious organisation comprising of the army rebellions who felt let down by Charles De Gaulle as he relinquished the control of Algeria and gave it its independece after he became the President of France. This act was taken as an act of betrayal by some loyal France army as they have given their blood and sweat to fight in Algeria against the rebels to whom he had now given the control.

So after 6 failed attempts themselves they plan to hire a foreigner who is a professional assasin.

The reason I was disappointed with the book was  because in the starting pages itself the author reveals that the attempt was a failure (Sorry to have revealed it but I knew anyway if you plan to read it you will get to know about it very quickly).

So the reading became more of an ordeal to find out to how such a meticulously planned attempt fails.

Well hats off to the writer for the way he depicted the planning and also the way the sleuths went about to uncover the plot. The book is like a cat and mouse struggle between the assassin and police . At one point you feel, wow how brilliantly the killer has planned his particular move and at the next the police are at his tail. Then just as you feel, oh he is going to be caught, he changes his plan and again escapes.

One thing about these writers like Frederick Forsyth , John Grisham etc is that they have a vast knowledge about the topics on which they are creating the fictitious story. They are so thorough and detailed about everything that one point you forget that its fiction and you just start beliving in whatever they are saying.

Nevertheless a nice book to read ....

Next I have picked City of Djinns from one of my favorite non-fiction/travel writer William Darymple. I know I am going to love this book as not only the writer is of my liking but even the story is also about my national capital Delhi. Its a story of his first years stay in New Delhi and what all stories he found in this city full of Djinns (Magical creatures who are invisible)

Will update how it was once I am done , which I hope is real quick :)

Update on Books I have read...

Its been real long since I updated about the books that I have read or reading. Infact so long that it was hard for me to locate which was last book about which I updated :(
And I found that I stopped updating long time back last year so I have not written about most of the books last year (I have read close to 25 books last year :)).


So I have decided I will restart from the books that I have read this year and in case anything strikes me about what I read last year I will definitely write a post about it :)
Infact just while searching my blog , I noticed that these posts do help me a lot in recapping what was the book all about, the story, interesting facts etc. So definitely something I must do whenever I complete any book.


While looking for what all books I need to update about, I was really disappointed to note that out of the 12 books that I have to read in this first half of the year (as per the library plan I am subscribed to) I have only managed to read just 4 books :( :(


Nevertheless here is the update...


"From the Holy Mountain " by William Darymple.


A nice travelogue from one of the most contempary travel writer of this generation. This book covers his travel across the conflict trodden Middle East, tracking the ancient Christian sites. He follows the same path as followed by 7th Century traveller and monk John Moschos and bring forth how Christanity is almost on the bringe of eradictation from the holy land, from where it once originated.




William Darymple recreates the landscape, terrains, cultures, people so beautifully that it seems you are yourself travelling alongwith him.


The only drawback I personally find with his writing is that he fails to link a story and instead makes it too obvious that you are reading a non-fiction.


Nevertheless a nice read...


Next up was the man booker prize winner "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.


Life of Pi is the story of Piscine Mortel Patel, an Indian boy who lived in Pondicherry (modern day Pudducherry) alongwith his family. His father owned a zoo. Due to India's political emergency of 70's his father decides to sell it off and migrate to Canada with some of the animals and his family. Its during this trip that they meet with a sea disaster and Pi is left stranded on a life boat with a Zebra, a female Orangutan, a Hyena and a young Royal Bengal Tiger for more than 200 days.


In the initial year of his growing, Pi religiously follows three religions, Hinduism, Christanity and Islam. And his undiluted devotion for the three and the depiction of how religion is not only confided to only those who are born with it but is free for all to pratcise is truly worth reading.




A truly riveting tale of a boys struggle to survive. Keeps you binded and interested. The way the writer describes various animals , their behavior and their surrounding is really commendable. Very rightly in the league of Man Booker Winners.


Next came the spy thriller which is touted as the best spy book ever
"The Spy who came from the Cold" by John Le Carre.


Its indeed a nice book and it seems you are reading a Hollywood movie. The book is quite old so actually its other way around i.e. you can sense that what you see in most of Hollywood spy movies are somewhat inspired from it. Not in story but the character sketches, the aura thats created, locations etc have the essence of this book.
Well the story is not that griping or suspense filled , infact its seems quite a straight forward read but yes it does have a special touch which makes you feel intrigued and plugged to read it continously.


Recently I completed " The Old Man & His God" by Sudha Murty


Sudha Murty is wife of Infosys founder Narayan Murty. She is a very notable writer and social worker. She has written may non-fiction books sharing her experiences and incidents that have occured in her life.

In Sudha Murty's own words, "People often ask me how it is that so many interesting things happen only to me. To them I reply that if you have a sensitive mind and record your observations regularly, you will see your life too is a vast storehouse of stories."

This summarises very well this book , which is collection of short stories rather experiences that Sudha Murty has experienced during the course of her life and work. All of them are quite touching and inspiring. It also contains a story on how Narayan Murty had a change of ideology which eventually led to the formation of the hugely successful Infosys.

Its a nice short read to learn about various human traits and characters that exists in this society.


Now I have started with The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. Its another best selling thriller. Having already read Afghan by the same author I am really looking forward to it.