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Liked It “Looking back it as a very enjoyable read. One felt that they were really there sailing the seas, it was so real. The story aged incredibly well. As if it was written yesterday. So fresh. |
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“I don't really know why but I liked it. ”
Raisil wrote this review 11 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Influential Victorian spy story. A minor Foreign Office bureaucrat is invited on a yachting holiday in Europe by an old University chum, and stumbles into intrigue. Surprisingly compelling considering not a lot actually happens. The author is an enthusiastic sailor, and the sailing scenes are the most exciting parts of the book, more so than the spying and perfunctory romance.
TheophileEscargot wrote this review Sunday, March 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
There's a lot of detail in the way things are worked out, with many references to the maps at the start. Childers seems to be aiming for realism, with various references to things being messier than in fiction: this doesn't really work so well given the somewhat dated conventions of the book.
Overall, not a bad read, but a bit disappointing in the way the plot develops. Historically interesting.”“Looking back it as a very enjoyable read. One felt that they were really there sailing the seas, it was so real. The story aged incredibly well. As if it was written yesterday. So fresh.
Mycroft wrote this review Sunday, July 6 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
It is easy to relate to the different character and there were some funny moments. Subtle but funny.
If you are into books that has sailing in any form this one can't be missed.
I like to read books wihtout having an exact idea of when it was written and published. With as little info as possible about the author and anything related to the book. I go in with zero expectation. I tend to read up on it later and the events that were happening at the time and so on.
So it is a bit erie to think that this book was written in 1903, 11 years before WW1. It made it all so much more exciting. With all this new information in mind it is fun to reread.”
“One of my favorite books ever. A great adventure story and it takes place in the islands where I spent many days of my youth.”
Susanne F wrote this review Friday, March 28 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Damn good book from any angle. Childers was executed for treason in 1922. Childers himself shook hands with each member of the firing squad that was about to execute him. His last words, spoken to them, were in the nature of a joke: "Take a step or two forward, lads. It will be easier that way."”
william h wrote this review Friday, January 18 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Back in 1903 when The Riddle of the Sands was first published, readers were not yet cursed with attention-span deficit syndrome so they were accustomed to leisurely paced novels with lots of descriptive and scene-setting passages, even in adventure stories. Tensions of plot were allowed to build gradually; but when they reached a boil, the investment of time getting there was well worth it.
Bodrugan wrote this review Tuesday, December 11 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Erskine Childers with his tale of a Briton invited on a yachting/duck-hunting trip, starting on the Baltic Sea and winding through the canals and rivers of Germany to the Friesian barrier islands of the North Sea, is said to have created the first all-out espionage novel. The protagonist, Carruthers, is at first just along for the sport, but he has a dawning of awareness as he observes the industrialization of the German countryside, and then he and his boat captain/guide run into some shady characters. When they arrive at the treacherous tidal flats behind the Friesian Islands, they are in a race against time.
Childers, a yachtsman himself, provided utterly realistic and absorbing details to the journey. He also had a pointed agenda: he feared that Germany was building up expansionist desires and he knew realistically that Britain was being lackadaisical about its defenses. If only someone with firsthand knowledge -- a spy, as it were -- could provide critical intelligence that would jar Whitehall into action, it would be brilliant. You have to recall that this was 1903, after all. He, Childers, was proved prescient when Britain was catapulted into war with Germany only eleven years later.
No matter how many times I read The Riddle of the Sands I still find Childers's foresight amazing. And the follow-up is ever bit as chilling: Childers was executed by firing squad in 1922, for treason. ”
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