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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
jiml's review against another edition
4.0
Very enjoyable. Like "The IPCRESS File", the plot is less important than the atmosphere and the character portrayals. Over it all, a tremendous atmosphere of cynicism prevails.
iancann's review against another edition
4.0
Well, this was fun in a similar blackly cynical style to the Ipcress File, but perhaps without quite the same zip as its predecessor, still a grand espionage novel.
saareman's review against another edition
3.0
The WOOC(P) Files #2
Review of the Penguin Modern Classics paperback edition (April, 2021) of the original Jonathan Cape hardcover (1963)
Michael Caine as Harry Palmer on one of the paperback editions of Horse Under Water, image sourced from http://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2014_01_01_archive.html. Note: The book did not have a movie adaptation.
Horse Under Water is the 2nd of my re-reads after having recently learned of the Penguin Modern Classics republication of all of Len Deighton's novels which is being planned over the course of 2021 in an online article Why Len Deighton's spy stories are set to thrill a new generation (Guardian/Observer May 2, 2021).
This second outing was just about as confusing as The IPCRESS File. The nameless agent (renamed Harry Palmer in the Michael Caine movies) of the mysterious WOOC(P) secret service is at first sent out to retrieve counterfeit currency from a sunken German U-Boat off the coast of Portugal. A rag-tag group of hangers-on gradually join the proceedings, almost all of them are not whom they say they are. The mission turns into a hunt for heroin instead (thus the use of the slang word 'Horse' in the title) which also is not the real mission. Eventually everyone reveals their true motives and the real purpose of the mission becomes clear almost at the very end of the book. The protagonist is mostly as confused as we are, but finally sees the goal. Oh, and there was an ice-melting machine somewhere in there as well to add another red herring to the mix.
I'm still enjoying revisiting these books from my early espionage fiction reading days, but it is more for the banter in the dialogue than the confusion of the plots. I am already on to the 3rd book Funeral in Berlin which at least seems to stick to the main plot throughout, with less diversions.
Trivia and Link
I do rather like how the cover designs of all of these 2021 Penguin Modern Classics editions incorporate the painted crossing-walk stripes that were used in an early Horse Under Water edition pictured above.
Review of the Penguin Modern Classics paperback edition (April, 2021) of the original Jonathan Cape hardcover (1963)
Dawlish always tended to placate other departments when they asked us to do something difficult or stupid. I saw each job in terms of the people who would have to do the dirty work. That's the way I saw this job, but Dawlish was my master. - the nameless protagonist about his boss in Chapter 2 of Horse Under Water
'You didn't understand your role, my boy,' he said in his smug voice, 'we didn't want you to discover anything. Somehow we knew that you would make them do something indiscreet.' - Dawlish to the unnamed protagonist in Chapter 58 of Horse Under Water
Michael Caine as Harry Palmer on one of the paperback editions of Horse Under Water, image sourced from http://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2014_01_01_archive.html. Note: The book did not have a movie adaptation.
Horse Under Water is the 2nd of my re-reads after having recently learned of the Penguin Modern Classics republication of all of Len Deighton's novels which is being planned over the course of 2021 in an online article Why Len Deighton's spy stories are set to thrill a new generation (Guardian/Observer May 2, 2021).
This second outing was just about as confusing as The IPCRESS File. The nameless agent (renamed Harry Palmer in the Michael Caine movies) of the mysterious WOOC(P) secret service is at first sent out to retrieve counterfeit currency from a sunken German U-Boat off the coast of Portugal. A rag-tag group of hangers-on gradually join the proceedings, almost all of them are not whom they say they are. The mission turns into a hunt for heroin instead (thus the use of the slang word 'Horse' in the title) which also is not the real mission. Eventually everyone reveals their true motives and the real purpose of the mission becomes clear almost at the very end of the book. The protagonist is mostly as confused as we are, but finally sees the goal. Oh, and there was an ice-melting machine somewhere in there as well to add another red herring to the mix.
I'm still enjoying revisiting these books from my early espionage fiction reading days, but it is more for the banter in the dialogue than the confusion of the plots. I am already on to the 3rd book Funeral in Berlin which at least seems to stick to the main plot throughout, with less diversions.
Trivia and Link
I do rather like how the cover designs of all of these 2021 Penguin Modern Classics editions incorporate the painted crossing-walk stripes that were used in an early Horse Under Water edition pictured above.
glowe2's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
stevont's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
avid_d's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
gsatori's review against another edition
2.0
This is his second novel, and you can feel him developing his skills. I know the appeal of the first book, The Ipcress File, was its depiction of British intelligence as a bureaucracy, seizing on a more realistic approach to espionage than someone like Fleming. However the writing is sometimes hard to follow, sometimes a bit too plodding, and the moments where action rules fall flat.
This second book is better at character development, and slightly better at developing tension and holding a reader's interest, but still falls short. That being said I look forward to the next novel and hope he continued his growth as a writer
This second book is better at character development, and slightly better at developing tension and holding a reader's interest, but still falls short. That being said I look forward to the next novel and hope he continued his growth as a writer
vvolof's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
paul_cornelius's review against another edition
4.0
Len Deighton is a better spy novelist than Le Carré, I think. At least I enjoy his wit and sense of smoothness more than the drab and dour surroundings Le Carré seems fixed on. Both writers were said to have revolutionized the genre, with working class heroes of dubious backgrounds and a willingness towards expediency. Partly that is true. But both owe most of what they are trying to achieve to the paths pioneered by Conrad much earlier.
This second of Deighton's novels differs structurally from the first, The IPCRESS File, and perhaps psychologically from his third, Funeral in Berlin. As these are the only three I have read so far means I cannot quite get a handle on how Deighton will develop eventually. Horse Under Water hasn't got quite the flair that IPCRESS File does when touching on the color and atmosphere of the cultural context of the 1950s and early 1960s. And it doesn't take us into the multi-perspective point of view that Funeral in Berlin does. What Horse Under Water does achieve is a much tighter storyline than the other two. It's more conventional in that regard, albeit all the more satisfying in some ways because of it.
What this means is you can enjoy these three early works on different levels taking differing approaches. The atmospheric quality Deighton uses to describe Portugal of the early 1960s captures a place now long disappeared into modernity. There is something of the nineteenth century or even earlier in his descriptions. Despite the fact that Salazar was a modern authoritarian--not quite a totalitarian--the Portugal described on these pages in all its remoteness and languid way of life seems something more a part of far earlier times. Into the midst of all this, what a rupture it is to find Deighton introducing modern espionage, escaped Nazis, and a European-wide conspiracy to restore Fascism to power throughout the continent.
Quite good. More traditional than the other early works but equally challenging in its mystery.
This second of Deighton's novels differs structurally from the first, The IPCRESS File, and perhaps psychologically from his third, Funeral in Berlin. As these are the only three I have read so far means I cannot quite get a handle on how Deighton will develop eventually. Horse Under Water hasn't got quite the flair that IPCRESS File does when touching on the color and atmosphere of the cultural context of the 1950s and early 1960s. And it doesn't take us into the multi-perspective point of view that Funeral in Berlin does. What Horse Under Water does achieve is a much tighter storyline than the other two. It's more conventional in that regard, albeit all the more satisfying in some ways because of it.
What this means is you can enjoy these three early works on different levels taking differing approaches. The atmospheric quality Deighton uses to describe Portugal of the early 1960s captures a place now long disappeared into modernity. There is something of the nineteenth century or even earlier in his descriptions. Despite the fact that Salazar was a modern authoritarian--not quite a totalitarian--the Portugal described on these pages in all its remoteness and languid way of life seems something more a part of far earlier times. Into the midst of all this, what a rupture it is to find Deighton introducing modern espionage, escaped Nazis, and a European-wide conspiracy to restore Fascism to power throughout the continent.
Quite good. More traditional than the other early works but equally challenging in its mystery.
phileasfogg's review against another edition
4.0
This is the second in Len Deighton's 'nameless spy' series. (The notion that they're narrated by a real spy recounting real cases that have become unclassified is supported by his never saying his name in the books. In the movies based on some of the books, he's called Harry Palmer.)
This was fun, mainly thanks to the narrator's lightly comic style. As a thriller, it might not satisfy modern fans of that genre - there are thrills, but there are also lengthy sequences of good non-thrill storytelling, involving the interactions between the hero and the team he leads in the search of a sunken German U-boat, and the various parties who take an occasionally homicidal interest in the search.
At the start of the book the hero has to take a Navy training course in diving. It's much more effective for suspense to make the hero a novice who's only just learned how to dive, than to make him the effortless expert in everything that less thoughtful thrillers would.
The core idea of the book is that spying is a thinking job, not a feeling one. The hero refuses to behave like a spy in a spy story, sometimes to the distaste of his more warm-blooded colleagues. When his secretary/girlfriend Jean expresses a desire for revenge against their friend's killer:
I liked the new boss of WOOC(P), Dawlish. The hero takes so much pleasure in watching Dawlish manipulate the bureaucracy, he could almost lose his cred as the rebellious chippy anti-establishment spy hero. Fortunately there's a slimy cabinet minister for him to be suitably disrespectful to.
This was fun, mainly thanks to the narrator's lightly comic style. As a thriller, it might not satisfy modern fans of that genre - there are thrills, but there are also lengthy sequences of good non-thrill storytelling, involving the interactions between the hero and the team he leads in the search of a sunken German U-boat, and the various parties who take an occasionally homicidal interest in the search.
At the start of the book the hero has to take a Navy training course in diving. It's much more effective for suspense to make the hero a novice who's only just learned how to dive, than to make him the effortless expert in everything that less thoughtful thrillers would.
The core idea of the book is that spying is a thinking job, not a feeling one. The hero refuses to behave like a spy in a spy story, sometimes to the distaste of his more warm-blooded colleagues. When his secretary/girlfriend Jean expresses a desire for revenge against their friend's killer:
'I'll forget that you spoke.' I looked at her for a moment, then said, 'If you want to keep working in the department you'll never even think a thing like that, let alone say it. There is no room for heroics, vendettas and associated melodramas in an efficient shop. You stand up, get shot at, then carry on quietly. [...] Don't desire vengeance or think that if someone murders you tomorrow we will be tracking them down mercilessly. We won't. We'll all be strictly concerned with keeping out of the News of the World and the Police Gazette.'
I liked the new boss of WOOC(P), Dawlish. The hero takes so much pleasure in watching Dawlish manipulate the bureaucracy, he could almost lose his cred as the rebellious chippy anti-establishment spy hero. Fortunately there's a slimy cabinet minister for him to be suitably disrespectful to.
'No one owns a spy, mister,' I told him, 'they just pay his salary. I work for the government because I think this is a good place to live, but that doesn't mean that I'll be used as a serf by a self-centred millionaire.'