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avid_d's review
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
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.'
jayrothermel's review
This is the first Len Deighton novel I have read, and will not be the last. Sunken U-boats, skullduggery on the Algarve, wintry London, and the struggle to tell the difference between employers and the men who want you killed. And Deighton designs and builds it like a master craftsman.
katie_king's review
2.0
I read this one sometime in the seventies or eighties and other than the cover art, I can't remember much about it at all. What I do remember is that Len Deighton wrote a couple of cookery books that I quite liked and found much more useful than this book.
chramies's review
3.0
I mainly remember the chapter headings. Read in 1978 or thenabouts, but dated even then.
pugnax's review
4.0
Len Deighton's unnamed spy, first encountered in The Ipcress File, stands somewhere between the OTT hero antics of James Bond and the far more believable and prosaic world of John Le Carre's George Smiley. Horse Under Water is not quite as well known the three Len Deighton novels that were made into Michael Caine movies; which it should be.
There is more sardonic humour and a few leaps of faith, that in the real world would probably be amiss but it makes for the pacing and readability of these books.
It's also the time period. Post war Britain and all the attention to a world now sadly gone. Mention of Rootes Group cars, quaint descriptions of IBM compiler machines, French cigarettes, double de-clutching! Its a very evocative read. However, just as in James Bond novels its the food that always gets me! Aroma filled cups of coffee, warm baked bread in Marrakesh, shrimp soup... it goes on and I suppose is to be expected from the author of The Action Cook Book and various other culinary snippets.
There is more sardonic humour and a few leaps of faith, that in the real world would probably be amiss but it makes for the pacing and readability of these books.
It's also the time period. Post war Britain and all the attention to a world now sadly gone. Mention of Rootes Group cars, quaint descriptions of IBM compiler machines, French cigarettes, double de-clutching! Its a very evocative read. However, just as in James Bond novels its the food that always gets me! Aroma filled cups of coffee, warm baked bread in Marrakesh, shrimp soup... it goes on and I suppose is to be expected from the author of The Action Cook Book and various other culinary snippets.
katspectre67's review
3.0
Some real snappy prose in here.The man has a nice turn of phrase. However, the story flagged toward the end, which is the last thing you want in a story of this genre. I'd probably downgrade to a 2.5 if there were halves in this thing...