В юности зачитывался книгами Алистера Маклина.Попалась под руку аудиоверсия этой книги, в переводе на русском, решил вспомнить детство.Однако бросил, прослушав примерно 80%.Произведения Алистера Маклина, хотя и являются художественными, имеют ценность как исторические, когда речь не про факты а про быт и поведение людей того времени, военный флот тех лет.Но по своему литературному качеству книга мне показалась совершенно любительской.Возможно, причина в переводе.А также в ужасном качестве озвучки. Чтец - Алексей Ковалев, как я понимаю, любитель. У него достаточно приятный голос, и он вообще не делает ошибок при чтении отдельных слов, что сейчас редкость. Но явно не вникает в смысл прочитанного, поэтому не делает смысловых пауз, зато делает массу пауз в совсем неожиданных местах - как я понял, перед сложными словами, или чтобы перевести дыхание.Обычно, книги, написанные на английском, читаю в оригинале. Чтобы не возникало подобных ситуаций, когда сомневаешься, дело в оригинальном тексте, или в том, что это "Мойша напел".Но ведь в детстве я тоже читал в переводе.. И вряд ли кому-то пришла в голову идея перевести еще раз, эти книги были переведены на русский еще в Советском Союзе.Видимо, тогда больше увлекала именно военно-морская, романтическая составляющая книги.
Everyone else who rated this book was right on the money. 3.51. I will round up because the author was so just and fair to the Enemy side. War is Hell and this isn't a book that labels a whole nation of people as bad or good. There are bad guys and good guys, on both sides of the conflict, and I was grateful to the author for emphasizing that fact. He even makes a plug for the heroism of the U-Boat Commanders in his Introduction. If you read nothing else of this book, the Introduction was awesome.My mother was shot at and could have been killed by The Allies, so I'm sensitive to the fact that there is no Black or White, but shades of grey, and the USA was responsible for its share of atrocities in WWII. Back to this book: Great WWII war novel and kept my interest. Main criticism: A bit slow-moving at times. Loved the main character, the Bosun McKinnon, a true hero. He was the perfect balance of intelligence, hit, shrewdness, competence and was still very human.Really annoyed by the two women, Margaret Morrison and Janet Magnusson. They were everything that women should NOT be in a crisis, whiny, opinionated (and with the WRONG opinions), critical, and useless to do anything but nursing the sick (which was their JOBS), and complaining and bitching. If they would have just shut up, they could have tripled their value as human beings and as fictional characters. Great story, very moving, and the ending was satisfying. Still, could have used a little more humor or light touches, and more romance. This is totally a guy's book.
Do You like book San Andreas (1986)?
San Andreas, may be one of Alistair Maclean’s lesser known novels, but it is equally as good as his best. This is a well written novel using the author’s knowledge of boats, the Second World War and weather. While other books by Maclean like: The Guns of Navarone and HMS Ulysses, may be seen as an instant draw-card to the reader who likes an adventure- thriller, a plot based on the plight of a hospital ship in hostile waters might not be perceived to have the same appeal. Such a subject matter might be considered as being as shaky as the San Andreas fault-line as far as marketing is concerned, for a hospital ship during the Second World War was neutral and somewhat boring as it carried no weapons. Yet this was no ordinary hospital ship and as time has shown was never likely to founder with Maclean at the helm. The story largely centres around Mr McKinnon, who reluctantly ends up in charge as the ship encounters saboteurs on board, and the enemy in the sea and air. While this may be a slow moving novel, the ride is far from calm waters and the author’s skill to captivate the reader will keep the reader intrigued and eager to learn what happened next. This is a novel I can recommend for those who enjoy war stories and adventure.
—Brian Wilson
I had this book as a kid--probably read it a thousand times growing up. I'm thinking I got it as a present or even bought it at one of those Weekly Reader/Scholastic book fairs (remember those?) Must have gotten it around 11 or 12 years old? Found it today at Goodwill and didn't hesitate to pick it up. The cover is in better shape than what mine looked like ( I think my guinea pig chewed some of it when I left it too close to the cage), but I could swear the spine has the same rubbed out spots as the one I had. And where that version ended up I have no idea. I vaguely remember the story as a Liberty Ship working as a floating hospital ship gets the tar blown out of it in the beginning, and there's sabotage a plenty, plus some interesting descriptions of decapitations and German spies. Looking forward to regressing as I read. We will see if it holds up to the memory.So after reading it, it actually still holds up! The only confusion I had as an adult reader was trying to figure out who everyone was, as far as minor or major characters. MacLean uses everyone's last name, and spoiler wise--the main and bad guys character last names are almost identical--as well as his inability to follow basic speech etiquette. Case in point, a character describes the action, a quote is given, someone responds in the same paragraph and then a new paragraph starts with the same person finishing their thought. Probably where I learned all my bad habits from. Good thriller though, and a solid page turner.
—Jeff
