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Title: The Company of Strangers by Robert Wilson ISBN: 0-15-602710-0 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.32 (19 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Intriguing, both in plot and in structure.
Comment: Wilson's unusual ability to create fascinating and fully drawn characters within the confines of a plot-driven espionage novel make this novel particularly enjoyable. Andrea/Anne is a character who grows from a protected and naive twenty-year-old to a pragmatic spy and, later in life, to a committed political activist. Karl Voss and his family are "good Germans," disillusioned by Hitler's callous disregard for his soldiers and by his monomaniacal plans, and they believe they can serve their country best by betraying its Nazi leadership. As Karl makes contact with British intelligence and with Anne and other agents based in Lisbon, the reader watches their characters unfold as they respond to the intricacies of spy/counterspy maneuvering.
More than half the novel consists of this Anne/Karl story during the waning days of World War II, a tightly drawn, tension-filled, and often genuinely moving interplay of characters and the forces which motivate them. Part II further develops the story of Anne in 1968 in London, with the short Part III taking place in 1989. These latter two sections, while intriguing and consistent with the author's themes, seemed to me to lack the immediacy and excitement of the earlier Lisbon section. The broad scope and intensity of World War II are sacrificed in favor of subtler, more abstract maneuvering during the Cold War in Part II. The motivations of the characters are fuzzier, the consequences of their behavior seem less cataclysmic, and what action there is feels a bit arthritic. The concluding Part III narrows the scope even more to a handful of characters in a country cottage setting, and while it is dramatic and probably realistic, I found it disappointing--as if the author himself were performing some double agent trickery on me, the reader.
Like the best of the espionage novels, this one has plenty of action and excitement to keep the reader occupied, especially in Part I, but the book also seems to straddle a line. Because the author is also intent on developing character over an extended period of time, an unusual objective in a thriller, he also needs to include the less exciting Parts II and III which show the characters in their maturity and bring the story and themes full circle, an unusual structure and a fascinating attempt by the author to "have it all."
Rating: 4
Summary: A good read, although not at the level of the masters
Comment: An intricately plotted espionage thriller. The descriptions of geographic settings (primarily Lisbon towards the end of the Second World War) are detailed and enjoyable. The plot is carefully crafted and moves well, although Wilson's attempt to "tie up" various threads in a neat ending feels quite contrived and flat. The characterers are a bit 2-dimensional, not quite as fully developed and believable as, say, Le Carre.
Still, on the whole, a very absorbing read.
Also, as another reader has mentioned, Wilson also has a penchant for graphic scenes of sexual violence, so be forewarned if you would find that troubling. They constitute relatively brief portions of the book, but they stand out and feel a bit forced, as if Wilson has decided "Now it's time to soften up my readers with something really shocking."
Rating: 5
Summary: Highly Literate Espionage Thriller
Comment: This book was a natural to win me over. First, it talks about the world of espionage in a fairly realistic way and puts some characterization to the players involved. Second, the writing here is really strong. The scenes come alive for me. The description of the burning piano in the first of the book really grabbed me and made me want to read more.
This book will not appeal so much to thriller fans as it will to those readers who value the skill of the story-teller and his ability to "hook" the reader into the story line.
I've got to read some more stuff by Robert Wilson!
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Title: A Small Death in Lisbon by Robert Wilson ISBN: 0425184234 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: March, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Instruments of Darkness by Robert Wilson ISBN: 0156011131 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Blind Man of Seville by Robert Wilson ISBN: 0151008353 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 03 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The Big Killing by Robert Wilson ISBN: 0156011190 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 03 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Berlin Noir: March Violets/the Pale Criminal/a German Requiem/3 Novels in 1 Volume by Philip Kerr ISBN: 0140231706 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: May, 1994 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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