Journey Into Fear (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

To read or not to read the great spy novels of Eric Ambler? That is the question most people ignore because they are not familiar with Mr. Ambler and his particularly talent.

Mr. Ambler has always had this problem. As Alfred Hitchcock noted in his introduction to Intrigue (an omnibus volume containing Journey into Fear, A Coffin for Dimitrios, Cause for Alarm and Background to Danger), "Perhaps this was the volume that brought Mr. Ambler to the attention of the public that make best-sellers. They had been singularly inattentive until its appearance -- I suppose only God knows why." He goes on to say, "They had not even heeded the critics, who had said, from the very first, that Mr. Ambler had given new life and fresh viewpoint to the art of the spy novel -- an art supposedly threadbare and certainly cliché-infested."

So what's new and different about Eric Ambler writing? His heroes are ordinary people with whom almost any reader can identify, which puts you in the middle of a turmoil of emotions. His bad guys are characteristic of those who did the type of dirty deeds described in the book. His angels on the sidelines are equally realistic to the historical context. The backgrounds, histories and plot lines are finely nuanced into the actual evolution of the areas and events described during that time. In a way, these books are like historical fiction, except they describe deceit and betrayal rather than love and affection. From a distance of over 60 years, we read these books today as a way to step back into the darkest days of the past and relive them vividly. You can almost see and feel a dark hand raised to strike you in the back as you read one of his book's later pages. In a way, these stories are like a more realistic version of what Dashiell Hammett wrote as applied to European espionage.

Since Mr. Ambler wrote, the thrillers have gotten much bigger in scope . . . and moved beyond reality. Usually, the future of the human race is at stake. The heroes make Superman look like a wimp in terms of their prowess and knowledge. There's usually a love interest who exceeds your vision of the ideal woman. Fast-paced violence and killing dominate most pages. There are lots of toys to describe and use in imaginative ways. The villains combine the worst faults of the 45 most undesirable people in world history and have gained enormous wealth and power while being totally crazy. The plot twists and turns like cruise missile every few seconds in unexpected directions. If you want a book like that, please do not read Mr. Ambler's work. You won't like it.

If you want to taste, touch, smell, see and hear evil from close range and move through fear to defeat it, Mr. Ambler's your man.

On to Journey into Fear. Many people rate Journey into Fear to be one of the greatest novels of physical terror and a chilling treat. Almost everyone agrees that it is one of Mr. Ambler's best novels.

The book opens with the engineer Graham boarding a ship, the Sestri Levante, along with 9 other passengers in Turkey during December 1939. Safely in his cabin, he muses on his injured hand, which "throbbed and ached abominably" from being grazed by a bullet the night before. Alone, he realizes that he has "discovered the fear of death."

He then remembers the events that led up to the hectic last 24 hours. He has been in Turkey to help England's ally prepare its defenses against potential invasion. Foreign agents have been assigned to kill him so that the defenses will not be completed before an attack occurs. The assassin shoots at him when he returns to his hotel room from an evening at a night club, and just nicks him. Colonel Haki (of A Coffin for Dimitrios) takes charge of Graham, and arranges for him to leave by ship to avoid another attempt. Air flights have been suspended due to an earthquake, and the train is too hard to guard. The colonel vouches for all of the passengers. Graham reluctantly agrees.

As the boat sails off, Graham recognizes the tenth passenger as the assassin assigned to kill him, Banat. Seized by terror and knowing he's trapped aboard the ship, he tries everything he can think of to save his life. Will his best be enough?

For those who like stories involving the psychology of chilling terror, this book will be a delight. For those who want nonstop action, this book will be boring.

Mr. Ambler has provided us with an in-depth look at the psychology of killers and their prey that reminds one of the famous short story, "The Most Dangerous Game." As Colonel Haki notes, "The real killer is not a mere brute. He may be quite sensitive." Colonel Haki's theory is that killers have "an idee fixe about the father whom they identify . . . with their own [weakness]. When they kill, they are killing their own weakness." The hunted can crash about in the underbrush and merely draw the killer, or learn to control fear and think out a solution. Ambler is clearly interested in the subject of whether the rational mind will win out over the abnormally compulsive one. Along the way, Graham also learns a great deal about himself, a sort of self analysis through terror.

In addition, Graham is introduced to Mademoiselle Josette in the night club, and must from then decide how he will deal with the temptations she presents to him as a married man. This subplot greatly strengthens the story rather than being a distraction from it.

After you finish this impressive story, please think about when you have been terrified. What did you learn from that experience? Does this story add to your understanding of what one needs to do when terribly frightened?

To read or not to read the great spy novels of Eric Ambler? That is the question most people ignore because they are not familiar with Mr. Ambler and his particularly talent.

Mr. Ambler has always had this problem. As Alfred Hitchcock noted in his introduction to Intrigue (an omnibus volume containing Journey into Fear, A Coffin for Dimitrios, Cause for Alarm and Background to Danger), "Perhaps this was the volume that brought Mr. Ambler to the attention of the public that make best-sellers. They had been singularly inattentive until its appearance -- I suppose only God knows why." He goes on to say, "They had not even heeded the critics, who had said, from the very first, that Mr. Ambler had given new life and fresh viewpoint to the art of the spy novel -- an art supposedly threadbare and certainly cliché-infested."

So what's new and different about Eric Ambler writing? His heroes are ordinary people with whom almost any reader can identify, which puts you in the middle of a turmoil of emotions. His bad guys are characteristic of those who did the type of dirty deeds described in the book. His angels on the sidelines are equally realistic to the historical context. The backgrounds, histories and plot lines are finely nuanced into the actual evolution of the areas and events described during that time. In a way, these books are like historical fiction, except they describe deceit and betrayal rather than love and affection. From a distance of over 60 years, we read these books today as a way to step back into the darkest days of the past and relive them vividly. You can almost see and feel a dark hand raised to strike you in the back as you read one of his book's later pages. In a way, these stories are like a more realistic version of what Dashiell Hammett wrote as applied to European espionage.

Since Mr. Ambler wrote, the thrillers have gotten much bigger in scope . . . and moved beyond reality. Usually, the future of the human race is at stake. The heroes make Superman look like a wimp in terms of their prowess and knowledge. There's usually a love interest who exceeds your vision of the ideal woman. Fast-paced violence and killing dominate most pages. There are lots of toys to describe and use in imaginative ways. The villains combine the worst faults of the 45 most undesirable people in world history and have gained enormous wealth and power while being totally crazy. The plot twists and turns like cruise missile every few seconds in unexpected directions. If you want a book like that, please do not read Mr. Ambler's work. You won't like it.

If you want to taste, touch, smell, see and hear evil from close range and move through fear to defeat it, Mr. Ambler's your man.

On to Journey into Fear. Many people rate Journey into Fear to be one of the greatest novels of physical terror and a chilling treat. Almost everyone agrees that it is one of Mr. Ambler's best novels.

The book opens with the engineer Graham boarding a ship, the Sestri Levante, along with 9 other passengers in Turkey during December 1939. Safely in his cabin, he muses on his injured hand, which "throbbed and ached abominably" from being grazed by a bullet the night before. Alone, he realizes that he has "discovered the fear of death."

He then remembers the events that led up to the hectic last 24 hours. He has been in Turkey to help England's ally prepare its defenses against potential invasion. Foreign agents have been assigned to kill him so that the defenses will not be completed before an attack occurs. The assassin shoots at him when he returns to his hotel room from an evening at a night club, and just nicks him. Colonel Haki (of A Coffin for Dimitrios) takes charge of Graham, and arranges for him to leave by ship to avoid another attempt. Air flights have been suspended due to an earthquake, and the train is too hard to guard. The colonel vouches for all of the passengers. Graham reluctantly agrees.

As the boat sails off, Graham recognizes the tenth passenger as the assassin assigned to kill him, Banat. Seized by terror and knowing he's trapped aboard the ship, he tries everything he can think of to save his life. Will his best be enough?

For those who like stories involving the psychology of chilling terror, this book will be a delight. For those who want nonstop action, this book will be boring.

Mr. Ambler has provided us with an in-depth look at the psychology of killers and their prey that reminds one of the famous short story, "The Most Dangerous Game." As Colonel Haki notes, "The real killer is not a mere brute. He may be quite sensitive." Colonel Haki's theory is that killers have "an idee fixe about the father whom they identify . . . with their own [weakness]. When they kill, they are killing their own weakness." The hunted can crash about in the underbrush and merely draw the killer, or learn to control fear and think out a solution. Ambler is clearly interested in the subject of whether the rational mind will win out over the abnormally compulsive one. Along the way, Graham also learns a great deal about himself, a sort of self analysis through terror.

In addition, Graham is introduced to Mademoiselle Josette in the night club, and must from then decide how he will deal with the temptations she presents to him as a married man. This subplot greatly strengthens the story rather than being a distraction from it.

After you finish this impressive story, please think about when you have been terrified. What did you learn from that experience? Does this story add to your understanding of what one needs to do when terribly frightened?

Journey into Fear is one of the handful of novels that Eric Ambler wrote before Word War II. And, like A Coffin for Dimitrios, it is a classic. The protagonist is an English engineer returning from Turkey with valuable knowledge. Axis forces are determined to prevent him from doing so. In order to protect him, Turkish authorities have arranged for him to travel on a cargo ship which carries a few passengers -- all of whom have supposedly been investigated and found to be harmless. Imagine then the terror he experiences when he discovers that one of the passengers is a man who recently tried to kill him. Now the supposedly safe cargo ship has become a trap from which escape seems impossible. His frenzied attempts to save himself are twarted again and again. This is the sort of chilling masterpiece that has made Ambler a legend.