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Book ReviewsThe Great Escape |
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Book: The Great Escape
Written by: Paul Brickhill |
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Average Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5
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Trust in 104
Rating:
5 / 5
By now, everyone knows the story. I bought the film version on DVD a while back. I laughed a lot and enjoyed the film greatly (I think it's well done).
The tale is immense in scope, so I figured I'd read the book. I was in for a huge surprise. Half of the film's ideas come from Brickhill's prelude, and have nothing to do with the actual escape (or camp!). This meant only one thing: Brickhill's tale, thick as it is, is going to be completely original and that much more satisfying a read.
Paul Brickhill was the boss of a small group of prisoners who worked as stooges (watching out for Germans espying on their prisoners' doings). He writes fluidly and very well, and his obvious post-war research is superb (he tells the German angle in some parts). The book is easy to read, has moments of humor, and the descriptions are fantastic and there is never, ever, a dull moment from page one.
Little did I realize how much the film throws out the horrors of Nazi Germany (or seemingly takes it in stride). The film plays out escaping as a game, and even in the book, characters try to escape constantly. While the Geneva Convention includes a clause that states escaping should not be prosecuted severely, as it is a logical reaction to imprisonment, the reader will recall that Nazis don't necessarily believe in anything other than the word "kill." Therein lies the terror.
There is no Steve McQueen here, and, while there is a cooler, it's the least of the prisoners' fears. There isn't a small group of characters that the story revolves around. There are hundreds of people, and Paul introduces them at varying and strategic places within the story. You learn about new escapees up to the very last chapter. Everyone is a hero in his own way.
And while I was reading, I admittedly "forgot" about the Nazi terror and was constantly thrilled to see what would happen next, not realizing how everyone's lives were really in constant danger. Chapter 19 is one of the most frightening moments in the book. It is also the introduction of Hitler, and some of his own decisions regarding the Britons, the Americans, and even the Germans themselves.
Brickhill's fears aren't of being caught and thrown into a cooler. It is of being caught by the Kriminalpolizei, or the Gestapo, or of starving while eating illegally small portions of German rations (at one point, the prisoners are fed filthy water condensed on a motorcar engine).
This book is quite simply amazing. Do not expect the quasi-solo efforts of the brilliant escapes and happy fortunes as occurs in the book "Papillon." Expect frustrations, anger, impatience and, most of all, the miraculous teamwork that results into a years-long plan: the great escape.
I read the 1966 Fawcett Crest edition, which includes an introduction by Brickhill's Stalag Luft III cohort George Harsh, and new illustrations from fellow prisoner Ley Kenyon, based on his own original drawings from the war.
The Triumph Of The Human Spirit In The Face Of Adversity!!!
Rating:
5 / 5
This is a wonderful tale about Allied Prisoners Of War who escape their camp thanks to a tunnel that they dug. What is even more fascinating is that this is a true story which actually happened. The author describes the building of the escape tunnel in great detail and he introduces the reader to a host of real people. This book is a great example of the Triumph of The Human Spirit in the face of Adversity.If you have seen the movie do yourself a big favour and read this book.And if you haven't seen the movie read this book anyway. I think it is a testament to Mr. Brickhill's writing skills that he can make the digging of a underground tunnel so fascinating to read.
Great Adventure Story
Rating:
5 / 5
No idea how many times I read this, growing up. You should see the thing. No boy should be allowed to grow up without the opportunity to read this book.
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