Quote:
Originally Posted by Fiacha
I looked at your whole list a while ago and spotted 'The Riddle of the Sands'. I remember it as one of my father's favorite reads.
It is readily available via Project Gutenberg so I downloaded it ane reread it. Apparently it was singularly influential in its day, but its day was 100 years ago and all that is left is an average adventure story about leaden characters doing things for barely comprehensible motives. You would need to be interested in both small boat handling and lead up to the first World War to find much of interest in it.
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I liked 'The Riddle of the Sands' when I read it many years ago; and I still think it's a 'must-read' for anyone interested in spy novels as a genre.
Though it's enduring popularity may also be partly explained by the fact that the author was executed during the Irish civil war. Erskine Childers was a fascinating person.
I still think 'Rebecca' should be next.
'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.' - irresistible!