Frederick E. Smith (1919–2012)

The Obsession by Frederick E Smith Strange Book This.
 
Set in England in the 60's. Ostensibly the story of an war hero who is struggling with the permissive 60's told after the 60's by a journalist. Sounds odd? well it is a bit. In the very beginning the main character is described as "complicated" and indeed he is. He is approached by a young-ish female journalist (she's in her thirties). Both parties have agendas and clashing ideologies.A series of very long flashbacks or time jumps but it all hangs together coherently. IT all ends in tears as everything does. But the telling of it is at times tedious and beautiful. Full of contradiction, indignation and outrage and some nicely done sex.It wasn't until I saw the list of the other books by this author that I got the connection to the WW2 Air Force. He wrote the 633 Squadron series of books.One of the things i liked was that this book really captured some of the spirit of the 60's in England, hard as that can be to imagine! The female journalist catches some of that spirit during her journey through this book and ironically it echoes to the experience as described of some of the young airmen of that war too.Would I recommend it? Hard to say, I did enjoy it, but it wasn't an easy read. The main character will challenge you from page one. Sensitively written throughout.… (meer)

Without giving too much of the plot away 633 Squadron under Roy Grenville are given a near impossible mission to knock out a secret Nazi facility at the head of a Norwegian fjord. The task is a hard one to begin with but when promised Norwegian freedom fighters help does not appear it becomes doubly so.

This book was first published in 1956 so barely ten years after the end of WWII when memories were fresher and perhaps the book market was very different than those of today. This book went on to spawn a pretty successful movie spin off.

Unfortunately for me at least this book is showing its age. Too many of the characters are rather stereo-typical and two dimensional. The war weary but brilliant leader who falls in love despite his best efforts not to to a damsel in distress, the even more senior desk bound pilot who dreams of one last great mission, the gum chewing, recklessly brave North American (Canadian this time) and the buxom bar maid with a good heart but loose-ish morals. Much of the drama is told from the viewpoint of those on the ground and the action when it arrives is dealt with in a pretty breathless and cursory fashion.

Given that it is 70 years since the end of WWII it is perhaps fitting that we are reminded of the many brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. As such if you are looking for a piece of escapism which is not too taxing on the little grey cells than you can do worse.… (meer)