Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ONE OF THE BEST ADVENTURE STORIES EVER, October 8, 1998
Having read nearly all Wilbur Smith's books, and having spent my entire teenage years with a Wilbur Smith book close at hand, (and being a writer myself) I feel entitled to say a few words about "Eye of the Tiger" and Wilbur Smith in general. First of all, "Eye of the Tiger" is one heck of a great read -- I must've read it 15 times myself, and have given it to all my friends (and girl-friends!) to read at one time or another. Harry Fletcher (the main character) is like an old friend to me; I feel I know the guy. And what a great guy he is, too! And as for the story, well it just zings along so smartly you'll be in heaven. What I love so much about Wilbur Smith is that (at his best) his language and description borders on literature, though HE doesn't agree, I'm told. This is not the case with all his books, however, and in recent years I have been disappointed. But most of the first 20 books he wrote are marvels of story telling, and one day I look forward to picking them up and starting all over again. It'll be a pleasant reminder of those dreamy teenage years. And quite frankly, after having read Hemingway and Melville and other giants of the adventure genre, I'm never so happy as when I'm immersed in a Wilbur Smith novel. If you have never had the pleasure, I envy you; you have some richly rewarding discoveries ahead. Thank you, Wilbur Smith for countless hours of reading ecstasy. Andy Todes (Born in South Africa, 1971, raised in Australia, currently living in the United States).
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you like Cussler, you'll love Smith!, January 28, 2003
This review is from: The Eye of the Tiger (Mass Market Paperback)
When a friend found out that I am a big fan and avid reader of the Dirk Pitt novels, he said "if you like Cussler, you'll love Wilbur Smith." I followed his advice and tried out Eye of the Tiger. This is the first Wilbur Smith novel I've read, and it definitely will not be the last. I'm definitely hooked! Why am I so hooked? It's an engrossing page-turner, it has lots of lively action, the bad guys are eminently hate-able without being cartoonish, the heros are believable and all the more lovable because they have such human foibles, and everything in the story is so believable. The hero (Harry Fletcher) is a manly-man who is able to think and fight his way out of apparently impossible situations, yet at the same time never comes across as an invincible superman. I think I also like him so much is that he is a reluctant hero. Circumstances are forced upon him, rather than him being sent in to save the world because he's the only one who could do it. In some ways, he is almost like Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea, except that Wilbur Smith likes for his Hero to come out ahead in the end. But I think the part that I most appreciated was that there were so many unpredictable surprises and twists, yet in hindsight, all the clues were there. Let me explain. My wife refuses to watch a movie with me the first time she sees it, because the clues are so ibvious that I usually figure out who dunnit or what the big surprise will be early on, and can explain why. Either that, or I get mad because the clues are never presented at all and the hero figures it out only through knowledge of some totally arcane trivia or by way of some clue that the author never actually presents to us in the book (or movie). This sucks! At least give me a chance. Not so with this book! There were some wonderful twists that I found myself very happy to see because, in hindsight, the clues were all there, and it was totally valid for the hero to catch them, and I should have caught them to. For example, I didn't have to know about Flame Coral to draw the same conclusion Harry drew - I should have understood the implications of the other diver not knowing what it was. (You'll understand once you read the book). Bottom line: my friend was right. If you like Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels, you WILL definitely like Wilbur Smith's Eye of the Tiger. I have already ordered a bunch more of Wilbur's books to add to my stack of Cussler novels.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Everything one could ask for, until . . ., June 9, 2001
This review is from: The Eye of the Tiger (Mass Market Paperback)
Wilbur Smith is a master at taking action to the level of frenzy. If Pauline thought she was overwhelmed with perils, she ought to read "The Eye of the Tiger." More than once when I was wondering how Harry Fletcher would survive an ordeal I discovered that his troubles were only beginning. In an underwater adventure he had to do in a giant moray eel, fought off sharks followed by bigger and meaner sharks, encountered poisonous coral. He ran out of breathing air, got the bends. He was beset with bad girls, battled waves of bad guys followed by badder guys, and meaner ones yet were on the way. Traitors lurked within his ranks. I found the story immensely entertaining. It has been a long time since I've been gripped so by a tale. I pursued it far into the night and finally had to make myself put it down. The circumstances surrounding the sailing ship Dawn Light, and how it was discovered what she carried and where she went down, were particularly well crafted. Captivating. Wilbur Smith dances dangerously close to the incredible time and again as he keeps his narrative running wildly along. Yet somehow he avoids that perilous step over the line of credibility. At least he did so until the very end. There he didn't step across the line but pole-vaulted over it. My delight was shattered by that one sledgehammer blow when he anchored a central theme of the story in quicksand. The premise underlying Sherry North's (or whoever she was) motivation was totally at odds with international maritime laws regarding salvage of treasure. England had no jurisdiction over a century-old shipwreck half a world away. No English government agency would have behaved as Smith described. We were not offered the flimsiest reason or justification for England's interest, much less involvement. It pummeled common sense. Smith obviously has the talent for imagining a plausible foundation for that critical aspect of the story. Why didn't he? There were other irritations, minor ones that would have gone unmentioned but for the colossal one. For instance, on his arrival in England Harry obtained a Benz from the Hertz depot. It continued as a Benz until midway through the episode, when it became a Chrysler. In the final scene, Harry narrates, "I settled into the seat of the Swissair 727 and fastened my seat belt." Then two paragraphs later, "As the Caravelle took off..." The description on the back of this paperback edition begins, "For a thousand years, an unimaginable treasure has rested on the bottom of the Indian Ocean." It had been on the ocean floor a hundred years, not a thousand.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
