Das Boot: The Boat (Paperback)

~ Lothar-Günther Buchheim (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The thrilling wartime novel that inspired Wolfgang Petersen's Academy Award-nominated, blockbuster film! Written by an actual survivor of Germany's U-boat fleet, Das Boot is one of the most exciting stories of naval warfare ever published, a tale filled with almost unbearable tension and suspense. In autumn 1941, a German U-boat commander and his crew set out on yet another hazardous patrol in the Battle of the Atlantic. Over the coming weeks they brave the ocean's stormy waters and seek out British supply ships to destroy. But their targets travel in well-guarded convoys. When contact finally occurs, the hunter quickly becomes the hunted, and a cat-and-mouse game begins as the U-boat hides deep beneath the surface of the sea. Soon, claustrophobia becomes an enemy almost as frightening as the depth charges exploding around them. The release of this supremely gripping, merciless intense story commemorates the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.

About the Author

Lothar-Gunther Bucheim was born in 1918 and grew up in Saxony. When the war broke out he joined the navy and served on mine-sweepers, destroyers and submarines on the last as an official navy correspondent.

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Cassell (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0304352314
• ISBN-13: 978-0304352319
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #158,117 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A salute to those brave, brave men!, November 21, 2003

By	Matthew James (England) - See all my reviews

Lother-Guenther Buchheim has provided us with a unique insight into an aspect of the Second World War that has been highly misrepresented in the modern "Hollywood" film industry. Disasters such as U-571 have unfortunately reached our screens, and as such, cloud our perspective as to how the Battle of the Atlantic was truly fought by men on both sides. The Germans are *always* the brutal bunglers given nothing but bad press, well, read this book and that view goes out the window along with the rest of the trash! These are ordinary men, from various backgrounds, called upon by their nation to serve in a time of war. As sailors in arguably the most dangerous naval profession (of the 40,000 servicemen who entered the U-Boat Arm, 30,000 became casualties) they are more than worthy of such a deep, thought-provoking appraisal. One cannot avoid sympathising with the crew as they toil through hostile waters on a hazardous voyage.

The book is technically a novel, but it is by no means a work of fiction. The author served as a naval war correspondant to the Kriegsmarine in the war, and this book is his recollection and interpretation of his own experiences. Although the characters are fictional, the experiences described are not.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in military history, especially if you wish to experience the war as the "other side" saw it. In effect, no different to ourselves.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Paragon of its Kind, January 12, 2004

By A Customer

Das Boot is a must-read for anyone remotely interested in sub warfare, WWII, or--most importantly--the psychological impact of war on men. With meticulous detail and great pacing, Buchheim does a superb job transporting you to one of Dönitz's "iron coffins," where life was cramped, dirty, fearful, and usually very short. Be sure to check out the acclaimed film adaptation, too; it's one of the very best war movies.

(Note: I read this book in the original German, so I can't comment on this particular translation.)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The U-Boat Experience, August 7, 2006

By	Paul McGrath (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

If being in a war can be described as 98% sheer boredom and 2% sheer terror, than this novel can be said to be an accurate description of that. Indeed, it is a complete and thorough examination of life on a German U-Boat mission during World War II. While it is mostly compelling, there are long stretches when not a whole lot is going on--just as it was in reality, no doubt--and although the author makes a valiant effort to keep things interesting, these passages tend to drag a bit.

The story is narrated and told in the first person by the war correspondent/author of the tale, so there is very much a sense of immediacy to this. The first thing which strikes one is how unpleasant life on a submarine was. The food, after the first few weeks, was horrible. There was very little space and no privacy with everyone jammed together. Some of the men even had to share bunks. (When one is on duty, the other used it, and vice versa.) To climb out of his own bunk, the narrator usually had to ask the person seated below him to move. Just about every meal was interrupted by the necessity of having to get up when someone wanted to pass. The air was clammy and stale with the reek of unwashed humans in close quarters.

Although this is informative, it goes on for the first hundred and eighty pages or so and worse, the author exacerbates the problem by putting things in which don't add anything and slow it down even further. So we get to hear the men's jokes and stories. We get to hear the author's lengthy descriptions of the ever changing look of the sea and sky. We get to hear about the working of the submarine: its engine, the flotation tanks, the torpedoes, etc. While much of this is mildly interesting, to put it bluntly, the guy is no Melville. The reader will find himself getting antsy for something to happen.

It does. The submarine gets hit by a storm that lasts for about a month. This is pretty good as to the drastic effect it has on the men's lives, getting pitched about constantly and incapable of getting any sleep unless the sub is underwater, which it can only be for a couple of hours at a time. The men turn into a bunch of scarecrow zombies. Again, it is informative, and again, one's interest begins to peter out well before the storm does.

The most intense aspect of the novel, of course, is the battle scenes which begin shortly after the storm ends and last off and on to the end of the novel. Although they torpedo a few ships, these battle scenes mostly have to do with their trying to get away. Life on the submarine alone has frayed the men's nerves almost to the breaking point. Enduring hour after hour of bombardment from above from relentless, sonar-equipped destroyers pushes many of them beyond their limit. The author describes the wailing and sobbing he hears in the darkened boat, and he himself remains frozen in fear as the crashing, pounding, roaring explosions occur seemingly right outside of their submarine. It is a mesmerizing and terrifying account, and continues right through to the hopeless ending.

But that's about as far as it goes. Except for the stoic captain, there really isn't much in the way of interesting character development, and the writing style, while certainly adequate, rarely rises above the pedestrian. It's a solid war novel, no more, no less.