Until I started sharing books with my retired father, suspense thrillers about spies weren't my thing at all. After reading Eye of the Needle I'm still not sure if the genre is for me. The book's basic idea is that a German spy must be stopped by MI-5 before he tells Hitler that the massive camp of Allied troops ready to invade Calais is a bluff. As plots go, it's pretty brilliant because it focuses on the limited task of finding and silencing the spy, yet manages to make the consequences hugely significant (even Winston Churchill pops up as a character in the book to express his fears for the world if the spy should escape). The weakness of the book is that it's Follett's Big Break book, and following a formula he knew would get him enough money to support his family for years.The formula is that he separates each section of the book into parts focusing on the spy, MI-5, and people who run into them along the way. As a result, you guess long in advance of our anti-hero, the spy, that he will find himself trapped on a tiny island inhabited by a bitter young amputee and his lonely wife. I would argue that the suspense is limited concerning anything before the point of the book when the spy gets to that island, and that event occurs after the midpoint of the book.The suspense formula of rotating between characters also has the problem of limiting the development of the characters, particularly Lucy, the lonely island wife. We meet Lucy in the middle of a typical World War II romance--she and David have married the day before he is set to fly in the RAF. After he has lost his legs, she attempts to bridge the distance between them, and raise their child in peace. But despite this back story, Lucy's motivation comes down to badly wanting sex and passionately loving her child. Lucy's character is essentially an EveryWoman of the war; she loves her family, misses intimacy, and does what she has to in order to get by. She's a desperate housewife who by circumstances is interesting. I get the feeling that she could have been interesting, and desperate in circumstances, but that would have required more pages spent on her and less pages spent on spy games.As characters go, David pulls the short straw. Since he is a less important character than his wife, his actions are only seen through her eyes, and he generates no pathos. (At this point, I'm pretty sure I'm holding a suspense book to too high a standard, but it was hard not to compare David to Finny in A Separate Peace.) The MI-5 guys, Godliman and Bloggs, also don't seem to have enough time in the spotlight.In fact, since the German spy has the most pages focused on him in the book, he and his cause are, to some extent, more sympathetic than the British. I almost wanted Hitler and his officer core to hear the report that would have indicated that they would be right to fortify Normandy. It's somewhat difficult to make the Germans seem human, even, in World War II stories, let alone unfortunate for their astute logic being thrown away in favor of intelligence briefings. It makes sense for the story to make the spy relatable, but it's a little weird that the British characters get shortchanged compared to the German army. I can't even write off this peculiarity as being the result of an early formula-driven writing effort by Follett.What I can write off as a final rough spot in the book is the choice not to put a "who, when, where" line before each section of text to clarify which character the focus is on. The first few parts of the book are spread out over years, and although that comes up in the text, a section cheat sheet would have been much easier.Despite these issues, the book does move well in the second half, and the action scenes read like movies. It's clear that Follett can tell good stories, but this isn't his most sophisticated writing.
'She said: ‘Can I have a word with you?’ He seemed to hesitate, then said: ‘I’m undressed.’ ‘So am I,’ she giggled, and she opened the door with her duplicate key. He was standing in front of the radio with some kind of screwdriver in his hand. He wore his trousers and no singlet. His face was white and he looked scared to death. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her, not knowing what to say. Suddenly she remembered a line from an American film, and she said: ‘Would you buy a lonely girl a drink?’ It was silly, really, because she knew he had no drink in his room, and she certainly wasn’t dressed to go out; but it sounded vampish. It seemed to have the desired effect. Without speaking, he came slowly towards her. He did have hair on his nipples. She took a step forward and then his arms went around her, and she closed her eyes an turned her face, and he kissed her, and moved slightly in his arms, and then there was a terrible, awful, unbearable sharp pain in her back and she opened her mouth to scream...'In Eye of the Needle, Follett takes us to 1944, just weeks before D-Day, with the Allies disguising their Normandy invasion plans with false intelligence and a fake armada of thousands of ships and planes. Follett re-imagines this extraordinary moment in history by introducing a master German spy, ‘Die Nadel’ (The Needle). He is formidably brilliant and ruthless. His weapon is the stiletto, and he will kill anyone who gets in his way – including a lonely British landlady who happens upon him at the wrong moment. Die Nadel discovers the Allies secret, and soon the outcome of WWII rests in his hands. The publication of Eye of the Needle in 1978 marked the beginning of British author Ken Follett’s success as an author. He was only 28 years of age. It won the Edgar Award in 1979 (The coveted annual prize given by the Mystery Writers of America) and was adapted for the screen in 1981. I am not often drawn to spy thrillers, yet I could not put this novel down. Follett has a keen sense of psychology, and the story is peppered with insightful human moments, and a focus on character despite the ‘big picture’ war setting. He is known for meticulous research, and for writing strong female characters. Eye of the Needle has both, plus fascinating wartime detective work to keep any fan of police procedurals riveted. An impressive thriller.Watch my interview with Ken Follett for 13th Street here: http://www.13thstreetuniversal.com.au...Link to official website: http://www.kenfollett.com/
What do You think about Eye Of The Needle (2004)?
When Faber arrives at Storm Island near Aberdeen, he finds Lucy who lives with her crippled husband and is so very lonely,as her embittered husband has never touched her after marriage. Lucy then embarks on a relationship with Faber, although Faber really 'seems to come to love' someone for the very first time in his life. But in my opinion I do not think Faber is capable of "love" he is trained to look at people as objects and kill immediately when threatened. Both need release from pent up sex
—Sonia Gomes
This was the novel that gave Follet star quality status in publishing circles. Not only was it a best seller but it also was adapted into a movie, starring Donald Sutherland. Here are some reasons to read THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE: (1) PRECISION: you like reading about cool, precise heroes or anti-heroes or villains who are painfully precise in their plans, the best at what they do and are totally "stone cold.";(2) WWII BUFF: you love to read about the "big thrills" of WWII; this has it since the German spy discovers D-Day plans and tries to get back to Germany to warn the High Command (i.e. his tap was taken after he was shortly exposed);(3) TAUT THRILLS: if this turns you on, Follet is right up there with Forsythe, Higgins and other masterful spy thriller novelists.;(4) MOVING LOVE/LUST TALES: Follet has always been unusually good at the subplot love stories in his tales; the intimacy level is higher than some people encounter in their real lives; the details of the lovemaking is hot. I still remember, at one point, the female interest asks the male love interest why he never married and he replied to something along the lines as: "I never loved any woman enough to marry them."; and(5) LOTS OF COMPLICATIONS FOR THE CHARACTERS: especially for the villain who seems to overcome almost all of them.Follet also does a good job of centering the story on the villain so that you like him and then switching over to another character later. The transition works for a number of reasons but saying more would spoil the story. STORY/PLOTTING: A minus to A; CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: A minus; TENSION LEVEL: B plus; WHEN READ: 2002 (revised review July 2012); OVERALL GRADE: A minus.
—StoryTellerShannon
First of all, the 3-star rating should not disillusion anyone. This was not a bad read. But, it was a disappointment. I had expected a lot from this book. This book deals with Operation Fortitude, which was undertake by the Allies to fuel the German notion that the invasion was going to take place at Calais and not Normandy. One spy digs it all out. And he is the best they have. They have to stop him.Of course, everyone knows who won WWII. So, there is no doubt as to the climax. But, the book seemed clinically done in certain parts. Also, the character buildup was not very strong for me. Although the cold nature of Die Nadel( the spy's codename) has been portrayed well, there is a lack of definitive clarity with respect to other characters, I feel. There is a character overload at times. Also, the espionage has not been given the bold upper hand. It seems more like a personal struggle. The war excitement and grit is something I missed.All in all, an above-average read. If, by chance, you do not know the war consequence, let it be so before reading the book. That will make it a bit more suspenseful.
—Aditya Jain
