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Read Online H M S Ulysses Alistair Maclean Books
"This edition reads like an uncorrected, very bad OCR of a previous edition. It has a huge number of misspellings, most of which are apparently "corrections" to Maclean's UK English words and nautical terms that weren't in the OCR software's limited dictionary.
I was looking forward to re-reading this novel -- it was a favorite from 40 years ago -- but now I'll have to find a used copy."
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H M S Ulysses Alistair Maclean Books Reviews :
H M S Ulysses Alistair Maclean Books Reviews
- I've read this book 3 or 4 times now. It's an incredible story of courage, loyalty, human frailty and the horrors of the North Atlantic convoys during WWII. Although the story follows the actions of a British cruiser, it also details the incredible bravery and sacrifice of the Merchant Marine Service; a service that should not be forgotten. It's, at times, bleak but there is humor and a wonderful cast of characters.
- This was Alistair MacLean's first novel, as I understand it, and it is still considered by many to be one of his best. Rather than the intrigue, double-crossing, and deduction that mark many of his later tales, it is first and foremost a war story. HMS Ulysses is a light cruiser, a variant on the Dido class, with some features of the later, similar Black Prince class units. She has seen a great deal of action on the northern convoy routes to Murmansk, and is wearing out. Not just the ship's components, but her crew. As MacLean describes them, Ulysses' crew is not the indestructible band of heroes from the stereotypical war movie, but real men, who have been exposed to too much physical and mental stress, and have seen too much war. The terminology of PTSD was still in the future when the novel was written, and definitely so for the era (about 1943) in which it takes place, but MacLean lets us see the human cost of making war. The ship's Doctor, and even the ship's Captain, and the Squadron Commander, appeal to higher authority -- Ulysses and her men need a rest. But the Admiral will have none of it -- apparently, at his level, ships and men are expendable pieces he can move about on his chess board. He will use Ulysses -- if necessary, he will use her up. So off she goes again, as the force flag for a squadron which will take up the escort of the next Murmansk convoy, taking over from a US force at a predesignated point. A German minisub attack on the ship while still in port, and a near-fatal accident as she is getting underway, may be seen as omens... as may a terrible storm that damages several of the squadron, requiring those vessels to return to base. Before the major action is ever joined, Ulysses' forces are depleted. And, once the Royal Navy vessels have joined up with the convoy, the attacks commence, by sea and air. One by one, the other ships of the squadron are lost. Ships explode, dropping sailors into icy waters where survival times are measured in short minutes. Should an escort pause to pick up survivors, she makes herself an ideal target for a lurking U-boat, so many times the crew of HMS Ulysses must watch brave men die. This, and the repeated German attacks, cannot help but fray the nerves of her crew, and overstress them physically. Morale plummets with the unexpected death of a major character, but still the crew must go on. And, somehow, they do... until the tragic but heroic last stand. This is a marvelous novel, which apparently was never made a movie -- perhaps because there are no longer any Dido class cruisers left afloat to serve as a shooting set.
- This is an important work because it captures the feeling of a doomed crew in 20th century war. Many people don't appreciate that between World War I and World War II, seamen around the world found themselves on doomed vessels and yet continued to fight, to persevere. This tale is one fictional example of men pushed past the point of no return and still kept doing their jobs.
- Anyone who has never been exposed to Alistair Maclean is missing one of the very best story tellers of all time. I've been reading him since I was 10 and his works are still exciting and carefully crafted skin-tingling foreshadowing in all of his books, which are not Tom Clancy monsters. All you need to know if you're a movie lover is the following "The Guns of Navarone", "Force 10 from Navarone", Ice Station Zebra", Where Eagles Dare" Fear Is The Key", and ones that should have been such as "Night Without End", and the best he's ever written and one of the greatest military thrillers I've read "H.M.S. Ulysses". Do yourself a favor and lie back and start with "H.M.S. Ulysses".
- MacLean's first novel and best job of developing characters - at least male/British sailors and officers, WWII.
MacLean actually served on HMS Royalist, a second-flight, Black Prince class (originally Dido class) light cruiser - by some amazing coincidence,
nearly identical to the title ship. Thus there is no chance whatsoever that the author gets anything technically wrong in the novel. Led me to rest of MacLean canon, notably the 60s "Guns of Navarone," but nothing touches Captain Vallery and his crew as they attempt to escort FR77 to Murmansk.
First read novel in early 60s, from my ex-US Navy father's collection. Happens to be one of those novels that are readable multiple times. Curious never made into movie, like "The Cowboy and the Cossack" (C. Huffaker) and "Gray Eagles" (D. Unkeffer) - Obviously a great book, excellently written, and relates the terrible conditions at sea in wartime, especially at the Arctic circle. I couldn't finish it however. The author never gives the reader a break from continuous inhumane human conditions. Shakespeare understood the audience needs something more than continual tragedy. Remove the razor blades before reading. Prepare to be held underwater, and do not expect to come up for air. Do not read if you are already depressed.
- This edition reads like an uncorrected, very bad OCR of a previous edition. It has a huge number of misspellings, most of which are apparently "corrections" to Maclean's UK English words and nautical terms that weren't in the OCR software's limited dictionary.
I was looking forward to re-reading this novel -- it was a favorite from 40 years ago -- but now I'll have to find a used copy. - The story is undoubtedly gripping but although the Russian convoys were, by all reports
one long horror story, the events described here stretch the imagination beyond belief.
I cannot believe that the mutinous crew would meekly resume their duties, having already experienced what was awaiting them.
The suffering endured by men and ships seems unbearable and that both continued to function so long is hard to believe.
None the less, the author seems to have done his homework and his description of the ships
and crews seems genuine - and most probably includes a period spent aboard, at sea
