The Riddle Of The Sands

By: Erskine Childers

Narrated by: Anton Lesser

Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Riddle of the Sands is set during the long suspicious years leading up to the First World War and is a classic of spy fiction.

©2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Beware the casual racism of 1903, otherwise great

This is an interesting book, with a fascinating premise: that Germany could use its Frisian Islands militarily against Britain.

It’s very technical with regard to nautical terminology and details, which aren’t my thing so I just let them flow past while my hands did other things. So it was good for multitasking.

I am interested in geography, so I kept bringing up maps to orient myself to where they were. Again, there’s a lot of detail.

I’m left wondering if publishing this novel acted as a deterrent to trying an attack of the type described here during WWI.

The narrative character started out as a drawling pain in the rear. Thankfully, the drawling and complaining didn’t continue into the second half of the book.

Interesting look back at espionage prior to WWI, and a kind of historical futurism. Just be aware that the British habit of casually stated racial superiority is on full display, as is the pro-colonialism perspective of the day.

A 19th Century Classic

By modern standards, this story unfolds very, very slowly. It is realistic and quite believable.

The performance is perfect. Anton Lesser is masterful.

Stirring Schoolboy Adventure

Despite my seemingly derogatory title, this is very good and well narrated. Highly recommend! Also recommend the 70s film starring Michael York of the same title.

Brilliant story,beautifully read

This wonderful book deserves Anton Lesser as narrator. It’s a fast-paced adventure that draws the reader/listener in and is hard to break away from.
The narration is excellent. Lesser makes the characters come to life.
Superb.

historical accuracy

Slow start, characters are developed nicely over time. Very fast pace towards the end. Narrator does an excellent job of acting out various characters.

Slow beginning, but worth the wait

It takes awhile for this story to get going, but it becomes gripping later. Anton Lesser's reading is, as always, magnificent. This is a classic thriller - no gory stuff, and more of a mental cat-and-mouse game than an action adventure. There is a lot of sailing terminology, but it is not essential to understand the jargon (I didn't understand most of it) to enjoy the book.

If you can sail a boat, this might be great

If someone is an expert sailor, "The Riddle of the Sands" might be just the thing. But I am not a sailor and do not really know much about sailing. Port and starboard are about the extent of my knowledge. So for me this was a real slog - it seemed to go on forever with endless descriptions of activities on board the vessel and the various types of tides, currents and sand bars encountered. There is a story of friendship and a romance buried in there somewhere. The reader is first rate. But the two main characters remained remote and inaccessible to me and the paranoid plot did not make a lot of sense. In fact, teasing out what that paranoid plot actually is takes up the main part of the story. Apparently, at the time of its writing in 1903, Great Britain was concerned about the possibility of a land invasion mounted by sea. And at the time, this book stirred a lot of public debate. While the prose is intelligent, the notion of a hidden fleet in this age of satellite imagery, nukes and drones seems rather quaint. In short, it is not very relevant today; it may have reached its expiry date.

a great listen

A classic that is engaging, exciting, entertaining, and even humorous at times.

So well written that you forget it was written close to 100 years ago.... as good or better than any modern thriller.

Classic

A bit slow to qualify as a thriller by modern standards, but a must read for anyone who likes classic spy novels. Very well performed.

A great read and excellent for the WWI centennial

Riddle of the Sands was published in 1903, 11 years before WWI started, but it is redolent with the suspicion between Germany and other countries that circulated at that time and resulted, finally, in the Great War. The Riddle is that our two young spies gradually realize that Germany is planning an invasion of England via the low-water tributaries in the Frisian islands, pulling low-draft troop carriers among the natural channels through the sands . The places named are real and you can follow the plot on Google Earth.

Anton Lesser does a superb reading, and reads with the tones of a young man, which is crucial, because while the plot and action are gripping, the characterization and character development is just as beautifully and humorously written, and this is why it seems to me almost a crime to settle for an abridged version of this classic. You won't regret listening to the original.

Our narrator, Carruthers, is a rising young star in the Foreign Office, and when he reluctantly boards the Dulcibella, he is deeply disappointed that it is not the stylish, elegant yacht with crew that he had dressed and packed for. He is a prig, and no sailor, and both faults get well and truly reformed during this story as he grows up, learns to sail, and finds his place in the world -- because however "at sea" he may feel in a boat, Carruthers has talent and courage as a spy on land that make the reader feel he would be wasted in the Foreign Office.

Of course there is a beautiful girl. And a dubious father. And Germans, nice and otherwise, whose accents Lesser performs convincingly. Best of all, there is a VIP who comes to inspect how well the invasion plans are working out. This is "he who insists" on coming.


SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER





"He who insists" is the Kaiser. Kaiser Wilhelm II, ruler of Germany, avid yachtsman, committed to building up Germany's navy. The idea that Germany might invade England is hardly remarkable: most wars involve the aggressing Continental power considering it very carefully, or actually doing it. The last ones were Napoleon and Hitler, both of whom made elaborate plans for invasion, but never actually carried them out. Eleven years after this book came out, Germany used its navy to try to starve England out via U-Boots sinking ships carrying imports, rather than invasion. But in the meanwhile this book, Riddle of the Sands, resulted in some large changes in the British navy basing, because in fact, the plan was plausible.

The most delightful moment in the book, to me, is when Carruthers, needing a quick exit from his hiding place, not only wrecks the Kaiser's boat, but also gets him to help cast off the dinghy he's in so he can row away. He gives brusque orders in the confusion of running the boat aground, and as a yachtsman used to quick hands-on sailing, the Kaiser obeys him!

There is a Michael York movie of this book which is excellent and fairly close to the original.