The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton

Excerpt from the main opening of the book entitled “The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton”.

Satan is glad – when I am bad
And hopes that I – with him shall lie
In fire and chains – and dreadful pains

- Victorian Child’s Poem, 1856

You know you’re in for a good ride… errrr… a good read when you have Michael’s book in your lap. His book is thoroughly enjoyable and is often irresistibly delicious to read. So much so that forsaking your sleep to turn the pages and read seems worthwhile.

Written in 1975 (way before I was born :-P), this book is what I would categorize as one of the most readable book despite being written mostly in Victorian Era’s speech and slang. Unlike "DBC Pierre’s Vernon God Little" which read like a choked carburetor, this book is such a joy to read that I felt somewhat smarter in Victorian slang after reading it :-)

Great example (from the book) would be:
“Pierce asks him the question, see, but he shows no interest in the matter, he plays like a flimp or a dub buzzer, or a mutcher, no interest or importance, and this because he don’t want the skipper to granny that a bone lay is afoot. Now the skipper should have done, we went to a lot of trouble on his account, and he could have put down on us to the miltonians, and for a pretty penny too, but he hasn’t the sense, otherwise why’d he be a skipper, eh?”

Catch no ball? Explanation’s in the book :-) So if you feel like knowing what’s afoot in that particular paragraph, then don’t hesitate to grab this book ASAP.

Now back to the review :-)

With Victorian era England as the backdrop, this novel is about a charismatic but enigmatic protagonist named Edward Pierce, who assembled a “crack team” in their attempt to steal the shipment of gold transported monthly from London to France in order to support the Crimean War.

Crucial foundation of this robbery is to get their hands on keys to the heavyset safes used to keep the gold shipment. This is easier said than done because each of the keys are located and safeguarded by different personnel at different locations. On top of that, multiple levels of security are added to make the shipment as safe as possible.

Though faced with various impossibilities, our anti-hero managed to plan and execute it flawlessly until his main accomplice “turn nose” on him.

The story was told from various point-of-views; in which, primary “voice” is uttered evidence during court proceedings (when they were finally caught but Pierce managed to escape in the end and Agar was sent to Australia in exile). As the story progresses, Michael managed to infuse additional information and clarification on customs, slang and bits and pieces related to Victorian era England, which made the overall read an enjoyable one.

If I were to imagine the book as an ice-cream, then the taste would be rum raisin... my personal favourite... :-) tasty and you’ll definitely feel sated long after you’ve finished the book.
Frankly I don’t know what I am trying to say here... hehehe... aiya... cincai la... :-P


Personal rating: 9 out of 10

Cons:
1) I couldn’t find any flaw with this novel. No wonder it was adapted into movie starred by the good looking old man :-) Sean Connery (I haven’t watched the movie yet though)

Pros:
1) An enjoyable read. So much so that I have “panda eyes” as I read right till late night :-D