Biggles And Cruise Of The Condor
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
Biggles is back! And with new retro-style covers he's bigger than ever.
Product Description
A dull murmur, like distant thunder, reached their ears and brought Biggles to his feet with a rush. 'What is it?' he gasped.-At the first sound Dickpa had leapt for the flashlight. 'Quick,' he snapped, as the floor of the cave sagged sickeningly. 'Get out - it's an earthquake! Ah - stop!' he screamed. A visit to Biggles' uncle, Dickpa, lands Biggles, Algy and mechanic Smyth in a dangerous adventure looking for an ancient Inca treasure hoard.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Under the influence of a heavy cold, I decided to re-read a classic, salvaged from my extreme youth. I think I last read it at around the age of 9, but kept it with other ancient tomes, despite many clear-outs over the years.
Before Indiana Jones had taken the dog's name, there was Biggles: hard as nails and full of the Bulldog spirit. Here, Biggles, first world war fighter ace and his support team of Smythe and Algy get involved with the black heart of South America. You come across our eponymous hero as he gets ambushed dropping in on his far-from-geriatric uncle "Dickpa" and after Biggles first demonstrates his ability to bludgeon those of an inferior race, he gets into a house-siege during which he shows his SAS credentials by not only escaping from under the enemy guns, but returning with an airplane to collect the others.
Miss Marple would have had kittens at the goings on.
Onward to Brazil - it's where the nuts come from? where the mutts go to? it's where the nuts go to? or where the mutt's nuts can be found? we get all versions at some point in the narrative.
politically correct it isn't - Brazilian officials are corrupt, 'negroes' are enslaved by loans, natives are psychopaths and Americans want the treasure - it's not in their country, but hey! 'might is right'. could those things really happen? what stands in their way is Biggles and his team and for all his individual bravado, he IS a team player.
It seems a little over-dramatic for the locals to be cannibals and the story IS dramatic, with barely a pause for the reader to reflect on the believability of the plot development. is it somewhat coincidental that a volcanic eruption occurs in the few days that they are in the area?
suspension of disbelief is a requirement for this story.
With an ending that could have inspired "The Mummy" - "Biggles and the Cruise of the Condor" stands alongside "Biggles Air Detective" as two pillars of the Temple of Adventure that I was called to as a child.
Surprisingly, there is a moment of sensitivity when Biggles finds the body of a dead rubber-trader - he seems aware of the fragility of life in that environment and how the mischance of a fever could end it all.
Some of the language may be dated and the cultural norms rather different from today's, but at its heart a Biggles story is about overcoming adversity, loyalty to ones fellows and the necessity for acts of violence towards the bad guys.
Before Indiana Jones had taken the dog's name, there was Biggles: hard as nails and full of the Bulldog spirit. Here, Biggles, first world war fighter ace and his support team of Smythe and Algy get involved with the black heart of South America. You come across our eponymous hero as he gets ambushed dropping in on his far-from-geriatric uncle "Dickpa" and after Biggles first demonstrates his ability to bludgeon those of an inferior race, he gets into a house-siege during which he shows his SAS credentials by not only escaping from under the enemy guns, but returning with an airplane to collect the others.
Miss Marple would have had kittens at the goings on.
Onward to Brazil - it's where the nuts come from? where the mutts go to? it's where the nuts go to? or where the mutt's nuts can be found? we get all versions at some point in the narrative.
politically correct it isn't - Brazilian officials are corrupt, 'negroes' are enslaved by loans, natives are psychopaths and Americans want the treasure - it's not in their country, but hey! 'might is right'. could those things really happen? what stands in their way is Biggles and his team and for all his individual bravado, he IS a team player.
It seems a little over-dramatic for the locals to be cannibals and the story IS dramatic, with barely a pause for the reader to reflect on the believability of the plot development. is it somewhat coincidental that a volcanic eruption occurs in the few days that they are in the area?
suspension of disbelief is a requirement for this story.
With an ending that could have inspired "The Mummy" - "Biggles and the Cruise of the Condor" stands alongside "Biggles Air Detective" as two pillars of the Temple of Adventure that I was called to as a child.
Surprisingly, there is a moment of sensitivity when Biggles finds the body of a dead rubber-trader - he seems aware of the fragility of life in that environment and how the mischance of a fever could end it all.
Some of the language may be dated and the cultural norms rather different from today's, but at its heart a Biggles story is about overcoming adversity, loyalty to ones fellows and the necessity for acts of violence towards the bad guys.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
When I was ten years old, this was one of my favourites from the reprinted William Dean hardbacks, especially the dust jacket illustration, which obviously doesn't apply here.
I still think it's one of the strongest Biggles stories, in terms of the atmosphere it creates of the setting, in this case the Amazon. The combination of treaure, ancient history and modern adventure is still a hard one to trump. The crew also manage to fall in just the right way between humanity and upright determination.
There are one or two interesting comparisons with the version I read. This is the original, I take it, with proper adaptions from Johns' occasionally crass political incorrectness but with 1930s technical references restored - for example, the Bolivian airliner is back to being a Junkers, rather than the Douglas of the 1960s reprint.
My old copy also has some scenes excluded, presumably because they were superfluous, such as Algy's airborne tussle with the snake and the longer conclusion at the end. I'm inclined to think that was right; they don't add anything.
I haven't changed my mind from when I was little - it's a terrific, rapid fire adventure for boys of all ages - recommended!
I still think it's one of the strongest Biggles stories, in terms of the atmosphere it creates of the setting, in this case the Amazon. The combination of treaure, ancient history and modern adventure is still a hard one to trump. The crew also manage to fall in just the right way between humanity and upright determination.
There are one or two interesting comparisons with the version I read. This is the original, I take it, with proper adaptions from Johns' occasionally crass political incorrectness but with 1930s technical references restored - for example, the Bolivian airliner is back to being a Junkers, rather than the Douglas of the 1960s reprint.
My old copy also has some scenes excluded, presumably because they were superfluous, such as Algy's airborne tussle with the snake and the longer conclusion at the end. I'm inclined to think that was right; they don't add anything.
I haven't changed my mind from when I was little - it's a terrific, rapid fire adventure for boys of all ages - recommended!
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an old favourite book. What a shame that this Kindle edition has annoying footnotes within the text itself, unlike others where they are gathered together at the end of a chapter, or at the end of the book. Very bad editing!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Children's Books > Classics
- Books > Children's Books > Fiction > War
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
