(no subject)

[skygiants]

A few weeks ago, I read Michael Gilbert's Death in Captivity, but I couldn't post about it until now because I was immediately after consumed with the urge to make genarti watch The Great Escape with me and we didn't finish that until last night, and I don't know how to talk about Death in Captivity except at least somewhat in context of The Great Escape because that film has been burned into my brain and heart since I was ten.

...ANYWAY.

Death in Captivity is a mystery, of sorts, set in a POW camp in Italy; the British officers in the camp are attempting construction of an escape tunnel, on the understanding that a.) escape is their duty generally but also b.) an Allied invasion of Italy is imminent and there are a variety of scenarios for what will happen to the POW camps once that happens, none of which are great.

Unfortunately, they have just found a dead body in their half-completed tunnel -- a Greek POW that nobody liked and that everyone thought was a plant or a spy -- which provides some conundrums, since the Italian officers running the camp will surely notice that someone's missing, which means they have to provide a plausible explanation for his death without giving away their escape tunnel. Eventually the protagonist, a quiet intellectual POW, gets dispatched to do some sleuthing to answer some key tunnel- and informer-related questions, and ends up investigating the murder more or less on the side; it's not anyone's first concern, except inasmuch as it relates to the safety of the tunnel and the escape.

It's a really fascinating sort of sideways slant on the concept of the murder mystery, and it's also a really compelling portrayal of a POW camp. (Michael Gilbert himself was a POW, and did escape from a camp on the eve of the Allied invasion of Italy, along with two friends to whom he dedicated the book -- an earned self-insert if any fictional detective ever was.) As aforementioned, I've seen The Great Escape many times and when you have a story about a lot of people in a POW camp digging a tunnel in an attempt to get as many people out as possible it's very difficult not to play compare/contrast, but the most interesting distinction for me is the fact that in The Great Escape they're all there in that particular camp because they are Dedicated Escapers: everyone in that film absolutely committed to escaping, not just because it's their duty but because they, personally, hate being behind bars and feel a compulsion to Get Out regardless of the personal risk. There's no mistrust or worry that any of them aren't sufficiently behind the project -- in fact the challenges go the other way around, when people are Too desperate to escape and get into trouble as a result.

In Death in Captivity, on the other hand, a solid contingent of the POWs aren't particularly excited about the prospect of risking their lives in an escape attempt. Gilbert has a really deft and sympathetic hand with the various human ways that people find to pass the time in captivity, many of which have nothing to do with escape at all (the camp theater troupe's production of The Barretts of Wimpole Street provides a major comic subplot) and also the various small tensions that arise as people's coping mechanisms inevitably come into conflict: like, on the one hand, yes, it's very worthy of those slightly obsessive guys in the hut over there to be digging that tunnel all day and night, and on the other hand, they stole our roulette board to prop the tunnel up?! Without asking?!? We were using that?!?

(Another thing that really struck me is after the protagonist escapes with his two friends and has to spend months getting through the Alps, and thinks sort of wistfully that he thought their friendship would if anything become closer at this point but in fact under the constant stress and tension they are all just getting on each other's nerves ALL THE TIME.

Now, admittedly, this is because one of the trio is a spy and a murderer and the protagonist knows it, and the fact that he hasn't admitted it in narration or to his other friend at this point does feel a little bit of a narrative cheat, but it still hit me! Survival is hard, and pack bonds are harder; you can rely on and trust someone with your life and it's still sometimes hard to forgive them for getting lost and being annoying about it.

Anyway. I liked it very much; in other news The Great Escape remains a fantastic movie.

Comments

[sovay]

It's a really fascinating sort of sideways slant on the concept of the murder mystery, and it's also a really compelling portrayal of a POW camp. (Michael Gilbert himself was a POW, and did escape from a camp on the eve of the Allied invasion of Italy, along with two friends to whom he dedicated the book -- an earned self-insert if any fictional detective ever was.)

I have no idea why I haven't read this book, but I should read this book. Thank you!

(How have I read other books by the same author? I bet they were in the house when I was growing up. I just bounced this title off my mother and she said approvingly, "Gilbert is always good!")

Gilbert has a really deft and sympathetic hand with the various human ways that people find to pass the time in captivity, many of which have nothing to do with escape at all

I highly recommend The Captive Heart (1946), the first and still to date only movie set in a POW camp I have seen where no one escapes except in the very technical sense of getting one person legally repatriated under another's name.

[edit] My brain has nevertheless seen fit to start jingling with "If I get to the coast, I will post you a letter / And Colditz can go to hell!"

[skygiants]

You absolutely should read this book. I'd never heard of Gilbert until raven posted about Smallbone Deceased and thus far he's been a delightful discovery.

The Captive Heart has been on my list since first you posted about it, but thank you for the timely reminder now that I'm in a POW camp spiral because now it is moving right up towards the top!

[sovay]

I'd never heard of Gilbert until raven posted about Smallbone Deceased and thus far he's been a delightful discovery.

That's the Gilbert I have definitely read! I have also read at least one other Inspector Hazlerigg novel and am trying to remember which.

The Captive Heart has been on my list since first you posted about it, but thank you for the timely reminder now that I'm in a POW camp spiral because now it is moving right up towards the top!

w00t!

(If you write the POW camp theatrical romance before me and selkie, I will not hold it against you.)

[sovay]

You absolutely should read this book.

It's great!

[elsane]

This sounds really interesting!

[skygiants]

I thought it was both well-written and absolutely fascinating from a genre perspective -- like, the concept of 'crime' is both so much bigger and smaller (no one truly cares about the murder-as-murder, they're in a prison camp already so it's not like anyone's worried about going to jail, the dangers are all on a completely different level, but also the idea of, like, war crimes and crimes against humanity looms really large!) in a way I found really cool and much more intriguing than the standard murder-puzzlebox.

[brainwane]

Thanks for the rec! Mentioned it to my spouse as something I think he would like.

[skygiants]

I hope he enjoys it if he reads it! :D

[chestnut_pod]

Hm, this sounds interesting! Do they actually escape at the end or is it more like The Great Escape and Recapture in terms of success rate? I think my nerves can handle one but not the other.

[whimsyful]

rot13 spoilers: gurl znantr gb rfpncr naq (gur cebgntbavfgf ng yrnfg, jr'er abg tvira vasb nobhg gur bguref) znxr vg gb arhgeny greevgbel

[chestnut_pod]

Thank you!

[skygiants]

Nccneragyl va gur Nzrevpna rqvgvba vg raqf jvgu gur rfpncr naq phgf bss gur jubyr rkunhfgvat, pbzcyvpngrq, ohg hygvzngryl gevhzcunag wbhearl onpx gb gurve bja yvarf nsgre, juvpu pbashfrq zr rabezbhfyl nf vg sryg dhvgr gurzngvpnyyl vzcbegnag gb gur obbx!

[chestnut_pod]

Strange! I'll be sure to get the right edition, then.

[raven]

Ahh, I’m glad you liked this one, my quest to make everyone I know read Gilbert seems to be going brilliantly!

[skygiants]

Thank you so much for writing him up to begin with, I've been enjoying the journey enormously! Are there any others you would particularly recommend beyond this and Smallbones?

[raven]

So there is one more that the British Library reprinted, Death Has Deep Roots, which is good (imho not quite as good as DiC or Smallbone, but really captures that immediately post-war sirupted feel). Otherwise most of the books are out of print unfortunately - the BL reprint crime short story collections tend to each have one of his stories in and invariably the Gilbert one is the best. For my birthday A. got me second-hand copies of some more: Petrella At Q, which is a collection of short stories about Patrick Petrella who is Gilbert's other regular detective and which I liked a lot, and Close Quarters which is his first book and first Hazelrigg book and while technically I'd say it isn't as good as his later books I feel confident in saying that you in particular would adore it. It is wildly complicated, full of savage detail and just extremely gothically nuts.

[legionseagle]

There's a Michael Gilbert short story called "The Death of Michael Finnegan" which is about an IRA attack on the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, featuring a method which is so simple and so effective I wouldn't be at all surprised if it played a part in the design of the Royal Courts' security systems which were in place by the late 80s/early 90s when I used to be a more frequent visitor there than I now am.

[skygiants]

Oh, fascinating! He's definitely very technically clever with the crime plots in the two I've read.

[raven]

This story was in a Gilbert collection I hadn't read, so i read it just now and, wow, yes! I suppose it would never happen these days for a whole bunch of reasons. It feels like a million years since I last went to the RCJ!

[nnozomi]

I don't know that particular Michael Gilbert but I'll check with someone who does (ie my mother and her shelves and shelves of murder mysteries). My favorite Gilbert is The Night of the Twelfth, which features, among other things, a production of Twelfth Night at a boys' prep school, with incredible characterization of all involved (warning for child murder graphically described after the fact, I'm sorry to say). Gilbert has a really deft and sympathetic hand with the various human ways that people find to pass the time in captivity, , as you say, applies to prep schools too!

[sovay]

My favorite Gilbert is The Night of the Twelfth, which features, among other things, a production of Twelfth Night at a boys' prep school

Sold!

[nnozomi]

Let us know what you think if you read it! (It is a really strange book in many ways, and gets pretty dark in passing, but it's very readable.)

While I'm at it, another mystery writer of similar vintage you might enjoy is the un-googleable Mary Kelly (some of the ones I have in mind are Dead Corse, The Spoilt Kill, The Twenty-Fifth Hour etc.). Kind of hard to describe but very strong character and setting, dark in the sense of "characters in untenable situations" as opposed to gore/violence, very well-written.

[skygiants]

Thank you very much for the rec, this sounds extremely compelling! Love to encounter a fictional Twelfth Night.

[oracne]

I think I read some Michael Gilbert when I was an adolescent, but memories are dim. Should check him out!

[skygiants]

I have been enjoying him very much so far!

[lirazel]

I have also been obsessed with The Great Escape since I was a kid and never, ever tire of watching it! I want to read Death in Captivity very much, but I knew I would be making all the comparisons, so it's fun reading someone else making all the comparisons!

[skygiants]

It's just such a good film and really makes the absolute most of its premise! I told my family that I'd been making genarti watch it with me on our regular Zoom call last weekend, after which Beth got the dubious pleasure of witnessing us all spontaneously break into a highly out-of-tune version of the theme song ...

[lirazel]

Such iconic music from the-other-Bernstein! It's my dad's ringtone, which makes me very happy.

[graycardinal]

Interesting. My acquaintance with Gilbert comes almost entirely by way of his short fiction, specifically a series featuring a certain Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens, who (depending on the particular time and place) are either in the service of or retired from British Intelligence, and thereby find themselves called upon to unravel mysterious plots and/or foil assorted acts of villainy, usually with a degree of understated subtlety. (One should not, however, underestimate these gentlemen, who are perfectly capable of the sternest possible measures should such prove necessary.) As a duo, these two occupy a space roughly in the middle of a triangle whose points consist of James Bond, Emma Peel & John Steed, and George Smiley.

A number of their adventures are collected in a book titled as given above, though there were - as I recall - a number of additional stories postdating the collection, which I read mostly in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

[skygiants]

Thank you for the rec! I have previous to this only read Smallbones Deceased on raven's recommendation, so I'm enjoying seeing what everyone else's favorites are.

[musesfool]

I don't think I've seen The Great Escape. Stalag 17 was my family's choice of WWII POW/escape movies - we watched it a lot once VCRs became a thing.

[skygiants]

I don't think we ever watched any other POW/escape movies other than The Great Escape -- for whatever reason that was the one that we hit constant replay on. (I remember getting in an argument with my brother at one point because we'd both listed it as our favorite movie one year and we didn't want to have the same one!) Anyway, I sold genarti on watching it with me by describing it as extremely Competence + Loyalty and I stand by that.

[sovay]

I don't think we ever watched any other POW/escape movies other than The Great Escape -- for whatever reason that was the one that we hit constant replay on.

The Wooden Horse (1950) is the fictionalization of an earlier real-life tunnel escape from Stalag Luft III and I keep meaning to read the memoirs of two of the three men involved, because I'm curious about the different perspectives. The Colditz Story (1955) is based on the memoir of the same name by Pat Reid which is one of rushthatspeaks' favorite childhood books and is basically delightful. The One That Got Away (1957) is the flipside of all of these movies and I mean to rewatch it in memory of Hardy Krüger when my life eases up a bit.

[aella_irene]

I read this review, then went off and read not only this book, but also Smallbone, Deceased which is a nice legal comedy-mystery, and Death Has Deep Roots, which is a 'race the trial' novel in which a woman fires her solicitor and hires a new one in the hope he'll believe she's actually innocent and not merely "not culpable by reason of feminine weakness."

[skygiants]

Smallbone Deceased was the first Gilbert I read, last year -- I kept meaning to get round to writing it up, and then I was like 'well, I'll do it in the same post as Death in Captivity, and then I ended up having so much to say about Death in Captivity that I totally forgot to also write about Smallbone! But I've not read or heard of Death Has Deep Roots so thank you for the rec. :D

[aella_irene]

Death Has Deep Roots is refreshingly anti-slut shaming, but also anti denial of platonic relationships and I love it. The narrative doesn't shame the heroine for having had sex, or act as though her other important relationship with a man must have been sexual, and these two things can coexist.

[melannen]

Oooh, I will have to read that one!

I didn't actually watch The Great Escape until relatively recently, but for some reason my middle school library had a first-edition hardcover of the book on the shelves, and I read that until I had it practically memorized.

[davidgillon]

I managed to get all the way through the thread to here before remembering that not only have I read The Great Escape, not just watched the film, but I'm fairly certain I have a copy* on my bookshelf up at my mother's. Though likely the first time I read it would be a library book in my teens.

* An M&S Christmas compendium with a couple of other WWII classics if memory serves.

[sovay]

Though likely the first time I read it would be a library book in my teens.

I didn't remember until this sub-thread that I have also read The Great Escape, although like melannen not since middle school, and I am confident out of a library because otherwise I would still own the book. Thank you for this flashback. Now it's even more confusing that I never read Pat Reid until rushthatspeaks lent him to me.

[skygiants]

I didn't actually know it had been based on a book until I was looking up trivia after this most recent watch, but now I definitely want to read it!

[whimsyful]

I'm really glad you liked this! I haven't watched The Great Escape or any other POW/prison break movies so everything in this book felt really fresh and new to me, but I wasn't sure how someone more familiar with the genre would feel about it. I'm glad to hear it holds up well on it's own! I thought Gilbert did a really good job of distinguishing the many characters and showed a large variety of different reactions and attitudes to attempting escape, and particularly enjoyed the subplot with the POWs trying to put on a play.

[skygiants]

I think you're the one who mentioned it to me, so thank you for doing so -- I really liked it! Even though a lot of the tropes were familiar to me, this book definitely has a different take on them and made me consider aspects I hadn't before (for example, the way they are constantly checking the web of upper-class connections between officers to figure out who might be a spy was fascinating on a number of levels.)