Enigma by Robert Harris
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Book Reviews of Enigma
Book Review: A surprising literary novel
Summary: 5 Stars
Enigma is a surprising WWII spy novel that I enjoyed a lot, much more than Harris's Fatherland or Archangel. Enigma is a code used by Germany that they believe is unbreakable. Except the allies have broke it and are using to aid their war plans.
One day, the Germans change their code books and Thomas Jericho, the expert who broke Enigma the first time, is called back to work after having a nervous breakdown.
From there, the story follows Thomas and his codebreakers as they try and find the key to breaking Enigma and preventing the German u-boats from sinking Allied convoys coming across the Atlantic. Thomas is sidetracked in his pursuit by the mysterious Claire Romilly, a fellow codebreaker who he had an affair with and fell in love with and who subsequently dumped him. Claire has disappeared and Thomas joins her roommate Hester to try and find Claire and find the truth behind her mysterious actions.
This is a spy novel, not really an action story, so the story revolves around the characters and their feelings and relationships.
I have several comments about this book. Rarely do I find I enjoy a novel so much after not being too impressed by an author's previous works. But Enigma is far different and better than Fatherland or Archangel, and makes me definitely want to read Pompeii. Much of the story revolves around Claire Romilly, who never actually appears in the story except for a few brief flashbacks. Is she a spy, a traitor, dead or alive or missing. So many questions are thrown at you about this mysterious woman who captivated everyone he came in touch with.
This is a WWII novel based on actual events, but unlike others I've read, it keeps you reading to the very end because of the twists and turns. I was very satisfied at every turning point the novel took and Harris does a great job detailing the hows and whys of the mystery.
A quote on the cover says this novel is "literate" meaning I guess it is more than just an action thriller. As far as WWII novels go, this is one of the best.
Book Review: Techno-mystery with smarts
Summary: 5 Stars
"We're worried. We're very worried about a girl named Claire Romilly".
So says British Intelligence Officer Doug Wigram to this novel's protaganist, Tom Jericho, a cryptanalyst at Bletchley Park, during the beginning of a blackout of information from the notorious "Shark" encryptions on the German Engimas the Brits are madly decoding.
Because Tom Jericho's just returned to Bletchley after a nervous breakdown, following a botched affair when he finds Claire going through his briefcase. But when he tries to patch things up, she's disappeared. Breaking into her house, Tom finds four undeciphered cryptograms hidden in her floorboards. Is she a spy? A traitor? Tom, still reeling from overwork and a broken heart, decides to find out.
With the help of Claire's good-girl roommate, Hester, an intriguing mystery is solved - or "decoded", if you like - as Tom brilliantly puts his code-breaking skills to help not only the general war effort, but uncover a shocking secret contained in the four cryptograms he's hidden. And lastly, Tom uncovers the truth about "Claire Romilly".
From a technological standpoint, the novel is fascinating for its examination of the way security was set up. All the things we take for granted in a computer network today are seen here in nascent form: military guards as "firewalls" - radio networks as "internets" - bombe menus for "programs"; all of which strikes a very modern chord.
Robert Harris has put together a book with believable and sympathetic characters, against a fact-based background to the Bletchley code-breaking effort. (See "The Hut Six Story - Breaking The Enigma Codes" by Gordon Welchman)
For no matter how smart Tom is, or how great his problem-solving skills are, there is no machine that can decrypt the enigma of someone else's heart.
Book Review: Elegantly written and refreshingly original
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an intelligent, well-constructed book that had me eagerly turning pages right up until the end. Robert Harris confidently takes us into the world of cryptography and cryptographers, frantically pitting human ingenuity, artificial intelligence, mechanical and electronic "bombes", and "Turin machines" (both the revolutionary precursors of our present-day computers) against predatory German submarines set on devastating merchant convoys in the Atlantic. It is an exciting, informed, and enjoyable read.
The book has been very carefully researched and accurately conveys the bleakness and weaknesses of war-weary Britain in the early 1940s. We are led into the strange and taunt world of Bletchley Park, the WWII center of British cryptographic efforts to crack the various versions of the German Enigma code. Historical fact and personalities (such enigmatic genius Alan Turin) are convincingly interwoven with a multi-leveled story of espionage and betrayal. The writing is excellent; a beautifully told story.
Towards the end of the book there is a quotation from the mathematician G. H. Hardy, "a mathematical proof, like a chess problem, to be aesthetically satisfying, must possess three qualities: inevitability, unexpectedness and economy." What is true of mathematical proofs and chess solutions is also true of good thrillers. Harris has provided us with a brilliantly different espionage book where unexpectedness is present to the final page, and a graceful economy of writing that creates a smooth and enjoyable read. Unlike many books, this is one that I will be rereading next year.
Book Review: Great book!
Summary: 5 Stars
Robert Harris has done it again, after the triumph of Fatherland he has written another masterpiece thriller about the British codebreakers during The Battle of the Atlantic. Harris's hero Tom Jericho is a great mathematician and codebreaker at Bletchley Park who is out of the game due to a nervous breakdown, but is called back to Bletchley Park when the Allies find out that the Germans have changed their codes all of a sudden. The reason Jericho is called back is that since he broke the Germans's code last time, his superiors think he can do it again, but there is another element that puzzles Jericho: The girl he was having a relationship with, Claire Rommily, has stolen some cryptograms and disappeared into thin air! Suddenly the Forign Office begin an investigation on her, is there a spy in Bletchley Park? Jericho (with the help of Claire's housemate Hester Wallace) intends to find out just that. It would be a crime for me to give away any more. One of the things I loved the best in this book is Tom Jericho's character, he is a normal human being. Not Superman (as some of my favourite authors tend to do, Tom Clancy, Frederick Forsyth, Robert Ludlum etc.). He is not particularly good looking(although I hear that Dougray Scott has been cast as him), suave or strong. I believe that with this book, Harris has proved himself to be the succesor to John LeCarre in passing on moral messages without actually writing them out loud! Please continue to delight us Mr. Harris!Book Review: breaking enigma
Summary: 5 Stars
Enigma is a great book about the less known side of World War 2. Not many people knew how much work was actually done behind the fighting lines. The whole war depended on how the code breakers did on hacking into the Nazi code system. This idea of breaking codes sounds extremely boring at first, but Robert Harris finds a way to make it exciting. It is also a great idea of his to add in a little mystery with Claire and not resolve it until the end of the book. Jericho is a great character for the book and he is very exciting. It is very strange that the author decided to make him sick at the beginning of the book because most people wont think of that as being nearly as hard on you as if you were fighting in the front lines of the war, but without sleep and proper food for such a long time it would eventually were you down and could very easily make you sick. The start of this book can get a little boring, but don't give up on it right away or you will miss the exciting mysteries that follow it at the end. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants an exciting book on the lesser-known side of World War 2 and wants to learn about code breaking.