Operation Heartbreak

by Duff Cooper, Max Arthur (Afterword)

Willie Maryngton always wanted to go to war. But he was born just too late to see action in the first world war, and it was a long wait until the second. Would he ever have his chance to be a hero?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Modern Classics, World War II, War, Novels, 20th Century

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, GCMG, DSO, PC

Reviews

[Fiona MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness. What a book! Started off slowly, then by the end I was almost in tears! I don't think I have read a bad Persephone book so far, the quality is just miles above the rest.
A tragic story (and a real story I was later to find out) about a man who's only desire was to fight for his country. He missed the first and then missed the second and it broke him. He became a shadow of his former self, and when his closest friend died he became close to his sister. The last few pages really bring the story together, are fascinating and have a sort of bittersweet victory to them. I would recommend this to any Persephone lovers out there whole-heartedly.

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bittersweet story about Willie Maryngton, a man who yearns to go to war and fight for King and country. As sheer bad luck would have it, he is just too young for WW1, and too old for WW2. It is a quiet and very understated story, and while I didn't understand Willie, I quite liked him. He's a fairly simple character, pleasant a full of good cheer, but not terribly clever. When he joins the army, he follows orders but doesn't manage to distinguish himself and so he's never promoted; unfortunately for him, this means that by the time WW2 begins, he is stuck behind, which rankles. He starts to lose his cheerful outlook. I like this as I was reading, but it was only when I read the end that it all fell into place for me and I think the character of Willie is one that will stay with me for some time.

The afterward in this edition came as a surprise, and must be read, (after).

[Bill Kupersmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A military history buff will feel the coin drop @ the beginning of chapter 16, & then turn back to the opening chapter & think, 'Of course; should have seen it.' But then the MH buff will tear up like the rest of those fortunate enough to read this classic from another era. It's as moving as all get out. Sort of like a Barbara Pym novel for guys - proving the most quiet & insignificent life can have beauty & great meaning. The MH buff will also check to see that this novel appeared several years before the 1st account of the historical episode on which it was based, as well as being a little non-plussed by the difference in class & background between the protagonist of the novel & the person who performed the role in 'real life'. The difference gave me much to reflect on, how Operation Hearbreak is a work of romantic fiction, which portrays life not as it is but as it should be. The MH buff will also admire the cleverness of the title Duff Cooper chose: perfect for the story, but also for telling knowing readers that the author had been onto the real thing; & he was.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually would be 4.5 stars - such a beautifully understated book.

Operation Heartbreak is one of Persephone book’s older titles; book number 51, a slim little volume, gloriously written, it is quietly and unforgettably poignant, its title very apt indeed, as I finished with a little lump in my throat.

Willie Maryngton is a man with the heart and soul of a soldier. Born in 1900, he is just too young to fight in WW1 – having eventually received his commission, he is ready to go to France just as the armistice is signed – and too old for WW2.

read my full review: http://heavenali.wordpress.com/2014/1...

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

A deceptively simple story that captures perfectly how it is possible to grieve for something you have never experienced.

Cooper’s prose is uninspired, his characters are agonisingly two-dimensional, and the musings on the glamour of war and patriotism are relatively dated. All this is worth enduring, however, for the exceptionally poignant ending which extrapolates from perhaps the most notorious example of Allied tactical deception, Operation Mincemeat, giving a name and a story to the nameless.

[Bronwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful and sad book. I knew part of it was based on an actual event (though I won't say which one because, spoilers), but had forgotten until it came up. I just loved it. It's roughly about Willie Maryngton and how he's too young for WWI and too old for WWII and how he deals with it. I've read other things by and about people at the time who felt similarly, and reading this account just brought that all into sharper focus for me; what would that have been like? The writing is gorgeous, and it was really amazing. I'm so glad to have read it. It's a new favorite.

[Jeslyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The antithesis of Rebecca West's Return of the Soldier, Operation Heartbreak gives us Willie Maryngton, 14 at the outbreak of WWI and anxiously anticipating his chance to fight for his country, only to be denied when the Armistice is declared before his unit sees any fighting. Willie spends the next 20 years of military career hoping that another war will come along.

I liked the writing, though because this is a novella the character development is thin. However, the wrap up is excellent, as well as the Epilogue.

[kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

>Be me
>Pick up a mcnally edition because its super discounted and short, nice cover, very positive reviews
>Start reading, be confused about why everyone likes it
>Think i messed up trusting top reviews from years and years ago
>Reach final 40 pages
>Oh
>Operation heartbreak💔
>They werent lying

[Amy Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book. I bought this from Persephone books based off of the excerpt they provided, so all I knew was that the language flowed well for me and it looked interesting enough. To my surprise, it was World War fiction, which isn't a genre I prefer (I took a British Lit class pertaining to World War I literature, and it just never caught my fancy). But after the first chapter, I was hooked.

Willie is such a funny character. He's also a little sad, and sometimes a little pathetic, but I found him to be charming altogether. He's had quite the unfortunate life, filled with rejection, heartbreak, and difficulties getting promoted. However, that's not to say that the book is depressing--it's actually quite humorous. Cooper throws in humor at just the right times, in just the right conversations. It's as though you're reading about real people rather than characters! When characters are that real in books, I know that those books find themselves rather high on my favorites list.

Additionally, because this book is about war, I have to say that it's not gory or bloody whatsoever. Cooper does a really nice job of talking about just how horrific the things were by not talking about them ("'Come on,' he urged, 'tell me more about it. What sort of time did you have?' / 'Pretty bloody,' she said, and he could get nothing more out of her, but he felt as he returned to the country that she had come closer to the war than he had.")

What I also really liked was how Duff Cooper writes about those getting involved in the war. It wasn't simply just patriotism that ignited the flame in these characters. It was a sense of duty, a hatred of Nazis, the want to have a steady job after the war (if they survived).

One other thing that I really enjoyed was how he wrote women--there are two main women in this novel, and a couple others scattered around. And why I really enjoyed his writing of these women is that (taking into account that this was written over 50 years ago, of course) all of the women had their own lives. They had their own aspirations, and they acted on them. And Willie, as well-meaning as he is, can't possibly understand this. These women are just too against the grain. He never truly holds it against them, though he does find himself to be frustrated from time to time.

All in all, I just really enjoyed this book. This book was also the first book in probably a year that I read all in one day. The ending felt whole and complete, and I closed the book feeling satisfied, if not a little melancholy, too. I can see why Persephone Books chose to reprint this one--it's full of life, human emotions, and great writing.

Get the full review here!

[Pascale · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Persephone's winners. The story is interesting, and it doesn't hurt that it is closely based on an actual episode of WWII. The central character, Willie Maryngton, is as good as gold, and as thick as two short planks. Having lost his father right at the beginning of WWI, he grows up with the sole ambition of becoming a soldier too, and seeing glory on the battlefield. Unfortunately for him, WWI ends just before his training is over. Thereafter he spends the inter-war years in India, then in Egypt, and finally back in England. In India, he gets engaged to a Colonel's daughter who ditches him in favor of an older, manlier, and thoroughly disreputable officer. Back in Britain, he falls in love with Felicity, the youngest member of the family who looked after him when he became an orphan. Although Felicity has great affection for Willie, and even sleeps with him eventually, she refuses to commit to the relationship. In every respect, Willie's life is one of unfulfilled dreams and frustrated hopes. While earlier in life Willie coped with his disappointments because youth, good health, and a bit of money were on his side, he ages badly once his hopes of promotion within the Army dwindle to nothing. Initially well-liked by most people because of his loyalty and modesty, he becomes sour and suspicious in middle-age, and even more so when WWII starts and he finds himself on the shelf. Whereas his step-brother, who always despised the Army, finds a way of being recruited because he is truly desperate to fight the Nazis, Willie is detailed to boring chores in a training camp, a long way away from the battlefields. Willie is just a little bit too dim to seize the initiative, and as a result luck is never on his side. "It seemed to be his fate, he sometimes thought, to be a soldier who never went to war, and a lover who never lay with his mistress." Only in death, ironically, will he finally see action, and do for his country all that he dreamt of accomplishing. Author Duff Cooper, who was the opposite of a wallflower, draws a surprisingly compassionate portrayal of this gentle, ineffectual character, whose passionate devotion to King and Country isn't enough to make him truly useful. While this is no wooden roman à thèse, Cooper clearly wants the reader to understand that Maryngton belongs to the past. Anybody who likes Ford Maddox Ford will love this book.

[Karen Mace · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a powerful and emotional little book! Another classic from Persephone and one I feel glad to have read - and shed a tear or two whilst doing so!

Such an understated book of a nearly man -Willie Maryngton - who was determined to fight for his country but fate always conspired against him so he always seemed to miss out. Too young in the First World War, too old in the Second World War. Even in his personal life he was plagued by unrequited love, and he finds himself hit by depression and poor health and it was often a heartbreaking read as you see him stumble through life unable to fulfill his dream to go overseas and fight in a battle with his colleagues.

When I found out that his story was partly based on a real life incident it made it even more poignant to know what his life ended up meaning and how life has a strange way of working out.

[Kit · Rating 3 out of 5]

With my second module finishing up, it's been a wee while since I’ve been able to review the books I've read, so apologies for this coming so late, AND perhaps not being up to my usual standard.

OPERATION HEARTBREAK is a fictional treatment of Operation Mincemeat - the MI5 operation that sent a corpse with fake letters to Spain, for the letters to be passed on to Nazi Germany, to trick them into believing that the Balkans, rather than Sicily, was the landing point for the Allies. (There's a film based on it that I need to check out at some point.)

Not much really happens in OPERATION HEARTBREAK, but that's kind of the point. Willie is a nonentity, a nothingburger. Nothing does happen to him, not WWI, not WWII. The most exciting thing to happen to him before he dies is that he's bombed out of his flat - and he's not even there when it happens.

I was invested in the book, despite all that. Duff Cooper makes it, almost, a twisty game; what else cannot happen to Willie? What chance will someone else get, that he's been desperately hoping for?

It's a short book full of pathos. I think it would be a good shout for middle-class cishet white men who feel like life is passing them by.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it's important to know this story is a factionalized exploration of a gap in a true story. I wish I had known that from the get go. Perhaps then I would have thought nicer things of Willie, who I kept berating for inviting war into his life (war is not a game; it is not something to be wished after like a boy wishes after a set of tin soldiers. In war, those lovely tin soldiers have mothers and children and hobbies and pets and those tin soldiers die in lonesome terrifying ways.) I can't decide if the portrayal of women was extremely modern and not sexist or if it was standard. I'm a very poor example of a feminist so I have to think about these things.

[sophiesview · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might be one of the cleverest novels I encountered to date!
Based on the true story of a pivotal and top secret Operation, that may have decided the outcome of WW2 this short book takes you along in the life of Willie Maryngton, a young man dying to prove himself in combat but just too young to see action in the First World War and just too old for the Second.
At first this read to me like a fairly entertaining piece but also very much of it's time and a bit bland. But oh, the plot twist, I didn't see anything coming... I was honestly wowed!

Go buy the beautiful Persephone edition & read this!!

[Deborah Burrows · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a poignant and beautifully written story, based on a true event in World War Two - one that really did have a bearing on the outcome of the war. And yet, the novel deals with the rather uninteresting life of a rather uninteresting man, who is good, and kind but ultimately disappointed with what life has brought to him. How he unwittingly achieves his dream is the ironic twist in the last heartbreaking 20 pages. The prose is crisp and unsentimental, the dialogue perfect. A little gem of a book.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the tale of Willie Marynton, a career soldier who believes the tragedy of his life to be that he was too young to fight in the First World War and too old to fight in the Second. Knowing that the story was based on the true wartime incident ‘Operation Mincemeat’, I was expecting the book to take a slightly different slant… a more strategic military one perhaps. However what I got was a beautiful and simple telling of a man’s life. I found the last 15-20 pages particularly poignant.

[Romily · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this famous 1950's novel Duff Cooper took a true war-time secret service operation as the inspiration for a moving story about Willie Maryngton - a likeable young man with one overriding desire - to see active wartime service. Just too young to be sent to the front in the first world war, his ambitions are again thwarted in the second. His increasingly lonely and embittered life reaches an ironic conclusion in which, posthumously, all his desires in love and war are apparently achieved.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is best, I think, to not know anything about this book before you read it. Enjoyable.

[Malaferla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small (only 160 pages) but mighty. Duff Cooper's time in Churchill's wartime government served him well when he wrote this, his only novel.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally appropriate title there, your Honorable. This is slight, but wonderful and affecting and not at all what I was expecting. Best to go into with as little knowledge as possible, but loved it.

[Amy Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a good enough story until the last bit, when it quickly turns into the best story I’ve read in a while. Everything turns out very wrong and yet very right. Loved it!

[Eleanor]

This is a very, very short little novel which speculates on the identity of the man whose corpse was used in the real-life British counterintelligence op, Operation Mincemeat. (The identity of the body has never been disclosed.) Cooper suggests that he was a military man, lacking blood relations and dead of pneumonia, whose ambition far outstripped his competence, and whose love of old British imperial culture was both naively touching and under threat from the rise of modern warfare—indeed, the modern world in general. Willie Maryngton is at least as deeply and painfully a man out of time as is Christopher Tietjens in Ford Madox Ford’s Parade's End. The issue with the book is that, because the reader knows perfectly well where this is all going, it can be hard to summon up the interest in getting there. Operation Heartbreak almost reads like a fable, a moral tale, or a tragic joke: everything aims at the punchline, and although Cooper is certainly a competent writer, that single focus dilutes the characterisation and plot developments that he manages.

[Liz Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attention all Anglophile WWII buffs: you do not want to miss McNally Editions’ reissue of this fantastic 1950 novel! It’s the life story of a type of Englishman who - although born on January 1, 1900 - really belongs to the 1800s, written by a very different type of Englishman who was in almost every room where it happened during the first half of the 20th C. Cooper was a soldier, politician, diplomat, historian, etc., who finally decided to try his hand at fiction and - surprisingly or unsurprisingly - produced this absolute gem. Cunningly crafted, elegantly styled, it’s both delightful and poignant. Now, I know that many of my fellow buffs are also espionage geeks. And while the title and short prologue may clue you into the plot’s set-up, I promise it will not spoil your reading pleasure. Even though I knew where things were heading, this brilliant little book still wins a spot on my 2024 Top Ten list.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be quite honest, I had zero idea of what I was getting myself into when I started this book. (I mean, I remember buying it because I wanted to try one of those Persephone books, but it was like 2 years ago, and well, I forgot why I picked this one in particular since then. Possibly for the title?)

And then, while halfway through the book I was wondering what I was reading and why I was doing it, it ended up taking an unexpected turn. This is one of those books where the prologue only makes sense after you actually finish the book (while it seems disconnected entirely at first). I also didn't know that it was inspired by a true story, which gives it a nice touch. Long story short, what I'm saying is that it was an interesting reading.


Now, what I did NOT like where the characters. Well, especially the main one, Willie, who's just so naive (when it comes to girls mostly, but in general also), it was getting on my nerves. Were the book any longer, I'd probably have dropped it. And then, there's Felicity. Bloody Felicity who just acts like she owns Willie or something (which she kinda does, but that's besides the point) and doesn't help the annoying girl stereotypes. I felt the urge to slap her real hard almost any time she was mentioned basically. I'll just leave you with this...

She gave him the name of a restaurant in Chelsea, and told him the hour at which she would be there, warning him that her time was limited and that he must be punctual.

And then, later on.

Breathlessly she explained that she had been unable to get away earlier, that her hours of duty were always being changed, that she would never have forgiven him if he hadn't waited, but that now all was well, as she was free for the afternoon.

Seriously?! "Dude, you'd better be punctual because I won't wait, but if I'm not and you don't wait, I'm not forgiving you." What kind of stupid crap is that?

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mlle Alice, pouvez-vous nous raconter votre rencontre avec Operation Heartbreak ?
"À l'occasion de la sortie du film la Ruse, avec tellement d'acteurs que j'aime, j'ai eu envie de découvrir ce roman édité chez Persephone Books, qui imagine un autre pan de l'histoire."

Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"Willie Maryngton a toujours rêvé de partir à la guerre mais alors qu'il reçoit son ordre de déploiement, l'Armistice est signée. La Seconde Guerre Mondiale sera la bonne, c'est sûr, mais la vie n'a pas finie de jouer des tours à ce pauvre Willie. La mort non plus..."

Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous ?
"Ce n'est peut-être pas un grand Persephone, de ceux qu'on pourrait décortiquer et analyser pendant des heures, comme c'est souvent le cas, mais j'aime de plus en plus ces romans qui s'attachent à décrire la vie d'hommes ordinaires et de tous les petits riens qui la compose. L'humour et l'ironie sont de plus bien présents et très appréciables. Cependant, moi qui n'aime pas les préfaces, j'ai trouvé qu'elle manquait ici, et j'ai regretté que l'opération Mincemeat ne soit pas mieux expliquée dès le début parce que tout l'intérêt de la vie de Willie, si je puis m'exprimer ainsi, réside dans cette manœuvre très ingénieuse d'espionnage anglais !"

Et comment cela s'est-il fini ?
"J'ai passé un très bon moment de lecture et la fin est délectable. Tout y est, le rire, les larmes... J'ai d'autant plus envie de voir le film et je suis sûre que je penserai à Willie à chaque instant."


http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...

[Jim Puskas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This deceptively low-key story, populated by unremarkable but very believable characters, held my attention through a succession of disappointing events. Willie Maryngton is a cavalry officer at a time when warfare on horseback is quickly becoming a thing of the past. He is almost like a living monument to a former era. He’s one of those fellows who seem to fade into the wallpaper: sincere, committed to his calling, almost to the degree of obsession. All he wants from life is to have the opportunity to fight for his country but he is turned aside at every juncture. But in the end, what a wonderful story emerges as Willie fulfills his destiny. Based on a true event in history, it makes for a truly moving and memorable story. There are echoes of Nevil Shute here, in both style and substance.
I would not ordinarily comment on the physical construction of the book itself but this edition by Persephone certainly merits special mention. With its classy, high quality jacket, elegant interior design, even including a matching bookmark, this is probably the most attractive “soft-cover” book that has ever come into my possession. A delight to any book lover.

[Mark Bowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a melancholy little story. The denouement is a fictionalisation of Operation Mincemeat but the rest is pure fiction. It is beautifully written and I very much enjoyed reading it. The main character is sympathetic, a disappointed man, though his life is a great deal more fulfilled and pleasant than the real life of Glyndwr Michael of Operation Mincemeat. This nice Persephone edition includes a note by Max Arthur as an Afterword. A curiosity of this Afterword is that Arthur states that 'The identity of Major Martin still remains a mystery' and yet this was copyrighted in 2004, eight years after Roger Morgan had identified Glyndwr Michael from an official record and seven years after the British government added Michael's name to the tombstone of 'William Martin' in the cemetery at Huelva, according to Ben Macintyre's account in his excellent book 'Operation Mincemeat' (2010). What does Max Arthur know that we don't? But none of this matters, 'Operation Heartbreak' stands on its own as a very fine short novel.

[Aila Dominguez Ramonet · Rating 5 out of 5]

“‘You’ve known him some tome, have you?’
‘Oh, yes, ever since I was a flapper.’”

“He felt for a moment that he wanted to laugh out loud, and then that he wanted to ho away with Horry and drink a bottle of champagne, and then again all that he desired was to remain forever where he was, watching and listening and not having to talk. For a moment he wondered whether he was drunk. It was not till afterwards, when he was alone, that he knew he had fallen in love for the first time in his life.”

“I do love you, I do indeed. But I can never see that that has much ti do with it. So few married people love each other, and so many people who aren’t married do”

“It seemed to be his fate, he sometimes thought, to be a soldier who never went to war, and a lover who never lay with his mistress.”


💔

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It seemed to be his fate, he sometimes thought, to be a soldier who never went to war, and a lover who never lay with his mistress."
What is interesting to me is how compelling an average and unremarkable life can be. This story is simply written, no grand philosophies here, yet I could greatly empathize with Willie. He lived a life constantly thwarted by time and circumstance; his greatest glory came after death. This is based on a true story, which you find out in the end. It is an interesting peek at a little-known wartime tactic that had a relatively large impact on the tide of war. If you're into English life between the wars or WWII fiction you'll probably like this little book.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 2004 afterword by Max Arthur in this Persephone edition provides much factual historical context to this wonderful Duff Cooper fiction. No spoilers here, but just saying that Cooper was very influential in the WW2 cabinet of Winston Churchill. Cooper manages to evoke pity, frustration and compassion for our hero Willie. His tableaux of Regiments, the Raj, the cavalry and the inner anxieties of soldiers read true. His characters are betrayers, liars and innocents. His work stands alone notwithstanding the real story which surrounds it. By the by, Cooper is the father of historian John Julius Viscount Norwich.