The Riddle of the Sands in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 19, 2025 Tony rated it did not like it

Shelves: adapted-for-film, novels, setting-europe, espionage, onthewater

My grandfather was a big reader of old adventure, thriller, and spy fiction, so when I inherited his books, this was one of them. It's sat on my shelf for about twenty years, and I decided this was the year to finally try it out. It's often credited as being the first espionage novel, although some of James Fenimore Cooper's books predate it by 75+ years, so... maybe it's the first "modern" spy novel? Except that it doesn't really fit what contemporary readers would think of as fitting the genre My grandfather was a big reader of old adventure, thriller, and spy fiction, so when I inherited his books, this was one of them. It's sat on my shelf for about twenty years, and I decided this was the year to finally try it out. It's often credited as being the first espionage novel, although some of James Fenimore Cooper's books predate it by 75+ years, so... maybe it's the first "modern" spy novel? Except that it doesn't really fit what contemporary readers would think of as fitting the genre. Rather, it is a mind-numbingly boring call for Britain to beware of a German invasion via the North Sea.

The story is narrated by Carruthers, a young Foreign Office functionary who is at loose ends following the end of a house party and potential romance. A very distant old school acquaintance invites him to go yachting in the Baltic, so off he goes. When he gets there, he discovers the "yacht" is a grim and cramped version of what he's used to, and his host Davies, is rather grating. After pages and pages of very uncomfortable scenes between them, it emerges that Davies thinks the Germans are up to something shady in Friesland, and wants Carruthers to come help him poke around the islands and tidal flats along the German coastline.

What follows is basically a hundred pages of the ship's logbook rendered into prose, as every bit of sailing is presented in mind-numbing detail. Readers who are small-craft sailors may well find it fascinating stuff, but there's so much jargon and reliance on reference to charts, tides, etc. that I can't imagine non-sailors finding it the least bit interesting. The other key audience might be those with a fascination for the Friesian coastline.

Eventually the Brits come into contact with various German sailors, and there's all manner of verbal jousting and intrigue, but it isn't until quite late in the book that anything resembling action starts to take place. It's all rather breathless for what it is and concludes with a very wooden epilogue outlining what Britain should do to prepare for a German invasion. I suppose I can appreciate how influential it was at the time, but 120 years on, I found it pretty much unreadable.

Note: The 1979 film simplifies some of the plot elements and makes it a more straightforward spy thriller, but is too much of a stodgy old thing for any except the most diehard fans of the book (or Michael York). ...more

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