satyajit reviewed The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie
Review of 'The gun seller' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Espionage a la PG Wodehouse.
380 pages
French language
Published April 16, 2009 by Sonatine Éditions.
The Gun Seller (1996) is the first novel by English actor, musician, comedian, and writer Hugh Laurie. It concerns former Scots Guards officer Thomas Lang and his reluctant involvement in a conspiracy involving international arms dealers, terrorists, the CIA, the MoD, beautiful women and fast motorcycles. Wary of becoming another "celebrity author", Laurie initially submitted his manuscript under a pseudonym, only revealing his identity after it had been accepted for publication and having been persuaded by his publicist to use his real name for the sake of publicity.
Espionage a la PG Wodehouse.
It's like reading a Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently novel, but with a 007 theme, and a main character that can easily be imagined as Hugh Laurie himself.
The book is very witty and fast-paced, I couldn't put it down.
I have hard time reviewing the book, because to me there are more sides:
* witty, at times very "machine" like humour I really enjoyed
* not so witty "facts" about certain countries (Tatra taxis in Prague? :) )
* a little bit too much luck and "rambo" like features of main character
* one or two inconsistencies in the plot
* according to translator Meg Ryan is a guy...
It may sound harsh, but I actually enjoyed the book. I have a feeling it would be even better in original.
Really, I think Hugh is an amazing comic, and perhaps also a brilliant actor but writer? I think he falls a bit short, and being that his main buddy in comedic crime was Stephen Fry, it's a difficult jump to make into the writing sphere. I wouldn't bother with Hugh's work unless you are easily amused or looking for some light reading or just a massive Laurie fan because the writing just depleted every time.