Τη στιγμή που ξεσπάει ο Β' Π.Π., διαφορετικοί άνθρωποι ταξιδεύουν με την τελευταία πολιτική πτήση της Παναμέρικαν από την Αγγλία στην Αμερική.... 27 ώρες το ταξίδι κι όλοι μαζί κλεισμένοι, φασίστες, κλεφτόνια, απατημένοι σύζυγοι, γυναίκες πεταλουδίτσες, χολιγουντιανές σταρ, απαγωγείς, πλήρωμα, ξεπεσμένοι αριστοκράτες, τρελοί επιστήμονες, μαφία, ό,τι βγάζει ο μπαξές δηλαδή...
Ενδιαφέρον ίσως ως σενάριο χολιγουντιανό αλλά έχουμε δει και καλύτερα...
Αργό πολύ στην αρχή κι η αγωνία ποτέ δεν ήρθε...
Φαίνομαι μεγαλόψυχο γιατί είναι bell παλαιάς κοπής και παίρνει δύο και όχι ένα αστεράκι...

Comienza la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Viendo el horror que se inicia, los más privilegiados de la sociedad inglesa embarcan en el último hidroavión que parte hacia Estados Unidos. El libro contará la historia de todos esos pasajeros y de la tripulación combinando romance, intrigas, aventuras… no me gustó nada la traducción del libro lo que influyó por completo en mi percepción del mismo; errores gramaticales y de redacción que me ponen muy nerviosa. Imagino que si lo lees en versión original todo esto te lo ahorras y en realidad se trata de un libro entretenido que salta con agilidad entre las historias de los distintos personajes.

Follett is for sure a genius, capable of giving life to any period, to any century. The way he is capable of bringing together so many characters, with such different personalities and make their interactions seem (most of the time) realistic is certainly amazing.

When I first met him through one of his books, I was thrown into the 12th century. This time he chose a time a little closer to nowadays. I was thrown into the year of 1939. When the WWII was about to start.

Truth be told, I was a little bit insecure about this book. I love books that talk about WWII, mainly because I believe we should do everything we can to do not let such a dark period of our History fall into oblivion, so there's a higher chance something like that won't happen again, and books are for sure a good way to keep those memories alive. However, what I like about WWII books is to read about people fighting, it's to know more about the sacrifices some people were willing to make, the courage some people showed to fight against the nazi, against the facism, to get their freedom back, to protect lives of people they didn't even know before (or didn't even get to know at all). But the synopsis of this book was telling me this book was about people running away from that war.

And I don't blame or judge people for running away, for saving their lives. I think no one can do it. I just couldn't see how a story about a bunch of people running away from England to search safety in the States would be interesting.

But it was Follett writing the story and I am a huge fan of him. Not to mention the synopsis was promissing me a thriller and there's few genres I like more than thrillers. So, I started the book. A few chapters after that, I had no longer doubts my fears were stupid and that this book was going to be amazing.

The way he makes sure he spends the time he needs introducing the characters to us and developing them before putting all of them together in a plane and "oblige" them to interact was genial. It gives us time to know the characters, to know how they will react when the secret is revealed and everyone realizes how dangerous their situation is. Which only makes us more excited to get to that part and find out if we judged the characters right (I am glad to say I did!

Let me begin by saying that this is a perfectly effective and empty thriller, a page-turner, etc. There's a steadily-rising level of suspense throughout, and one good plot twist. However, the rest of it is painfully predictable and soap-opera melodramatic. For long stretches it feels more like an awkward, rushed and frankly boring romance than the thriller I'd been led to expect. And believe me, the gratuitous sex scenes are uniformly tepid. You'll probably feel like you could do a much better job writing sex, or at least keep the eroticism intact. Didn't anyone tell Ken Follett that 'penis' is, objectively, the worst, most clinical term for itself? I'd sooner read 'towering obelisk of manhood' than that... (Others have made this point about proper 'bedroom' diction-- see Chris Rock's phone sex skit.)

Beyond that, there seems to be an odd, conservative tone at work in all the scenes of the wartime couples. They all either have kids, are pregnant, or prominently plan to have children-- even those who'd just met. The female characters are all pretty flimsy and appear unduly swayed by that idea. As in, "Sure, he just neglected and disrespected me, but think of all those kids we're gonna have! Maybe six!" Gross. The story may take place during the 1930's, but unfortunately the tone seems stuck there, too. Follett is patently nostalgic for the flying-boat days, but his moral position feels just as staid and trapped-in-the-past. I had a hard time believing this was written in 1991. Caution: several of the plotlines (and the novel as a whole) only produce major letdowns by the end.

Just read Pillars of the Earth. You can safely skip this one.

First read this book 25 years ago and decided to go back again and reread it. Not as good 2nd time through. Because there has been 25 years in between I did not remember a lot of the plot. The story is interesting, one of the last flying seaplanes (there were such planes) departs Southampton the day after Britain declares war on Germany. A totally luxurious plane that only holds about 40 passengers for night crossings. It take almost 27 hours to cross from Britain to New York back in the day, and that sets up a lot of the tension and plot. We follow about 8-10 people onboard the flight including a crew member whose wife has been kidnapped, British Royalty, business owners, movie stars, gangsters, thieves and more. Romance is all over the place a fast developing relationships bloom into sexual tension. A ending is a little too unbelievable for me, and while I rate this a 3.5*** my love of Follett's writing just edges it up to a 4****. Not your typical Follett, which also makes it a fun read.

I rounded this up to a 4. I liked reading about the Pan American airliner that lander on water. It felt like a train with dining service and bunks for sleeping.

The plot was a little weak bit interesting. Of course, Ken Follett is a master storyteller, but this wasn’t one of his best. Interesting and worth reading though.

I liked it enough that I sat all day reading.

When I started Night Over Water I wasn't really sure what to expect other than another book about the WWII. So, I was completely surprised to love it almost from the beginning. One of the reasons was because this book reminds soooo much of the Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (that by now you should know I absolutely loooove) - well, the parts that narrate the passengers on the Clipper with no way out reminds me of Christie's novel. The atmosphere is the same, the tension, the mystery... Ken Follett created the perfect scenario for a crime. The plot line is incredible, fast paced and really interesting. I loved how things turned out in the end and I would love to know more about how some of the characters got on with their lives.

È sempre molto piacevole leggere un libro di Ken Follett, questo poi me lo sono gustato in modo particolare perché dall’abstract mi aspettavo tutt’altro.
“NOTTE SULL’ACQUA” è un thriller storico dove, allo scoppio della Seconda Guerra Mondiale, quando l’Inghilterra dichiara guerra alla Germania, alcune persone privilegiate possono permettersi di acquistare l’oneroso biglietto per recarsi velocemente in America, grazie al lussuoso idrovolante conosciuto come Clipper. Si tratta di un aereo realmente esistito anche se, ovviamente, i personaggi e le situazioni in cui vengono a trovarsi sono frutto dell’immaginazione dell’autore. Il velivolo parte da Southampton ed effettua vari scali, tra cui uno in Irlanda (grazie al quale l’elenco dei passeggeri si arricchirà di due viaggiatori dell’ultimo momento), uno a Terranova ed un ammaraggio fuori programma…
A turno, ogni protagonista viene approfondito con cura, a partire dalla vicenda che precede il viaggio, e si ha tutto il tempo di immergersi nella sua storia, di affezionarsi o di provare antipatia, calandosi con calma nel cuore dell’avventura dove i destini di tutti finiranno per incrociarsi ma, fino alla fine, non si può prevedere come evolverà la situazione a causa di rapimenti, furti, tradimenti e “torbide” intenzioni.

The master story teller strikes again. With just a plane crossing the Atlantic in 1939 as his place, he manages to successfully create a compelling tale which I couldn’t put down. All I question is the free sex that went on in this book. My mother’s era, I don’t believe many had sex without marriage as this book portrays. The twists and turns were riveting.

Mais um romance fantástico de Ken Follett. Quanto mais leio deste autor, mais fico rendida aos seus livros. Desta vez, e ainda sobre um clima de guerra, Follett leva-nos a sobrevoar o atlântico nas asas de um Boeing 314, um luxuoso hidroavião, que faria a viagem entre Inglaterra e os Estados Unidos e a quem as pessoas com grandes possibilidades era permitido viajar.
No entanto, ter dinheiro não significa ter escrúpulos e no mesmo local vão estar reunidos, durante 29 horas, pessoas de várias estirpes, desde a família Oxenford, cujo patriarca é um acérrimo fascista e seguidor de Hitler, que acaba de declarar a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Com a entrada da Inglaterra na guerra contra a Alemanha, a família Oxenford decide partir para a América até ao fim da mesma. Por isso mesmo, reservam passagens no Clipper da Pan American.
Percy, o irmão mais novo, ficou contente por viajar novamente de avião. Já Margaret, uma rapariga um tanto ao quanto revolucionária, que é contrária às ideias do pai e que deseja por tudo alistar-se na guerra contra os alemães.

Tom Luther, um gangster.
Harry Marks é jovem ladrão de jóias que depois de descoberto, e de quase ter sido presdo, aproveita ter saído da prisão sob fiança e com o dinheiro que tinha juntado dos roubos que havia feito ao longo dos tempos, decide partir no luxuoso voo rumo à terra das oportunidades.

Nancy Lenchan é uma empresária de calçado a quem o irmão deseja passar a perna ao tentar vender a fábrica sem o seu consentimento.
Diana e Mark são dois recentes amantes que se conheceram há pouco tempo e que decidem partir para a América.
Lulu Bell, uma famosa actriz; Carl Hartmmann um famoso cientista judeu, entre muitos outros. Toda esta miscelânea de raças, credos, e "profissões" vai criar conflitos, conversas e acesas discussões que tornarão a viagem cada vez mais interessante.
Ken Follet tem o condão de criar famílias recheadas de mistérios, com mulheres fortes para uma época ainda dominada pelos homens, em que a emancipação da mulher se começa a tornar evidente, mas que ainda está a dar os primeiros passos.

Impressionante é o relato verídico do Boeing 314 Clipper, um hidroavião luxuoso, não existindo hoje em dia qualquer exemplar dos 12 que foram construídos. Um destes transportou o presidente Roosevelt à Conferência de Casablanca em Janeiro de 1943 e um outro sofreu um acidente em Lisboa do qual resultariam 29 vítimas.

Eram servidas autênticos repastos como se de um hotel se tratasse as pessoas tinham casas de banho com toucadores para se poderem pentear à vontade, locais para poderem dormir descansados, como beliches e existia, inclusive, uma suite nupcial.

Une très belle plume que je découvre enfin.
Belle histoire avec un suspense garanti..

Light reading. Not literature. I’d rate it 3.5 to 3.75.

Stories of people riding the PanAm Clipper from England to the US in the beginning days of WWII. There’s a large cast of characters in the book which would normally make the story hard to follow but that wasn’t the case here.