3.5/5

Liked the main story but the history lessons were bit too much. I like Crichton Giving science lessons. But i was not prepared for the history lessons (not even in my school days

4,5/5

Skvelé, skvelé, skvelé! Už keď som knihu objavila, tak som bola presvedčená, že sa mi bude páčiť a mám veľkú radosť, že som si to potvrdila. Príbehy o inteligentnom zločine milujem (mimochodom, toto by si mohli užiť fanúšikovia Money heist, ktorý na seriáli oceňujú predovšetkým tú geniálnu premyslenosť).

Veľká vlaková lúpež je príbeh skutočnej lúpeže, ktorá sa odohrala pred takmer 170 rokmi. Bol za ňou génius s pokazeným morálnym kompasom, čiže som si ho automaticky obľúbila

Difficult to classify. Not a true novel, as more than 50% consists of direct historical exposition, summaries and quotes from Crichton's research. Perhaps not reliable enough to count as "creative nonfiction", it's something closer to dramatized reporting heavily interspersed with fictional passages. Opens a window onto Victorian society and the London criminal underworld through an expose of an extraordinarily patient, masterfully-planned heist.

Assuming that the man presumed to have been behind it all told the truth in court.

Insightful and entertaining.

Tikrais istoriniais įvykiais paremta knygą, apie Vikorijos laikų Anglija. Didysis traukinio apiplėšimas, kuris atrodė neįmanomas, pasirodo įmanomas. Geniali vagystė, su daug iššukių, ir galvojimo. Ir pabaigoje, netikėtas siurprizas - pabėgimas.

Μαεστρικά ο Κράιτον καταφέρνει να διηγηθεί μια (ενδιαφέρουσα από τη φύση της) αληθινή ιστορία, μετατρέποντας τη σε ένα συναρπαστικό διήγημα. Η έρευνα που έχει κάνει γύρω από τη ακρίβεια των γεγονότων με έπεισε για την αυθεντικότητα της, καθώς και τα διάφορα ιστορικά στοιχεία για την Βικτωριανή εποχή της Αγγλίας τα βρήκα άκρως ενδιαφέροντα.
Έχουμε λοιπόν έναν επιτυχημένο συνδυασμό περιπέτειας με ιστορικά γεγονότα που διαβάζεται πολύ εύκολα και ευχάριστα.

7,7/10

This was a really fun read. Set in the mid 1800s, in England, and follows the planning, execution and investigation of the theft of a large shipment of gold bullion aboard a train. The majority of the story is the planning, and I loved all the slang used by the gang and criminal terms they used. How the gang was captured was also quite funny and goes to show that not much has changed in the reasons why people are caught today.

A solid story all round and keeps you intrigued and entertained. 4.5 stars.

I remember watching the film of this years ago and really enjoying it. What made the book so good was the details and context of Victorian society during that period. Highly informative and fascinating.

Some reviewers wanted less historical and technical explication and more story.

That makes sense to me. Yet I found the story less compelling and satisfying than the research reports that buffer the spurts of story. But that’s a relative comparison.

The book started out with some promise, but before I was halfway through I remembered that I’m only interested in heist stories when the characters are vivid and interesting, and the story has zip and momentum.

I hung in till the end, but interesting is about the best thing I can say for it, and even then I would have preferred this to be either fiction or non-fiction, but not both.

This felt like a Guy Ritchie-type heist story

Una storia da leggere. Ottima ricostruzione dei fatti.
https://nastasiafiorentino.com/it/boo...


Una historia que leer. Excelente reconstrucción de los hechos.
https://nastasiafiorentino.com/books/...

n  Review originally published January 2007n

It’s 1854 and you want to steal a shipment of gold bullion from a train. The gold is intended to pay the army fighting in the Crimea. It will take almost two years of preparation and require the help of 10-15 other people to organize this “flash pull.”

Michael Crichton’s account of The Great Train Robbery follows Edward Pierce as he and various members of the local criminal class locate and make copies of the four keys needed to open the two safes on the London to Paris train.

Unfortunately, the keys are kept in three different locations, two of which are always carried on the persons of the president and the general manager of the bank that is sending the money. Mr. Pierce goes so far as to court the daughter of the bank’s president, hoping for a clue as to where in the house the key is kept during the night.

It takes four people to create a “jolly gaff,” a diversion that allows a window at the train station to be broken so a fifth and sixth person can enter later that night and make copies of the final two keys. Imagine the copier’s dismay when he is confronted with 14 keys and has no idea which two he needs, and he has only 64 seconds before the guard comes back!

Edward Pierce is a consummate con artist, able to assume the persona of any type of person necessary to carry out his plan. His pursuit of the gold leads him to illegal dog fights, prison breaks, and high society.

While able to rub elbows with the upper classes, indeed, even living in an elegant home and entertaining wealthy businessmen, he is foremost a criminal and can use the slang and cant of the lower classes with equal ease. This is a time when a man’s stature was measured by his accent and his clothing, and one was taken at face value until his actions proved otherwise.

The pieces of the puzzle gradually fall into place as the keys are obtained, the appropriate people are bribed, and the date of the gold transfer is set. Mr. Pierce is horrified to find that, as a result of a claim against the railroad company for losing a crate of wine, the security at the railway station is severely tightened, making it almost impossible to get a man into the luggage car to open the safes or for the gold to be removed from the train.

The luggage car will be chained and padlocked from the outside before it leaves the London station and not opened again until it reaches its destination. The only openings in the car are two very small windows set in the roof. How will he get a man into the luggage car and how will they get the gold out while the train is moving?

The answer comes with a complete disregard for the laws of physics, but, if a man does not know he cannot do something, what is to stop him?

Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery is a fictionalized account of an actual event, told from the viewpoint of the master thief, drawn from the details that came out at his trial. What is fact and what is fiction is for you to decide. Given the actual facts of the gold shipment, the state-of-the-art safes, and the security at the station, the author’s interpretation of the series of events is certainly plausible, if not provable.

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3.5 stars.