The Adventures of Hiram Holliday GAL 8
Omschrijving:The original novel was Gallico's first published book. It was published by Grosset and Dunlap on the cusp of World War II in 1939. In form, the novel is a connected series of adventures, rather akin to short stories which flow into one another.
In the book, Holliday was rewarded with time off and a cash reward which he used to go to Europe. In Europe he fights spies and Nazis, finds his true love, achieves some fame as a foreign correspondent with his newspaper back in New York, and becomes the man of action he aspired to be. The book has the major themes of the protagonist coming to grips with his own character and destiny, how individuals act when confronted by great evil, and the over-arching question of would war come to Europe?
In Gallico's view, war would NOT come, but events would shortly prove him wrong. Unlike the typical adventure story of today, his book has expositions on evil and character, so it is not just "action for action's sake." It also evinces a witty and subtle dark humor. For most Gallico fans, the book does not attain the quality of writing of his later works, but it still is rewarding.
