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Tremor Of Intent (1966)

by Anthony Burgess(Favorite Author)

3.69 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0393346390 (ISBN13: 9780393346398)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

review 1: As a straight-up novel, Tremor of Intent will possibly fail to satisfy the casual reader's craving for a fast-paced, spy thriller. While all of the necessary elements of an espionage novel are present, the language will undoubtedly become an obstacle in the path to their overall enjoyment. However, those who enjoy language and a different style of structuring words will find a decent amount of entertainment in Burgess' effort. Myself being in the latter category of readers previously mentioned, I enjoyed Burgess' different writing styles in each chapter, which may have prevented the book from becoming what would be an otherwise monotonous experience. Still, I couldn't help shake the feeling that the language seemed to bog down the progression of the relatively simple plot,... more in regards to the espionage genre. Not to say that the writing is not witty or rich, quite the opposite really, but after the process of enjoying the language has passed, the advancement to the next scene seems a bit uneventful or cheap. Overall, I felt as though Burgess wrote a novel that almost equally divided his readers; those who desire a straight-up spy thriller will find the writing and language unorthodox and/or obtrusive; those who find entertainment in the writing itself might be disappointed that the painting of language relies upon a canvas (plot) not entirely suited for it; those who read it simply because of Burgess' name might find it a tad underwhelming overall.As you can see, I myself am still quite divided on the book even as I write this review. In any case, it has certainly stayed in my memory for a significant amount of time after I had finished reading, and any book that achieves this deserves some sort of recognition, for better or worse. Not Burgess' best work, but there's certainly no harm in giving it a go and making up your own mind.
review 2: This is a really tough Burgess novel. Some of the reviews said it was like a parody of Ian Fleming and John Le Carre novels. I haven't read any books by those writers. There are moments, lines and paragraphs of pure genius in TREMOR OF INTENT. But there is also a lot of weird stuff which is hard to keep track of. Its about a British spy who is sent to Russia to bring back an old scientist friend who now works for the enemy. A lot of the novel takes place on a ship where the spy takes part in some eating contests and gets hilariously found out by teenagers and a fat glutton after sleeping with a beautiful under aged Dravidian female! There was some interesting commentary about the behavior of women of a defeated nation (after war). Most of the characters like the scientists German wife and the Dravidian female are highly sexed up. I liked a lot of it, but you need a dictionary and an encyclopedia by your side if you're going to read this. less

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