THE HIGH CASTLE

by Raymond Steiber ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 3, 1986

Comedy adventure that is idiotically good fun featuring the whop-whop man/woman tennis dialogue of Romancing the Stone. It's 1926 and the hero is Jake Barnes, 30-year-old Herald Trib foreign correspondent in Paris and former cub-reporter buddy of Ernest Hemingway (who later borrows his name for The Sun Also Rises). This is a juicy device, lifting a famous fictional character, though in this case making an upbeat adventurer out of Jake Barnes at the expense of his Lost-Generation ennui and bitter emasculation does underscore the limitations of Barnes redux. Jake Barnes with all his equipment is not Jake Barnes. In fact, between attacks on his life, this new Barnes restored spends a lot of time happily in bed plonking his amiable girlfriends. While vacationing in London, Barnes is contacted by a Major Edward Latimer, who demands a rendezvous at a rather respectable whorehouse. Barnes and Latimer were fellow pilots in the War. Now Latimer is being pursued by a slimy Hungarian named Korda, who wants him to assassinate some unnamed political bigwig. Wily Latimer, who plans to accept payment, avoid the murder and slip off to Africa, wants Barnes as his bodyguard. When Barnes accompanies Latimer in the rain to a church where he's to be paid, and Latimer is shot in a pew, Barnes finds himself next in line for dying. Tracking down the killers leads him to a great castle in Bavaria, accompanied by superwealthy Penelope ""Penny"" Lane, who's been to bed with ""just gobs and gobs"" of lovers (it turns out to be just one before Jake). Penny and Jake share the novel's most winning ploy as they leap about dangerous turrets, conversing. Is the castle full of old German flying aces who want to form a new Assembly of Eagles? It seems that way, although the figure they've chosen to assassinate is that relativity fellow, old Albert What's-his-name, who is mixed up with that Zionist crowd. Pleasant spoofery that keeps its sails full all the way.

Pub Date: March 3, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION