Sahara, Dirk Pitt # 11

This is the greatest book I have ever read in my life!! I've read it another time in preperation for the movie, and it was even better!! I loved the trek up the Niger river and the crashing of Massarde's houseboat party (and especially the affection Giordino had for the piano player). The chemistry between Giordino and Melika was hilarious (until Giordino got too cockey). I loved the final battle between the UNICRATT force and General Kazim. Pitt's tank destoyer was ingenious. The end of the book where they buried Lincoln moved me, and I was proud to be an American. All in all, if I could shake Clive Cussler's hand right now, I'd instead give him a hug and say "thanks for a great book". 10 out of 10

9.5/10

Definately one of my favorites. Dirk and Al were on a roll in this book and I just couldn't put it down. A great read, the plot moved along nice and smoothly with a few twists and turns along the way. I'd recommend this book to everyone, get ready to have a fun weekend!

Like a lot of other people lately I'm sure, this was the first Clive Cussler book I've read. I've picked up the books at the bookstore several times before, but could just never get past the somewhat cheesy name "Dirk Pitt" (sorry longtime fans). I'm thrilled that with the hype of the movie, I finally decided to give one a try. It was great! I can't tell you how many books over the years I have started and never finished because they just couldn't hold my interest (damned ADD!). This definately wasn't the case with "Sahara". I was hooked from the beginning wondering how the story of the Texas was going to tie back into the plot. Even though I'm sure it won't live up to the book, I'm looking foward to seeing the movie and am going to try to judge it on it's own merits. I just started "Pacific Vortex" and am looking foward to working my way through the series. It's kind of nice coming in late and already having so many books to catch up on instead of waiting with anticipation for the next one to come out (OK, I admit it, Harry Potter is about the only other series of books that has been able to hold my attention). Is it important to read the books in the order they came out or do they all pretty much stand on their own?

Welcome to the forum dcox!

Welcome dcox! The books pretty much stand up on their own but do make some pretty random references to the earleir books. If nothing else, some of the stunts Dirk and Al pull off in later books seem more plausible if you've read about everything they did in the earlier books.

Enjoy your time here and post often!

(Off-topic)
I just bought that book. Itīs the first english copy that i have seen so i have to buy it. I have allways wondered why everybody talks about Lincoln plot when they are having a discussion about Sahara. It is a strange thing that local publisher has dropped whole sub-plot out of the translation. I have to send e-mail to the publisher some day and ask why they have done that.
(/off-topic)

Well, first i have to say that this is THE best book that Dr. Cussler has ever wrote. Now that i know the whole story, i donīt think that the Lincoln sub-plot was crucial to the story. It gives a nice touch but nothing more. Events in Tebezza and Fort Foureau were well-written and i almost could sense the atmosphere in these places. There is nothing to complaint in this book, except few minor things but i think that they are freedom of the writer(or something like that). I hope in the future we will see UNICRATT again.

10/10

This post has been edited by Sapper on Apr 20 2005, 05:19 PM

I think it's interesting (Disappointing?) that publishers can just drop major/minor elements of an author's book for no apparent reason. I guess for people outside of the U.S. who may not be wholly familiar with US history that the Lincoln subplot might not make sense, but this is someone's work. Doesn't that infringe on copyright law or something?

Glad you could finally read the whole story, Sapper!

This post has been edited by oswalder on Apr 21 2005, 04:30 PM

I think they cover their base with the phrase "...based on...", instead of saying "...the complete novel..."
While I'm in complete agreement that the elements removed shouldn't have been (Dayna Cussler, for instance), it would have been impossible to put everything in the movie that appeared in the novel in some for without making a movie that cost four times as much to film and would be eight hours long!

I'm glad you were able to read the whole story finally, Sapper

For the life of me I cannot figure out why they would leave elements like that out of the translated book (the movie I can understand) very odd indeed

I was wondering if there is version of Sahara without Lincoln? That is the only reason i can think of why they have left that out.

I'm not sure if there is another version without Lincoln. One reason why they might've left that subplot out would be to conserve time and money. Adding Lincoln would've taken another ten minutes to explain, and it wouldn't have really added to the total effect of the movie.

Just an idea.

This post has been edited by Giordino13 on Apr 22 2005, 01:03 AM

It also would have caused many critics and viewers to find the plot even more unrealistic and unbelievable, which is what many of them are saying. It would have been fun to watch for us Cussler fans though, and I think that's all that counts!