Submarine U137

by Edward Topol

Een hoge Russische legerofficier wil naar het Westen overlopen; daarom schakelt de Amerikaanse CIA een dubbelganger in wat tot onvermoede verwikkelingen leidt.

Genres: Thriller

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Edward Vladimirovich Topol (Russian: Эдуард Владимирович Тополь; real name Topelberg (Russian: Топельберг; born 8 October 1938) is a Russian novelist.

Born in Baku, Topol spent his teenage years finishing local school in Baku and graduated from Azerbaijan State Economic University.[1] He also did his military service in Estonia. He worked as journalist for newspapers such as Bakinskiy Rabochiy and Komsomolskaya Pravda and wrote the screenplays for seven movies, of which two were banned due to censorship under the Soviet government.

In 1978 he emigrated to USA, New York, and lived for short periods in Boston, Toronto and Miami.

Reviews

[Rob Leininger · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 60% of the novel was fascinating. Then things slowly fell apart. Finally, at the point in which the reader expects the "hero" to succeed, or maybe not succeed, he simply disappears. End of the novel. No further dialogue, no mention of any other main characters, no idea of what happened. So three stars is 60% of five stars, and at 60% the novel began to fade, finally ending with less than a whimper. However, Edward Topol lived in Russia, during the heyday of the Soviet Union and the novel is full of the reality of life in that miserable country at that time, so kudos for sharing that. But it was a long way to go to get to the biggest non-ending in the history of novels.

[Flor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book review of Submarine U 137
By Edward Topol
This is not really a submarine story! However I grabbed it because I thought it was one. It is a long intriguing spy story. At first it takes a bit of perseverance to push through, but it is well worth it. I will try not to let on and let you the reader discover the twists and turns of the book. Basically it is about getting an American replacing another in the highest military workings in Russia. It takes place in 80’s during the Cold War and you could light a match to the number of close calls in the novel when people were caught in incidents that might unravel. Many parts are tearful and full of heartache. I am so glad that I persevered through the tough parts at the beginning in order to get the names straight and where their loyalties were.
Although I will now turn it over to used book store, I will now look for another novel by this author to sit and read through the coming winter.

[Gennadiy Tsygan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise is a bit ridiculous the operations of the intelligence services have nothing to do with the reality. Still an entertaining book for people familiar with USSR. Consider reading "The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal" by David E. Hoffman, a fascinating and tragic true story.

[Frederick Tan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read.

[Taina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started reading this in june 2017. I finished reading this today 3.11.2022.
So i could say it didn't really get me hooked.

[Frances]

This book was very difficult to get through. I do not know much (anything) about Russian culture, Russian pronunciation, and everyone dies left and right. Where is the humanity in this book? Even our American characters have little empathy for the lead characters. It's a very cold book, but it did teach me quite a bit about the cold war and the time right before I was born. On a lighthearted note there is absolutely no safety protocol for any of their scientific work. They're just looking for people to get cancer!

[Karen Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chosen for the "Read Around the World" challenge: AZERBAIJAN. The book has a smart premise - and per the “Afterword,” is some truth to it. I liked learning more about the Soviets from an expert. Also liked that it was not your typical Hollywood ending.

The worst element, to me, is the female characters. They’re beautiful/sexy to a stereotypical, unrealistic degree.

If the sexist stuff were deleted, it would be a much shorter/better book. It gets bogged down as is (could also use better editing).

[Grada (BoekenTrol)]

A little gem form the box with books I received from dutch-flybabe. If it is indeed, I'll have to judge after reading, but I'm really a fan of Topol (and Neznansky), so I'm quite curious about this book too.