South by Java Head
First edition (UK) | |
Author | Alistair MacLean |
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Language | English |
Genre | World War II Novel |
Publisher | Collins (UK) Doubleday (US) |
Publication date | 1958 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
Pages | 254 pgs |
Preceded by | The Guns of Navarone |
Followed by | The Last Frontier |
South by Java Head is the third novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, and was first published in 1958.[1]
MacLean's personal experiences in the Royal Navy during World War II provided part of the basis for the story.
Plot introduction
The story is set in February 1942, in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Singapore. As the British stronghold of Singapore falls to the invading Imperial Japanese Army, a mixed collection of soldiers, nurses, fleeing civilians, a small boy, and at least one spy attempt to escape the burning city aboard the Kerry Dancer, a battered freighter crewed by a disreputable captain and sailors. The Kerry Dancer is crippled by Japanese aircraft, and the refugees are rescued by the Viroma, a tanker also fleeing Singapore; however, the Viroma is also sunk by the Japanese, and the survivors take to open boats on the open sea. Led by stalwart First Officer John Nicholson, they attempt to flee to safety across the South China Sea, facing death by thirst and exposure, typhoons, and pursuit by the relentless Japanese. As tensions mount in the small boat, Nicholson realizes that they are equally at risk from traitors in their midst.
Reception
The New York Times said it was "crammed with action and realistically sketched backgrounds but there is a patchness about the escapes from tight fixes that makes South by Java Head a less credible chronicle of derring-do than its remarkable predecessors."[2]
Film Adaptation
In 1957 producer Daniel Angel said that Daniel Fuchs was writing the script for South by Java Head from a novel by Tom Carling, with Fox to finance.[3] MacLean's publisher Ian Chapman had not felt the novel was up to the standard of The Guns of Navarone and was going to suggest to MacLean that he try another novel instead. However the film sale of the project led to the novel's publication.[4]
In January 1960 Buddy Adler announced he had bought the film rights for Fox as a vehicle for Alec Guinness and $4 million would be spent on it. Sydney Boehm would write the script.[5] No film resulted.
References
- ^ Farnholme's Mission: SOUTH BY JAVA HEAD. By Alistair MacLean. 319 pp. New York: Doubleday & Co. $3.95. Lardner, Rex. New York Times 5 Jan 1958: BR26.
- ^ Farnholme's Mission: SOUTH BY JAVA HEAD. By Alistair MacLean. 319 pp. New York: Doubleday & Co. $3.95. Lardner, Rex. New York Times 5 Jan 1958: BR26.
- ^ Fox Signs 3 Writers Lazar Negotiates 3 Deals Of Local Origin By THOMAS M.PRYOR New York Times 26 Nov 1957: 41.
- ^ Webster, Jack (1991). Alistair MacLean: A Life. Chapmans. pp. 94–95.
- ^ New Guinness Film to Cost $4 Million The Washington Post and Times-Herald 20 Jan 1960: B10.
External links
- Book review at AlistairMacLean.com
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- HMS Ulysses (1955)
- The Guns of Navarone (1957)
- South by Java Head (1957)
- The Last Frontier (1959)
- Night Without End (1959)
- Fear Is the Key (1961)
- The Dark Crusader (1961)
- The Golden Rendezvous (1962)
- The Satan Bug (1962)
- Ice Station Zebra (1963)
- When Eight Bells Toll (1966)
- Where Eagles Dare (1967)
- Force 10 from Navarone (1968)
- Puppet on a Chain (1969)
- Caravan to Vaccarès (1970)
- Bear Island (1971)
- The Way to Dusty Death (1973)
- Breakheart Pass (1974)
- Circus (1975)
- The Golden Gate (1976)
- Seawitch (1977)
- Goodbye California (1978)
- Athabasca (1980)
- River of Death (1981)
- Partisans (1982)
- Floodgate (1983)
- San Andreas (1984)
- Santorini (1986)
- All About Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- Captain Cook (1972)
- Where Eagles Dare (1968)
- Puppet on a Chain (1971)
- When Eight Bells Toll (1971)
- Breakheart Pass (1976)
- The Guns of Navarone (1961)
- The Secret Ways (1961)
- The Satan Bug (1965)
- Ice Station Zebra (1968)
- Fear Is the Key (1972)
- Caravan to Vaccarès (1974)
- Golden Rendezvous (1977)
- Force 10 from Navarone (1978)
- Bear Island (1979)
- The Hostage Tower (1980) (TV)
- River of Death (1989)
- Death Train (1993) (TV)
- Night Watch (1995) (TV)
- The Way to Dusty Death (1995) (TV)
- Air Force One Is Down (2013) (TV)
- The Hostage Tower (1980) (with John Denis)
- Air Force One Is Down (1981) (with John Denis)
- Death Train (1989) (with Alastair MacNeill)
- Night Watch (1990)(with Alastair MacNeill)
- Red Alert (1990) (with Alastair MacNeill)
- Time of the Assassins (1991) (with Alastair MacNeill)
- Dead Halt (1992) (with Alastair MacNeill)
- Code Breaker (1993) (with Alastair MacNeill)
- Rendezvous (1995) (with Alastair MacNeill}
- Prime Target (1997) (with Hugh Miller)
- Borrowed Time (1998) (with Hugh Miller)
- Golden Girl (1992) (with Simon Gandolfi)
- Golden Web (1993) (with Simon Gandolfi)
- Golden Vengeance (1994) (with Simon Gandolfi)
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