Pendraken Miniatures Forum

Wider Wargaming => Books => Topic started by: Malbork on 05 October 2012, 03:39:12 PM

Title: Sven Hassel
Post by: Malbork on 05 October 2012, 03:39:12 PM
Just noticed while surfing that Sven Hassel,  or at least the person who wrote all those war novels under that name depending on your point of view, laid down his pen for good on 21 September;

Read and re-read all his books when I was a teenager and still sometimes dip into them for scenario ideas.
Title: Re: Sven Hassel
Post by: Steve J on 05 October 2012, 03:55:38 PM
I remember reading one of his books many, many years ago. I think he also wrote other books under different names.
Title: Re: Sven Hassel
Post by: NTM on 05 October 2012, 05:26:26 PM
Quote from: Steve J on 05 October 2012, 03:55:38 PM
I remember reading one of his books many, many years ago. I think he also wrote other books under different names.

Not aware of Sven Hassel using another name to write other books. There was a similar series of books by Leo Kessler which was a pen name of Charles Whiting.
Title: Re: Sven Hassel
Post by: Steve J on 05 October 2012, 05:45:23 PM
Ooops NTM, you're right :O). Thanks for correcting me.

Steve 'Kermit' J.
Title: Re: Sven Hassel
Post by: Maenoferren on 05 October 2012, 05:56:24 PM
ye gods there is a blast from the past :D
had both Sven Hassel and Leo Kessler libraries at one point :)
Title: Re: Sven Hassel
Post by: Jim Ando on 05 October 2012, 06:29:38 PM
Hi

Laid his pen down, I thought he had years ago.

The last book under his name was The Commisar written in about 1984.

I thought he was dead.

Bloody good books, though have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Jim   
Title: Re: Sven Hassel
Post by: Hertsblue on 06 October 2012, 10:10:33 AM
He was born in 1917 so he would be 95 now. So probably long retired.
Title: Re: Sven Hassel
Post by: NTM on 06 October 2012, 10:28:58 AM
Apparently he had a 15th novel in progress in the late 90's but poor health prevented completion. It was based on the July Bomb Plot.
Title: Re: Sven Hassel
Post by: Malbork on 08 October 2012, 08:25:16 AM
QuoteApparently he had a 15th novel in progress in the late 90's but poor health prevented completion. It was based on the July Bomb Plot.

That would have been interesting. The 27th and von Stauffenberg :-\

NTM: yep, had a lot of Kessler's stuff too; Lots of us at school bought different books and then we swapped them; Read about 8 or 9 I think, but they weren't in quite the same league as Hassel, although they had wonderfully weird expressions translated literally from the German.

I read somewhere that a compnay was republishing Kessler/Whiting's stuff but don't know if this actually happened or not.
Title: Re: Sven Hassel
Post by: Gran76 on 08 October 2012, 07:51:55 PM
I remember reading SS General and laughing out loud when the squad were riding on the back of cows across a field to escape the Russians  ;D
Title: Re: Sven Hassel
Post by: sixsideddice on 08 October 2012, 09:14:20 PM
Just got rid of all my Sven Hassel books at the local charity store.... what an iiiiijit I am  :(

.... and there I am, just starting to get back into Squad Leader again  :'(