Name: The Day of the Jackal
ISBN: 9780099586678

Frederick Forsyth

The story of an anonymous Englishman who, in the spring of 1963, was hired by the Operations Chief of O.A.S. to assassinate General de Gaulle.

The Day of the Jackal

tina

3.5

My dad recommended this to me because he told me this was one of his favorites when he was younger. The Day of the Jackal is clearly a classic for a reason. I can definitely see the influence of this story to contemporary literature. It’s a good read, however I did find some things that I really disliked about this book. 

Classic is always a difficult read for me, and this one more so. This is a thriller story but the pace is excruciatingly slow. Not much happens until the last 30% of the book. The side characters were merely there for plot escalation. I was definitely hooked by the story, but I didn’t have that attachment towards the characters because there wasn’t any characterization at all. The writing style is bland and boring and difficult to understand at times. It was hard to get through the first part because not much was happening. I dare say the first part kind of was a snooze fest. 

The pace quickens once you get past that. It’s just not as engaging as I thought it would be. It has a strong plot, but poor characterization and writing style. But as I said, despite all of that it is a pretty good book. I just wouldn’t consider it as a favorite.