Funeral in Berlin (urspr publ 1964; utgåvan 2009)

‘You live only once,’ said Stok. ‘I can make once do,’ I said.

Drier wit and none of the technological digressions that mar other Deightons; avoids the cliches while coining his own. ( )

After the, in my opinion, somewhat pedestrian Horse Under Water, Deighton hits his stride with the third "Unnamed Spy" novel, Funeral In Berlin. Capturing perfectly the mid-sixties Cold War paranoia that affected all sides, Deighton sends his protagonist to secure the defection of a top Soviet scientist, Semitsa. But there is always more at play than a simple defection.

We are introduced to one of the great villains, Colonel Stok, who is playing his own game of chess with the West. Hallam, the Home Office spook who procures false documents for Semitsa's defection, is also a well drawn character. Then there is the femme fatale, Samantha Steel, and the playboy fixer Johnnie Vulkan, who is brokering the deal. Nothing is as it seems, everyone has a hidden agenda that only really becomes clear in the final few chapters.

Our hero navigates his way through double cross after double cross while trying to keep his boss, Dawlish, off his back and uncover the real situation behind the game of bluff and double bluff.

Deighton keeps things moving at a swift pace and the short Chess rules quotations at the head of each chapter are a nice touch. This really is like a game of chess with our hero trying not to be a pawn sacrificed in the game. Shadows of the war, lost Nazi money and Cold War politics all make for a highly enjoyable read. Recommended. ( )

F/NF light rubbing on dj else F/F

I think, one of the few spy novels you'll read that has footnotes and an appendix. Doing a Google search on places and things referenced (i.e., "the Lighthouse cinema in Calcutta," or "topees piping 'Over the Seas to Sky'") will probably have to wait for me until the second reading. Even though my book's cover has a photo of Michael Caine, it's more Ian Holm I'm picturing as our hero. He is the antithesis of "Bond, James Bond." He has no name, but in this story he's assigned the name "Dorf." ( )

This is the third of Len Deighton's "nameless hero" books, although they can also be referred to as the "Harry Palmer" books, after Michael Caine's portrayal of the narrator. I had previously tried the first of these books, The Ipcress File, but wasn't engaging with it. This one was easier for me to get into, perhaps because I knew from the outset that the narrator would not be referred to by name, or perhaps the story was more interesting.

Our hero is tasked with arranging the defection of a Soviet agent named Semitsa, and there is plenty of double- and triple-crossing by the various personalities involved. The intricacy of the plot is illustrated by the quotations that begin each chapter: each one details a rule of chess and even kind of describe what is about to unfold, in an indirect way.

About 2/3 of the way through I lost a bit of steam (it can get a bit too twisty and turny sometimes), but I was able to complete the book eventually and did not hold the slowdown against the book. The dialogue and narration were what really carried the day for me, especially imagining some bits being said by Michael Caine (which may be my way of proceeding with The Ipcress File if I ever try that one again). For example:

"Been trying to get you since four o'clock this afternoon," the Charlotte Street switchboard said petulantly.
"I was in the toilet," I said.

Or this one, where the nameless hero's boss, Dawlish, is complaining about him playing his music too loud in the office:

Hero: "It's not in your office, it's in my office."
Dawlish: "It might just as well be in my office. I can't hear myself speak."
Hero: "You're not missing a thing."

I also chuckled at the description of Charlotte Street as running "north from Oxford Street and there are few who will blame it." Classic Deighton.

I would recommend this to those who have read at least one other Deighton novel, or at the very least anyone who comes into the book knowing that the hero won't actually be referred to by his real name (he does have an alias, but he complains bitterly about it, much to his secretary's and the reader's amusement). ( )