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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
As far as I'm concerned, there are three great Cold War spy series. (I really mean 'franchises', because they all started as books and were then adapted into other media, but I've never been crazy about that word.)
They are: Ian Fleming's James Bond, natch; John Le Carre's George Smiley; Len Deighton's nameless spy, called 'Harry Palmer' in the movies.
I've now read the first book in each series.
I liked Deighton's best. Le Carre's is the best-written, but as a 'cosy' mystery with a spying background it's a lot less ambitious than The IPCRESS File. Casino Royale was enjoyable enough, but felt like it lacked basic craft, its early chapters a miasma of McGuffinry* setting up the absurd idea that HM Gov badly needs someone to go to a casino and beat someone at baccarat.
Is The IPCRESS File self-consciously trying to be the anti-Bond? It's hard to say. The movie version is, but the book has a little too much jet-setting and exciting action to be an anti-Bond. I think it's trying to be like Bond in some ways - an exciting adventure story set in the world of espionage - but its point of difference is that it's trying to do it as realistically as possible. Is real spying anything like what goes on in here? Was it in the 1960s? I don't know. But I completely bought the reality of its spy world.
Its spy milieu is a lot closer to Le Carre's than Fleming's; it's like the action/adventure version of Le Carre's world. Our hero does lots of mundane stuff involving paperwork, requisitions, trying to get paid his salary, trying to get the expenses he's owed, and playing office politics to get things done; he also gets involved in violent action, jumping through skylights, killing people, getting beaten up and tortured. He's almost too busy trying to uncover moles, and trying to avoid being considered a mole, to deal with enemy spies.
It mostly takes place in a deromanticised spy world that should be recognisable as the intended reader's own. It takes spying away from the baccarat tables of the French Riviera and dumps it in the back room of a sleazy porno shop. It's a rainy world, with strip joints, pawn shops, suburbs, British newspapers and bad coffee. It's England's noir, its equivalent of hard-boiled-detective-land. This book, and even more so the movie based on it, helped to re-romanticise that world, so now it takes an effort of will not to see every detail as fun and awesome and if I had a time machine I'd spend half my time in 1962 London. It's a shame the later books (and movies) move the character away from this low-rent England. I've always imagined it must be great fun to read and see exciting, well-made adventure stories set in the place you live. New Yorkers and Londoners have always been well-served. Adelaideans, not so much.
Part-way through, the action suddenly moves across the world, and although it's a shame to lose that shabby London, the new setting is pretty interesting.
A lot of readers seem to find the plot over-complicated. I didn't, though in the early chapters I was puzzled a few times about what was meant to be going on, as if the narrator had left out one or two bits of explanation that would have made all clear. I think this isn't over-complication exactly, but poor writing - for me this problem stopped after a while, as if Deighton had got the hang of this kind of writing by then. I liked the rest of the book enough to forgive the early lapses.
Seeing the movie three times might have helped. (And I've listened to the soundtrack album, which includes some great dialogue exchanges, dozens of times.) The details of the plot are different in the movie, but what helped was that I could put faces to the names, so I was in no danger of forgetting who was who, even if a pivotal character was absent for 100 pages.
I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series.
Appendices
APPENDICES
Nameless spy loves his endnotes, or 'appendices'. They're kind of fun. Some provide technical information, but in the voice of the narrator. Some are personal reminiscences, explaining his history with various characters. One of these, the story of Reg Cavendish, is bizarrely missing from one of my copies of this book. I imagine the author decided to remove it while preparing a later edition, as it puts the reader on hold for several pages during an exciting bit. But it's a shame to lose it.
MCGUFFINRY?
There's probably a better word for this, but I call it McGuffinry. As you may know, a McGuffin is some object that characters in a story pursue, leading to conflict between them. A Maltese Falcon, a lost Ark of the Covenant, letters of transit, the One Ring. Most McGuffins are interchangeable. Victor and Ilsa could just as easily be trying to obtain the Maltese Falcon or the lost Ark to buy their way out of Casablanca. It would be the same story (and might make more sense than a document that magically says 'barleys'* to your Nazi enemies). McGuffinry is like that, except instead of an object it's an elaborate set of background circumstances, which may or may not be explained at tedious length, and which explains why the characters must fight. It could just as easily be some entirely different explanation: if Bond was a guy who owes money to bad people and his best hope of making it is to win at baccarat, it would be much the same story.]
BARLEYS
Does the outside world would know about 'barleys', or does it only exist in my home town? Google suggests it's not widely known. The word 'barleys' is used in old-fashioned children's games to temporarily suspend play, to avoid injury, discuss the rules, or just avoid losing.
They are: Ian Fleming's James Bond, natch; John Le Carre's George Smiley; Len Deighton's nameless spy, called 'Harry Palmer' in the movies.
I've now read the first book in each series.
I liked Deighton's best. Le Carre's is the best-written, but as a 'cosy' mystery with a spying background it's a lot less ambitious than The IPCRESS File. Casino Royale was enjoyable enough, but felt like it lacked basic craft, its early chapters a miasma of McGuffinry* setting up the absurd idea that HM Gov badly needs someone to go to a casino and beat someone at baccarat.
Is The IPCRESS File self-consciously trying to be the anti-Bond? It's hard to say. The movie version is, but the book has a little too much jet-setting and exciting action to be an anti-Bond. I think it's trying to be like Bond in some ways - an exciting adventure story set in the world of espionage - but its point of difference is that it's trying to do it as realistically as possible. Is real spying anything like what goes on in here? Was it in the 1960s? I don't know. But I completely bought the reality of its spy world.
Its spy milieu is a lot closer to Le Carre's than Fleming's; it's like the action/adventure version of Le Carre's world. Our hero does lots of mundane stuff involving paperwork, requisitions, trying to get paid his salary, trying to get the expenses he's owed, and playing office politics to get things done; he also gets involved in violent action, jumping through skylights, killing people, getting beaten up and tortured. He's almost too busy trying to uncover moles, and trying to avoid being considered a mole, to deal with enemy spies.
It mostly takes place in a deromanticised spy world that should be recognisable as the intended reader's own. It takes spying away from the baccarat tables of the French Riviera and dumps it in the back room of a sleazy porno shop. It's a rainy world, with strip joints, pawn shops, suburbs, British newspapers and bad coffee. It's England's noir, its equivalent of hard-boiled-detective-land. This book, and even more so the movie based on it, helped to re-romanticise that world, so now it takes an effort of will not to see every detail as fun and awesome and if I had a time machine I'd spend half my time in 1962 London. It's a shame the later books (and movies) move the character away from this low-rent England. I've always imagined it must be great fun to read and see exciting, well-made adventure stories set in the place you live. New Yorkers and Londoners have always been well-served. Adelaideans, not so much.
Part-way through, the action suddenly moves across the world, and although it's a shame to lose that shabby London, the new setting is pretty interesting.
Spoiler
The new setting, Tokwe, is a slightly disguised Eniwetok (now known as Enewetak), the site of many US nuclear bomb tests. These bomb tests haven't been seen much in fiction, as far as I can tell, possibly because the details were fairly secret. Once again, just as he convinced me that his version of spy v spy 1962-style was real, Deighton convinced me that his version of Tokwe might be very like the real thing.A lot of readers seem to find the plot over-complicated. I didn't, though in the early chapters I was puzzled a few times about what was meant to be going on, as if the narrator had left out one or two bits of explanation that would have made all clear. I think this isn't over-complication exactly, but poor writing - for me this problem stopped after a while, as if Deighton had got the hang of this kind of writing by then. I liked the rest of the book enough to forgive the early lapses.
Seeing the movie three times might have helped. (And I've listened to the soundtrack album, which includes some great dialogue exchanges, dozens of times.) The details of the plot are different in the movie, but what helped was that I could put faces to the names, so I was in no danger of forgetting who was who, even if a pivotal character was absent for 100 pages.
I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series.
Appendices
APPENDICES
Nameless spy loves his endnotes, or 'appendices'. They're kind of fun. Some provide technical information, but in the voice of the narrator. Some are personal reminiscences, explaining his history with various characters. One of these, the story of Reg Cavendish, is bizarrely missing from one of my copies of this book. I imagine the author decided to remove it while preparing a later edition, as it puts the reader on hold for several pages during an exciting bit. But it's a shame to lose it.
MCGUFFINRY?
There's probably a better word for this, but I call it McGuffinry. As you may know, a McGuffin is some object that characters in a story pursue, leading to conflict between them. A Maltese Falcon, a lost Ark of the Covenant, letters of transit, the One Ring. Most McGuffins are interchangeable. Victor and Ilsa could just as easily be trying to obtain the Maltese Falcon or the lost Ark to buy their way out of Casablanca. It would be the same story (and might make more sense than a document that magically says 'barleys'* to your Nazi enemies). McGuffinry is like that, except instead of an object it's an elaborate set of background circumstances, which may or may not be explained at tedious length, and which explains why the characters must fight. It could just as easily be some entirely different explanation: if Bond was a guy who owes money to bad people and his best hope of making it is to win at baccarat, it would be much the same story.]
BARLEYS
Does the outside world would know about 'barleys', or does it only exist in my home town? Google suggests it's not widely known. The word 'barleys' is used in old-fashioned children's games to temporarily suspend play, to avoid injury, discuss the rules, or just avoid losing.
adventurous
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
IPCRESS File es la novela de espías más anti-Bond que he visto en mucho tiempo. Y me encanta. Por cierto, hay una adaptación a cine por Michael Caine, con el mismo nombre.
El anónimo protagonista (al igual que en Berlin Game, la novela es en primera persona) es un agente de inteligencia transferido al misterioso WOOC, una agencia inventada por Deighton. Su primera misión es averiguar qué ocurre con las desapariciones y posibles deserciones al bloque del Este de científicos británicos. En la peli no es anónimo, le ponen el nombre de Harry Palmer. Esto por lo que respecta a la trama.
El estilo es tan brillante como el de Berlin Game, los diálogos tienen... clase, y la sensación de constante desencanto del protagonista (que se pasa el día quejándose de que le deben dietas, sueldos y atrasos) es algo que arranca todo el glamour al que 007 nos tiene habituados. El protagonista es un tipo competente y con buenas habilidades, pero no el súper hombre que parece en ocasiones James Bond. Sus contactos no son en glamourosos casinos, sino en sórdidos locales y cafeterías. Es tan cutre que su jefe (Dalby, una leyenda del servicio), para compensarle por los atrasos, en una ocasión se lo lleva a comer a un sitio muy caro "y estamos en paz."
IPCRESS es claramente el primero de una serie ("The Secret File"), pero no deja apenas cabos sueltos. La historia se resuelve sólidamente y de una forma inesperada, no con un claro "los buenos ganan y los malos mueren." Muy apropiado para el género.
Len Deighton se está convirtiendo muy deprisa en uno de mis autores favoritos del género. Seguiremos esta serie.
El anónimo protagonista (al igual que en Berlin Game, la novela es en primera persona) es un agente de inteligencia transferido al misterioso WOOC, una agencia inventada por Deighton. Su primera misión es averiguar qué ocurre con las desapariciones y posibles deserciones al bloque del Este de científicos británicos. En la peli no es anónimo, le ponen el nombre de Harry Palmer. Esto por lo que respecta a la trama.
El estilo es tan brillante como el de Berlin Game, los diálogos tienen... clase, y la sensación de constante desencanto del protagonista (que se pasa el día quejándose de que le deben dietas, sueldos y atrasos) es algo que arranca todo el glamour al que 007 nos tiene habituados. El protagonista es un tipo competente y con buenas habilidades, pero no el súper hombre que parece en ocasiones James Bond. Sus contactos no son en glamourosos casinos, sino en sórdidos locales y cafeterías. Es tan cutre que su jefe (Dalby, una leyenda del servicio), para compensarle por los atrasos, en una ocasión se lo lleva a comer a un sitio muy caro "y estamos en paz."
IPCRESS es claramente el primero de una serie ("The Secret File"), pero no deja apenas cabos sueltos. La historia se resuelve sólidamente y de una forma inesperada, no con un claro "los buenos ganan y los malos mueren." Muy apropiado para el género.
Len Deighton se está convirtiendo muy deprisa en uno de mis autores favoritos del género. Seguiremos esta serie.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a groundbreaker in its day; a grittier, darker, more morally ambiguous kind of spy thriller than the glamorous escapist fantasies of James Bond. The unnamed protagonist is notoriously not called Harry Palmer as he is in the film (he specifically denies being called Harry), nor is he the young Michael Caine's chirpy cockney (he's from Burnley). He's not particularly likeable either, but then neither is anybody else, very much. It's a murky old world and it's impossible to tell who's a goodie and who is a baddie. Nothing is so clear-cut.
Reading it today it feels dated. It's long been eclipsed by the cerebral spies of John le Carré. It was an enjoyable read but no more. I'd suggest that you'd do better to stick to the films. If you do go ahead, don't expect an easy read; it's pretty dense and you need to pay attention because it twists and turns more than the roads blasted out of the atoll where so much of the action takes place.
Reading it today it feels dated. It's long been eclipsed by the cerebral spies of John le Carré. It was an enjoyable read but no more. I'd suggest that you'd do better to stick to the films. If you do go ahead, don't expect an easy read; it's pretty dense and you need to pay attention because it twists and turns more than the roads blasted out of the atoll where so much of the action takes place.
The story meanders along for most part of the book. You start wondering, about the sub plots and loose ends. Suddenly, things start to happen and loose ends are tied conandoyle style.
I'm actually rounding up to 4 stars because I might not have put enough attention into it to fully appreciate what was happening. It was pretty confusing, and I found my mind wandering sometimes and not really paying attention. This is especially bad with an audiobook, as the narrator has no idea I'm not listening, unlike a printed book. I did go back many times, but it didn't do that much good.
I had some trouble keeping up with the characters, but that might not matter, as they often didn't seem to be who I thought they were anyway.
So, the characters were confusing and not what they seemed to be, the plot was confusing and maybe not what it seemed to be, and the ending was confusing, but by that time, I had kind of given up and just wanted to finish already, so I didn't try to figure it all out. But the dialog was interesting, and I did finish, so that counts for something. All in all, I probably wouldn't recommend it to any sane people, not that I know any.
I had some trouble keeping up with the characters, but that might not matter, as they often didn't seem to be who I thought they were anyway.
So, the characters were confusing and not what they seemed to be, the plot was confusing and maybe not what it seemed to be, and the ending was confusing, but by that time, I had kind of given up and just wanted to finish already, so I didn't try to figure it all out. But the dialog was interesting, and I did finish, so that counts for something. All in all, I probably wouldn't recommend it to any sane people, not that I know any.
I liked the movie version and I've liked other Deighton novels, but this one was not good. The plot meanders all over the place and some scenes are just pointless. I know that he was trying to show that espionage work is not glamorous like Bond but that doesn't mean the book should be pure drudgery.