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plantbirdwoman's review against another edition
4.0
Alan Furst is a really good writer. I'm very glad I read this book although I would never have picked it up on my own. It covers a period of 20th century history that has been done to death and that I OD'd on long ago - the World War II period, that staple of the History Channel. But my husband, who is actually a WWII and espionage buff, read it and recommended it to me, telling me that I would like it in spite of the subject material. Once again, he was right.
The action here takes place in 1938-39 and begins with a murder in Paris while our protagonist is in Spain. Our hero, Carlo Weisz, an Italian by birth, is the foreign correspondent employed by Reuters and he is covering the dying days of resistance to the fascists.
Following the murder of the editor of the resistance newspaper in Paris, Carlo is recruited to take his place. His job as a foreign correspondent is the perfect cover as he travels to hot spots around Europe as an eyewitness to history.
It is all very complicated - plots within plots and not knowing whom to trust. It is, in short, fascinating stuff and one actually gets a feel for what it was like to live in such a period. It helps, perhaps, that in some ways the fear and the increasing loss of liberty of the time reminds me of the last eight years that we have lived through in my country. I don't mean to equate the two, of course, and yet during this time, I have felt my country slipping away from me much as the Spaniards, Italians, Slovakians, French, Germans and others must have done during this period. It is a frightening and somewhat helpless feeling.
Furst is very good at creating this atmosphere and at creating characters that one comes to identify with and care about. He is a really good writer. I look forward to reading more of his books.
The action here takes place in 1938-39 and begins with a murder in Paris while our protagonist is in Spain. Our hero, Carlo Weisz, an Italian by birth, is the foreign correspondent employed by Reuters and he is covering the dying days of resistance to the fascists.
Following the murder of the editor of the resistance newspaper in Paris, Carlo is recruited to take his place. His job as a foreign correspondent is the perfect cover as he travels to hot spots around Europe as an eyewitness to history.
It is all very complicated - plots within plots and not knowing whom to trust. It is, in short, fascinating stuff and one actually gets a feel for what it was like to live in such a period. It helps, perhaps, that in some ways the fear and the increasing loss of liberty of the time reminds me of the last eight years that we have lived through in my country. I don't mean to equate the two, of course, and yet during this time, I have felt my country slipping away from me much as the Spaniards, Italians, Slovakians, French, Germans and others must have done during this period. It is a frightening and somewhat helpless feeling.
Furst is very good at creating this atmosphere and at creating characters that one comes to identify with and care about. He is a really good writer. I look forward to reading more of his books.
iwanttoreadallthebooks's review against another edition
2.0
I've only read one other of Alan Furst's novels but I found that one to be a much better read. I just couldn't get into The Foreign Correspondent. The author didn't make me care about the main character so I wasn't invested in his story.
lectrice's review against another edition
2.0
2.5: I was hoping to like this book so I could read other titles by that author (liked the setting and premise) but the casual misogyny annoyed me :-( Life is too short and there are too many books out there 😉
speesh's review against another edition
2.0
The Foreign
Promised much, delivered little.
It felt a little like he was avoiding telling the story he should have, maybe even really wanted to. A huge missed opportunity, no matter how languid, evocative and well-written it was.
I'll give some of his others a go, but there's gonna have to be a dramatic improvement after this let-down.
Promised much, delivered little.
It felt a little like he was avoiding telling the story he should have, maybe even really wanted to. A huge missed opportunity, no matter how languid, evocative and well-written it was.
I'll give some of his others a go, but there's gonna have to be a dramatic improvement after this let-down.
kirstenbonnie's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It's got suspense and intrigue thrown in with a lot of history. If you don't like historical fiction, this would definitely not be the book for you. I also enjoyed that it talked a lot about the history leading up to WWII and focused a lot more on the untold side. You learn a lot about USA's involvement, France, Britain, etc, but you don't hear as much about Italy being brought to one side or the other. It was a different take and I definitely enjoyed it.
jeanetterenee's review against another edition
4.0
This turned out to be really yummy. Good "cloak and dagger" stuff, but with nary a cloak nor a dagger in sight. Italian emigres living in Paris put together newspapers to be smuggled into Italy, where Mussolini has control of the information flow.
This was much quieter than a lot of spy/war novels. Instead of the fast-paced action, it depicts what life was like in Europe immediately before WWII began in earnest. Everyone was tense, knowing war was coming, but not knowing what they should do or how it would play out in their own lives. The author really knows Europe, and he knows his history. The little details made me feel I was there.
I had to read the first 70 pages quite slowly so I could keep track of who everyone was and what side they were on and how they fit into the picture. After that I could speed up a bit. Not that I was in a hurry, but the first 70 pages I really had to concentrate!
This was much quieter than a lot of spy/war novels. Instead of the fast-paced action, it depicts what life was like in Europe immediately before WWII began in earnest. Everyone was tense, knowing war was coming, but not knowing what they should do or how it would play out in their own lives. The author really knows Europe, and he knows his history. The little details made me feel I was there.
I had to read the first 70 pages quite slowly so I could keep track of who everyone was and what side they were on and how they fit into the picture. After that I could speed up a bit. Not that I was in a hurry, but the first 70 pages I really had to concentrate!
rubybastille's review against another edition
4.0
This was the first Furst (heh) book I read, and the more of his stories I read, the easier it gets. Furst writes historical thrillers almost like poetry, with unconventional sentences, stellar imagery, and lots of foreign phrases sprinkled in. But they never really reach a climax - they meander along at a pleasant pace, giving you plenty of time to explore your surroundings, then rush you through some exciting rapids, then set you gently adrift as you were before. This is the biggest drawback to Furst's books: they don't really have endings. It's like the printers constantly lose the last chapter of his books. But they're still beautifully written, and they weave together so many interesting aspects of an unfathomably huge war. The characters in his books cross over into each others' stories, trying to lead their day-to-day lives, whether they're film producers, secret agents, or boat captains. Think of "Foreign Correspondent" as one vignette in a series of snapshots about everyday live being altered by WWII.
iwanttoreadallthebooks's review against another edition
2.0
I've only read one other of Alan Furst's novels but I found that one to be a much better read. I just couldn't get into The Foreign Correspondent. The author didn't make me care about the main character so I wasn't invested in his story.
moreadsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
In times of trouble I have been known to turn often to the exquisite narrations of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith reading the Rivers of London series in order to take my mind off things, but it turns out that when it all goes to shit Alfred Molina will do as well. Alan Furst is very concerned with what's going on with everyone's breasts, but otherwise this was a good little story about journalists fighting fascism.