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leavingsealevel's review against another edition
2.0
Too confusing, this one. I think I like the later books better.
heritage's review against another edition
3.0
Khristo, a Bulgarian, is recruited, trained, and sent on assignment by the NKVD in the 1930s. What he and his comrades experience will forever change them.
This is the novel that started it all for Alan Furst. Since its initial publication in 1988, he has written 13 more, all with varying degrees of success, but all set in that 1933-1945 time period in Europe. Having picked up the series at The Polish Officer (book 3) and read all the way through to A Hero of France (book 14), I'm only now going back and reading the first two that I'd missed at the beginning.
This story, as I'm assuming the early novels in the series all share, is less focused on a central plot. It is very much so a group of characters, the things they did, and how it affected them. The Polish Officer had a similar structure, but was focused on one single character--and I think that made a world of difference. While Furst has an amazing grip on atmosphere, and he does put more emphasis on plot in the books in the middle of the series, character has never been his strong suit. This novel has too many of them doing too many things. In the end, it's difficult keeping them straight and even remembering what they had done earlier in the novel. Something definitely should've been done to make us more invested in what's going on with them, perhaps by making the novel longer and spending more time with the characters, or else by cutting some characters out. As it is, in addition to Khristo, we follow a couple of other NKVD recruits and a couple of Americans as well, none of which were handled very well.
That's not to say the novel is time wasted. Furst has an enjoyable style of writing, and the atmosphere is top notch. There is a load of information about the different conflicts at the time, as well as the different politicians and groups who were influential. It's also interesting to see how Furst presents the appeal of Soviet ideology in an unbiased manner, and then the eventual disillusionment through his characters' eyes. I'd say these aspects were actually the part of the novel that saved it from getting a 2-star review from me.
Without having read book 2 in the series yet, I'd heartily recommend anything that he has published in 1995 - 2006 (books 3 - 9), inclusive. After The Foreign Correspondent, it seems like he either isn't focused on his subject matter anymore, or he's become too comfortable and no longer thinks he needs to deliver a quality novel to his readers. This has been dreadfully apparent in his last three novels, published in 2012 - 2016. This book, though, is interesting to see where some of his recurring characters got their start. If you're already a fan, read it for a sense of completion. If you're a new reader, it gets better from here (but then it gets worse later).
This is the novel that started it all for Alan Furst. Since its initial publication in 1988, he has written 13 more, all with varying degrees of success, but all set in that 1933-1945 time period in Europe. Having picked up the series at The Polish Officer (book 3) and read all the way through to A Hero of France (book 14), I'm only now going back and reading the first two that I'd missed at the beginning.
This story, as I'm assuming the early novels in the series all share, is less focused on a central plot. It is very much so a group of characters, the things they did, and how it affected them. The Polish Officer had a similar structure, but was focused on one single character--and I think that made a world of difference. While Furst has an amazing grip on atmosphere, and he does put more emphasis on plot in the books in the middle of the series, character has never been his strong suit. This novel has too many of them doing too many things. In the end, it's difficult keeping them straight and even remembering what they had done earlier in the novel. Something definitely should've been done to make us more invested in what's going on with them, perhaps by making the novel longer and spending more time with the characters, or else by cutting some characters out. As it is, in addition to Khristo, we follow a couple of other NKVD recruits and a couple of Americans as well, none of which were handled very well.
That's not to say the novel is time wasted. Furst has an enjoyable style of writing, and the atmosphere is top notch. There is a load of information about the different conflicts at the time, as well as the different politicians and groups who were influential. It's also interesting to see how Furst presents the appeal of Soviet ideology in an unbiased manner, and then the eventual disillusionment through his characters' eyes. I'd say these aspects were actually the part of the novel that saved it from getting a 2-star review from me.
Without having read book 2 in the series yet, I'd heartily recommend anything that he has published in 1995 - 2006 (books 3 - 9), inclusive. After The Foreign Correspondent, it seems like he either isn't focused on his subject matter anymore, or he's become too comfortable and no longer thinks he needs to deliver a quality novel to his readers. This has been dreadfully apparent in his last three novels, published in 2012 - 2016. This book, though, is interesting to see where some of his recurring characters got their start. If you're already a fan, read it for a sense of completion. If you're a new reader, it gets better from here (but then it gets worse later).
danchrist's review against another edition
2.0
Sprawling espionage thriller which proved to not be my cup of tea. Slogged to the predictable end but the author's storytelling method left me scratching my head often to determine which story line was being presented at the moment. Perhaps a different edition of the text - read on a Kindle which may have been short on some explanatory or organizational formatting - would have cleared up the confusion.
cawhite's review against another edition
4.0
I had mixed feelings about this book. It was partly compelling and partly tedious.
lwalker77's review against another edition
1.0
I wanted to enjoy this book. I did appreciate what the author tried to do with this book, but I struggled to finish it. I have never wanted to be done with a book so badly in my life. Too many characters, and all of them doing boring stuff. This book wasn't for me.
kathyemmons's review against another edition
4.0
This book is tough sledding; can't even count how many times I had to reread parts of it to get the story straight. But it is a wonderful spy story, filled with great sadness and really beautiful writing. If you ever wondered if living under communism would be all that bad, this story will convince you otherwise. Alan Furst is an artist! I learned so much about pre- and post-war Europe in this book (and am so glad I did) that I immediately started the next one in the series!
thelaurasaurus's review against another edition
4.0
I will get my one negative out of the way first - there's no bloody chapters. This troubled me more than you might expect.
Aside from that issue, I thoroughly enjoyed this. It's epic, but not overwhelming, and there are loads of characters, but I kept on top of them like a champ.
I found the ending a little twee, but I'll forgive it because the rest of the book was SO GOOD!
Aside from that issue, I thoroughly enjoyed this. It's epic, but not overwhelming, and there are loads of characters, but I kept on top of them like a champ.
I found the ending a little twee, but I'll forgive it because the rest of the book was SO GOOD!
usbsticky's review against another edition
2.0
Nothing against it but I just couldn't continue reading due to the prose style. The style is a slow methodical style, like a sidewalk storyteller telling a story and drawing the audience along and keeping them there for as long as possible... against their will.
Unfortunately, I've just been reading R. Cameron Cook's books where the writing just draws me along without effort. Whereas this one I had to concentrate to read and the author seemed to delight in writing about stuff which wasn't interesting. There's just no comparison coming off a fast paced book. No doubt other readers have enjoyed it since there are several in this series, but not for me.
Unfortunately, I've just been reading R. Cameron Cook's books where the writing just draws me along without effort. Whereas this one I had to concentrate to read and the author seemed to delight in writing about stuff which wasn't interesting. There's just no comparison coming off a fast paced book. No doubt other readers have enjoyed it since there are several in this series, but not for me.
csdaley's review against another edition
4.0
This was closer to a 3.5 star for me. Parts of this book I really liked but others were tough. There were large sections of the book that I felt were an information dump. Here is the world my characters live in. It made the pacing tough and I never fully connected with the characters because of it. Having said that, this is the first book. I liked the writing enough to continue in the series and see if the Furst gets better at delivering the history (which I do love) more integrated and smoother into the story.
One thing I will say is that it reminded me how much I like spy novels. I read them a lot as a kid and have strayed away from them as an adult. It might be time to read a few more of them.
One thing I will say is that it reminded me how much I like spy novels. I read them a lot as a kid and have strayed away from them as an adult. It might be time to read a few more of them.