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A review by psr
SS-GB by Len Deighton
3.0
I read this for research purposes, so I shan't review it at length here. It's the second Deighton novel I've read for this reason. What I will say is that old Len knows how to spin a yarn, how to keep the pages turning, etc. And while not the first to posit the scenario, Deighton's book has been hugely influential on the counterfactual novel. This influence can plainly be seen in Robert Harris's excellent Fatherland, the best genre novel I've read in some time. Deighton also creates a suitably gloomy feel for a Nazi-occupied London. And there is some psychological depth to the characters.
Why didn't I rate it more highly? Well, for a start, it falls into the conventions and cliches of the crime novel. There's Detective-Superintendent "Archer of the Yard" and his faithful, older sergeant. There's the American journalist love-interest (another debt Harris owes to Deighton, since he has one of these as well). You have to have an eye on the film or TV rights, don't you? And in the best (for which, read worst) traditions of the spy-thriller, the plot is ridiculously over-complicated. The writing feels old-fashioned, but not in a good way. Rather than evoking 1941, it feels stiff and the use of popular idiom is rather dated.
One thing I did notice, was my reaction to the picture presented; a dismal, defeated England under the heel of the jackboot. Born an Englishman, I could never be anything else, but I'm in no sense a nationalist. Even so, the idea of my birth country being occupied by a foreign force provoked the emotion Deighton intended. In this sense, then, I guess he succeeded.
Why didn't I rate it more highly? Well, for a start, it falls into the conventions and cliches of the crime novel. There's Detective-Superintendent "Archer of the Yard" and his faithful, older sergeant. There's the American journalist love-interest (another debt Harris owes to Deighton, since he has one of these as well). You have to have an eye on the film or TV rights, don't you? And in the best (for which, read worst) traditions of the spy-thriller, the plot is ridiculously over-complicated. The writing feels old-fashioned, but not in a good way. Rather than evoking 1941, it feels stiff and the use of popular idiom is rather dated.
One thing I did notice, was my reaction to the picture presented; a dismal, defeated England under the heel of the jackboot. Born an Englishman, I could never be anything else, but I'm in no sense a nationalist. Even so, the idea of my birth country being occupied by a foreign force provoked the emotion Deighton intended. In this sense, then, I guess he succeeded.