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A review by paul_cornelius
Horse Under Water by Len Deighton
4.0
Len Deighton is a better spy novelist than Le Carré, I think. At least I enjoy his wit and sense of smoothness more than the drab and dour surroundings Le Carré seems fixed on. Both writers were said to have revolutionized the genre, with working class heroes of dubious backgrounds and a willingness towards expediency. Partly that is true. But both owe most of what they are trying to achieve to the paths pioneered by Conrad much earlier.
This second of Deighton's novels differs structurally from the first, The IPCRESS File, and perhaps psychologically from his third, Funeral in Berlin. As these are the only three I have read so far means I cannot quite get a handle on how Deighton will develop eventually. Horse Under Water hasn't got quite the flair that IPCRESS File does when touching on the color and atmosphere of the cultural context of the 1950s and early 1960s. And it doesn't take us into the multi-perspective point of view that Funeral in Berlin does. What Horse Under Water does achieve is a much tighter storyline than the other two. It's more conventional in that regard, albeit all the more satisfying in some ways because of it.
What this means is you can enjoy these three early works on different levels taking differing approaches. The atmospheric quality Deighton uses to describe Portugal of the early 1960s captures a place now long disappeared into modernity. There is something of the nineteenth century or even earlier in his descriptions. Despite the fact that Salazar was a modern authoritarian--not quite a totalitarian--the Portugal described on these pages in all its remoteness and languid way of life seems something more a part of far earlier times. Into the midst of all this, what a rupture it is to find Deighton introducing modern espionage, escaped Nazis, and a European-wide conspiracy to restore Fascism to power throughout the continent.
Quite good. More traditional than the other early works but equally challenging in its mystery.
This second of Deighton's novels differs structurally from the first, The IPCRESS File, and perhaps psychologically from his third, Funeral in Berlin. As these are the only three I have read so far means I cannot quite get a handle on how Deighton will develop eventually. Horse Under Water hasn't got quite the flair that IPCRESS File does when touching on the color and atmosphere of the cultural context of the 1950s and early 1960s. And it doesn't take us into the multi-perspective point of view that Funeral in Berlin does. What Horse Under Water does achieve is a much tighter storyline than the other two. It's more conventional in that regard, albeit all the more satisfying in some ways because of it.
What this means is you can enjoy these three early works on different levels taking differing approaches. The atmospheric quality Deighton uses to describe Portugal of the early 1960s captures a place now long disappeared into modernity. There is something of the nineteenth century or even earlier in his descriptions. Despite the fact that Salazar was a modern authoritarian--not quite a totalitarian--the Portugal described on these pages in all its remoteness and languid way of life seems something more a part of far earlier times. Into the midst of all this, what a rupture it is to find Deighton introducing modern espionage, escaped Nazis, and a European-wide conspiracy to restore Fascism to power throughout the continent.
Quite good. More traditional than the other early works but equally challenging in its mystery.