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Epitaph for a Spy
When Josef Vadassy arrives at the Hotel de la Reserve at the end of his Riviera holiday, he is simply looking forward to a few more days of relaxation before returning to Paris. But in St. Gatien, on the eve of World War II, everyone is suspect–the American brother and sister, the expatriate Brits, and the German gentleman traveling under at least one assumed name. When the film he drops off at the chemist reveals photographs he has not taken, Vadassy finds himself the object of intense suspicion. The result is anything but the rest he had been hoping for.
263 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1938
171 people are currently reading
3843 people want to read
About the author
Eric Ambler
115 books502 followersSuspense novels of noted English writer Eric Ambler include
Passage of Arms
(1959).
Eric Ambler began his career in the early 1930s and quickly established a reputation as a thriller of extraordinary depth and originality. People often credit him as the inventor of the modern political thriller, and John Le Carré once described him as "the source on which we all draw."
Ambler began his working life at an engineering firm and then at an advertising agency and meanwhile in his spare time worked on his ambition, plays. He first published in 1936 and turned full-time as his reputation. During the war, people seconded him to the film unit of the Army, where he among other projects authored The Way Ahead with Peter Ustinov.
He moved to Hollywood in 1957 and during eleven years to 1968 scripted some memorable films, A Night to Remember and The Cruel Sea, which won him an Oscar nomination.
In a career, spanning more than six decades, Eric Ambler authored 19 books, the crime writers' association awarded him its gold dagger award in 1960. Joan Harrison married him and co-wrote many screenplays of Alfred Hitchcock, who in fact organized their wedding.
Eric Ambler began his career in the early 1930s and quickly established a reputation as a thriller of extraordinary depth and originality. People often credit him as the inventor of the modern political thriller, and John Le Carré once described him as "the source on which we all draw."
Ambler began his working life at an engineering firm and then at an advertising agency and meanwhile in his spare time worked on his ambition, plays. He first published in 1936 and turned full-time as his reputation. During the war, people seconded him to the film unit of the Army, where he among other projects authored The Way Ahead with Peter Ustinov.
He moved to Hollywood in 1957 and during eleven years to 1968 scripted some memorable films, A Night to Remember and The Cruel Sea, which won him an Oscar nomination.
In a career, spanning more than six decades, Eric Ambler authored 19 books, the crime writers' association awarded him its gold dagger award in 1960. Joan Harrison married him and co-wrote many screenplays of Alfred Hitchcock, who in fact organized their wedding.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 378 reviews
September 7, 2024
I love genre fiction written by a master, one who can command its memes and not be controlled by them, who can shift—with apparent effortlessness—in and out of subgenres, provoking yet fulfilling our expectations with such assurance that he can craft an exciting entertainment and still have room left over for a few of the higher pleasures of literary fiction. Eric Ambler is a master of the genre of international intrigue, and Epitaph for a Spy (1938) —even with its flaws— is this sort of entertainment.
The action begins with our hero on holiday, Josef Vadassy—amateur photographer and teacher of languages—snapping photos on the patio of his modest hotel, photos of lizards basking in the sun. Later, when he goes to collect his prints, he finds himself detained by the police. It seems there were other pictures on the roll—including a few of military installations--and French intelligence wishes to have a word with Monsieur Vadassy.
But what begins as the “regular guy when mistaken for spy spies on spies” meme shifts quickly into something more closely resembling the traditional English country-house who-dunnit, for Vadassy must discover which resident of his hotel inadvertently exchanged cameras with him. If he can find who has his camera, he can discover the spy.
The novel remains in country-house mode for at least half its length. Ambler, however, is less interested in detection—Vadassy is after all a naif and an amateur—than in listening to the stories of his hotel guests: the English colonel and his Italian wife, the wealthy French manufacturer, the fat smiling middle-class Germans, the upper class British brother and sister, the hotelier with a secret destination, the mysterious “Swiss” with an assumed name.
Evenutually, though, the subgenres shift again, and we are rewarded not only with an exciting chase in which the identity of the spy is revealed, but with an ironic coda in which we discover a few more things about our guests—nothing more about spies and spying, but a few things about lies and love, and the smiling masks of evil.
This early Ambler novel is filled with many delights, but some of the travellers' stories—although interesting--are longer and less compelling than they should be. Even here, though, Ambler deftly manipulates us through genre: we still listen to each guest's every word, because we know that any one of them may be our spy.
All in all, this is an able entertainment, a good companion for a long plane trip or a cold winter night.
March 10, 2020
Non sono appassionata di spy-stories in generale, ma solo di quelle ambientate durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale (con qualche piccola eccezione).
Epitaffio per una spia è una spy-story che – stranamente per questo genere di libri – ha il dono della semplicità: una trama lineare, personaggi ben tratteggiati e una prosa elegante, di gran classe.
Costa Azzurra, 1938. Vittima di un banale scambio di rullini Josef Vadassy, un timido insegnante di origine ungherese e incerta cittadinanza, viene arrestato con l'accusa di spionaggio. In realtà la polizia francese sa bene che Vadassy è innocente, ma sa anche che non è in condizione di trattare, quindi, o entro tre giorni scoprirà chi fra gli ospiti del suo albergo è la vera spia, o gli verrà revocato il permesso di soggiorno. Vadassy però non è del mestiere e si muove a disagio in quel gruppo di persone in cui nessuno è chi dice di essere e dove niente è come sembra; è maldestro, impacciato, e smascherare la pericolosa spia non sarà così semplice…
Chi predilige l’azione, i ritmi adrenalinici e i colpi di scena ogni due pagine stia alla larga da questo romanzo perché qui di azione ce n’è poca: qui si viaggia con calma, lentamente, rilassati.
https://youtu.be/FgxwKEuy-pM
Ah, il Sud!
Epitaffio per una spia è una spy-story che – stranamente per questo genere di libri – ha il dono della semplicità: una trama lineare, personaggi ben tratteggiati e una prosa elegante, di gran classe.
Costa Azzurra, 1938. Vittima di un banale scambio di rullini Josef Vadassy, un timido insegnante di origine ungherese e incerta cittadinanza, viene arrestato con l'accusa di spionaggio. In realtà la polizia francese sa bene che Vadassy è innocente, ma sa anche che non è in condizione di trattare, quindi, o entro tre giorni scoprirà chi fra gli ospiti del suo albergo è la vera spia, o gli verrà revocato il permesso di soggiorno. Vadassy però non è del mestiere e si muove a disagio in quel gruppo di persone in cui nessuno è chi dice di essere e dove niente è come sembra; è maldestro, impacciato, e smascherare la pericolosa spia non sarà così semplice…
Chi predilige l’azione, i ritmi adrenalinici e i colpi di scena ogni due pagine stia alla larga da questo romanzo perché qui di azione ce n’è poca: qui si viaggia con calma, lentamente, rilassati.
https://youtu.be/FgxwKEuy-pM
Ah, il Sud!
March 18, 2012
Eric Ambler’s 1938 novel Epitaph for a Spy is a perfect example of his distinctive approach to spy fiction. Ambler’s heroes were not professional spies but ordinary people caught up in the dangerous web of espionage. They do not thereby metamorphose into brave and noble heroes. They remain ordinary people, struggling desperately to survive, blundering through as best they can.
Josef Vadassy is a man without a nationality. Born in a part of Hungary that became part of Yugoslavia after the redrawing of national frontiers in the wake of the First World War, he had moved to Britain and then found himself unable to obtain either a valid Hungarian passport or a valid Yugoslavian passport. He was unable to obtain British citizenship either. Moving to France to take up a teaching position in Paris merely complicated his problem. The French authorities were willing to allow him to stay but made it clear that if he left the country they would not permit him to return.
Vadassy earns his living as a teacher of languages. It’s not such a bad life. The pay is not over-generous but he is content to live simply. He has his hobby. He is a keen photographer and has been able to save enough money to buy a rather fine (and rather expensive) Zeiss camera. He has also been able to save enough to take a holiday, in the French Mediterranean seaside town of St Gatien. The Hôtel de la Réserve is comfortable and the food is excellent.
Then misfortune strikes, through an unlucky accident. He had placed his camera on a chair and someone took it by mistake, leaving their own camera behind. An identical Zeiss Contax camera. He finds all this out when he puts a film in to be developed at the local pharmacy and is arrested. The film contains photographs of sensitive naval installations at Toulon. He is now accused of espionage. He’s a rather timid man but eventually persuades the man from the Sûreté that he is not a spy. He is not out of the woods yet though. Now he must play the spy himself, helping the Inspector to catch the real spy.
This real spy must be one of the guests. Vadassy, being a complete amateur, has only the haziest notions of how to go about finding a spy and not surprisingly he manages to suspect just about everyone and for all the wrong reasons. What he doesn’t know is that the Inspector from the Sûreté hasn’t been entirely truthful with him and the situation is not quite what he believes it to be.
Ambler’s approach to the spy novel is to concentrate on tension rather than action. If you expect sex and violence in your spy fiction you’ll be very disappointed. Ambler’s style is closer to Somerset Maugham’s (in his superb Ashenden, or the British Agent) - successful spycraft is more about knowing how to manipulate people rather than gunplay or fist fights. A talent for duplicity and a flexible approach to morality is more valuable than physical prowess. Sadly Josef Vadassy is essentially a fairly decent straightforward sort of chap and therefore not at all suited to espionage.
Ambler is also far more interested in the psychological dimension than in plotting. It doesn’t really matter who the real spy is, the focus is what happens to a very ordinary man when he suddenly finds himself in the nightmarish twilight world of espionage and counter-espionage. The important question is not so much whether Vadassy will find the spy but rather whether he can survive this ordeal, and preferably survive it without entirely abandoning his humanity or his own sense of morality.
The photographs of the naval installations are what Alfred Hitchcock used to call a McGuffin - they’re entirely unimportant in themselves and simply serve to drive the plot.
This is a slightly more cynical brand of spy fiction than the type of story that dominated the field in the first few decades of the 20th century, the type perfected by writers like John Buchan and Sapper. It’s not as extreme in its cynicism as the type of spy fiction that would emerge in the 1960s but it does mark a definite step in that direction.
Ambler’s books were significant also in marking a move away from noble and heroic figures like Bulldog Drummond and Richard Hannay. Ambler’s amateur spies simply muddle through to the best of their limited abilities.
While earlier fictional spies like Maugham’s sometimes dislike the things they have to do they still believe their work is necessary. Ambler and Graham Greene created a new type of spy fiction where the heroes no longer have that sort of certainty and often don’t even really understand what is going on. They are caught up in a web from which they cannot escape. Few writers ever mastered this type of story to the same extent as Eric Ambler.
A great book that entirely deserves its status as one of the classics of the genre.
Josef Vadassy is a man without a nationality. Born in a part of Hungary that became part of Yugoslavia after the redrawing of national frontiers in the wake of the First World War, he had moved to Britain and then found himself unable to obtain either a valid Hungarian passport or a valid Yugoslavian passport. He was unable to obtain British citizenship either. Moving to France to take up a teaching position in Paris merely complicated his problem. The French authorities were willing to allow him to stay but made it clear that if he left the country they would not permit him to return.
Vadassy earns his living as a teacher of languages. It’s not such a bad life. The pay is not over-generous but he is content to live simply. He has his hobby. He is a keen photographer and has been able to save enough money to buy a rather fine (and rather expensive) Zeiss camera. He has also been able to save enough to take a holiday, in the French Mediterranean seaside town of St Gatien. The Hôtel de la Réserve is comfortable and the food is excellent.
Then misfortune strikes, through an unlucky accident. He had placed his camera on a chair and someone took it by mistake, leaving their own camera behind. An identical Zeiss Contax camera. He finds all this out when he puts a film in to be developed at the local pharmacy and is arrested. The film contains photographs of sensitive naval installations at Toulon. He is now accused of espionage. He’s a rather timid man but eventually persuades the man from the Sûreté that he is not a spy. He is not out of the woods yet though. Now he must play the spy himself, helping the Inspector to catch the real spy.
This real spy must be one of the guests. Vadassy, being a complete amateur, has only the haziest notions of how to go about finding a spy and not surprisingly he manages to suspect just about everyone and for all the wrong reasons. What he doesn’t know is that the Inspector from the Sûreté hasn’t been entirely truthful with him and the situation is not quite what he believes it to be.
Ambler’s approach to the spy novel is to concentrate on tension rather than action. If you expect sex and violence in your spy fiction you’ll be very disappointed. Ambler’s style is closer to Somerset Maugham’s (in his superb Ashenden, or the British Agent) - successful spycraft is more about knowing how to manipulate people rather than gunplay or fist fights. A talent for duplicity and a flexible approach to morality is more valuable than physical prowess. Sadly Josef Vadassy is essentially a fairly decent straightforward sort of chap and therefore not at all suited to espionage.
Ambler is also far more interested in the psychological dimension than in plotting. It doesn’t really matter who the real spy is, the focus is what happens to a very ordinary man when he suddenly finds himself in the nightmarish twilight world of espionage and counter-espionage. The important question is not so much whether Vadassy will find the spy but rather whether he can survive this ordeal, and preferably survive it without entirely abandoning his humanity or his own sense of morality.
The photographs of the naval installations are what Alfred Hitchcock used to call a McGuffin - they’re entirely unimportant in themselves and simply serve to drive the plot.
This is a slightly more cynical brand of spy fiction than the type of story that dominated the field in the first few decades of the 20th century, the type perfected by writers like John Buchan and Sapper. It’s not as extreme in its cynicism as the type of spy fiction that would emerge in the 1960s but it does mark a definite step in that direction.
Ambler’s books were significant also in marking a move away from noble and heroic figures like Bulldog Drummond and Richard Hannay. Ambler’s amateur spies simply muddle through to the best of their limited abilities.
While earlier fictional spies like Maugham’s sometimes dislike the things they have to do they still believe their work is necessary. Ambler and Graham Greene created a new type of spy fiction where the heroes no longer have that sort of certainty and often don’t even really understand what is going on. They are caught up in a web from which they cannot escape. Few writers ever mastered this type of story to the same extent as Eric Ambler.
A great book that entirely deserves its status as one of the classics of the genre.
November 10, 2024
Enjoyable late 1930s spy novel set in France echoing tensions in Europe.
Josef Vadassy is a Hungarian refugee staying at the hotel Réserve whilst waiting to join his new foreign-language teaching post in Paris. Camera enthusiast and polyglot Vadassy uncovers something odd on having his film developed at the local chemist and he soon finds himself suspected of espionage and trying to ascertain who is a real spy and who might be keen to do him and some other guests harm.
Using his ability to speak a variety of languages Vadassy meets and befriends the small group of international guests who say they are tourists or businessmen. Are they all who they say they are and what they seem?
3 stars as per GR rating "liked it".
Josef Vadassy is a Hungarian refugee staying at the hotel Réserve whilst waiting to join his new foreign-language teaching post in Paris. Camera enthusiast and polyglot Vadassy uncovers something odd on having his film developed at the local chemist and he soon finds himself suspected of espionage and trying to ascertain who is a real spy and who might be keen to do him and some other guests harm.
Using his ability to speak a variety of languages Vadassy meets and befriends the small group of international guests who say they are tourists or businessmen. Are they all who they say they are and what they seem?
3 stars as per GR rating "liked it".
January 7, 2022
” Io ero solo una pedina del gioco,
una mosca presa nell’ingranaggio.
" Arrivai a St. Gatien, da Nizza, martedì 14 agosto.
Fui arrestato giovedì 16, a mezzogiorno meno un quarto, da un agente di polizia e da un ispettore in borghese, e portato al commissariato.”
Queste le prime righe di Epitaffio per una spia, accattivante spy story dello scrittore inglese Eric Ambler.
Della trama non dirò nulla; d’altro canto vi basterà leggere la sinossi e scoprire il resto da soli.
Due note di merito mi rendono molto soddisfatta della lettura:
in primo luogo, la caratterizzazione di un protagonista alieno al mondo dell’intrigo ma, suo malgrado, risucchiato da una serie di eventi; il suo essere apolide lo rende sospetto ed oggi come ieri vittima di pregiudizio.
In secondo luogo ma non meno importante, è il momento storico in cui questo libro è dato alle stampe: il 1938, anno di cui, già dal titolo, si presagisce il fatale epilogo.
” Può sembrare strano che di fronte alla minaccia di un disastro totale io mi preoccupassi futilmente dei treni per Parigi. Ma gli esseri umani si comportano in modo bizzarro nei momenti di grande tensione. I passeggeri di una nave che affonda, mentre l’ultima scialuppa viene calata in mare, tornano in cabina per salvare qualche futile cosuccia. Uomini in punto di morte, avviati all’eternità, si crucciano per piccole fatture non pagate.”
Lettura molto coinvolgente.
una mosca presa nell’ingranaggio.
" Arrivai a St. Gatien, da Nizza, martedì 14 agosto.
Fui arrestato giovedì 16, a mezzogiorno meno un quarto, da un agente di polizia e da un ispettore in borghese, e portato al commissariato.”
Queste le prime righe di Epitaffio per una spia, accattivante spy story dello scrittore inglese Eric Ambler.
Della trama non dirò nulla; d’altro canto vi basterà leggere la sinossi e scoprire il resto da soli.
Due note di merito mi rendono molto soddisfatta della lettura:
in primo luogo, la caratterizzazione di un protagonista alieno al mondo dell’intrigo ma, suo malgrado, risucchiato da una serie di eventi; il suo essere apolide lo rende sospetto ed oggi come ieri vittima di pregiudizio.
In secondo luogo ma non meno importante, è il momento storico in cui questo libro è dato alle stampe: il 1938, anno di cui, già dal titolo, si presagisce il fatale epilogo.
” Può sembrare strano che di fronte alla minaccia di un disastro totale io mi preoccupassi futilmente dei treni per Parigi. Ma gli esseri umani si comportano in modo bizzarro nei momenti di grande tensione. I passeggeri di una nave che affonda, mentre l’ultima scialuppa viene calata in mare, tornano in cabina per salvare qualche futile cosuccia. Uomini in punto di morte, avviati all’eternità, si crucciano per piccole fatture non pagate.”
Lettura molto coinvolgente.
November 17, 2016
I love older spy novels. And if you love Film Noir movies, or Alfred Hitchcock films, than Eric Ambler is the author for you! Hitchcock is quoted as calling him a "phenomenon" and reading this book you can see why. Written in 1937 the book takes place prior to WW2 and introduces us to a Hungarian name Vadassy who is taking a brief rest on the southern coast of France before traveling to Paris, where he is a foreign language teacher. Once he arrives at his hotel the fun, intrigue and mystery begins. Ambler is an expert (and one of the first) at having his protagonist be a regular man-on-the-street character who all of a sudden (through no fault of his own) is propelled into the world of international espionage. Vadassy is put into a situation in which he has no training or real ability but is being directed by the "police" to help flush out a spy who has taken photographs of the French seacoast fortifications. The spy is located at the hotel where Vadassy is staying and we now take part in his attempt to try and flush out this person from among those 12 or so guests who are staying there. There is an English couple, some Americans, Swiss, and others who all get their chance to be quizzed by Vadassy as he blunders his way throughout the book. It is only because he refuses to obey his directions, and instead strikes out on his own path of inquiry that misfortune follows him through the book.
This spy novel could easily have been a detective mystery in the style of Agatha Christie, etc. but instead Ambler strikes out to improve upon the seldom written (at that time) spy genre of books. He is a master at this. Some reviewers say it feels old - well it is, but it is that authenticity that strikes a chord with me. There are no high-tech gadgetry in here, just a great story and one mans attempt to find a spy. Everyone is a suspect, everyone has a story, a hidden story, and everyone is a suspect until the conclusion of the book. And as an extra bonus there is a short Footnote by Ambler regarding the development of the Spy Genre of writing and some of the best early books in that genre.
If you do like Film Noir and spy movies, let me recommend to you the movie, The Mask of Dimitrios" which came from Ambler's book "A Coffin for Dimitrios." A fine film noir movie starring two greats - Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. Watching this movie got me intrigued in Amblers works and that let to this book and review. A fine author who is a must read for anyone who truly is a fan of spy novels!
This spy novel could easily have been a detective mystery in the style of Agatha Christie, etc. but instead Ambler strikes out to improve upon the seldom written (at that time) spy genre of books. He is a master at this. Some reviewers say it feels old - well it is, but it is that authenticity that strikes a chord with me. There are no high-tech gadgetry in here, just a great story and one mans attempt to find a spy. Everyone is a suspect, everyone has a story, a hidden story, and everyone is a suspect until the conclusion of the book. And as an extra bonus there is a short Footnote by Ambler regarding the development of the Spy Genre of writing and some of the best early books in that genre.
If you do like Film Noir and spy movies, let me recommend to you the movie, The Mask of Dimitrios" which came from Ambler's book "A Coffin for Dimitrios." A fine film noir movie starring two greats - Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. Watching this movie got me intrigued in Amblers works and that let to this book and review. A fine author who is a must read for anyone who truly is a fan of spy novels!
December 26, 2024
Suspense aplenty fills the pages of Epitaph for a Spy. In fact, it's the most solidly constructed suspense I've yet read in Ambler's novels. The story itself is a fusion of the classical detective tale and Ambler's own inspired spy thriller format. As he says in his footnote at the end, he tries to bring an element of realism to this story of a stateless language teacher, Josef Vadassy, caught up in a case of espionage while on vacation along the French Riviera. The book also introduces Ambler's unsuspecting Everyman, an unprepared innocent, caught in a web of danger leading to events beyond his control.
Apparently, this was Ambler's third novel. And not only the characterization of the Everyman is fully developed at this point, but so is a recurring theme in his work. Namely, Ambler has a habit of having his climaxes take place on rooftops or elevated buildings. I remember it from Topkapi, of course, as well as in Journey into Fear, The Mask of Dimitrios, Cause for Alarm, Uncommon Danger, and State of Siege.
Ambler is a particularly enjoyable storyteller. I regret that I'm quickly running out of unread books of his.
Apparently, this was Ambler's third novel. And not only the characterization of the Everyman is fully developed at this point, but so is a recurring theme in his work. Namely, Ambler has a habit of having his climaxes take place on rooftops or elevated buildings. I remember it from Topkapi, of course, as well as in Journey into Fear, The Mask of Dimitrios, Cause for Alarm, Uncommon Danger, and State of Siege.
Ambler is a particularly enjoyable storyteller. I regret that I'm quickly running out of unread books of his.
June 15, 2022
I've read and enjoyed a few books by Eric Ambler so decided to read Epitaph for a Spy (1938)
Eric throws the reader straight into the action with no messing around. Josef Vadassy is a guileless Hungarian language teacher who lives in France and is on a rare holiday on the French Riviera. After indulging his interest in photography he gets picked up by the police and questioned about a series of photos of coastal fortifications he appears to have taken. Josef Vadassy is wrongly accused of spying with the only way to prove his innocence appearing to be unmasking the real spy.
The novel is particularly good at evoking the precariousness of the stateless person who is thrown into desperation when the authorities become suspicious, and his status allows him to be cynically used. The book also brings to life the turbulent, paranoid and uncertain years prior to WW2 with the authorities understandably suspicious of foreigners who might be gathering intelligence for a hostile neighbour.
The real spy is one of the guests at the hotel where Josef Vadassy is staying. It's a motley group of varying nationalities and temperaments. This part of the story reminded my of an Agatha Christie country house novel minus a Marple or Poirot to solve the mystery. Epitaph for a Spy concludes with a far more dramatic finale than Christie's books.
Well worth a read if you enjoy intriguing period thrillers.
4/5
Josef Vadassy, a Hungarian refugee and language teacher living in France, is enjoying his first break for years in a small hotel on the Riviera. But when he takes his holiday photographs to be developed at a local chemists, he suddenly finds himself mistaken for a Gestapo agent and a charge of espionage is levelled at him. To prove himself innocent to the French police, he must discover which one of his fellow guests at his pension is the real spy. As he desperately tries to uncover the true culprit's identity, Vadassy must risk his job, his safety and everything he holds dear.
Eric throws the reader straight into the action with no messing around. Josef Vadassy is a guileless Hungarian language teacher who lives in France and is on a rare holiday on the French Riviera. After indulging his interest in photography he gets picked up by the police and questioned about a series of photos of coastal fortifications he appears to have taken. Josef Vadassy is wrongly accused of spying with the only way to prove his innocence appearing to be unmasking the real spy.
The novel is particularly good at evoking the precariousness of the stateless person who is thrown into desperation when the authorities become suspicious, and his status allows him to be cynically used. The book also brings to life the turbulent, paranoid and uncertain years prior to WW2 with the authorities understandably suspicious of foreigners who might be gathering intelligence for a hostile neighbour.
The real spy is one of the guests at the hotel where Josef Vadassy is staying. It's a motley group of varying nationalities and temperaments. This part of the story reminded my of an Agatha Christie country house novel minus a Marple or Poirot to solve the mystery. Epitaph for a Spy concludes with a far more dramatic finale than Christie's books.
Well worth a read if you enjoy intriguing period thrillers.
4/5
Josef Vadassy, a Hungarian refugee and language teacher living in France, is enjoying his first break for years in a small hotel on the Riviera. But when he takes his holiday photographs to be developed at a local chemists, he suddenly finds himself mistaken for a Gestapo agent and a charge of espionage is levelled at him. To prove himself innocent to the French police, he must discover which one of his fellow guests at his pension is the real spy. As he desperately tries to uncover the true culprit's identity, Vadassy must risk his job, his safety and everything he holds dear.
August 5, 2023
تصور کنید برای گذراندن تعطیلات و داشتن لحظاتی خوش همراه با آرامش به نقطه ای سفر می کنید و برای خاطره بازی و یادآوری آن روزها عکاسی می کنید، سپس فیلم دوربین را برای ظاهر کردن عکسها به عکاسی می سپارید، در هنگام گرفتن عکسها مامورین امنیتی شما را به جرم جاسوسی و تهیه عکس از تسلیحات و مواضع نظامی دستگیر می کنند. حال خود را گرفتار می بینید و راهی برای رهایی نمی یابید. در نهایت مشخص می شود که جاسوس شما نیستید ولی برای یافتن وی، کمک شما ضروری است، یک دو راهی بزرگ، نجاتِ خود یا یافتنِ جاسوس.
امبلر شخصیت اصلی را در برابر چندین شخصیت دیگر از نژاد ها و سطوح و فرهنگ های مختلف قرار می دهد تا با فریب بتواند جاسوس را به دام بیندازد. او سعی بر تحلیل ابعاد رفتاری و عادات و خلق و خوی افراد و همچنین اطلاع از نوع و کیفیت زندگی و پیشینه آنها دارد. حال یک سؤال مطرح است؟ مگر مهمترین خاصیت جاسوسی پنهان کاری و تظاهر نیست؟ وی چگونه میتواند از درون آدمی باخبر شود؟ انسانی که مدام در حال تظاهر و ریا و دروغ است، چه جاسوس باشد و چه نباشد؟ انسانی که هرگاه منفعتش به خطر میفتد دروغ می گوید، متظاهر می شود، به اعمالی فریبنده دست می زند.
همانگونه که در کتاب هم نمایان می شود در نهایت هیچ اطلاع درستی از هیچ کدام از شخصیت ها به دست نیامده، هرکدام به دلایلی دروغ گفته اند، یکی نامش را دیگری شغل و حرفه اش را دیگری زادگاه و اصالتش را، و هر کدام دلیلی برای خود دارند که انجام خلاف آن به ضرر جانی و یا مالی برای آنها در پی خواد داشت.
امبلر تا انتهای کتاب شما را به همین شکل نا آگاه و بلاتکلیف میگذارد تا خود جاسوس را حدس بزنید ولی با تفاسیری که ذکر شد آیا می توان گفت چه کسی راستگوست و به چه کسی می شود اطمینان کرد؟
شاید خواندنش برای آنهایی که به سبک تریلر جاسوسی علاقه چندانی ندارند جذاب نباشد برای همین نمی شود خواندنش را به همگان توصیه کرد. این حس تعلیق و رازآلودگی که به خوبی به مخاطب تزریق می شود باعث ولع و حرص در خواننده برای ادامه بدون وقفه برای یافتن واقعیت می شود
امبلر شخصیت اصلی را در برابر چندین شخصیت دیگر از نژاد ها و سطوح و فرهنگ های مختلف قرار می دهد تا با فریب بتواند جاسوس را به دام بیندازد. او سعی بر تحلیل ابعاد رفتاری و عادات و خلق و خوی افراد و همچنین اطلاع از نوع و کیفیت زندگی و پیشینه آنها دارد. حال یک سؤال مطرح است؟ مگر مهمترین خاصیت جاسوسی پنهان کاری و تظاهر نیست؟ وی چگونه میتواند از درون آدمی باخبر شود؟ انسانی که مدام در حال تظاهر و ریا و دروغ است، چه جاسوس باشد و چه نباشد؟ انسانی که هرگاه منفعتش به خطر میفتد دروغ می گوید، متظاهر می شود، به اعمالی فریبنده دست می زند.
همانگونه که در کتاب هم نمایان می شود در نهایت هیچ اطلاع درستی از هیچ کدام از شخصیت ها به دست نیامده، هرکدام به دلایلی دروغ گفته اند، یکی نامش را دیگری شغل و حرفه اش را دیگری زادگاه و اصالتش را، و هر کدام دلیلی برای خود دارند که انجام خلاف آن به ضرر جانی و یا مالی برای آنها در پی خواد داشت.
امبلر تا انتهای کتاب شما را به همین شکل نا آگاه و بلاتکلیف میگذارد تا خود جاسوس را حدس بزنید ولی با تفاسیری که ذکر شد آیا می توان گفت چه کسی راستگوست و به چه کسی می شود اطمینان کرد؟
شاید خواندنش برای آنهایی که به سبک تریلر جاسوسی علاقه چندانی ندارند جذاب نباشد برای همین نمی شود خواندنش را به همگان توصیه کرد. این حس تعلیق و رازآلودگی که به خوبی به مخاطب تزریق می شود باعث ولع و حرص در خواننده برای ادامه بدون وقفه برای یافتن واقعیت می شود
February 19, 2024
سه و نیم، در واقع با ارفاق چهار ستاره. البته نباید موقع خوندن کتاب انتظار استدلالهای قوی داستانهای کارآگاهی کلاسیک از طرف یه کارآگاه زبل رو داشته باشید. کاراکتر اول داستان یا همون راوی، آدم بسیار معمولیه که توی یه مخمصه پیچیده ای گیر میفته و برای در اومدن از این مخمصه، مرتکب اشتباهاتی میشه که گاهی آدمو به خنده میندازه و گاهی اعصاب آدمو خرد میکنه:))) قرار دادن این کاراکتر معمولی در مرکز روایت ضعف داستان نبود و اتفاقا نقطه قوت اثره و باعث همراه شدن خواننده با راوی میشه.
درکل، من دوستش داشتم، یکی بابت اینکه روایت بسیار سرگرم کننده ای داشت، شبیه فیلم های کلاسیک سیاه و سفید دهه ۴۰، و دوم اینکه شخصا یادآور ماجراجویی ها و تو هچل افتادن های تن تن بود برام:)
درکل، من دوستش داشتم، یکی بابت اینکه روایت بسیار سرگرم کننده ای داشت، شبیه فیلم های کلاسیک سیاه و سفید دهه ۴۰، و دوم اینکه شخصا یادآور ماجراجویی ها و تو هچل افتادن های تن تن بود برام:)
November 19, 2024
اواخر کتاب وقتی وادسی رو بردن پیش بگین و داشت از هنرنماییهایی که کرده بود میگفت رو میتونم هزاربار توی ذهنم مجسم کنم صحنه رو بچینم کاغذا رو روی میز پخش بکنم بگین دستش زیر چونهش باشه یا با مدادش بازی کنه وادسی از عصبانیت قرمز شده باشه یا فقط قطرههای عرق از صورتش بچکه و دستشو بالا و پایین ببره فرقی نمیکنه آخر هر هزاربار از خنده میمیرم.
February 25, 2013
Really taut spy thriller. Well it's not just a spy thriller, there's an awful lot of emotion/relationship dynamics stuff in there. Loved all the camera mentions too, being a vintage 35mm fan.
For practically the whole book I felt like I was reading it with a knot in my stomach. It was that gripping and threatening, you could really see how that situation could happen to the unexpecting Josef. Very realistic basis for quite a wild plot.
But the ending was a tiny bit disappointing. Just didn't reach the quality of some of the other parts of the book. And the 'who/how done it' wasn't overly suprising - and I really wanted to be suprised!
For practically the whole book I felt like I was reading it with a knot in my stomach. It was that gripping and threatening, you could really see how that situation could happen to the unexpecting Josef. Very realistic basis for quite a wild plot.
But the ending was a tiny bit disappointing. Just didn't reach the quality of some of the other parts of the book. And the 'who/how done it' wasn't overly suprising - and I really wanted to be suprised!
January 19, 2026
With pleasure, one should slink into this glassy river of streamlined prose and float through an old-school, thoughtfully composed, mystery.
Meet Joseph Vadassy, a language instructor on vacation at the upscale Réserve in St. Gatian, France. His photography hobby draws suspicion from French authorities. and he is arrested in the book’s opening scene retrieving film he left at a developer. Vadassy agrees, or rather, is blackmailed with threat of deportation, to assist the French police. And so begins a hunt, for if it is not our narrator, one of the twelve at his resort is a spy.
Vadassy plays a game he doesn’t understand, and conducts himself as well, and as poorly, as any reader might. This gives the story dramatic realism. It's fun to begin a novel skeptical of every character, and uncovering the backstory of each guest makes for riveting set pieces. The finale is more violent than I expected, but is as competently drawn as the rest of this classic novel.
Not perfect, but a notch above Fleming and Ludlum. Recommended to a wide range, from fans of Agartha Christie to John le Carre.
Meet Joseph Vadassy, a language instructor on vacation at the upscale Réserve in St. Gatian, France. His photography hobby draws suspicion from French authorities. and he is arrested in the book’s opening scene retrieving film he left at a developer. Vadassy agrees, or rather, is blackmailed with threat of deportation, to assist the French police. And so begins a hunt, for if it is not our narrator, one of the twelve at his resort is a spy.
Vadassy plays a game he doesn’t understand, and conducts himself as well, and as poorly, as any reader might. This gives the story dramatic realism. It's fun to begin a novel skeptical of every character, and uncovering the backstory of each guest makes for riveting set pieces. The finale is more violent than I expected, but is as competently drawn as the rest of this classic novel.
Not perfect, but a notch above Fleming and Ludlum. Recommended to a wide range, from fans of Agartha Christie to John le Carre.
May 31, 2024
4*
En vísperas de la II Guerra Mundial, el profesor de idiomas Joseph Vadassy, húngaro de nacimiento, se toma unos días de vacaciones en un agradable y tranquilo hotel de la costa mediterránea francesa, antes de reintegrarse a sus clases en París. Aficionado a la fotografía, en un carrete que hace revelar aparecen las imágenes de unas fortificaciones en el puerto de Toulon, que él no ha tomado. Denunciado por el responsable del laboratorio, es detenido como sospechoso de espionaje. En el plazo de pocos días deberá demostrar su inocencia y descubrir al verdadero espía entre los huéspedes del hotel. Los cosmopolitas personajes que se alojan en él convierten el Hotel de la Réserve en un microcosmos donde convergen las tensiones que se cernieron sobre Europa en la década de 1930. Como la mayoría de las novelas de Ambler, ésta también fue llevada al cine en 1944, con el título de Hotel Rerserve, dirigida por Lance Confort y protagonizada por James Mason.
"Nunca se puede comprender a un hombre totalmente, del mismo modo que nunca se pueden ver las seis caras de un cubo"
Eric Ambler (Londres, 1909-1998) está considerado, junto con Graham Greene, uno de los primeros autores de novelas de espionaje, de él han dicho por ejemplo John Le Carré que Ambler "era la fuente de la que todos bebemos” y el propio Graham Greene que "era, sin ninguna duda, el mejor escritor del género de intriga”. Esta novela publicada en 1938, ha sido mi primer acercamiento a la obra del autor británico pero no será la última, pues tanto su estilo narrativo como la riqueza de su lenguaje o la suculenta trama que nos regala en las poco más de 280 páginas, han hecho que disfrutara de unos momentos de lectura muy agradables.
Tan sólo un año después de la publicación de esta novela, el 1 de septiembre de 1939, el ejército nazi invadió Polonia dando comienzo a la II Guerra Mundial, y en la obra el propio autor nos revela el inminente comienzo de una nueva guerra mundial y, sobre todo ofrece una minuciosa descripción de la vida en un campo de concentración nazi, por lo que se nota que Ambler era un personaje muy culto y muy preocupado por el transcurrir de los acontecimientos durante aquellos años tan convulsos en los que el germen del nazismo fue creciendo y creciendo cada vez más, hasta hacer de Europa y del mundo entero un lugar mucho menos apacible y dejar para siempre un poso ideológico que se alarga hasta nuestros días, y que hoy más que nunca en los últimos años está muy presente en toda la sociedad Europea.
La trama del libro es sencilla pero con el suficiente ritmo para que la novela se convierta en una lectura muy agradable y que en ningún momento pierde el interés, lo que la hace importante para mí (y por lo que he leído es una constante en toda la obra del escritor británico), es que se sale de los cánones marcados en las novelas de espías tanto clásicas como actuales: no es una novela llena de momentos de acción, protagonizada por un tipo solitario pero muy bien preparado, con grandes recursos tecnológicos o dotes estratégicas o militares, que deberá resolver una situación de vida o muerte cuyas implicaciones podrían cambiar la historia o acarrear un futuro incierto y con implicaciones catastróficas (no es un Clancy, Reacher, Bond o un John Smilley), sino que se trata de un personaje normal y corriente que se ve envuelto en una trama de espionaje y que se las ingeniará para averiguar algo importante y de lo que depende su futuro.
Novela muy entretenida, con buenos diálogos, llena de personajes muy bien caracterizados y de lo más peculiares, con las dosis justas de intriga y de giros argumentales para mantenernos pegados a sus páginas, pero con un estilo muy humano y que por momentos nos invita a la reflexión acerca de diferentes aspectos de la vida, como ya dije, en aquel año previo a la II Guerra Mundial.
Para terminar, añadir un detalle que os dará más datos acerca de esta novela y de la obra de Ambler: la edición que he leído contiene un prólogo de Alexis Ravelo (R.I.P.), en el que el escritor canario indica que las novelas de Eric Ambler están escritas "con una elegancia literaria inusual, se preocupan por indagar en las pasiones humanas y están salpicadas por fecundas reflexiones, y que pertenece a este tipo de textos que no pretenden darnos lecciones acerca de la realidad, sino obligarnos a plantearnos preguntas acerca de ella”.
En vísperas de la II Guerra Mundial, el profesor de idiomas Joseph Vadassy, húngaro de nacimiento, se toma unos días de vacaciones en un agradable y tranquilo hotel de la costa mediterránea francesa, antes de reintegrarse a sus clases en París. Aficionado a la fotografía, en un carrete que hace revelar aparecen las imágenes de unas fortificaciones en el puerto de Toulon, que él no ha tomado. Denunciado por el responsable del laboratorio, es detenido como sospechoso de espionaje. En el plazo de pocos días deberá demostrar su inocencia y descubrir al verdadero espía entre los huéspedes del hotel. Los cosmopolitas personajes que se alojan en él convierten el Hotel de la Réserve en un microcosmos donde convergen las tensiones que se cernieron sobre Europa en la década de 1930. Como la mayoría de las novelas de Ambler, ésta también fue llevada al cine en 1944, con el título de Hotel Rerserve, dirigida por Lance Confort y protagonizada por James Mason.
"Nunca se puede comprender a un hombre totalmente, del mismo modo que nunca se pueden ver las seis caras de un cubo"
Eric Ambler (Londres, 1909-1998) está considerado, junto con Graham Greene, uno de los primeros autores de novelas de espionaje, de él han dicho por ejemplo John Le Carré que Ambler "era la fuente de la que todos bebemos” y el propio Graham Greene que "era, sin ninguna duda, el mejor escritor del género de intriga”. Esta novela publicada en 1938, ha sido mi primer acercamiento a la obra del autor británico pero no será la última, pues tanto su estilo narrativo como la riqueza de su lenguaje o la suculenta trama que nos regala en las poco más de 280 páginas, han hecho que disfrutara de unos momentos de lectura muy agradables.
Tan sólo un año después de la publicación de esta novela, el 1 de septiembre de 1939, el ejército nazi invadió Polonia dando comienzo a la II Guerra Mundial, y en la obra el propio autor nos revela el inminente comienzo de una nueva guerra mundial y, sobre todo ofrece una minuciosa descripción de la vida en un campo de concentración nazi, por lo que se nota que Ambler era un personaje muy culto y muy preocupado por el transcurrir de los acontecimientos durante aquellos años tan convulsos en los que el germen del nazismo fue creciendo y creciendo cada vez más, hasta hacer de Europa y del mundo entero un lugar mucho menos apacible y dejar para siempre un poso ideológico que se alarga hasta nuestros días, y que hoy más que nunca en los últimos años está muy presente en toda la sociedad Europea.
La trama del libro es sencilla pero con el suficiente ritmo para que la novela se convierta en una lectura muy agradable y que en ningún momento pierde el interés, lo que la hace importante para mí (y por lo que he leído es una constante en toda la obra del escritor británico), es que se sale de los cánones marcados en las novelas de espías tanto clásicas como actuales: no es una novela llena de momentos de acción, protagonizada por un tipo solitario pero muy bien preparado, con grandes recursos tecnológicos o dotes estratégicas o militares, que deberá resolver una situación de vida o muerte cuyas implicaciones podrían cambiar la historia o acarrear un futuro incierto y con implicaciones catastróficas (no es un Clancy, Reacher, Bond o un John Smilley), sino que se trata de un personaje normal y corriente que se ve envuelto en una trama de espionaje y que se las ingeniará para averiguar algo importante y de lo que depende su futuro.
Novela muy entretenida, con buenos diálogos, llena de personajes muy bien caracterizados y de lo más peculiares, con las dosis justas de intriga y de giros argumentales para mantenernos pegados a sus páginas, pero con un estilo muy humano y que por momentos nos invita a la reflexión acerca de diferentes aspectos de la vida, como ya dije, en aquel año previo a la II Guerra Mundial.
Para terminar, añadir un detalle que os dará más datos acerca de esta novela y de la obra de Ambler: la edición que he leído contiene un prólogo de Alexis Ravelo (R.I.P.), en el que el escritor canario indica que las novelas de Eric Ambler están escritas "con una elegancia literaria inusual, se preocupan por indagar en las pasiones humanas y están salpicadas por fecundas reflexiones, y que pertenece a este tipo de textos que no pretenden darnos lecciones acerca de la realidad, sino obligarnos a plantearnos preguntas acerca de ella”.
September 17, 2021
Very entertaining indeed. I'd never even heard of Eric Ambler before I started on the Guardian's 1000 Greatest Novels list and this is now the third I've read (and the last on the list). The other two felt much more like spy novels, with all the trappings of them you've expect. This one, written just a year before WW2 veers between genres. It opens with the innocent caught up through happenstance into a spy scheme of which they know nothing. Vadassy - a polyglot Hungarian/Yugoslav living in Paris and educated in England earning a living teaching languages to adults in Paris but currently a stateless refugee trying to have a little holiday in the south of France - is fairly hopeless in his attempts to extricate himself from the scheme.
For over half the book, the novel then turns into a very well written Agatha-Christie style country house whodunnit, as Vadassy tries to uncover the real spy amongst his fellow guests. The claustrophobic setting, the gossipy guests, the stories behind their lives (real and lies) are very well done. And then we're treated to a rooftop chase to close the tale off very satisfactorily.
I've enjoyed my foray into Ambler's work and I can see why he's so well regarded among writers and aficionados of the spy genre.
For over half the book, the novel then turns into a very well written Agatha-Christie style country house whodunnit, as Vadassy tries to uncover the real spy amongst his fellow guests. The claustrophobic setting, the gossipy guests, the stories behind their lives (real and lies) are very well done. And then we're treated to a rooftop chase to close the tale off very satisfactorily.
I've enjoyed my foray into Ambler's work and I can see why he's so well regarded among writers and aficionados of the spy genre.
August 25, 2018
«او پول لازم داشت.»
هستهی اصلی داستان همین یه جملهی سادهست. اگر از افرادی هستین که فکر میکنین باید کلاسیکها رو خوند، یا اگر عاشق ادبیات پلیسی هستین، این کتاب گزینهی خیلی خوبیه. داستان خیلی عجیب و غریب و پیچیدهای نداره، ولی نسبتا جذابه. به نظرم دلیل اصلی جذابیتش پرت بودن شخصیت اصلی داستانه. انتخاب اسم کتاب خیلی برام جالبه. توی یه جمله از کتاب مشخص میشه که چرا این اسم برای رمان انتخاب شده.
پینوشت: شخصیت کتاب به قدری استادانه پرت و تعطیله که بعضی جاهای داستان واقعا کمدی میشه. امبلر استادانه طنزپردازی میکنه توی کتاب. یه پاراگراف کتاب باعث شد واقعا بخندم. خندیدن وسط یه داستان جنایی حس جالبیه.
هستهی اصلی داستان همین یه جملهی سادهست. اگر از افرادی هستین که فکر میکنین باید کلاسیکها رو خوند، یا اگر عاشق ادبیات پلیسی هستین، این کتاب گزینهی خیلی خوبیه. داستان خیلی عجیب و غریب و پیچیدهای نداره، ولی نسبتا جذابه. به نظرم دلیل اصلی جذابیتش پرت بودن شخصیت اصلی داستانه. انتخاب اسم کتاب خیلی برام جالبه. توی یه جمله از کتاب مشخص میشه که چرا این اسم برای رمان انتخاب شده.
پینوشت: شخصیت کتاب به قدری استادانه پرت و تعطیله که بعضی جاهای داستان واقعا کمدی میشه. امبلر استادانه طنزپردازی میکنه توی کتاب. یه پاراگراف کتاب باعث شد واقعا بخندم. خندیدن وسط یه داستان جنایی حس جالبیه.
September 21, 2025
فکر کن رفتی تو یه جای خوش آب و هوا تو یه هتل خوب تعطیلاتتو بگذرونی یهو به جرم جاسوسی دستگیرت کنند! حالا تو که جاسوس نیستی برای اینکه بفهمی جاسوس اصلی کیه باید پلیس بازی دربیاری!
داستان خوشخوان و البته سادهای هست برای طرفداران ادبیات جاسوسی و پلیسی
داستان خوشخوان و البته سادهای هست برای طرفداران ادبیات جاسوسی و پلیسی
May 28, 2021
پیچیدگی و هیجان کتاب دیگر امبلر " نقاب دیمیتریوس" را نداشت، اما به شدت سرگرم کننده و خوشخوان بود. خواندنش برای طرفداران داستان های جاسوسی یک موهبت است.
October 13, 2023
Eric Ambler is the Agatha Christie of thriller writers - there's never been a better one and this story proves the point as any one of the guests at the Reserve pension on the French Rivieria could have been the spy who caused the chief protagonist, Josef Vadassy, so many problems.
Vadassy is under threat of imprisonment by the French authorities unless he finds out which of his fellow guests at the Reserve pension is the spy who has taken photos of the naval installations at Toulon and is working for a foreign power... Vadassy is cast in a role he's uncomfortable with as he tries many different tactics to uncover his antagonist.
In the end, the French police find the spy with Vadassy watching from the shadows. This book is superb entertainment with no character being the person they state they are at the beginning of the story.
Vadassy is under threat of imprisonment by the French authorities unless he finds out which of his fellow guests at the Reserve pension is the spy who has taken photos of the naval installations at Toulon and is working for a foreign power... Vadassy is cast in a role he's uncomfortable with as he tries many different tactics to uncover his antagonist.
In the end, the French police find the spy with Vadassy watching from the shadows. This book is superb entertainment with no character being the person they state they are at the beginning of the story.
February 25, 2026
I arrived in St. Gatien from Nice on Tuesday, the 14th of August. I was arrested at 11.45 a.m. on Thursday, the 16th, by an agent de police and an inspector in plain clothes and taken to the Commissariat.Thus begins the novel. Josef Vadassy was arrested for being a spy. He was arrested after having some film developed, film he believed was of a carnival and then some experimental exposures of a lizard. It turned out the first part of the film was of gun placements and warships. At first I was uncertain of the time period, but as things progressed I was certain it was the late 1930s.
Vadassy was released to return to his hotel with the provision that he ferret out the real spy. Under no circumstances was he to proceed to Paris and to his job which was to start the following Monday. Vadassy was no detective. How was he to identify a spy, let alone in 3 days? Vadassy was uncomfortable with this assignment.
As a reader, I was also uncomfortable. I'm more used to competence and confidence, both of which Vadassy lacked. I even wondered if I just wanted to be reading something else. I was well rewarded for having stuck with it. I had forgotten that Ambler uses novices - or civilians - as his main character. I'm fairly certain I'll pick up another and I'll try to remember next time. I'm tempted to find only 3-stars for this, but I think that would be wrong. Still, it just barely climbs over the 3-/4-star line.
August 29, 2020
Ένα από τα πρώτα μυθιστορήματα (1938) ενός εκ των κορυφαίων του είδους μαζί με τους Γκράχαμ Γκρην και Τζον λε Καρε, τους οποιους προφανώς επηρέασε (παρότι πράκτορες). Ο Αμπλερ όπως σε όλα του τα βιβλία έτσι και σε αυτό εχει έντονο το πολιτικό στοιχείο, δημιουργεί ένα ρεαλιστικό σκηνικό παραθέτοντας πλήθος λεπτομερειών που καταδεικνυουν την έρευνα που προηγείται της συγγραφής και σκιαγραφεί πειστικους χαρακτήρες που απέχουν πολύ από τους ατσαλακωτους η υπερανθρωπους πράκτορες που έχουμε συνηθίσει κυρίως από το Χόλιγουντ.
Ένας κατά λάθος πράκτορας καλείται να βγάλει τα κάστανα από τη φωτιά. Η πραγματικότητα όμως δεν παίρνει πότε τον ίσιο δρόμο...
Ένας κατά λάθος πράκτορας καλείται να βγάλει τα κάστανα από τη φωτιά. Η πραγματικότητα όμως δεν παίρνει πότε τον ίσιο δρόμο...
September 24, 2012
This is the second Eric Ambler book I have read after A Coffin for Dimitrios. Although not as classic as Dimitrios, it still is a pretty entertaining spy story. The plot follows an ordinary Hungarian man on vacation at a beach resort in the south of France. From the opening sentence the reader is instantly drawn into the story as the protagonist announcing that he was placed under arrest by the French police. The police confiscate his camera film and discover that there are 10 photographs containing images of restricted French military sites among the rest of his vacation photos of lizards. Why are these photos on his roll of film? Who took those pictures? How did they get access to his camera? Why? The French authorities have given him a week to answer these questions or else he will be deported. The protagonist is met with a race against time to answer these questions in this fast paced and exciting thriller.
March 12, 2018
I'm late to the Eric Ambler party, but so glad I made it! This is the fourth book of his I have read, the others being 'A Coffin for Dimitrios', 'Light of Day,' 'Journey into Fear", and while these are more popular, and might even be a cut above 'Epitaph for a Spy' in terms of construct and plotting, I still rate this a top thriller. Ambler's power is the patience of his prose, the way he teases out a mystery, sharing only the most essential elements to generate realism, mining Flaubert in this fashion. This book has the classic theme of Ambler's spy novels - the ordinary man being thrust into extraordinary circumstances. In this case, the hero, Vadassy, a man without a state, finds himself caught up in an web of espionage while vacationing in the South of France in the late 1930's. A fun read, and a subtle one. I highly recommend taking the chance.
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December 14, 2018In a pre-war resort town, a stateless Hungarian is forced into service by French secret intelligence. Me and everyone else agree that Ambler is the best spy novelist who ever wrote spy novels; he makes John LeCarre look like Tom Clancy. Not only are the actual mechanics of the plot sharp and believable, but they are framed by a genuine understanding of injustice, both the Machiavellian cruelties of great states and our own internal prejudice.
April 5, 2019
این داستان جزو کلاسیکهای ادبیات جاسوسی است.
“...
او پول لازم داشت.
این جمله مثل سنگنبشتهای برای گور [یک جاسوس] بود. “
در هتلی میان دهکدهای ساحلی و زیبا در فرانسه، ده اتاق توسط میهمانهای مختلف اشغال است. معلم و عکاسی دارای شرایط خاص ملّیتی، صبح توسط پلیس به اتهام جاسوسی بازداشت میشود ولی همانجا اتهام به سمت خانوادههای دیگر هتل برمیگردد و ...
خیلی باظرافت تا انتهای داستان شرایط مجرم بودن برای همه خانوادهها یکسان است و ما در ابهام و هیجان باقی میمانیم.
“...
او پول لازم داشت.
این جمله مثل سنگنبشتهای برای گور [یک جاسوس] بود. “
در هتلی میان دهکدهای ساحلی و زیبا در فرانسه، ده اتاق توسط میهمانهای مختلف اشغال است. معلم و عکاسی دارای شرایط خاص ملّیتی، صبح توسط پلیس به اتهام جاسوسی بازداشت میشود ولی همانجا اتهام به سمت خانوادههای دیگر هتل برمیگردد و ...
خیلی باظرافت تا انتهای داستان شرایط مجرم بودن برای همه خانوادهها یکسان است و ما در ابهام و هیجان باقی میمانیم.
September 1, 2013
I didn't stop once I picked up this book. I liked all the characters, at least I enjoyed watching them relate to each other. I felt as if I was in an Agatha Christie novel, Evil Under the Sun. The main character's voice felt like my own. He was full of doubt, self recrimination, but he grew, matured as the days passed. Very interesting. Good read!
February 12, 2021
A gem of a thriller. As I've mentioned in other reviews, I have often been deceived by the blurb writers of the world as to their promoted works' similarities to those of Graham Greene and John Le Carre. It was a relief to find Alan Furst, who actually does justice to that claim. It's been even more interesting to "discover" Eric Ambler -- who inspired Graham Greene, Hitchcock and many other legends -- rather later in life.
This is a book that has shades of And Then There Were None , but is truly unique: the spy who is set on a mission is clearly told he is an "imbecile". The words I heard quite often (I listened to the Audible version) were "imbecile", "moron" and "stupid". The one who sends the unwilling and unlikely spy, Mr Vadassy (something of a Johnny English type, except that he is not English, and is living a precarious life as far as citizenship goes), is fat and very far removed from the archetype lean and mean spy-master.
The Audible audio book has a charm because of the way the reader is able to switch accents to do justice to the mixed bag of nationalities in this book. On the other hand, I would have liked to flick back and forth between pages a couple of times, given the number of characters.
The story of the hapless, unassertive spy trapped in the machinations of calculating but inept strategists is told with great sophistication. It's no wonder that it inspired many greats.
An absolute masterpiece: greatly entertaining... and it really makes you root for the narrator.
This is a book that has shades of And Then There Were None , but is truly unique: the spy who is set on a mission is clearly told he is an "imbecile". The words I heard quite often (I listened to the Audible version) were "imbecile", "moron" and "stupid". The one who sends the unwilling and unlikely spy, Mr Vadassy (something of a Johnny English type, except that he is not English, and is living a precarious life as far as citizenship goes), is fat and very far removed from the archetype lean and mean spy-master.
The Audible audio book has a charm because of the way the reader is able to switch accents to do justice to the mixed bag of nationalities in this book. On the other hand, I would have liked to flick back and forth between pages a couple of times, given the number of characters.
The story of the hapless, unassertive spy trapped in the machinations of calculating but inept strategists is told with great sophistication. It's no wonder that it inspired many greats.
An absolute masterpiece: greatly entertaining... and it really makes you root for the narrator.
September 24, 2018
4.5*
I have a fondness for this sub-genre of spy novels - the type in which an innocent person gets caught up in some way with espionage and tries to muddle things out while unsure whom to trust. Ambler is one of the creators (if not the creator) of this sub-genre & the excellence of his books is witnessed by the number of authors who have followed in his footsteps.
This novel, though published in the 1950s, is set during the 1930s. Thus tensions are high in Europe & an accusation of espionage is no light matter, especially for state-less Josef Vadassy with no embassy or consul to act on his behalf. One aspect I liked about this book is that while Vadassy tries , he is hopelessly inept at it! And he realizes that...
I have a fondness for this sub-genre of spy novels - the type in which an innocent person gets caught up in some way with espionage and tries to muddle things out while unsure whom to trust. Ambler is one of the creators (if not the creator) of this sub-genre & the excellence of his books is witnessed by the number of authors who have followed in his footsteps.
This novel, though published in the 1950s, is set during the 1930s. Thus tensions are high in Europe & an accusation of espionage is no light matter, especially for state-less Josef Vadassy with no embassy or consul to act on his behalf. One aspect I liked about this book is that while Vadassy tries , he is hopelessly inept at it! And he realizes that...
May 24, 2019
19 MAY 2019 - a lunchtime listen-to recommended by Laura. Thank you!
Listen here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...
24 MAY 2019 - a very good lunchtime listen-to. Thank you, Laura.
Listen here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...
24 MAY 2019 - a very good lunchtime listen-to. Thank you, Laura.
July 31, 2018
3.75 stars
Acclaimed by Graham Greene as "our greatest thriller writer" in The Lives of the Novelists (Profile Books 2011, p. 450), Eric Ambler has long been familiar to me since my visits at some good bookshops in Bangkok during my college years some 50 years ago. However, it was merely a sort of book cover shopping rather than a serious attempt leading to read his works, that is, I have never read him till I came across this paperback at the Booklover Bookshop one day last June and decided to have a go with it.
Coming to think about its title, I think it is a seemingly literal one due to its implication which is in contrast with some spy fictions I have enjoyed reading like John le Carre's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Graham Greene's The Human Factor, Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, etc. One of the reasons is that the narrator named Josef Vadassy has found himself mistakenly implicated as a Gestapo agent with a charge of espionage after taking his holiday photos to develop, in other words, he has since been suspected as a spy by the police and the Commissaire.
Continue . . .
Acclaimed by Graham Greene as "our greatest thriller writer" in The Lives of the Novelists (Profile Books 2011, p. 450), Eric Ambler has long been familiar to me since my visits at some good bookshops in Bangkok during my college years some 50 years ago. However, it was merely a sort of book cover shopping rather than a serious attempt leading to read his works, that is, I have never read him till I came across this paperback at the Booklover Bookshop one day last June and decided to have a go with it.
Coming to think about its title, I think it is a seemingly literal one due to its implication which is in contrast with some spy fictions I have enjoyed reading like John le Carre's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Graham Greene's The Human Factor, Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, etc. One of the reasons is that the narrator named Josef Vadassy has found himself mistakenly implicated as a Gestapo agent with a charge of espionage after taking his holiday photos to develop, in other words, he has since been suspected as a spy by the police and the Commissaire.
Continue . . .
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