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The Broken Penny
An Eastern-block country, shaped like a broken penny, was being torn apart by warring resistance movements. Only one man could unite the hostile factions – Professor Jacob Arbitzer. Arbitzer, smuggled into the country by Charles Garden during the Second World War, has risen to become president, only to have to be smuggled out again when the communists gained control. Under pressure from the British Government who want him reinstated, Arbitzer agreed to return on one condition – that Charles Garden again escort him. The Broken Penny is a thrilling spy adventure brilliantly recreating the chilling conditions of the Cold War.
238 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
About the author
Julian Symons
259 books68 followersJulian Gustave Symons is primarily remembered as a master of the art of crime writing. However, in his eighty-two years he produced an enormously varied body of work. Social and military history, biography and criticism were all subjects he touched upon with remarkable success, and he held a distinguished reputation in each field.
His novels were consistently highly individual and expertly crafted, raising him above other crime writers of his day. It is for this that he was awarded various prizes, and, in 1982, named as Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America - an honour accorded to only three other English writers before him: Graham Greene, Eric Ambler and Daphne Du Maurier. He succeeded Agatha Christie as the president of Britain's Detection Club, a position he held from 1976 to 1985, and in 1990 he was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writer.
Symons held a number of positions prior to becoming a full-time writer including secretary to an engineering company and advertising copywriter and executive. It was after the end of World War II that he became a free-lance writer and book reviewer and from 1946 to 1956 he wrote a weekly column entitled "Life, People - and Books" for the Manchester Evening News. During the 1950s he was also a regular contributor to Tribune, a left-wing weekly, serving as its literary editor.
He founded and edited 'Twentieth Century Verse', an important little magazine that flourished from 1937 to 1939 and he introduced many young English poets to the public. He has also published two volumes of his own poetry entitled 'Confusions about X', 1939, and 'The Second Man', 1944.
He wrote hie first detective novel, 'The Immaterial Murder Case', long before it was first published in 1945 and this was followed in 1947 by a rare volume entitled 'A Man Called Jones' that features for the first time Inspector Bland, who also appeared in Bland Beginning.
These novles were followed by a whole host of detective novels and he has also written many short stories that were regularly published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. In additin there are two British paperback collections of his short stories, Murder! Murder! and Francis Quarles Investigates, which were published in 1961 and 1965 resepctively.
His novels were consistently highly individual and expertly crafted, raising him above other crime writers of his day. It is for this that he was awarded various prizes, and, in 1982, named as Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America - an honour accorded to only three other English writers before him: Graham Greene, Eric Ambler and Daphne Du Maurier. He succeeded Agatha Christie as the president of Britain's Detection Club, a position he held from 1976 to 1985, and in 1990 he was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writer.
Symons held a number of positions prior to becoming a full-time writer including secretary to an engineering company and advertising copywriter and executive. It was after the end of World War II that he became a free-lance writer and book reviewer and from 1946 to 1956 he wrote a weekly column entitled "Life, People - and Books" for the Manchester Evening News. During the 1950s he was also a regular contributor to Tribune, a left-wing weekly, serving as its literary editor.
He founded and edited 'Twentieth Century Verse', an important little magazine that flourished from 1937 to 1939 and he introduced many young English poets to the public. He has also published two volumes of his own poetry entitled 'Confusions about X', 1939, and 'The Second Man', 1944.
He wrote hie first detective novel, 'The Immaterial Murder Case', long before it was first published in 1945 and this was followed in 1947 by a rare volume entitled 'A Man Called Jones' that features for the first time Inspector Bland, who also appeared in Bland Beginning.
These novles were followed by a whole host of detective novels and he has also written many short stories that were regularly published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. In additin there are two British paperback collections of his short stories, Murder! Murder! and Francis Quarles Investigates, which were published in 1961 and 1965 resepctively.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 25, 2017
"[...] an awful conformity of the human spirit. [...] Draw the curtains close, turn out the lights, pretend that knocking at the house next door does not exist, put cottonwool in your ears against the screams, be thankful above all that it is not your turn, perhaps it will never be your turn."
What an exasperating read! A few morsels of wisdom - like the above passage that reminds me of Pastor Martin Niemöller's famous quote "Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me" - and few fragments of good prose are buried in a ridiculous story. It is hard to believe the plot so silly comes from one of the "grandmasters of British mystery", Julian Symons, the author of the very good The Progress of a Crime that I rated above four stars. I have read and reviewed here on Goodreads nine other novels by Mr. Symons; they are all better than The Broken Penny (1953).
The protagonist of the story which takes place in Europe in the early 1950s is Charles Garden, once a sort of "professional revolutionary." He had been connected with various leftist causes such as the fight against Franco's regime during the Spanish Civil War. Mr. Garden is summoned to meet his acquaintance at the "Central Liaison Organization", an obvious front for one of the departments of British intelligence. He is supposed to convince a certain Professor Arbitzer, a deposed and exiled head of a coalition government in an unnamed European country, to return there and lead the popular upraising to overthrow the Soviet-imposed Communist government.
Treachery and murder, all connected with politics, begin to happen while the plot is still located in the UK. But soon the group of main characters leave on a secret plane flight to Prof. Arbitzer's country. By the way, they take a dog with them for this secret mission; yeah, the plot is that ridiculous! There are more killings and treachery when the story moves to that unnamed country, somewhere in southeastern Europe, where the Soviets installed their puppet governments after World War II.
I find the utterly idiotic plot offensive. The author tries to convey some deep thoughts about the human cost of political struggle and revolution yet his sincere and well-expressed humanistic concerns are completely defiled by silly sequences of plot events. I love demented novels, but only when intended by the author; here it is clear that the author does not know how preposterous the story is. The two final monumental plot twists undo all previous plot twists and leave the readers twisting with anger.
I am also angry about offensive clichés: for instance, anything that is wrong with a woman can be cured by two strong slaps on both sides of her face. A woman thus righted will then begin to behave properly and fall in love with the slapper. Obviously. All that cr.p from a really good author who can write beautiful sentences like:
One and a half stars.
What an exasperating read! A few morsels of wisdom - like the above passage that reminds me of Pastor Martin Niemöller's famous quote "Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me" - and few fragments of good prose are buried in a ridiculous story. It is hard to believe the plot so silly comes from one of the "grandmasters of British mystery", Julian Symons, the author of the very good The Progress of a Crime that I rated above four stars. I have read and reviewed here on Goodreads nine other novels by Mr. Symons; they are all better than The Broken Penny (1953).
The protagonist of the story which takes place in Europe in the early 1950s is Charles Garden, once a sort of "professional revolutionary." He had been connected with various leftist causes such as the fight against Franco's regime during the Spanish Civil War. Mr. Garden is summoned to meet his acquaintance at the "Central Liaison Organization", an obvious front for one of the departments of British intelligence. He is supposed to convince a certain Professor Arbitzer, a deposed and exiled head of a coalition government in an unnamed European country, to return there and lead the popular upraising to overthrow the Soviet-imposed Communist government.
Treachery and murder, all connected with politics, begin to happen while the plot is still located in the UK. But soon the group of main characters leave on a secret plane flight to Prof. Arbitzer's country. By the way, they take a dog with them for this secret mission; yeah, the plot is that ridiculous! There are more killings and treachery when the story moves to that unnamed country, somewhere in southeastern Europe, where the Soviets installed their puppet governments after World War II.
I find the utterly idiotic plot offensive. The author tries to convey some deep thoughts about the human cost of political struggle and revolution yet his sincere and well-expressed humanistic concerns are completely defiled by silly sequences of plot events. I love demented novels, but only when intended by the author; here it is clear that the author does not know how preposterous the story is. The two final monumental plot twists undo all previous plot twists and leave the readers twisting with anger.
I am also angry about offensive clichés: for instance, anything that is wrong with a woman can be cured by two strong slaps on both sides of her face. A woman thus righted will then begin to behave properly and fall in love with the slapper. Obviously. All that cr.p from a really good author who can write beautiful sentences like:
"How the past overwhelms us as soon as it comes washing through any gap in the high wall we have made to keep out the seas of memory, what a mistake it had been to turn left instead of right."Other than a few good sentences the best thing in the novel is the character of good old Mr. Goldblatt, Mr. Garden's employer. Readers beware: the blurb on the cover "High grade thriller" is a barefaced lie!
One and a half stars.
August 9, 2024
A fictional Eastern Block country is being torn apart by war. One man is chosen to reunite the situation. This is a really good spy adventure story. Perhaps a bit difficult to follow at times since the plot takes some twists and turns, but well worth the read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews