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What Members Thought
Short on plot, long on atmosphere, and rather oblique. I doubt I'll read another by Furst as I kept finding myself mentally trying to hurry this one along. While some parts were engaging, others seemed self indulgent and contrived. The dialogue was at times disjointed and hard to follow, though I suspect in many quarters that passes for sophistication.
Think if it's atmospheric war tales I hanker for, I'd be better served reading someone's war memoirs or nonfiction, and if it's a thriller I'm af ...more
Think if it's atmospheric war tales I hanker for, I'd be better served reading someone's war memoirs or nonfiction, and if it's a thriller I'm af ...more
Unfortunately (for me), I did not like this as well as the other Alan Furst book I recently read. I found the plot too hard to follow, without enough back story/character development. I am still confused about what the bunch of spies did (and didn't?) accomplish. I am going to go read Goodreads reviews now in hopes that someone who gets spies has explained things.
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Furst is incredibly skilled at crafting every word he puts into his characters' mouths as a means to communicate a mood - here, the oblique language and indirect approaches Serebin uses to recruit for his mission form the backbone of the novel's undercurrent of bravery and heroism in the face of desperate fear.
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Jul 07, 2008
Doug Geivett
is currently reading it
Dec 26, 2009
Juliana Philippa
marked it as to-read
