Status
Available
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Series
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Publication
New York, Putnam, [1965, c1964]
Description
A ferociously cool Cold War thriller from the author of The Ipcress File.Len Deighton's third novel has become a classic, as compelling and suspenseful now as when it first exploded on to the bestseller lists.In Berlin, where neither side of the wall is safe, Colonel Stok of Red Army Security is prepared to sell an important Russian scientist to the West - for a price. British intelligence are willing to pay, providing their own top secret agent is in Berlin to act as go-between. But it soon becomes apparent that behind the facade of an elaborate mock funeral lies a game of deadly manoeuvres and ruthless tactics. A game in which the blood-stained legacy of Nazi Germany is enmeshed in the intricate moves of cold war espionage...
User reviews
LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha
Where Horse Under Water (the immediately prior "Secret File" by Deighton) had a crossword conceit, Funeral in Berlin is instead ornamented with chess tactics. I read it as a chaser to The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and it worked well that way, highlighting the distinctive styles of the two
The anonymous narrating agent cracks wise with even more consistency than in the previous books. There are fifty-one short chapters, which tend to lengthen slightly towards the end. The extremely circumspect first-person prose is broken up with five chapters that use third-person passages to give the viewpoints of other key characters. There are also a set of six brief appendices furnishing overviews of relevant intelligence agencies and legal and technological contexts. These are helpful for readers enjoying the book more than a half century after it was written, but for some reason I was irked by the footnote method of referencing them during the story.
There were a couple of curious and welcome minor details during the closing chapters. Chapter 45 saw our man unwinding with a copy of J.F.C. Fuller's Decisive Battles of the Western World. In chapter 49 he discussed with his superior Dawlish the organizational need "to take the social pressures off the homosexuals."
The 2009 edition I read was equipped with a new author's introduction regarding his "most successful book" by certain commercial measures. Deighton reflects there on his own experiences in East Germany and his disinterest in writing "serious literature."
At the rate I've been reading these "Secret File" novels, I won't finish them until 2035 or thereabouts, but they are all at the public library, and they read fast enough individually that I could mop up all of them next month. I certainly aim to continue at some pace or other.
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authors--not to mention the fact that Deighton's book did in fact follow le Carré's by about a year (i.e. 1963, 1964). The anonymous narrating agent cracks wise with even more consistency than in the previous books. There are fifty-one short chapters, which tend to lengthen slightly towards the end. The extremely circumspect first-person prose is broken up with five chapters that use third-person passages to give the viewpoints of other key characters. There are also a set of six brief appendices furnishing overviews of relevant intelligence agencies and legal and technological contexts. These are helpful for readers enjoying the book more than a half century after it was written, but for some reason I was irked by the footnote method of referencing them during the story.
There were a couple of curious and welcome minor details during the closing chapters. Chapter 45 saw our man unwinding with a copy of J.F.C. Fuller's Decisive Battles of the Western World. In chapter 49 he discussed with his superior Dawlish the organizational need "to take the social pressures off the homosexuals."
The 2009 edition I read was equipped with a new author's introduction regarding his "most successful book" by certain commercial measures. Deighton reflects there on his own experiences in East Germany and his disinterest in writing "serious literature."
At the rate I've been reading these "Secret File" novels, I won't finish them until 2035 or thereabouts, but they are all at the public library, and they read fast enough individually that I could mop up all of them next month. I certainly aim to continue at some pace or other.
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LibraryThing member ben_a
Enjoyable, and often quite funny, thriller, marred by a wholly implausible final action scene.
LibraryThing member edwardsgt
One of the most complex plots of any book I've read, but hugely enjoyable.
LibraryThing member Roycrofter
I think, one of the few spy novels you'll read that has footnotes and an appendix. Doing a Google search on places and things referenced (i.e., "the Lighthouse cinema in Calcutta," or "topees piping 'Over the Seas to Sky'") will probably have to wait for me until the second reading. Even though my
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book's cover has a photo of Michael Caine, it's more Ian Holm I'm picturing as our hero. He is the antithesis of "Bond, James Bond." He has no name, but in this story he's assigned the name "Dorf." Show Less
LibraryThing member Daniel_M_Oz
The 3rd in the 7 Harry Palmer books. This story covers the classic defection sub-genre, again with double and triple crosses as well as check-point-charlie drama all adding to a great page turner.
Awards
Edgar Award (Nominee — Novel — 1966)
Crime Writers' Association Awards (Shortlist — 1964)
Language
Original publication date
1964
Physical description
312 p.; 21 cm
Local notes
F, DEI, Fun