Rating: 
Summary: Vivid portrait of life under totalitarian regimes
Review: Alan Furst really may be our preeminent historical-espionage novelist, certainly on par with the likes of Eric Ambler and that entire generation of narrators of intrigue and uncertainty.
In Dark Star, he captures the perils of surviving simultaneously under the madness of two totalitarian dictatorships. Opening in immediate postwar Berlin with the Gestapo strengthening its grip and the Jewish population steadily being herded toward the Holocaust, it carries the reader through the German invasion of Poland, the collapse of the Polish Army, and the invasion from the east by Stalin. Furst is able to paint a horrifying portrait of the brutality and seeming senselessness of Stalin's purges and the ruthlessness of the Gestapo's anti-foreigner forces but at the same time able to create compelling portraits of well meaning, likeable people trying to work out a chance for survival as the world closes in. Consider this passage:
"Because now everything was different. Bloch had met a certain kind of man on the train to Prague but now he was not that man. He was instead that man who presses his face against the skin of a woman to inhale such fragrance as makes him want to cry out with joy. He was that man who spins between tenderness and raging lust like a helpless top, who wakes up on fire every morning, who spends his hours thinking of only one thing--yet how brilliantly he thinks of it!"
A man who can write of personal love like that and still describe Stalin, Beira Yezhov, the Gestapo and the whole horror of the times is a man worth reading.
Anyone seeking to understand the horrors of Iraq, Syria, Libya, Iran, and North Korea should read Furst's books. In the end, the horror of one man or woman being destroyed and tortured by another within a state system of power is remarkably the same even if the reason is different. Furst clearly grasps this larger moral issue: "...Hitler wasn't mad, he was evil," he writes. "And that was a notion educated people didn't like, it offended their sense of the rational world. Yet it was true. And just as true of his mirror image, Stalin."
This is the insight that made Churchill historic and Chamberlain impotent in dealing with evil. This is the insight that enabled Ronald Reagan to bring down the Soviet Union. And it is this kind of insight that makes Alan Furst worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Furst time I reviewed him!
Review: Although I haven't completely given up on contemporary fiction in favor of Political and Science Books, it's been getting close. Sometimes when I read a novel, at some point I start asking, "What's the point? It's only a story. Give me something real!" Even reading great writers like Saramago can occassionally make me go in that direction.
However, Alan Furst's 'Dark Star' evokes no such sentiments. Because of the ultra-realistic affect of his writing, one feels that this is as much an historical testament as anything in the non fiction section; perhaps even moreso. His attention to personal detail in his characters is incredible.
Realize, this is not a pleasant breezy Danielle Steele/Sidney Sheldon book. This is serious writing that is excruciatingly heartbreaking. Europe went through a tremendous hell-ride last century, and Alan Furst is able to make you feel every horrible bump.
Rating:
Summary: I like it.
Review: And I gave it 5 stars. I have no idea how realistic it is,
I'm hardly an expert in the field, but it sure feels real. It
also has an unfamiliar point of view, that of the KGB (its
pedecessor, the NKVD) the villains of so many novels like Fleming's "From Russia
with Love", and LeCarre.
Rating: 
Summary: Not "furst" on my list
Review: As someone who frequently checks out reviews of books on this service for a long time before purchasing, it was with great anticipation that I began reading Alan Furst's Dark Star. I had read a few other of this author's titles and wasn't "wowed", but it seemed clear from the opinions here that this novel stood well above most of the others.However, as a "thriller" it is relatively thrill-free (even when compared, as it often is, to the novels of LeCarre). There were only a few (short)instances when I was quickly moving along in the story, eager to find out what happens next. It was much more likely that I was eagerly turning pages to be done with a drawn-out section which "bogged-down" the progression of, in retrospect, a pretty clever story. As mentioned in numerous reviews here, characterization and mood/atmosphere are terrific. Does Furst give a genuine feel to his recreation of Pre-war Europe? Absolutely. As a history primer, is it informative? To be sure. But is it a compelling story? Well, that's a more difficult question. Unfortunately, for every scene of "authentic spy-craft" or short glimpses of "the big picture", there is a much LONGER description of the ruts in a Polish cart trail or the way your back feels after sleeping on a hay matress. I was left at the end of the book thinking, "This was a great story, and in someone else's hands, it could have been a great book, too" Hey, I even liked all the background on the inner workings of the Communist party and NKVD, but I really expected more tension and excitement (not explosions, gore and mayhem - but more intrigue and danger) and could have done without some of the tangential side-trips. Maybe if I hadn't heard so much build-up, I'd have thought more highly of this book (though certainly NEVER would have thought it worthy of 5!!), but I expected more, a lot more.
Rating:
Summary: Furst's manifesto
Review: At one point in "Dark Star", Szara, the protagonist, ponders how such evil men as Hitler and Stalin could be allowed to live. From interviews I have heard Furst give, I suspect that this statement was Furst's way of speaking directly to the audience and sharing his world view. Furst's stated purpose in writing is to demonstrate how essentially good people fight evil, but can also aid and abett that same evil. Case in point is our protagonist Szara. A former NKVD agent, Szara has been a party to much of the evil perpetrated by Stalin. And yet, when push comes to shove, Szara, out of some feelings of self-preservation as much as altruism, rebels. Thus, while "Dark Star" is not my favorite Alan Furst novel, this is, I believe, his most personal, and most relevant to today's world. Plus, it's a ... fine novel set in WWII. A must read.
Rating:
Summary: Furst's manifesto
Review: At one point in "Dark Star", Szara, the protagonist, ponders how such evil men as Hitler and Stalin could be allowed to live. From interviews I have heard Furst give, I suspect that this statement was Furst's way of speaking directly to the audience and sharing his world view. Furst's stated purpose in writing is to demonstrate how essentially good people fight evil, but can also aid and abett that same evil. Case in point is our protagonist Szara. A former NKVD agent, Szara has been a party to much of the evil perpetrated by Stalin. And yet, when push comes to shove, Szara, out of some feelings of self-preservation as much as altruism, rebels. Thus, while "Dark Star" is not my favorite Alan Furst novel, this is, I believe, his most personal, and most relevant to today's world. Plus, it's a ... fine novel set in WWII. A must read.
Rating:
Summary: The best spy novel ever written
Review: Dark Star and Night Soldiers are the two best spy novels I have ever read, better even than master le Carre. The dark Western and Eastern European locales are richly drawn, the characters are deep and compelling, and the plotting is intricate and treacherous. Explore a world you thought you already knew. I anxiously await the mass market (affordably priced) publication of Mr. Furst's latest
Rating:
Summary: An Adventure of Thoroughly Layered Historical Fiction
Review: Dark Star follows the travels of Soviet Journalist cum Intelligence Agent Andre Szara through the nooks and crannies of Europe in the four years (1937-40) immediately preceding the Nazi Invasion of France. Along the way we are introduced to a number of characters including Societ Generals, Polish Aristocratic Officers, French Communist Lawyers, a Character that could only be crafted in the image of the Baron De Rothschild, as well as a bevy of beautiful women perfectly willing to go to bed with Szara at the end of most evenings. The trip is a joy - even when the story gets a bit wooden, the main event is always the intricate details of the culture and society of prewar Europe. History buffs will devour this book whole, but those looking simply for a taut spy novel might consider looking elsewhere. Even at it's clunkiest moments this book still delivers breathtaking recreations of unexplored history. The novel's strong points. Furst knows as much about pre-war Europe, from the cultures and interactions of the ethnic groups, to the functioning of the pre-war Soviet intelligence agencies, to the street names and cafes of Paris, as any top flight academic and he uses this knowledge to layer his story with detail. When this book allows itself to linger in delicious historiography, the reader can virtually hear the coffee saucers clanking in the Parisian cafés, smell the perfume of the be-dolled beauty at the intellectual soiree, or feel the chill on your ankles at the Mid-Winter Soviet Banquet. What academic treatments of history lack is the society and culture, and it is the details of this world that Furst delivers.
Rating: 
Summary: Improbable, unlikable, inscrutable
Review: Dark Star is a great novel, spy/espionage tale and period piece. It is not a chills-spills-adventure thriller (no Furst spy novel is). But it is Furst's most powerful novel. The hero is a Furst standard: middle-aged Eastern European World War I veteran in the 1930s who is not a spy by trade (this is true for 5 of his 7 books based in the 1930s). In this case, Andre Szara is a Russian writer for Pravda, and veteran of World War I and the Russian Revolution, who does "favors" for the Soviet intelligence service, the NKVD (the KGB's precursor), when necessary. But Szara becomes unwittingly entangled in a plot by members of the NKVD to overthrow Stalin and end the Stalin purges of the late 1930s (which were run through the Soviet Secret Police, the OGPU), and ends up as a target of the Secret Police. Szara is essentially rescued by an NKVD insider and turned into an agent-handler. He becomes a spymaster in Paris who is trying to develop and then manage a German "asset" who may be a double agent. The rest of the novel is the pawn's-eye view of a power play between German and Russian intelligence organizations. This novel has numerous twists and turns -- who is working for whom, is the German asset feeding false information to the Soviets, who is trying to undermine Stalin or Hitler or both, will Szara continue to find his way out of trouble or will the OGPU claim him as yet another victim of the purges? Adding to the novel's considerable depth is Szara himself. He is a stranger-in-a-strange land archetype four times over: a Pole who emigrated to Russia to fight in the October Revolution believing in the Communist dream; a Pravda "reporter" who is a non-Stalinist in Stalin-controlled Russia; a Russian citizen accustomed to government-enforced deprivation living in decadent 1930s Paris; and a Jew whose duties force him to spend copious amounts of time in Hitler's Berlin, including during Kristallnacht (Szara's activities during Kristallnacht are a scene that is among the best of Furst's writing in realistically depicting Germany under Hitler's sway). This is a gloomier book than some of Furst's others (Kingdom of Shadows, Blood of Victory) but the subject matter is handled brilliantly. It's a dark picture and Furst paints it well as always.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, vivid period piece
Review: Dark Star is a great novel, spy/espionage tale and period piece. It is not a chills-spills-adventure thriller (no Furst spy novel is). But it is Furst's most powerful novel. The hero is a Furst standard: middle-aged Eastern European World War I veteran in the 1930s who is not a spy by trade (this is true for 5 of his 7 books based in the 1930s). In this case, Andre Szara is a Russian writer for Pravda, and veteran of World War I and the Russian Revolution, who does "favors" for the Soviet intelligence service, the NKVD (the KGB's precursor), when necessary. But Szara becomes unwittingly entangled in a plot by members of the NKVD to overthrow Stalin and end the Stalin purges of the late 1930s (which were run through the Soviet Secret Police, the OGPU), and ends up as a target of the Secret Police. Szara is essentially rescued by an NKVD insider and turned into an agent-handler. He becomes a spymaster in Paris who is trying to develop and then manage a German "asset" who may be a double agent. The rest of the novel is the pawn's-eye view of a power play between German and Russian intelligence organizations. This novel has numerous twists and turns -- who is working for whom, is the German asset feeding false information to the Soviets, who is trying to undermine Stalin or Hitler or both, will Szara continue to find his way out of trouble or will the OGPU claim him as yet another victim of the purges? Adding to the novel's considerable depth is Szara himself. He is a stranger-in-a-strange land archetype four times over: a Pole who emigrated to Russia to fight in the October Revolution believing in the Communist dream; a Pravda "reporter" who is a non-Stalinist in Stalin-controlled Russia; a Russian citizen accustomed to government-enforced deprivation living in decadent 1930s Paris; and a Jew whose duties force him to spend copious amounts of time in Hitler's Berlin, including during Kristallnacht (Szara's activities during Kristallnacht are a scene that is among the best of Furst's writing in realistically depicting Germany under Hitler's sway). This is a gloomier book than some of Furst's others (Kingdom of Shadows, Blood of Victory) but the subject matter is handled brilliantly. It's a dark picture and Furst paints it well as always.
|
