Rating: 
Summary: over rated
Review: Having read the review of this book in the NY Times, I had to read it. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The charachters especially Nicholas Morath aren't that well developed. There is a certain pretentiousness in this story, especially for someone familiar with the setting and the history of pre-war europe. It is difficult to empathize with the characters because they are all so superficial. The subject matter is interesting in general and the story holds the attention but I began losing my patience with the lack of literary style. I read to the end just to see what happens! The reader would be better served by reading Sándor Márai, Sóma Morgenstern, Joseph Roth etc.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: Here is how to smuggle wealth out from under the eyes of the Nazis: go to Antwerp and buy diamonds from one of the old established gem merchants. At the same time direct the seller to resell them in your behalf in New York. But inform your buyer/seller that the New York diamonds need not be identical with the Antwerp product: any comparable diamonds will do. It's not immediately obvious how this turns Europe money into New York money: but I suppose if the New York buyer gets the gems but does not pay for them, then his New York seller can offset against the Antwerp account. So the gems are loose to do their good work in New York and the account in Europe is closed out.If you are a gem merchant, you probably knew this: apparently your family has been doing deals of this sort since 1350. As I am not a gem merchant, this trancscontinental fandango is one of the many things I learn in reading Alan Furst's "Kingdom of Shadows," one of the half dozen espionage novels in which Furst undertakes to recreate the atmosphere of Europe on the eve of World War II. For Furst, I can thank Brad de Long, the Berkeley economist who runs a great weblog. De Long says he gives copies of Furst novels to incoming grad students to remind them that the 20th Century was not always as triumphal as their ending. A good choice: I gather Furst himself says he keeps in his workroom a picture of the Austrian writer Joseph Roth, perhaps the greatest expositor of the mood of apocalyptic doom that overlay any thoughtful person in a decade when it looked as if the future lay with either Hitler or Stalin. Indeed, characters in "Kingdom of Shadows" attend Roth's funeral. "It was probably a good thing," says one of these characters, "that you coudln't commit suicide by counting to ten and saying /now/." In fact, Roth himself did something very close: he drank himself to death in despair over the storm clouds that lay all around. It's certainly risky to take your history from novels, but I must say whenever Furst writes about things I (think I) know, he seems to get him right. Therefore I am inclined to take his word on others. For example -- who knew that the Hungarian national anthem declares (declared?) that "this nation has already paid for its sins, past and future"? Or that "the slow, meticulous grinding of civil servants" has a German name -- "Schreibitschtater," that is "desk-murderer"? I don't think I'm giving away too much here: Furst has stuff life this on almost every page. It is remarkable how readable these novels are when you consider (as others have noted) that he's actually pretty weak in a lot of the basics of the novelist's art: his plots are slack and his characters are pretty much cardboard -- except in the sense that they are all struggling to hang on in troubled times. But at least many of them get to do their struggling in Paris, which ought to be some consolation. One thinks of an epigraph, quoted in the introduction to Mavis Benchley's "Paris Stories" -- from Shakespeare's "As You Like It:" "Ay, now I am in Arden, the more fool I. When I was at home, I was in a better place, but travellers must be content." Also on my desk as I read Furst is "My Century" by the Polish poet, Aleksander Wat. Wat contrasts the 30s with the 20s: he points out that in the 20s, we were maddened by the sense of almoswt limitless possibility--futurists, dadaists, god-knows-what-ists, all responding to the new world opening up in the aftermath of the Russian revolution. By the late 30s, most of those possibilities had turned to gall, and any number of thinking people were wondering if they had any future at all. It is Furst's great achievement that he keeps the nemory of these times green.
Rating: 
Summary: Homage to Joseph Roth
Review: Here is how to smuggle wealth out from under the eyes of the Nazis: go to Antwerp and buy diamonds from one of the old established gem merchants. At the same time direct the seller to resell them in your behalf in New York. But inform your buyer/seller that the New York diamonds need not be identical with the Antwerp product: any comparable diamonds will do. It's not immediately obvious how this turns Europe money into New York money: but I suppose if the New York buyer gets the gems but does not pay for them, then his New York seller can offset against the Antwerp account. So the gems are loose to do their good work in New York and the account in Europe is closed out. If you are a gem merchant, you probably knew this: apparently your family has been doing deals of this sort since 1350. As I am not a gem merchant, this trancscontinental fandango is one of the many things I learn in reading Alan Furst's "Kingdom of Shadows," one of the half dozen espionage novels in which Furst undertakes to recreate the atmosphere of Europe on the eve of World War II. For Furst, I can thank Brad de Long, the Berkeley economist who runs a great weblog. De Long says he gives copies of Furst novels to incoming grad students to remind them that the 20th Century was not always as triumphal as their ending. A good choice: I gather Furst himself says he keeps in his workroom a picture of the Austrian writer Joseph Roth, perhaps the greatest expositor of the mood of apocalyptic doom that overlay any thoughtful person in a decade when it looked as if the future lay with either Hitler or Stalin. Indeed, characters in "Kingdom of Shadows" attend Roth's funeral. "It was probably a good thing," says one of these characters, "that you coudln't commit suicide by counting to ten and saying /now/." In fact, Roth himself did something very close: he drank himself to death in despair over the storm clouds that lay all around. It's certainly risky to take your history from novels, but I must say whenever Furst writes about things I (think I) know, he seems to get him right. Therefore I am inclined to take his word on others. For example -- who knew that the Hungarian national anthem declares (declared?) that "this nation has already paid for its sins, past and future"? Or that "the slow, meticulous grinding of civil servants" has a German name -- "Schreibitschtater," that is "desk-murderer"? I don't think I'm giving away too much here: Furst has stuff life this on almost every page. It is remarkable how readable these novels are when you consider (as others have noted) that he's actually pretty weak in a lot of the basics of the novelist's art: his plots are slack and his characters are pretty much cardboard -- except in the sense that they are all struggling to hang on in troubled times. But at least many of them get to do their struggling in Paris, which ought to be some consolation. One thinks of an epigraph, quoted in the introduction to Mavis Benchley's "Paris Stories" -- from Shakespeare's "As You Like It:" "Ay, now I am in Arden, the more fool I. When I was at home, I was in a better place, but travellers must be content." Also on my desk as I read Furst is "My Century" by the Polish poet, Aleksander Wat. Wat contrasts the 30s with the 20s: he points out that in the 20s, we were maddened by the sense of almoswt limitless possibility--futurists, dadaists, god-knows-what-ists, all responding to the new world opening up in the aftermath of the Russian revolution. By the late 30s, most of those possibilities had turned to gall, and any number of thinking people were wondering if they had any future at all. It is Furst's great achievement that he keeps the nemory of these times green.
Rating:
Summary: All mood and no plot
Review: I found Kingdom of the Shadows to be excellent at conveying a mood and atmosphere. You feel like you're in a big room watching all the characters and the room is filled with smoke and everything is in black and white. The atmosphere is coveyed very well. The book itself seems to lack a plot. It is more like a collection of vingettes. There is no beginning and no end. In this chapter the main character goes here and does this. The next chapter is something else. There is no comnnection between the chapters. The author writes in a style in which he implies what is being said or leaves things hanging, for you to complete or figure out if you can. This helps to create this smoke-filled room atmosphere, but leaves you with the feeling that nothing is every really known or resolved. There is no character development or insight into why the characters behave as they do. Why does the main character behave the way he does? I haven't a clue. Are we to believe that a man who hasn't lived in his own country for 20 years is a fervent patriot with no regard for his own safety? You may. I don't. I just think the author needed a Hungarian who lived in Paris. If you can enjoy a book just for it's projection of atmosphere, you will like this book. If you want a plot, some development, some character development and insight into the characters, I'd suggest you look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Has anyone read E. Phillips Oppenheim's ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY?
Review: I have just finished KINGDOM OF THE SHADOWS and it bears a remarkable similarity to E. Phillips Oppenheim's ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY (c. 1930s). The section about the fortifications in the Sudetenland and the capture of the hero are almost identical. . . KINGDOM OF THE SHADOWS seems a thin book cloaked in a remarkable atmosphere of rain swept windows, cold grey light, and the subtle shifts which define countries which share borders. It seems a bit hard to empathize with any of the characters or sort out what the unifying theme is. I am puzzled by all the terrific reviews this book has received. Mr. Furst's prose is stylized and romantic, but it often obscures the plot. Where R. Robert Janes develops non-linear plots with dialogue to match, Furst seems to have found his metier in descriptions of places, with dialogue and characters that are strangely absent. I'd love to hear if anyone has read the Oppenheim book and this one and sees similarities. Thanks. Elizabeth
Rating: 
Summary: A World of Foreboding and Confusion
Review: I have read all of Furth's books and rate this as among the best. While not as detailed as Night Soldiers or Dark Star, the storyline is "cleaner", with a central charactor who is highly believable in both description and action, and all meaningful events of the story revolve around him. Morath is not a spy in the traditional sense. He has a deep sense of patriotism for the Hungary of his youth, but as an expatriot in Paris who travels across Europe on errands of uncertain purpose or morality, he is quick to realize that that world of his youth is gone, probably never to return. Furst makes him a keen observer of these changes. The dark, vicious rise of fascism in eastern Europe is nicely contrasted with the elegant world of Paris society, full of interesting and memorable charactors, some with hereditary titles who plot their return to power in their native lands, others who "work" for a living. Pervading everything is the sense of change underway, and the fears that whatever small steps may be taken by in individual, nothing can be done to change the onrushing course of events which we, the reader, know to be World War II. Nevertheless, Morath undertakes several assignments, displays acts of personal heroism, even though he realizes these will require sacrifices and will likely cause him to suffer personal loss. The dilemma of the moral individual in a world under where morality is under seige is nicely portrayed by Furst, and we grow to understand the pragmatic choices forced upon people in such settings. Like all Furst's novels, this book serves as a first-rate historical review of the patchwork map of ethnic and religious loyalties which was Europe after World War I - Land given and land taken often bearing no relation to the desires or history of its inhabitants. My complaints about the book are few. I do think the final chapter involve a story line which is slightly implausible and leaves the reader a little empty. The book gives the impression of being the first in a series (like The World at Night and Red Gold)and, if this is the case, I would be happier with the final pages.
Rating:
Summary: It ended too soon
Review: I hope the author continues the story and the escapades of Morath throughout the occupation of Paris and the war. When I finished the book I felt as though the last 100 pages was missing. The only other thing I found lacking was some character development of Morath. All in all it was a good "book noir" in the right setting at the right time.
Rating: 
Summary: Contrived
Review: I read "Kingdom of Shadows" with great anticipation but I was very, very disappointed from beginning to end (and finishing it took some effort). I could have lived with the contrived plot--what I found totally unacceptable were the storyline transitions. They were simply without credibility. I thought the book either was following a computerized outline or was a group effort, each party writing a section and then piecing sections together. I had hoped to find a new source of reading enjoyment but this book missed the mark by so much that I will never go near another book by Alan Furst.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyments and Reservations
Review: I read most novels purely for enjoyment, after my serious reading is finished, and that is how I approached Kingdom of Shadows. I heard Furst being interviewed on "Fresh Air" and he intrigued me. And I have enjoyed reading Kingdom of Shadows. But after reading the customer reviews posted here, I have a few comments. First, I'm an historian, and if the novel were set in the time and place of my expertise, and had the flaws "A Reader" noted, it would have disturbed me as it did that reviewer. Second, I do think these flaws should have been caught by an editor at the press, fluent in Hungarian and knowledgeable about Hungary, whose job it should be to catch errors. Third, customer reviews are invaluable because they increasingly influence customer choices, and surely publishers --and authors --will pay attention when their carelessness is revealed.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Escape
Review: I read this book simply because my husband -- no big reader of novels -- insisted I would like it. HE enjoyed it because of the setting, because of the way it transported him into a completely different time and place and because, he said, the characters were so well-drawn. But it also made him want to learn more about what life was like for the peoples of Eastern Europe during the time. Flying back from London last year, I'd read straight through a biography of Madeleine Albright, SEASONS OF HER LIFE, the first half of which is spent describing the plight Albright's family faced in Czechoslovakia. I dug out the book for my husband and he agreed it is in many ways a great companion piece to KINGDOM OF SHADOWS. KINGDOM is in some respects something of a LeCarre, but to my way of thinking, better. You feel the mood, the very atmosphere of the settings. The many characters are deftly drawn. The secret of any work densely populated with a cast of characters who come and go, appear and disappear only to reappear later, is to assign to them behaviors, looks, habits that make them memorable to the reader. In KINGDOM, there are many such characters but because Furst has so cleverly drawn them, you remember them. However, more importantly, the author follows the first and single most important secret of ANY piece of writing: to make us CARE ABOUT THE CHARACTERS. Furst does this from the get-go. Ultimately, this -- like Bridges of Madison County -- is a romance novel written from a male point of view. Therefore, you have to be willing to go along with the male fantasy of a relationship we step into at the outset. Fortunately and redemptively, the main character changes significantly in his tastes over time. By the end, what woman in her right mind could resist him? It's a great read for travel, a terrific escape when you're stuck in the doldrums, and an opportunity to learn things you probably never knew about conditions in Eastern Europe on the brink of WWII. enjoy.
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