Kingdom of Shadows

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: If this is Furst's best novel.......I don't want to read his worst. I'm currently about halfway through this book, and reading it is a painful chore. It is certainly atmospheric, and there are a few minor positive points......but I can't keep myself from thinking about how many French references are found in this book......it gets laborious after awhile.
I'm sorry I bought it.

Rating:
Summary: A review
Review: If you have any interest in the history of WWII and especially the decade leading up to the war you should consider these wonderful novels by Alan Furst. If you like the movie "Casablanca" these books will appeal to you as they seem to take that era and flesh it out thoroughly. Furst's style reminds me of the way le Carre seemed to write 'around the matter' requiring close attention and rereading to fully appreciate the plot. While the plots are excellent they are the least of the pleasures of these books.The attention to detail which makes these books so transporting and the historical accuracy are my favorite components. I savor these books for the pleasures of the style of writing, the quality of the story, the rich character portrayal, and the historical sweep they provide.

Rating:
Summary: ENTERING INTO VIRTUAL REALITY
Review: In reading "KINGDOM OF SHADOWS", I saw echoes of "The Third Man". Furst does a superb job here of making you feel 'in the moment', in the midst of a time in which Europe stood on the brink of war. 'Europe 1938' lives again through Furst. I liked von Morath and admired his style and sang-froid. His relationship with his mistress was tender and endearing. More than anything, I loved the cinemagraphic sensations this novel evoked in me. "KINGDOM OF SHADOWS" reads as good as any of the best movies of "film noir" you'll ever see. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: ENTERING INTO VIRTUAL REALITY
Review: In reading "KINGDOM OF SHADOWS", I saw echoes of "The Third Man". Furst does a superb job here of making you feel 'in the moment', in the midst of a time in which Europe stood on the brink of war. 'Europe 1938' lives again through Furst. I liked von Morath and admired his style and sang-froid. His relationship with his mistress was tender and endearing. More than anything, I loved the cinemagraphic sensations this novel evoked in me. "KINGDOM OF SHADOWS" reads as good as any of the best movies of "film noir" you'll ever see. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A Patrician in Proletarian Polemics
Review: It's not all tht simple to line Furst up with Lecarre's, Greenes and Amblers for the simple reason that his "Kingdom of Shadows" requires an invitation for which not all historical intriguers qualify. We confidently abide the ethic of his operative, yet we are surprised with each turn into the "shadows" where we are taken.

This reader, a self-described 'alley rat' of Cold War Europe as a very young CIC (couterintelligence corps) officer, followed specters in the sixties that had been these "shadows" in the thirties. I felt them first. Then, sensitive to Europe's mines of historical riches, the veins that Furst uncovers most vividly, I barely sampled. Lectures of a Benes` descendent, picking up on a term -Ustashi, the name Pavilec (sic)only stimulated my curiosity. As a matter of fact, this young officer, as well trained as he had been, thought regicides occurred before World War One, not as preambles to the Second.

Furst gives pulsebeats, atmosphere and apprehension to intrigues of the times that few today will imagine. The hearts and minds, the patriotism, of citizens of countries marginalized in today's studies, are experiences tht Furst invites his reader to witness.

Yet he introduces characters that are gallant in their simplicity and simply dutiful in their gallantry. There is no preparation for this story. A reader need only relax, turn pages and let the arcane history of a period absorb him or her.

I have experienced no one but Furst who can bring readers into this milieu. He accomplishes this with a guile none of his characters manifest. This reader finds himself a pilgrim in Furst's tour, not wondering how did I get here, but enthused to find where he and his characters are going to take me on the next page.

In my mind I know it's fiction, but in my heart I believe it's true.

Thank you.

P.S. The star I reserve is as I wrote "not all historical intriguers qualify"

Rating:
Summary: Rogues' Kingdom
Review: John Brick used a number of literary devices to make his book Rogues' Kingdom more interesting. I liked the book because it was fast paced, great irony, and a lot of action that was realistic. It also had a little romance and would appeal to almost anybody who likes to read books. This book is about a family called the Lawtons that steal horses and resell them for more money. Everyone knows that they are thieves but they pay off the law and continue to commit these crimes.
One night they steal horses from Albert Totten but Totten wakes up during the shooting and one of the Lawtons is left behind. The Lawton that is left behind is named Ben. Ben goes to a school and falls asleep. The next morning, he meets a girl named Ruth who is a teacher at the school. She is going to have lunch with Totten on the school lawn. This is Brick's first showing of situational irony. Ben and his brothers have just stolen a number of houses from Totten and now they are going to meet.
Ben tells Totten that he came down from a town just last night and is looking for a job. Totten gives Ben a job on his horse ranch and then leaves Ben at the ranch as he and Sheriff Dick Lucas go to look for the stolen horses. This is another great showing of situational irony.
Lucas' father was the sheriff before him and he killed himself after he was unable to track down the Lawtons. Lucas had a relationship with the mother of the Lawtons before he knew that she was a Lawton. The mother often quoted scripture in spite of the lawbreaking business of her family.
There is another dramatic scene Totten and Lucas arrive at the Lawton's home. They get in a fistfight, which ends with Lucas, beating one of the Lawton brothers. Without finding the horses, they leave the land.
Totten returns home to find that the man he left to watch his horses was the Lawton that hadn't been able to escape. Ben has taken the rest of his horses and left with his love interest Ruth. Ben and Ruth are starting to fall deeply in love and Ruth loves Ben for his honesty. This is great picture of dramatic irony where the reader knows that Ben is not telling the truth but the characters think he is.
Eventually Ruth finds out the truth but not before they get married. Ruth thinks she will be able to change Ben. In the end that is not the case. Ben is shot and killed in an attempt to steal some horses in another town. Then the mother told Ruth that she couldn't ever change Ben. Ruth is very sad and feels she has done wrong. So the book ends with Ruth trying to make up for her sin by becoming a nun.

Rating:
Summary: Furst at his best
Review: Kingdom of Shadows is further proof that Alan Furst has no equal among historical novelists. As he did in World at Night and Red Gold with Jean Casson, Furst's protagonist, Morath, is cast into the pre-WWII spy game almost by accident. But unlike Casson, Morath is less reluctant in accepting his new life of duplicity. Furst once again transports the reader squarely into those dark and uncertain times. Although we know the outcome of WWII, that knowledge is suspended during the read, such is Furst's ability to bring to life the true emotions of the time. Rich in detail (I always learn so much from Furst novels)and characters, this may be his finest effort yet. Considering his past work--especially Dark Star and Night Soldiers--that is high praise indeed. Bravo, Mr. Furst!

Rating:
Summary: Lots of atmosphere, not much else
Review: Many people recommended that I read Alan Furst. I was told that this is his best novel, and the description of the book as an "atmospheric spy novel in the vein of Graham Greene" sold me.

To start, Furst is no Graham Greene. The novel is certainly atmospheric, but unfortunately, it lacks a story, character development and basic cohesion. It is a random series of events contained between two covers. The characters are one-dimensional and unsympathetic. (When I say unsympathetic, I mean that you aren't invested in whether they live, die, succeed, etc.) The book has a great "noir" feel to it, but has little in the way of actual substance.

Finally, Furst's description of the, ahem, erotic interludes, read like they're taken from a fourteen-year-old boy's imagination. At one point, Furst explains how the protagonist and his lover would wake up when it rained during the night and make love. These parts seemed to have a closer connection to fantasy than reality. By no means does this dominate the story, but rather do little more than provide some "spice" when these parts could be used to advance the human element of the story.

If this is his best, I think I'll pass on Furt's other novel and stick to Graham Greene.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of atmosphere, not much else
Review: Many people recommended that I read Alan Furst. I was told that this is his best novel, and the description of the book as an "atmospheric spy novel in the vein of Graham Greene" sold me.

To start, Furst is no Graham Greene. The novel is certainly atmospheric, but unfortunately, it lacks a story, character development and basic cohesion. It is a random series of events contained between two covers. The characters are one-dimensional and unsympathetic. (When I say unsympathetic, I mean that you aren't invested in whether they live, die, succeed, etc.) The book has a great "noir" feel to it, but has little in the way of actual substance.

Finally, Furst's description of the, ahem, erotic interludes, read like they're taken from a fourteen-year-old boy's imagination. At one point, Furst explains how the protagonist and his lover would wake up when it rained during the night and make love. These parts seemed to have a closer connection to fantasy than reality. By no means does this dominate the story, but rather do little more than provide some "spice" when these parts could be used to advance the human element of the story.

If this is his best, I think I'll pass on Furt's other novel and stick to Graham Greene.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Nicholas Morath is a minor Hungarian noble living a comfortable, but not quite ostentatious, life in pre WWII Paris. It seems that he has been content with running a small advertising firm and living the cafe life with a young and vivacious Argentian mistress. But this is 1938 and dark clouds are brewing in Germany, Austria, the Sudetenland etc. Morath is called to run various errands for his tight-lipped uncle Polanyi, a true to life Hungarian count. The book chronicles these errands which become ever more dangerous.

The outstanding features of this book are severalfold. The dialogues are crisp, clean and believable. The characters are quirky but nicely sketched. Furst creates a very believable atmosphere of pre-war Europe. Everyone knows that war is coming, yet people still need to live their lives. Thus there is still a cafe society and the titled ex-pats still throw lavish parties. Meanwhile, poorer immigrants running from tyranny barely scratch out a living. Furst delivers his character to many interesting locations that are not prevelant in American fiction. Morath travels through the countryside of Hungary, Roumania and Czechoslavakia meeting up with Poles, Ukranians, Croats. One minute Morath is eating a grand banqet in an elegant eastern European chateau--the next he finds himself chained in a dank Roumanian prison.

Then there are the intrigues that Morath finds himself immersed in upon the bidding of his uncle. Morath never quite knows what the endgame is. Who is pulling the strings. How do his missions fit in the overall scheme. Therefore, the reader is also left guessing. Other reviewers have sited this as a weakness--I, on the other hand, view this as the great strength of the book. There are semi-powerful factions trying to forestall the inevitable and the puppeteers choose not to disclose to Morath how he fits into the larger puzzle. Ultimately, we all know how things turn out here. Nothing Morath and his uncle accomplish is going to save Europe from the calamity of WWII. Yet Morath and the reader are kept on edge trying to figure out what the heck is going on within his smaller universe. There are no tidy answers, because in real life there seldom are tidy little answers. This probably is not a book for someone who likes mystery and intrigue but needs to have the hero figure out all the puzzles and vanquish the badguys with a spine-tingling final flourish. That cannot happen given the historical backdrop to this book, for we all know that no matter what Morath and Uncle Polanyi are able to accomplish--World War II is going to happen: Paris will be occupied, London will be bombed, millions will die. But that does not mean that their effort is wasted or that the book is not extremely worthwhile. For those who are comfortable with unanswered questions and filling is some of the holes themselves, I highly recommend Kingdom of Shadows.