Berlin Game by Len Deighton (First published 1983) Penguin Modern Classics pp296

Would I read another book by this author?
Most definitely.

Would I recommend this book to others?
Yes.

To whom would I recommend it?
Anyone interested in well written espionage novels, especially if they have a liking for the espionage of the Cold War era.

Did this book inspire me to do anything?
It has ensured I will be keen to read more of Len Deighton’s novels, in particular I will be reading the next two books the [[[Game, Set & Match]]] trilogy, namely [Mexico Set] and [London Match].

I really enjoyed this novel. It is an espionage story with good characterisation, and interesting plot, and a level of tension that keeps the reader slightly unnerved with anticipation of what is going to happen.

I am a great fan of the books of John Le Carré. Comparing Deighton’s work with Le Carré’s strikes me as a bit like comparing apples with oranges. Le Carré has the edge on Deighton in terms of his phraseology and plotting, and his observations are more insightful and profound than Deighton’s. However, one approaches Le Carré’s works expecting more analysis, strategy and socio-political exposés than one would be looking for in a more action packed espionage story. That being said, Deighton provides a different product from what Le Carré gives his readers.

In his afterword to Berlin Game, Deighton talks about his approach to writing and how he does a lot of planning when preparing to write a book. I particularly like how he described modern advice about writing promotes simplification of plot, less characterisation and no sub-plots, and how he came to writing before these instructions were fully formalised, hence he would probably break one or all of them. I think he did a good job by not adhering to the modern advice. ( )

Enjoyable spy thriller set in early 1980s, at a time when Berlin Wall was still up. ( )

The 1st in the Bernard Samson Books.

I read the Game-Set-Match series many years ago and remembered it as being an engrossing thriller. This time found it a bit slow. Still, I'll track down the other two and read them. ( )

Oriente es Oriente y Occidente es Occidente, y se encuentran en Berlín.
Fue la mejor fuente que tuvo el Departamento, pero ahora quiere desesperadamente saltar el muro. Barhms Four estaba seguro de que un topo de alto rango estaba listo para traicionarlo. Solo hay un inglés en el que confía más: alguien de los viejos tiempos.
Entonces, Bernie Samson vuelve al campo después de cinco años sedentarios de estar en un escritorio. El campo es Berlín.
El juego es tan desconcertante, traicionero y letal como siempre...