Night Soldiers : A Novel

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Summary: Atmospheric thriller for all who enjoy spy novels...
Review: For those of you unfamiliar with Alan Furst, he currently writes espionage thrillers set in Europe between the mid-1930's thru WWII. I say currently because Furst did write some earlier novels unrelated to this, but most people know him for his WWII era spy novels, of which Night Soldiers is the first.
Another feature of Furst's novels is that no matter where they start or end, all of the books wander thru Paris at one time or another... and not just the City of Lights and Romance, but the dark underside of Paris also. Furst also likes the have some consistency between his later books, so usually there will be one character who will apppear again in another book, perhaps with a different face...
Night Soldiers is the story of Khristo Stoianev. The story begins in Bulgaria of the 1930's. Khristo has the misfortune of watching his brother killed by local fascists. After this, he himself is marked and so it is with some convenience that a Soviet agent recruits him to go to the Soviet Union. Khristo undergoes training at a KGB school for foreigners, and makes contacts that will follow him through the book. He also has early exposure to the mindless horror of the purges...
From the Soviet Union Khristo goes to Spain... and from Spain to Furst's stylized pre-war Paris. Unfortunately, to say more would be to spoil too much of the plot. Khristo's story wanders through WWII: the plot twists, turns, and is sometimes a little farfetched but is always exceptionally well written, atmospheric and engaging. Furst occasionally will make a small historical error but its never enough to interfere with enjoying the read.
I've read all of Furst's WWII books, and Night Soldiers was my absolute favorite. I was tempted to give it a four stars because of few small historical errors but I'll stick with five! Don't take the history as absolute gospel but enjoy the book as you would a few hours watching Casablanca. It really is the same type of experience.

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Summary: One of the best ever
Review: Furst does a great job evoking a certain time and place (pre War Central Europe and Paris). This book made me think about WWII from a much different perspective. Excellent.

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Summary: Superb! Dark, wet work.
Review: Furst flies. He takes you into the world of evil, betrayal, fear, deep-seated really scary fear. What Smiley hinted at but never was.

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Summary: Furst's first: a great historical novel
Review: Furst's first and best novel -- a panoramic view of Europe just prior to WWII; wonderfully researched, informative, with compelling characters. Highly recommended

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Summary: The dark underbelly of espionage
Review: I am fascinated by the books written by Alan Furst. They are all uniformly excellent, and they weave many tales of the Eastern and Central European theaters of World War II, both before its beginning, and then during the war itself. This book is in the same mold, with a dark, brooding atmosphere, and the scent of betrayal behind every action. There is no way for the protagonist to tell who is trustworthy among his aquaintances and comrades, he just must move forward with what he has planned to do. There are, occasionally, love interests in these books, but they are peripheral to the main thrust of the plot, and in this book, unlike some of the others, there is a consistent plot. There are disparate threads of storyline throughout, but they all appear to come together eventually before the book ends. It's clear from these works that the Europeans of that era were much different from the American actions, and what we learn from reading these works is that there was betrayal, but much heroism, during this most tragic of human conflict. I hope that the author continues to write many more of this type of book, for I will definitely read all of them.

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Summary: Terrific Read
Review: I discovered this book by accident and, boy, am I glad I did. Alan Furst's writing, plotting and setting are absolutely superb.
It's the kind of book you don't want to end: atmospheric, believable and realistic characters, suspense, action, all set in the highly-charged environment of wartime Europe. And he has the ability to put the reader in the midst of all this.
After reading Night Soldiers I made a point of reading all his novels. Each one is terrific. I only hope his sagas continue.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific Read
Review: I discovered this book by accident and, boy, am I glad I did. Alan Furst's writing, plotting and setting are absolutely superb.
It's the kind of book you don't want to end: atmospheric, believable and realistic characters, suspense, action, all set in the highly-charged environment of wartime Europe. And he has the ability to put the reader in the midst of all this.
After reading Night Soldiers I made a point of reading all his novels. Each one is terrific. I only hope his sagas continue.

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Summary: Furst -- A Better Novelist Than Historian..
Review: I enjoy Alan Furst's novels immensely! As many reviewers have stated (here and in the press), Furst is a master at depicting Eastern Europe in the interwar years. His strength is atmosphere. He paints a picture in words that reflects the precariousness of life. As you read, you can FEEL yourself in Paris or Moscow or Madrid. You can SEE the characters, the cafes, and the seedy hotels. You can SMELL the Gauloises and TASTE the pastis.
Furst's plots, however, are weaker -- with twists more than slightly unbelievable (Stoianev just "happens" to see the Brotherhood Front symbol painted on the half-sunken barge in the Danube!). His cavalier approach to historical facts undermines his work as well -- either he researches poorly or underestimates his readers. I am willing to grant him artistic license, but he dubs the POUM as an anarchist organization (It's "Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista" -- a Trotskyist group. One can't be both Marxist and anarchist). Since this was George Orwell's militia -- described so well in the renowned "Homage to Catalonia" -- Furst fails Spanish Civil War 101! He also speaks of Stoianev's girlfriend frequenting a cafe in Paris because Picasso and Modigliani are seen there. Modigliani died in 1920. She must have hoped to meet his ghost! Unfortunately, there are a number of such lapses.
Don't let me sound too strident. Furst's novels -- starting with "Night Soldiers" -- are good reading. I've read them all. They're solid four star material!

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Summary: Furst is First in the Genre
Review: I had never heard of Alan Furst before seeing an interview with him on Charlie Rose. Afterwards, I started looking into what he had written, and was intrigued by the period (just prior to and including WWII) and the locations (Europe...both Eastern & Western) and most exceptionally the intrigue. The plot in this novel is well formulated and unfurls with the patience of great art...to the point where you cannot put the book down. The characters are wonderfully drawn and draw you in effortlessly. Having read most everything that LeCarré has written, I find no comparison between him and Alan Furst. They have very different approaches, though if you yearn for the writing of LeCarré à la the "Quest For Karla" period...Alan Furst is your writer and he does in one novel what it took LeCarré three to do. I can't wait to read his other work (in order) and look forward to the opportunity. You will also.

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Summary: Better than anything LeCarre has done in years
Review: I have almost finished reading Night Soldiers, having stayed up past midnight reading again because I could not put it down. Since so many already have praised the novel, I shall limit my comments to some disagreements I have with earlier reviewers. First, is Furst the equal of LeCarre? Well it's too early to put Hurst there, but in Night Soldiers he has produced a book that equals the best LeCarre ever produced.

LeCarre's talents clearly were exhausted by the time he scribbled out "A Perfect Spy." Starting there and carrying on into so many of his later novels, LeCarre appeared to be attempting to make political statements. There certainly was precious little intrique.

I also disagree with suggestions that Furst's novel is not primarily a story of intrigue. It's dripping with intrique! Not only do we see spy craft played out on the individual level, we are shown the more grand, state-level spycraft as practiced by the brutal, cruel and brilliantly effective former Soviet spy agencies. I think critics, even supportive ones, often believe that the better the prose, the less likely a book can be identified with a genre.

But here it is. Terrific language, believable character development, conflict between individuals and ways of thinking, plus a terrific intrique to boot.

As to Furst's occasional slips in technical facts, humbug! Who knows what memories and notes he draws on. These criticisms remind me of a personal experience. As a child I took a long sea voyage with my family. We spent nine days on a converted liberty ship called the Buccaneer. Except, 40 years later my brother corrected me, noting the ship's name was Buckner.

If you were writing a novel about an Atlantic crossing, which ship name would you use?