Customer Reviews

Dark Star

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had read "The Polish Officer" first and wanted more of Alan Furst's evocative pre WWII novels of espionage. "Dark Star" surpasses the later novel, it simply hits on all cylinders. Historically accurate, with a twisting plot, vivid characters, and settings that make the reader feel the darkness and gloom enveloping Europe on the eve of WWII. This novel goes beyond the genre of espionage and paints a differently humane approach to the times. The main character, Andre Szara, while heroic, is "everyman" in that he fears, struggles and fails and succeeds and gets lucky at times. Truly the opposite of the Tom Clancy, James bondish type spy, Alan Furst offers us a hero who we can understand without suspending our disbelief. "Dark Star" is a wonderful piece of work by an author who amazes with his breadth of knowledge on Central Europe in the 30's

"Sooner or later, . . . things fall into place and, often as not, you'd rather they hadn't." Andre Szara, a Soviet Jewish journalist originally from the Pale of Settlement, is ordered to retrieve a package from Prague. Hidden within is a secret dossier that initially seems of little worth. As the story unfolds, however, Szara is drawn into rings of spies, factions and counter-factions, Gestapo and anti-Gestapo, Old Bolsheviks and new Stalinists. Szara does not know who is working for whom, who will be killed next, or whether he can trust any of them.

As the story takes place from the end of 1937 through 1940, the backdrop to all of this is an increasingly bellicose and anti-Semitic Nazi Germany, echoed by the Stalinist purges of intellectuals in the NKVD and throughout Soviet society. And no one knows this period -- right down to the details -- better than Alan Furst. From doors that open "the width of an eye" to wireless transmitters humming through the night, from Gestapo boarding trains to pre-war diplomats in formal suits, Furst owns this turf. Thanks to his skill, you can feel throughout the drumbeat of impending war.

Five stars does not begin to do justice to the works of Alan Furst. The history, both the broad events and small details, is impeccable. (In this novel, Furst presents a fascinating, and to my knowledge, original, explanation for the Hitler-Stalin pact.) And he really knows how to write. I found myself rereading sentences because they expressed thoughts or feelings to perfection.

This novel is rich in history, lyrically written with a master's eye. If you like it, you will also enjoy Night Soldiers, Furst's novel of a Bulgarian NKVD agent during the Spanish Civil War.

The protagonist of "Dark Star" is a smalltime NKVD operative, born in Poland and working in the newspaper business. As usual, Furst sets his spy novel in occupied Eastern Europe during the opening years of the Second World War. Andre Szara, the reporter, becomes involved more and more heavily in providing reports on a German factory that produces an important component for the production of airplanes. As the Stalinist purges begin and continue, Szara finds his loyalties conflicting between his own survival and his Jewish ancestry. Soon a mysterious French-born Jew working with the British is requesting Szara's reports in exchange for certificates of immigration for Jews trapped in Europe and attempting to escape. As Szara becomes involved, he falls further and further into the labyrinthine world of espionage- a world from which he may never escape. . .

Although this novel can easily be read as a stand-alone book, some readers will enjoy beginning their foray into Furst's world with "Night Soldiers", his original and possibly best spy novel. This book introduces several characters who make appearances throughout Furst's other novels set in the same period of time and general geographical local. Because of this fact, I highly recommend reading "Night Soldiers" first, although those that follow can typically be read in any particular order (the exception being the stories involving Jean Casson - World at Night and Red Gold).

What makes Furst's loosely structured series so compelling is that 1; they are very well researched and historical very accurate, especially with regard to spy craft - as I understand it through academic experience only. 2; the characters are extremely flawed, very believable and interesting to empathize with - all of the characters and their adventures provoke much thought. 3; the novels do not attempt to achieve a false sense of conclusion at their end - they always allow the reader to decide for him/herself what happens, and they rarely resolve the feeling of tension that pervades Furst's works. 4; the secondary characters are always very well developed and much more interesting than their sometimes small roles would have the reader believe- so one is always off balance (who will live, who will die - who can be trusted, who cannot?). 5; Furst does an excellent job of setting the atmosphere of terror that resulted from the conflict between fascism and stalinism during the secret wars preceding the outbreak of the Second World War.

You cannot go wrong with this novel. While not Furst's best spy novel, for anyone interested in reading and enjoying spy stories, or stories of world war two, this book is a must read.

Furst has a fluid, evocative style, and right from the start you're submerged into the dark paranoia of a pre-WWII Russian. This isn't airport fiction and it isn't a "mood piece." it's the careful and fascinating unraveling of a mystery surrounding Josef Stalin's past, as well as a tale of a man trying to evade his fate. Some of the sections (the description of the lost soldier's bag and its contents, the escape across the Polish countryside after Sep 1 1939) are the best of their kind. Along with Deighton's "Funeral in Berlin" and Le Carre's "Spy who Came in from the Cold" it is one of the finest spy novels I've read.

I really want to love Alan Furst's work because it constitutes a niche that I find very comfortable: the "existentialist thriller" set in in mid-20th-century Europe. At his best, Furst writes wonderfully evocative prose, as can be seen in his description of protagonist Andre Szara's sojourn in the Polish countryside toward the end of the novel.

However, a few things persistently gall me. One is his habit of skipping over climactic events and re-telling them in flashback. It's almost like a psychological quirk, a way of defusing narrative tension through avoidance rather than "working it out." The end result is to leave the reader feeling cheated of catharsis. Read enough Furst, and you'll start to see them coming: "Here we go again... He's going to wake up somewhere and tell us how he got there."

Another is the complexity of the espionage schemes and his rather vague and allusive way of outlining them, often in as little as a sentence or two. Perhaps that's the point: that it's a shadowy, murky world where much is left unsaid and misunderstood. In any case, it becomes annoying after a while.

Finally, there's his much-vaunted historical accuracy. Pardon me, but no. Errors abound, and while his knowledge of historical events may be reliable (I'm not qualified to judge), one can't say the same for his familiarity with the technology of the period. I'm not a military hardware expert, but I found two such errors in this book. He describes a Brno ZH-29 automatic rifle: "The hand grip just behind the barrel was protected by a ribbed metal alloy so the shooter didn't blister his fingers when the gun fired automatically." The part he describes is near the muzzle of the gun, far forward of where anyone would grip the weapon, and is designed to dissipate heat, not to protect that shooter, who would grip the weapon on the wood part behind the metal. Then there is his description of an attacking Stuka dive bomber as having swastikas on its wings. Luftwaffe aircraft of the Nazi era were marked with large Iron Crosses on the top and bottom of the wings and both sides of the fuselage, with a smaller swastika on the tail. These may seem like trivial details, but the whole point of including such military minutae is to enhance the reality of the narrative. Getting it wrong has the opposite effect. Oh well, genre fiction, adjust suspension of disbelief and proceed. In the age of easy Internet fact-checking, there's no excuse not to get it right. Or leave it out altogether.

All of that said, when I can get over these deficiencies and lose myself in the story and the atmosphere, I find reading Furst to be wonderful escapism. So... three stars.

This work has a lot in common with "Night Soldiers", because it, once again, concerns itself with Russian espionage prior to World War II. Indeed, some of the minor characters from "Night Soldiers" show up in this work, moving the plot along. And there is a plot, unlike some of Mr. Furst's later works! Even so, the main thrust of the work seems to be the moral ambiguities involved in espionage work, and the long-term, and down the road, consequences of even the most trivial decision. The book gives an interesting theory about the early relationship between Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, one I'd never come across before, and I found it fascinating. As always, the characters, even the mere walk-ons, are finely drawn and quite believeable. It's a moody book, but those were moody, if exciting, times. I look forward to many more works of this type from Mr. Furst.

Second in Alan Furst's sequence of espionage novels set in late 1930's and early 1940's Europe, "Dark Star" focuses upon the experiences of Andre Szara, a Soviet journalist of Polish-Jewish origins and a reluctant spy for the NKVD. Szara's byzantine path takes him through the mutual horrors of Hitler's Germany and of the Stalinist underground. Furst's hero is certainly no ideologue, just a decent man caught up in forces stronger than he is, a man trying to find a way to survive and, when possible, to do a little good. The espionage tradecraft depicted is highly authentic, certainly fully as much as anything from John leCarre. "Dark Star" is a fully absorbing novel, painting a thoroughly convincing portrait of a past era.

I read this book and wondered where was this author going? You could not see all the plot turns; he kept me interested in the book the whole time. This book was very rich in the atmosphere; you really could see the streets, cafes, and people on the street. There are just so many details that it truly feels like you are watching the action as it unfolds. This is not a fast by the numbers book, you have to be involved with the book but the pay off is a very good story that keeps you thinking about the characters and plot after you have put the book down each day. I am happy to hold on to this one and reread it again.

I have been reading "thrillers" and spy novels my entire reading life and this is this book is the best one of the genre that I have ever read. It is not the literature that LeCarre strives for, nor does it have the mass market appeal of a Ludlum type novel but it is a great story. The plot is tight, the attention to detail is superb, and the characters well drawn but the main attraction of the book lies in the atmosphere, the mood, and the "feel" of the book. The book requires some effort on the part of the reader but like anything you have to work for, it is more satisfying in the end.

There is not much to add to other reviews,except one thing- the true-to-life characters. I am Russian,so I'm always sceptical about american novels taking place in Russia(double sceptical,when the main character is Russian,too).But this novel surprised me mostly with the authors knowledge and understanding of Russian people and Russian soul.It seems, as if he studied Russia for ages, and it paid out.This one is more than a thriller- it's a story of Europe in one of it's darkest hours and about people facing choices.If you want to REALLY know what Russians are like- read this one.