Customer Reviews

The World at Night

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For the first time in his well crafted series of espionage novels set amid the interwar years and opening acts of WW2 taking place in Eastern Europe, Furst departs from his usual stomping grounds in "The World at Night". Firstly, the story takes place in France, and its main character, Jean Casson, is French. Secondly, the timeline is from the invasion of France into World War 2- often occurring only in the final chapters of Furst's other novels.

His accomplishment is varied in its quality; at first I was not so interested in reading this book because the originality of his others seemed to be replaced by a run-of-the-mill WW2 spy novel. However, Jean Casson holds his own as an interesting and conflicted protagonist. As he converts his skills in media production to resisting Nazi rule, Casson is torn between the life of affluence he knew, and the desire to fight for the memory of France that seems to be fading all around him. Additionally, Casson's love interest adds another layer of complexity to the story.

"The World at Night" has an ending that left me waiting for more, and a little unsatisfied, which is my biggest critique of the story. I think Furst himself must have realized this, and he returns to Jean Casson's plight in the only direct sequel he has written to date (April, 2006), and the continues the tale in "Red Gold".

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 the resistance in France during 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.

Once again, Alan Furst has brilliantly taken us back into the 1930s and 1940s, this time to Paris in the immediate aftermath of the Nazi Germany invasion. The protagonist, a film producer who initially thinks life can continue as normal, takes us step by step through the transition from sadness to resentment to anger to resistance against a brutal occupying force.

Furst's real achievement in this novel is taking the mundane and the normal and weaving them into the difficult and violent world of war and occupation. Everyday experiences like eating, drinking, earning a living, loving and talking are the primary daily behaviors around which the characters interact, but they are all intruded upon by the occupation. This is what makes the book so "real."

Furst combines history, fiction, and the mysteries of espionage as well as anyone since Eric Ambler. He is always worth reading.

"The World At Night", is actually the first of a pair of books that tell the story of Jean Casson, a former movie producer who is faced with finding a way to survive the onset and extended occupation of Paris in World War II. France was not only divided into parts by the Germans, it was further sub-divided by a variety of groups that had their own agenda. Jean tries to maintain his life, and protects those he cares about, all the while coping with what it means to be a patriot.

Alan Furst writes about a narrow by eventful time from 1933 to 1945. His books are meticulously accurate to the point they would pass inspection by many readers of history. The author takes an unusual step at the end of his books by sharing with readers his sources for the novels he creates. This is not done in an academic bibliography or a blizzard of footnotes, rather he writes conversationally about what he reads, and what he suggests as reading for those who are interested.

In this first book Jean Casson will take part as a photographer during the short-lived French defense. He eventually finds himself taking on a task he believes will help France through his aiding the British. This is not a character that has a desire to be heroic; he seems to just want to find his place. Questions of what is honorable, and what constitutes loyalty constantly shadow him. In many ways he is the personification of the nation he lives in. He is conflicted to the point of pondering whether a barber who continues to cut hair during the war, including that of the German occupiers is a collaborator. At this level the question may appear simpler than the so-called larger issues, but the philosophical issue is the same.

Jean is given the opportunity to escape to England and continue to work in some manner for France. As he makes his way to The English Channel he continues to torture himself with issues both political and personal. His final act and the justification for it will surprise many, and seem appropriate to others. Whatever you may feel at the close of the book, you will feel your time has been well spent.

Certainly not one of his best. For the life of me I couldn't quite understand what drove Jean Casson to do what he did, other than vague patriotism. Adept at re-creating Pre-WWII and WWII Europe in his other novels, Furst falls flat in this one. Casson seems to wander through the book from one liason to another. The German occupation is in some instances, a minor backdrop, to Casson's search for love and/or sex. The ending was very disappointing to me. Being written by Furst, it is readable, which is why I've given it three stars. If you are new to Furst, you would be better off to start with another of his novels (Red Star, Polish Officer, Night Soldiers) to really get a true taste of his capabilities. If you are already a fan, like myself, you'll probably want to get it to round out your collection.

Alan Furst has staked out his own particular place in the fictional literature of Europe around the time of World War II. His characters, sometime Central Europeans, sometime Frenchmen, are those caught up in the maelstrom and turbulence of the war. We see ordinary people exposed to moral ambiguities, and decisions must be made which are life-changing. There is heroism and cowardice, love and fear, and all the other panoply of emotions involved when the usual way of life is overtaken by war and violence. The characters are exceptionally finely drawn, and the writing is such that you want to finish the book at one sitting to find out how it ends. Now that this one is done, I'll be starting its sequel, for I really care about the characters.

This is only my second Alan Furst book (after BLOOD OF VICTORY), and it brings me closer to understanding why my friends rave about him. The setting is Paris in the first year of the occupation. Furst clearly knows the city, its life, and its people, but what he does best goes well beyond the local color of the occasional French phrase and out-of-the-way locations. By allowing himself generous time to establish the social milieu before the spy story really kicks in, he excellently captures how it must have FELT to be a French professional living through the outbreak of war, the first abortive fighting, and the changing attitudes of the Parisians to the occupiers in their midst. I tend to believe this more than any of the several books about the resistance I have read lately.

The hero is Jean-Claude Casson, a fortyish movie producer, ex-husband, and prodigal lover. His position and relative affluence give him a greater ease of movement than most of his compatriots, and he finds himself respected even by his German contacts. So when people begin to approach him for special favors, he sort of slides into agreement. Before he (or the reader) fully knows it, he has become a part-time agent, recruited by both sides, learning to live by a new code of honor. He is not asked to do much, and what he does do seems relatively simple. There are a few close shaves, but little apparent danger or narrative suspense; in a way, it all seems almost easy. But I think this is probably also true to life, in that such adventures might well start by seeming insignificant until luck runs out; the almost-casual quality of the book is one of its strongest aspects.

Somebody remarked on this site that Furst has a cinematic eye; he writes film noir scenes and romances, the same genre as Casson's movies. The noir quality is beautifully reinforced by the physical presentation of this book, whose cover features period photographs by André Kertész and Brassai and has carefully designed typography. The romance, unfortunately, is less successful; there is little sense that Jean-Claude's return to a former love, the once-great actress Citrine, is significantly different from his other amours -- at least until it comes to matter. By then, one can take it as a given, but not truly feel it. So the subtly ambiguous ending of the book, which largely depends on the strength of this commitment, is not quite as satisfying as it might have been. But it is a small failing in an otherwise fine novel.

Furst's writing is very film aware: As I read THE WORLD AT NIGHT, I felt that I was somewhere in between a prequel to CASABLANCA and one of Marcel Carné's 1930s celluloid evocations of despair, such as QUAI DES BRUMES. I was also conscious that Furst did a creditable job bringing to life a time and place we all knew mostly from the movies. Of course, a film adaptation of this novel would probably garner an R-rating, what with its hero's richly textured sex life.

Jean Casson plays a small-time movie producer who has to learn how to shift for himself under the Nazi occupation of France. On the way, he not only falls in love with the hot starlet Citrine, but simultaneously acts as an agent for the Boche and the Resistance.

Furst's Gestapo officers come across as unexpectedly tolerant and even bemused -- except when they are crossed. Ach, these French! Why can't they understand that we are only trying to help them? Lieutenant Colonel Guske of the SS in particular is sketched in with admirable restraint.

My only problem with an otherwise wildly entertaining read is that Casson's escape from Gestapo headquarters at the end is just a bit too pat. With his strength at setting the mood and his aptitude for interesting and very French characterizations, Furst could have sacrificed some of the derring-do at the end without sacrificing the sense of the story.

I first heard of the author on a National Public Radio broadcast while driving to the library. Within hours, I was congratulating myself for having found another interesting new writer.

I liked this book, not for the spy story, nor for the love story, but for the Paris story. Fascinating account of what life was like in the fabled city under Nazi occupation. At first, the Parisians were blase, then restless, then depressed as the occupation went on. The main character, Casson, after screwing around for half the book, finally decides to get off his [...] and try to do something for his country. This is my second Furst novel and I'm not yet sure how much I like him. However, I love his ability to replicate the atmosphere of Europe during the turbulent war years. The wartime Paris of this novel is one that will resonate a long time in the reader.

Paris, 1940. The world's most beautiful city was still aglow with light. Lovely women wearing designer gowns; elegant brassieres to while away an evening with a good cognac or choice wine; cultural and intellectual life brisk and productive. All of Paris in the last years of peace was set under the French sky of freedom, equality and fraternity. All would soon change for in June, 1940 the Nazis would defeat France and occupy the proud Gallic nation of Napoleon and honor.

The story of this terrible episode in French and European history is vividly evoked in Alan Furst's short 288 gem of a novel" The World at Night." It's hero is film director Jean Casson. Casson is a bon viviant, intellectual and womanizing upper middle class resident of Paris. He is divorced but does not lack for female bedmates. During May, 1940 he is called to the war against the Nazis as part of a film crew. The French army is rapidly defeated with Casson glumly retreating to Paris. He has a torrid affair with Citrine. She is a French film star. Citrine is a good woman who despises the Boche invaders. She and Casson become entangled with the French and British resistance to German occupation. Their exciting story opens doors to an understanding of what captive Europe had to endure under the iron boot of cruel Nazi rule in Hitler's vast empire of death.

The novel takes us to Paris, rural France and Spain where Casson is on film location. He endures captivity by the Gestapo; some of his friends are murdered but he emerges from these pages as a patriotic Frenchman who loved liberty and France. The novel is filled with cameos of interesting characters both good and bad.

Furst is a master at limning his spy novel with witty dialogue, solid historical research and keeping suspense and dangerous episodes before the camera eye of the reader. Furst is in the pantheon of such espionage authors as John Le Carre, Eric Ambler and Graham Greene. One wonders why none of his novels has been filmed!

Your humble reviewer picked up his first Furst novel this past summer. I did so and look forward to reading more novels by such a talented novelist as Alan Furst. Excellent! Vive la France!

Furst brings 1930s Europe alive and I will continue to read all his books, but still found it vaguely unsatisfying compared to Dark Star & Night Soldiers or even Polish Officer.