Dark Star

Furst is a magnificent teller of tales. But his tales are so intricately woven, finely detailed and endlessly researched that they are very difficult to read. Not difficult in the way we might read Beowulf in its arcane tongue, but in the sense that the reader had better stay awake, alert and observant. Keeping a log of all character names and their roles and allegiances is helpful, for they show up hundreds of pages later, and in other books in the series. Fursts early books in the Night Soldiers series, Dark Star being the second, are described as a collection of novellas. According to Furst, that format is among the most sublime in fiction. I must also join the chorus of those who place these Furst books firmly in the literature category. They are far more than merely spy novels, though they certainly are. Inspired by the likes of Eric Ambler (Furst wrote the first page of Night Soldiers in the back page of his copy of Amblers Coffin for Dimitrios), Furst joins him as a genre luminary.

Dark Star in particular is very long, and it works against it. Even the author regards this one as too hefty, a doorstop, because he made assumptions about novels and lengths that hes not happy with. However, this should not deter the reader from embarking with the unlikely hero, Andre Szara, into a web of obscure allegiances and shifting political threats. The tale is sweeping and wonderfully rich. We travel pre-war Europe, visit the countryside and the seedy underbelly, and trust no one. We enjoy the hearty food in Parisienne Brasseries, mingle with the exceedingly ostentatious upper-crust of society, hang out with bent-nosed crooks, and tremble before gun-wielding operatives in felt hats. We are taken from the highs of professional success to the lowest despondency of a nameless man who knows hes about to disappear in some tiled basement. The span of circumstances is dizzying.

More than merely a spy novel, it is experiential history – as if we are there with the smells, sounds and view. Szara is not merely a character, but a human into whos psyche we are thrust, sometimes with compassion, sometimes contempt, sometimes with the hope and empathy of a dear friend. Through him, we experience the prelude to war and the German invasion of Poland as the average Joe, or Jacques, or Josef. Leaving out plot spoilers, the reader brushes up with all manner of intelligence goons, the political apparat, officers of varied nations, show girls, old men in coveralls, and even the Georgian kvohst. We even unravel the mind of one of historys darkest souls, little Soso, Josef Stalin, whos love affair with another gutter-rat-become-tyrant is unfolded with unexpected elegance. Its a history lesson wrapped in a mans life, lived seat-of-the-pants style. Loves come, they go, they are lost, they persist. We travel Europe on over-loaded tramp freighters, bounce in Pobedas as they rattle down country roads, and look out the window at shady figures from luxury railcars halted in cold, ominous nights. The book is a fantastic tour of real history as seen from the ground.

That said, its length and density of detail – all vital to the plot – are not best tackled by sleepy readers or those with wandering thoughts and buzzing smartphones. Difficulty comes to those who do not devote themselves to loving the labor, and for that, I had to re-read the first half of the book. Likewise, I lost the plot in the fourth novella – my own negligence again. Perseverance prevailed and Im glad for such grace. But do keep the pen and paper handy. I like note cards to help as references in such reading feats.

Having read the inaugural book in the eponymous Night Soldiers series, along with this second substantial work, I now turn my attention to Fursts personal favorite of the series, the considerably less dense The Polish Officer. I look at this one with great anticipation. If Furst loved it, surely it will be a joy.

Despite all the bad things I am about to say, this is actually a good book, and you will be glad you read it when you finally finish it.

I wont go into great detail about the plot in this review other reviewers give a fair description of what this book is about certainly better than the short description provided by Amazon. And there is a good reason for that: its hard to say exactly what this book is about. It isnt about anything in particular; rather, it is a diary (an astoundingly detailed diary) of a man who finds himself in very interesting times in Europe, just prior to and at the start of WWII.

Briefly: a man named Szara is a Polish Jew who is living as a writer in Russia. Someone in Soviet intelligence (the NKVD) takes an interest in him and suggests that he perform a little job for them. He finds himself crossing paths with various agents, collecting a set of papers written by a member of the Okhrana (the Imperial Russian security apparatus in place prior to the Cheka, itself the forerunner of the NKVD, which preceded the KGB, which came just before the current SVR) and instructed to deliver them – somewhere. It seems that the writer of those appears may have been Josef Stalin himself, and certain people are interested in what he has to say (this topic is never really explained sufficiently). Because of his success in his first job, and for a variety of other, more important reasons, he is drawn into the NKVD and given an assignment against Germany. He goes to Germany, meets his agent, collects information, delivers the information, meets other people, writes stories, travels a lot, meets a couple loves of his life, witnesses Kristallnacht firsthand, meets some more people, gets caught behind the lines in Poland when Germany attacks, escapes, meets his NKVD buddies, gets betrayed, escapes the NKVD, goes to work for someone else, spies some more, and BAM the book stops. It doesnt have an ending, the words just quit. (Yeah that was brief. Read the book, youll see.)

Although this book really is worth reading, there are some things that keep it from being great, and these have been mentioned by other reviewers as well. First, its simply too long. The writing is (as in the previous installment in this series) extremely complex, colorful, thoughtful, detailed, provocative, and engrossing, but there is simply too much of it. The flow of the story can best be described as flighty, meaning the narrative goes from one topic to another with rapid succession and without clear indication of when the topic changes. You may be reading about kids with matches on a train, and then suddenly the main guy is getting tossed off the train. Its hard to keep up. Although detail and side trips always make a book more appealing, there is too much of it here. Probably a fourth of this book could have been left out. The thing with the matches? Its in there, it takes up some pages, and it has nothing to do with anything.

Second, the important topics are usually approached obliquely. The author will drop in a few words or a thought, then go off on some tangent, then eventually wander back on track. In the meantime, you arent quite sure what to pay attention to, because there is so much worthless fluff thrown in. I often found myself going back some pages to re-read the hints at the beginning of a section to catch up on what was going on before I was led into some dead end. This is distracting and makes a long book take even longer to read.

Third, there are just too many people and too many things going on to call this one book. All along the way you are introduced to people and ideas and missions. Many times these things pop up again later, and often you fail to recognize them because you saw them so long ago. There were at least two occasions when I couldnt even remember what country Szara was in.

Finally, there are too many loose ends. Tell me again about the Okhrana papers I am not sure that topic was ever resolved. And what about the Baumanns? They seemed important. And so did Marta. And why exactly did Abramov get whacked? And who decided to kill Szara? Were they going to kill him in the spa or did he blow away some guy for no reason? And what about the ending? Szara finally goes on some mission that may actually matter, then he meets someone from his past, and then the spigot turns off.

Okay, even though I just discussed several things I didnt like about this book, it is so long that there is still plenty of room to fit in a really good story. All those things above are true distractions and cause considerable consternation while reading, but I never felt like throwing my Kindle out the window.

Oh yeah. The author is so knowledgeable about this subject that you would think he lived through it. And the book is so well researched that it is as much a history lesson as it is a novel. I immediately ordered book three.

Of all the Night Soldiers books, this is the most intricately and engagingly plotted. The hero, Szara, has the multiply complex identities and political connections of pre-WW2 Eastern Europe. He is by origin a Polish Jew, by conviction a communist during the Stalin purges, by profession a Soviet journalist, and his true occupation is a mid-level Soviet spy.

The action takes place across Europe between 1937 and 1941. Sara is betrayed, seduced, and threatened with death at the frequency of lightning blasts in a thunderstorm. Once he uncovers the source and purpose of each upending of his life, a deeper level of threat becomes evident. Szara somehow deciphers the complex forces against him; the Nazis, Soviet khvosts (cliques) within the Party and intelligence services, and the pervasive anti-Semitism of every European nationality of the time. Within that context, the challenges of life go on, psychological stress, interpersonal and erotic adventuring, and the struggle to be authentic and creative.

This is the story of Szara, a Polish Jew, who works as a journalist and spy for the Russians in the years leading up to the Second World War. As one might expect, there is a complex plot with some interesting twists and some fascinating personalities. There is also a massive amount of history and it’s obvious that Alan Furst has taken his subject seriously and done plenty of research into the origins of the Russian Revolution and the bizarre love-hate relationship between Hitler and Stalin in the 1930s. If I were to pick out a single part of the book for praise, it is the way Alan Furst describes the German invasion of Poland in 1939, beautifully dramatised with immaculate attention to detail.

If one is to be critical, one has to say that the middle third of the book sacrifices pace for historical exposition. The dialogue is unnatural and used to download information rather than to develop character. In places I felt I was reading a textbook rather than a novel. But the historical content is so interesting that many readers won’t mind this at all – I have a friend who has read this book four times and plans to read it again, so plainly the historical content is no obstacle for him.

The quality of the writing in Dark Star is superb, particularly in the early part of the book and in the final section. Furst takes us into a world of intrigue and authenticates it with astonishing attention to period detail. This book is a great read, and in places a great novel.

I have read a number of Alan Furst’s books and enjoyed them – part history and part thrillers. But I am struggling with Dark Star. There are numerous unpronounceable Russian and Slavic names who don’t seem to have any relevance to the story. In fact, I have had to skip several pages just to make some progress. I am about a third of the way through but I’m not at all sure I will persist to the end. It’s probably just me with a tired brain.

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