The World at Night

Alan Furst has discovered a rich vein of historical fiction in his series of books set in the years just before the outbreak of the Second World War and during the Nazi occupation of France and the Balkans. The World at Night Introduces us to Jean Casson, successful film producer and Parisian socialite. It follows his journey from apolitical social gadfly to committed resistance fighter, all the while sprinkling in nuggets of what life was like in occupied France. Furst also give a deeply insightful view of what motivates a person to risk everything for his country…. or perhaps simply for the people he loves.
In some ways Fursts novels are all quite similar. That is NOT a criticisms. In all of his stories Furst explores how people in various parts of Europe, with vastly different skills, resources and obligations, struggle to cope with the forces unleashed on their lives by the coming of the War. His ability to capture both the atmosphere and the details of that era make the stories little jewels of both the spy genre and historical fiction.

Don’t be mislead by the apparently gentle pace. This builds until eventually the reader is only too well aware of the menace of the Nazi occupation of France. The words are like poetry; here is an author I will always wish to keep beside me. His knowledge of Paris is superb – I lived there six years and yet I fully expected to catch him out on some detail, but no. I couldn’t wait to move on to the next book. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

In the Paris of 1940, Jean Casson is a French motion-picture producer with a relatively prosperous life. He has made some decent films, he has work coming in, he is well-liked by the ladies of the city, and he has a steady circle of upper middle class friends. When the Nazis invade Belgium, it is, of course, the talk of the entire nation, but the French are confident that, having been victorious over Germany in 1918, they will blacken Hitler’s eye if he pivots toward France.

The sheer speed and efficiency of the invading German forces, however, quickly puts the lie to that notion, and France surrenders with barely a whimper, divided into an occupied territory and the Zone Non-Occupee (ZNO) – Vichy France, under the control of the puppet, Marshall Ptain. Like every other Parisian, Casson struggles to adjust to his new reality, convinced that the invaders are simply one more thing with which they must cope.

And it against this backdrop that the reader is introduced to life under foreign military occupation: the bureaucracy, the monitoring, the rationing, the sudden loss of status, and the struggle to lead something close to a normal existence. Casson at first tries to continue his life and career as if nothing had happened – shopping a script for a new film and pursuing the beauiful Citrine, perhaps the only woman he has ever truly loved – but the fatalistic idea that life will simply go on gradually becomes impossible, and Casson must choose between submission or resistance.

“The World at Night” is the fourth volume in Alan Furst’s loosely connected tales of espionage in World War II, and it marks a bit of departure from the previous books. Focusing on an ordinary citizen rather than intelligence operatives or soldiers, the story instead shows us a different kind of wartime experience – one that will be more familiar to most readers, and therefore, in some ways, more impactful. It is a story not of glory or heroics, but of adaptation, determination, tragedy and small victories often rooted as much in chance and survival instinct as in forethought and bravery.

“The World at Night” is not at the same elite level of literature as Furst’s “Night Soldiers” or “The Polish Officer,” but that’s an incredibly difficult level of achievement to maintain, and it is nonetheless a compelling work. As the author continues to paint a picture that spans a universe of experiences during the second world war, the story of Jean Casson is a worthy addition.

First, a general comment on Furst’s WW2 era novels. This is the sixth Furst novel I’ve read. I have loved reading WW2 history for most of my 60 years but the emotional connection to the time and events always seemed distant, elusive, just out of reach. Furst’s novels (and Pillip Kerr’s ‘Bernie Gunter’ novels, too) have finally let me ‘live in the moment’ more than any experience I’ve had through any other medium, like movies, or TV, no matter how well made they are. Furst conveys the culture, the fashions, the very atmosphere (literally, weather, temperature, sky), sounds and smells of this world of Europe on the brink of war. His characters become real because the gives them context, motivations, character and abilities that make them believable within their times and places. You can actually learn the geography, climate and character and cultural quirks of major European cities, particularly the Paris of this era. These books are literally paper time machines.
This novel is a typically good evocation of Paris as the Battle of France happens and its aftermath. The ending is not satisfactory, as others have pointed out and you should read the sequel, Red Gold to tie it up. Still, if you ever wondered what it was like for the French living in occupied France, this is as close as you will get to feeling it.

Granted, Alan Furst is an acquired taste – see the unfavourable reviews. But there is a great deal to enjoy for readers who buy into his episodic structure and evocative recreation of period.

The author has cultivated a niche for himself: France, and fundamentally Paris, in the 1940s. It is a Paris of German occupation, of the shadow world of espionage, of fear and betrayal, and of forlorn love affairs. His novels are stories of the human spirit battling against melancholy, people to whom life happens.

The protagonist of The World at Night is Jean-Claude Casson, a film producer of only modest success. When war comes to France he is first a soldier and then a secret agent (for whom he is never quite sure)

His relationship with the actress Citrine is also ambiguous but it reads as convincingly as do the background details of the film industry and the manufacture of light bulbs. This is as good as anything Furst has given us so far,

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