16th December 2024 - Finished Book Series
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Yesterday I managed to finish a series of books I started earlier this 
year. The series is a set of 9 books with a prequel by Len Deighton. I 
started them around May. The series are known as the Bernard Samson 
series, after the main character. The series starts with a book called 
Berlin Game and ends with Charity. I have written this while trying to 
avoid spoilers. This is rather difficult as 1 incident ends up driving 
the whole series!

Bernard Samson is a spy working for the UK SIS (MI6) and has an 
intimate knowledge of Berlin. He went to school there and grew up as 
a Berliner. His life was one spent crossing the Berlin Wall in 
multiple directions. This series does not glamorise spies. It is 
filled with realities. Bernard is middle aged and a family man. It 
just so happens his work involves spying. 

The series are written in a way where you can drop in without having 
read the previous books. It does help to read in order and there are 
definately books not to start. However, those are books 6 and 7. You 
are unlikely to start with those. I actually started with book 2, 
Mexico Set. I found that I gained a little from going back to book 1, 
Berlin Game, but I had a great time reading without feeling a need to 
stop and go to book 1. This is a stated aim from Len Deighton and one 
which he succeeds. He manages to do recaps and introduces 
relationships without making it boring or not providing enough clues 
for the reader to work things out. 

One of the big surprises with this series is that it not really about 
spying. Yes, spying is a key theme but actually it is about 
relationships. You have the relationship between Bernard and his boss, 
Dickie, members of the department, his wife, his father in law, his 
children and so many others. A common theme seems to be the battles of 
the work place. There are office politics, the drama of working for 
people you feel do not deserve their role and trying to find security 
where there is little to have. You meet all manner of people such as 
Silas Gaunt, a formidable strategist who retired but is constantly 
consulted or Dickie Cruyer, a typical vain tit of a man with an 
Oxbridge background. The reader is inducted into the madness of the UK 
Civil Service where studying at Oxford matters more than subject 
matter knowledge or competence. 

Of course, the main relationship is Berlin. We have Berlin in the 70s 
and 80s. It is a gritty place which is divided by the ever present 
wall. Len Deighton loves the city regardless of it being a grey and 
cold place filled with blocks of flats. You learn about the history 
through the views of characters such as tante Lisl, the proprieter of 
the hotel which Bernard grew up in and keeps returning to. She is an 
elderly woman who was very much part of the Kaiser's Germany and had a 
delightful time during the Weimar years. The prequal, Winter, does go 
into a lot of detail about these years along with the Nazi period. It 
is hard to not love the Berlin in this series of books. It is gritty, 
smelly and yet filled with characters. You frequently come across 
various former school friends of Bernard's and learn what has become 
of them. 

There are some troublesome language moments. These books were written 
in the 80s and 90s while reflecting attitudes of the 70s and 80s. 
There are some racial terms which raised my eye brows. Some of the 
domestic arrangements tend to show a particular attitude. However, 
there are strong female characters who clearly are fantastic at their 
jobs and have their fun moments. Some of these things are likely to be 
due to the series being mostly from the view point of people who grew 
up in the 1940s and 1950s. 

There are significant twists and turns throughout the series but they 
don't feel ridiculous. Instead, they keep you wanting to turn those 
pages. This is an ideal series to read while travelling. It is easy 
reading while being thrilling. I often found myself thinking about 
points made long after putting the books down. I also found myself 
blasting through books in hours rather than days. I read the last 2 
books within a day and a half. Admittedly this was a lazy radio filled 
Sunday but still! 

This was a fun series to read and one which I was glad to stumble 
into. I heartily recommend reading this series. Just be ready for it 
to suck you in.