Funeral in Berlin (Penguin Modern Classics)

I too, like other reviewers, have re-read this book after such a long time. The Cold War and references to it and echoes of the intelligence world of that time still resonate as if it were yesterday. So for me (as an 80 year old Cold War "warrior"), Deighton's storyline, with all it "details", is "real" and understandable (I'll say no more about my own knowledge of that world) and, like the other two books of his "Harry Palmer" trilogy, are still a delight to read. However, in this book Deighton errs, and errs badly: He writes about Treblinka and the "forced march" away from the camp as the Russian army was approaching. I'm sure many who have a knowledge of the Holocaust, and especially of the death camps (Treblinka, Sobibor and Chelmo) will know that there was no forced march from Treblinka. There was an escape attempt and it partially succeeded (some 600 tried to get out, only some 400 (I think) succeeded and of those only 67 made it to the end of the War. I rely on Deighton's accuracy in his fictional and non-fictional story-telling (where appropriate) and so I was somewhat surprised at this mistake. Nevertheless, it is a great story and well worth the re-visit.

Splendid creation of the iron curtain times.

Funeral in Berlin is a great book. Len Deighton tells a complex story of spying, corruption and genuine fear in the heart of a literary divided Berlin. The nameless hero is both heroic and cynical but is also very believed too. A story that is both gripping and tense also stands up really well.

Great film but a better book

Maybe I just can't get past the name 'Len'?

"Stok waited while the grey-haired one closed the door behind her. Then he said, 'Let's stop quarrelling, shall we?''You mean personally?' I said. 'Or are you speaking on behalf of the Soviet Union?'"When Len Deighton's Cold War spy stories appeared in the first half of the 1960s they were welcomed as painting a more realistic picture of the world of espionage than did the fantasy world of James Bond. Whether it is actually a true picture or not, Deighton certainly makes you FEEL as if you are getting a glimpse of the real spy world.In my view, Deighton's first four spy novels are by far his best. These are: "The Ipcress File"; "Horse Under Water"; "Funeral in Berlin"; and "Billion Dollar Brain". I feel that after this period Deighton went downhill, losing the lightness of touch and sharpness that characterise these four books.Three of these four were also transferred to the big screen: "The Ipcress File" and "Funeral in Berlin" are quite good films; the film version of "Billion Dollar Brain" is best forgotten.It has been rightly pointed out that the nameless narrator (who becomes Michael Caine's "Harry Palmer" in the films) is reminiscent of Raymond Chandler's private detective, Philip Marlowe, but transferred from the world of crime to the world of espionage. The two characters certainly both have the same mixture of wise-cracking humour, cynicism, sharpness of mind, and integrity. (Though with Deighton's character there is less emphasis on the last of these - his job involves more deviousness than Marlowe's.)The other "realistic" spy story writer who came along at about the same time as Deighton was John Le Carre. But I've always preferred Deighton (at least the early Deighton), as I find Le Carre's books rather humourless and bleak. (Though the TV version of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" with Alec Guinness is brilliant.)Although Deighton's leading character (like Deighton himself, presumably) is on the side of the West, "Funeral in Berlin" is cynical about both sides in the Cold War. On the one hand, the Russian Colonel Stok makes telling criticisms of Western capitalism. But on the other, there are sideswipes against "communism", too, as when a character comes out with the joke: "Capitalism is the exploitation of man by man. Yes? Well socialism is exactly the reverse."If you substitute the word "Stalinism" for "socialism" in that joke, I would certainly agree that BOTH systems are based on exploitation. The so-called "communist" states of Russia, China, Eastern Europe etc were/are actually forms of bureaucratic state capitalism, not socialism. Genuine socialism would be democratic, and it would not build a Berlin Wall to stop people escaping! As someone once said, "The Free World is not really free, and the Communist World is not really communist.""Funeral in Berlin" is excellent entertainment, but we also need to remember that the real world of secret services is a nasty one. They do not just spy on each other. They spy on (and often persecute) dissenting voices within their own countries, and they conduct dirty tricks such as the toppling of elected governments (as the CIA did in Chile). There are no heroes or "good guys" in the real secret world: just villains on both sides.Phil Webster.

A wonderfully paced spy novel set during the cold war.. made into a film starring Michael Caine as Harry Palmer (the unnamed hero in the novel).Highly recommended to lovers of this genreMarion in Hailey UK

Re reading this after thirty years and had forgotten the thread of humour that runs through the book. Made me smile.Whilst written a long time ago the writing has not dated and it is still a thoroughly good read