Up on the main Deighton Dossier website I've added
a new gallery page showing more of the locations in Berlin which feature heavily in the books and in the Thames TV adaptation.
I've reproduced three of the shots below. Berlin really is one of the key characters in the nine-volume series; though the city has changed dramatically from the time the books were written, the key locations which anchor the narrative are still visible:
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| The Soviet Army HQ at Karlshorst, source of the leaked intercept which is at the heart of the deception in the Game, Set and Match series of novels |
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| The Müggelheimerdamm, where Werner exfiltrates agent Dr Walter von Munte |
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Location of the hostage transfer of Werner Volkmann and Erich Stinnes at the end of London Match
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These were the landmarks then, and in some form exist now; the question is did Deighton use them in a memorable way. As for the "The Soviet Army HQ at Karlshorst.." read the interesting: http://www.abandonedberlin.com/2010/04/soviet-swansong-abandoned-military.html
ReplyDeleteFredrick Forsyth does so beautifully about Germany landmarks of those years which he so seamlessly and brilliantly weaves into his narrative strands in his best seller: " The Odessa File". The buildings, the roads etc.. become his inanimate characters; for example in “Odessa File”, when he describes Peter Miller driving through the Ruhr industrial expanse, the narrative so rich with such objects. Even a non-driver like me can enjoy this. He first showed his superb skill in his brilliant first novel:" The Day of the Jackal" in which the Paris landmarks were so well merged in his story. When one looks through the gates of the Elysee Palace and then walks through Champs Elysees, one is reminded of his excellent narrative of de Gaulle driven through before his car was showered by the bullets from the hit men hired by the OAS.