tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57646310397555603382024-03-08T20:21:22.945+00:00The Deighton DossierThis is a blog about the books, film and world of British thriller and spy novel author Len Deighton, writer of The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, SS-GB, Bomber, Berlin Game and many other books. This blog also covers the spy thriller genre and the Cold War more widely.
It is a companion website to the main Deighton Dossier archive (link on the right).
It is the only website + blog endorsed by the author himself!
Content (c) Rob Mallows 2008-22 unless otherwise stated.Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.comBlogger428125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-62464999137565941992023-12-08T09:06:00.008+00:002023-12-08T15:09:46.368+00:00Harry Palmer on the Town<p>Recently I found online - after searching for it for over ten years - a copy of <i>Town</i> <i>Magazine</i> from July 1966, with a great feature written at the time that the Funeral in Berlin film was being made in the West German capital.</p><p><i>Town Magazine</i> was in the 'sixties one of the first true 'men's magazines' - in its broadest sense; obviously, being the sixties, there are features on pretty girls - including girls featuring in Bond films - but there are, like Playboy had at the time in the States, plenty of articles on deep topics around politics, science, culture etc. Town is a far cry from the 'nineties 'lads mags' in the UK, like <i>Zoo</i> and <i>Loaded</i>.</p><p>What comes across strongly in this feature is that one film in, Michael Caine was still not yet a global superstar; more, he was an up and comer. But you already get from reading this article a sense that he was on a trajectory to stardom.</p><p>What's fascinating about finding and reading through decades-old magazines is seeing just how different the adverts are and what consumer sensibilities advertisers appealed to: the back cover is for cigarettes, and there are adverts for sports cars, tailored suits, after shave and Terylene trousers</p><p>Anyway, take a look at the article 'Son of IPCRESS':</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEido0-NFEq3NJ8_w3jO1uDr7sq15gx64v0owZxJ1WqL5uXyIKEe6KUlyv0hgzWUdFrK6QuDEZ53LomuHj78EY55DojQqMbtDxk2G1NN5uXtdioOebOVtjcxz9Yiol-_BldVUzFbBetRvZytv8g_roWJ4vHlhc-xtCJESu-h6PuRSMoAe1NeDmg1I-hg5VWw/s4032/Town%20July%201966%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEido0-NFEq3NJ8_w3jO1uDr7sq15gx64v0owZxJ1WqL5uXyIKEe6KUlyv0hgzWUdFrK6QuDEZ53LomuHj78EY55DojQqMbtDxk2G1NN5uXtdioOebOVtjcxz9Yiol-_BldVUzFbBetRvZytv8g_roWJ4vHlhc-xtCJESu-h6PuRSMoAe1NeDmg1I-hg5VWw/w480-h640/Town%20July%201966%201.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSz3wWpypIJ7OjVhrpm4nYf6lKw4MU2LyEbfd2fV6VXZD6Km6Z6JQ23GzhorowmzPL5rVrbmqyVna-2_XNc_jP4v6MYG0udZzaZKndXKngd76ajKGdKERX-il4gyJrjG6MbQRWfLbn5wBRdJRqMF5FTbl5eyJlNhNtMBE9hp_YejMK7qmEUrMkV6viIl3B/s4032/Town%20July%201966%202%20Watermarked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSz3wWpypIJ7OjVhrpm4nYf6lKw4MU2LyEbfd2fV6VXZD6Km6Z6JQ23GzhorowmzPL5rVrbmqyVna-2_XNc_jP4v6MYG0udZzaZKndXKngd76ajKGdKERX-il4gyJrjG6MbQRWfLbn5wBRdJRqMF5FTbl5eyJlNhNtMBE9hp_YejMK7qmEUrMkV6viIl3B/w480-h640/Town%20July%201966%202%20Watermarked.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuOWOfJQDM7wLBaP730u8uDZ9J0jIq_EbV2AujvX5aTBQKU6luBchNmVN2RdJfLO-IVO1UzEEGMBJaQ7DwQJSBVboNZKFmTcFnzzXYtYGjCNZb4cjveELn2qPs9zw8jUV2pm_oVFjJ8H14ziaB0tAmT-Npt9sksRRcePEeS-8Yn4FUfaJ3Lsiz663NcvP/s4032/Town%20July%201966%203%20Watermarked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuOWOfJQDM7wLBaP730u8uDZ9J0jIq_EbV2AujvX5aTBQKU6luBchNmVN2RdJfLO-IVO1UzEEGMBJaQ7DwQJSBVboNZKFmTcFnzzXYtYGjCNZb4cjveELn2qPs9zw8jUV2pm_oVFjJ8H14ziaB0tAmT-Npt9sksRRcePEeS-8Yn4FUfaJ3Lsiz663NcvP/w480-h640/Town%20July%201966%203%20Watermarked.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_jba0R9_X9A5NkLH8WJmiSNhyIi_J2MEw4Ig6OJTpPjDa1XClg6Suh-1OJo4Z1DDBzDcYj2HZYctKW6Ls_6dS7SRfpLnuoc2pDRGsmpNVecVYKs1njp4NjpNVyI4h0D30VQIePg9DkmgD3GxBUCMMij4qTjLXv1F_AeZLXDaORMz3QJe8yQZoGQeU9MU/s4032/Town%20July%201966%204%20Watermarked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_jba0R9_X9A5NkLH8WJmiSNhyIi_J2MEw4Ig6OJTpPjDa1XClg6Suh-1OJo4Z1DDBzDcYj2HZYctKW6Ls_6dS7SRfpLnuoc2pDRGsmpNVecVYKs1njp4NjpNVyI4h0D30VQIePg9DkmgD3GxBUCMMij4qTjLXv1F_AeZLXDaORMz3QJe8yQZoGQeU9MU/w480-h640/Town%20July%201966%204%20Watermarked.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcW04wTqC1aMOVvaI9QnVohlM-non_NESIZ0AR2JdY1Xjyxw4Mr7ywJIsPJZnSKiLjPUDSo_ptEdFM1OIpJB1g4R2lSdxV4HoGnrybrYtXNTYwxn7fgSYID0P5fzlqNCnEoPsSp67EIV3EoMY6QBGMUcrBCrYf801dmdiPiP-bMOzehZglEDL6aFogZo1Y/s4032/Town%20July%201966%205%20Watermarked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcW04wTqC1aMOVvaI9QnVohlM-non_NESIZ0AR2JdY1Xjyxw4Mr7ywJIsPJZnSKiLjPUDSo_ptEdFM1OIpJB1g4R2lSdxV4HoGnrybrYtXNTYwxn7fgSYID0P5fzlqNCnEoPsSp67EIV3EoMY6QBGMUcrBCrYf801dmdiPiP-bMOzehZglEDL6aFogZo1Y/w480-h640/Town%20July%201966%205%20Watermarked.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEispcl7GHrdoLXvSd9Z62Ks4RCW-eiZ-1-RReejWR13DGFo7LGlpGPvBW1NS1NcdsVECorfCU0bh_gZLVBIvsuknrLGlmQyGA4byMYGfyQU9yfru27c-UbNXnFCDZ7xIbTPsMN37EVXBenP4-_LcnmtmwDwgfvCms7crJOoJUgS5BkRDs35ymiwfRsBrC9k/s4032/Town%20July%201966%206%20Watermarked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEispcl7GHrdoLXvSd9Z62Ks4RCW-eiZ-1-RReejWR13DGFo7LGlpGPvBW1NS1NcdsVECorfCU0bh_gZLVBIvsuknrLGlmQyGA4byMYGfyQU9yfru27c-UbNXnFCDZ7xIbTPsMN37EVXBenP4-_LcnmtmwDwgfvCms7crJOoJUgS5BkRDs35ymiwfRsBrC9k/w480-h640/Town%20July%201966%206%20Watermarked.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><span><!--more--></span><span><!--more--></span>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-52514919629459243172023-08-21T19:20:00.006+01:002023-08-21T19:22:22.427+01:00"Sprechen Sie Deutsch, English?"I have recently picked up a very rare and interesting book - the German first hardback edition of <b>The IPCRESS File</b>.<div><br /></div><div>I've never seen a copy before. Sure, there are plenty of German paperback ('taschenbuch') editions out there from the sixties, from this and the other 'Harry Palmer' novels. But until now, I'd never seen this particular edition.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's around 1cm shorter and 1.5cm narrower than the UK first edition. I've noticed for many years that with other German editions, the range of standard sizes differs ever so slightly to English and US publishing standards, which you can see when they're aligned on the bookshelf. Plus, on the spine - and I've always preferred this - Germans present the title from the bottom up, whereas English publishers present it top down. </div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps because I'm left-handed, somehow it seems to make more sense.</div><div><br /></div><div>The cover image is very spy-fiction: the disembodied eye. What's more interesting is that the back cover of the book (published three years after the UK first edition), has the famous photo of Len Deighton lunching with Ian Fleming, and the inside dust jacket flap has more information about other James Bond books the publisher - Scherz - has produced.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mvajtqmexwNVUfQQfiu7E-D6ZE8CfR8w_dKDeKxaX4J2Te4f598D1olH03L9XR9IWecZQuJEzb0nV1gYVQjfemWIhuO2r7inen5ES9xseQCpt0Xot0iqb_qtyXLneuPlzx3aYgJNw1w7dDcWATBG3tyYPz8yRKOKqtQZyqTzww9OHl52YZFS8W6HQRnC/s4032/IMG_3345.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mvajtqmexwNVUfQQfiu7E-D6ZE8CfR8w_dKDeKxaX4J2Te4f598D1olH03L9XR9IWecZQuJEzb0nV1gYVQjfemWIhuO2r7inen5ES9xseQCpt0Xot0iqb_qtyXLneuPlzx3aYgJNw1w7dDcWATBG3tyYPz8yRKOKqtQZyqTzww9OHl52YZFS8W6HQRnC/w480-h640/IMG_3345.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3ul5dFwDEu0eOiumSkULRK09BKO_QxSkCe6u2PI1mQtAPyEYrHJmIZ6uIdsgF9Ls60nT6tHWICHVMVYgjRn3GJG8xYXJj_NKPNl10o5Zj2on-uDQgivWgdn5plrTKK86UT_s2aWoDib2f6_WlTCjqxnMtzTluGds7JfPhBHf99CodoDw2PPQgmxzf99n/s4032/IMG_3346.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3ul5dFwDEu0eOiumSkULRK09BKO_QxSkCe6u2PI1mQtAPyEYrHJmIZ6uIdsgF9Ls60nT6tHWICHVMVYgjRn3GJG8xYXJj_NKPNl10o5Zj2on-uDQgivWgdn5plrTKK86UT_s2aWoDib2f6_WlTCjqxnMtzTluGds7JfPhBHf99CodoDw2PPQgmxzf99n/w480-h640/IMG_3346.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>I speak reasonable German (though I wouldn't say I'm fluent), so it's interesting to dip into the book and read a familiar story, with familiar characters, in an unfamiliar (for them) language. It gives you a keen understanding of the role of the translator: his or her job is never to simply offer direct translations of each word or sentence, or just to parse one syntax into another. </div><div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>They have the fascinating and difficult task of first identifying the meaning in the original - often tough when the author is using idiomatic humour, sarcasm, allusion or other linguistic tools, then finding the right words and phrasing which convey the same meaning, without necessarily the same words or sentence structure.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are some straightforward differences. For a start, the title is different: it has no definite article. Instead, it is <b>IPCRESS - streng geheim</b>, in effect IPCRESS - 'top secret'. More obviously spy-fiction adjacent than the original title.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's very easy - as with reading any text in a non-native language, but particularly so in German - to be caught out by so-called 'false friends', words which on the face of it seem easy to translate, but are not in fact so. </div><div><br /></div><div>For example, each chapter of the original starts with a horoscope. Chapter 3's is:</div><div><blockquote><i>"Wasserman (20. Jan. - 19. Feb.) Sie haben sich vielleicht zu sehr auf die Absichten and Ideen andere Leute verlassen. Völlige Umstellung wird Ihnen gut tun."</i></blockquote></div><div>I hadn't read the book for a few years and so it took a few seconds for it to click that a 'water man' was in fact referring to Aquarius, the horoscope. Then, the translation in my head made sense.</div><div><br /></div><div>The actual passage in the US first edition is below, and you can see how the translator has been pretty literal here in their choice of translation into the German, which still conveys the knowing sense of the words, as they relate to the story unfolding for the nameless protagonist:</div><div><blockquote><i>— Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb. 19) You may be relying too heavily on other people's intentions and ideas. A complete change will do you good. —</i></blockquote><p>This also highlights peculiarities of how each language treats dates (in the UK and first editions, the month comes first - which struck me as an Americanism in itself); these are the small things which the translator has to get right alongside the big stuff. Similarly, the US edition uses em-dashes for speech, while the German using quote marks.</p><p>Harry Palmer's employer is now in this German edition W.O.O.C.(V)., rather than W.O.O.C.(P). Of course, the department acronym is never fully explained except the P being provisional. So, here, V probably stands for <i>Vorläufig</i>, the nearest German translation.</p><p>In places, it also reads like some idiomatic expressions or humorous asides from the protagonist - of which there are many - have been excised, perhaps because the translator simply couldn't get what the author's meaning was for one or other specific turns of phrase. For example, this section in the UK first edition:</p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>"Monday I got to Charlotte Street usual time. A little grey rusting Morris 1000 knelt at the curb, Alice at the controls, I was pretending I hadn't seen her when she called out to me. I got into the car, the motor revved, away we went. We drove in silence a little way then I said, 'I can't find the wet bag of cement to put my feet into,' She turned and cracked her make-up a little. Encouraged, I asked her where we were going.</i></p><p><i>'To bait a raven trap, I believe,' she said.</i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>In the German, the quip about the bag of cement - alluding I think to the doom-laden view the protagonist has of his work with Dalby - is simply not there; presumably, either the translator couldn't find an elegant way to translate it, or he felt it might get in the way of the German readers' comprehension. So translators are, in a way, also editors.</p><p>German syntax is structured differently to English - the active verb is often at the end of a sentence, meaning as a reader you only really discover the meaning when the verb pops up at the end; with German also employing many fascinatingly complex compound nouns and longer sentences on average than English, as a reader you read with a slightly different rhythm in your head, as meaning is unravelled rather than simply presented.</p><p>Anyway, it's a cracking little edition and I'm finding it a fun exercise to read bits of a very familiar story in a different context. With German being one of the languages of Cold War espionage, it also seems apt for reading a spy novel. </p><p>I have, in my collection, editions of various Deighton novels in different languages, the most obscure being Norwegian and Romanian. That is another whole kettle of fish and I imagine it will be a long, long time until I felt able to tackle that (I speak precisely zero Norwegian or Romanian).</p><p>But, it goes to show that Deighton's works clearly had commercial and cultural appeal across Europe and other parts of the world.</p></div><span><!--more--></span>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-43480061586959085962023-07-29T12:58:00.005+01:002023-07-29T12:59:45.312+01:00The radical act of having a book on your shelf<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaYLF-yQ5OPax293m11HC2Pf8wg_DQyUclsvAh-6b4CcTmWXKsbRE9TCgrGVsUb6d29XG9qijv63ykIVn0dCSjIOWUC3LghIN00BkFsa2Tb2pz68EAoK3orpXs3GvnDJyhC6K12MEWURFLX0iAdnjOg0mjBFpxGZgFkwGkXlDcUUs91XY1utDZhzozpBR/s2560/snowflakes-on-dark-blue-background-SBI-300738781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaYLF-yQ5OPax293m11HC2Pf8wg_DQyUclsvAh-6b4CcTmWXKsbRE9TCgrGVsUb6d29XG9qijv63ykIVn0dCSjIOWUC3LghIN00BkFsa2Tb2pz68EAoK3orpXs3GvnDJyhC6K12MEWURFLX0iAdnjOg0mjBFpxGZgFkwGkXlDcUUs91XY1utDZhzozpBR/w640-h360/snowflakes-on-dark-blue-background-SBI-300738781.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The inevitable snowflake!</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>Any collector of first edition or out-of-print books might think their hobby is immune to the ravages of the "culture wars" which are infecting the body politics on both sides of the Atlantic.</p><p>Far from it.</p><p>As <a href="https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/06/25/collecting-old-books-is-now-a-radical-act/">this interesting article in the UK"s Spiked magazine</a> shows, the simple act of collecting an old or out of print edition of a book is now a radical political act, on a par with the publication of samizdat editions of books in the old Soviet Union.</p><p>Sure, the author exaggerates a little to make a point. But it does highlight concerns I and other collectors have about the growing readiness of publishers to revise new editions of established works - often using the services of the delightfully termed 'sensitivity reader' - and excise from them any sort of "problematic" wording.</p><p>Problematic to whom? Who declares it a problem? Is this agreed by everybody? Is it a genuine assessment, or the opinion of some fruitcake with a Twitter handle?</p><p>I hate the word "problematic". </p><p>It's so mealy-mouthed, and redolent of much of the official corporate jargon that's now a feature of publishing, as well as other industries, for which the risk of offending somebody or some online group now takes precedence over, well, the integrity of the novel, of art, of history.</p><p>This is a new phenomenon - the whole sensitivity industry (for that's what it is) has grown up maybe in just the last decade. But it is affecting many authors that readers of this blog will be familiar with.</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/18/roald-dahl-books-rewritten-to-remove-language-deemed-offensive">Roald Dahl's children's books</a> are a famous victim of this seemingly benign, but in truth dangerous trend to - literally - rewrite the past.</p><p>In the world of spy fiction, <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/james-bond-books-rewritten-remove-29316453">Ian Fleming's novels</a> are now undergoing the same treatment, to remove some of the so-called 'problematic' references which the publisher is worried about.</p><p>In both those (and other) instances, the novelist has passed away and their estates - charged with looking after the interests of the author's works - are, seemingly, happy to go along with this.</p><p>The judgement must be that today's readers, growing up in a society where everything offends someone, should be pandered to; and you can perhaps see a commercial case for doing so. Why risk a Twitter 'pile-on' and put sales under threat.</p><p>But, it's such a cowardly act, I think, not least because it changes the author's words, often without their permission.</p><p>Should we repaint the Last Supper because it is insufficiently diverse? Should Wagner's operas be expunged of any notes that might hint at German nationalism? Do we change the lyrics of 'Dear God' by XTC because the religiously minded don't like it?</p><p>Where does it stop? And who decides?</p><p>The author, I think, must be the arbiter. </p><p>To my knowledge, in the most recent Penguin reissues of Len Deighton's novels, there have been no edits or excisions prompted by sensitivity readers.</p><p>That may be because, although they are written in the sixties, seventies and eighties and nineties, they are not replete with egregious examples of racism, sexism or any other -ism you can think of.</p><p>Sure, there are a few words and characters which a sensitivity reader might baulk at; but, having read most of the novels at least a couple of times, to me these words - auxiliary though they may be - are just as important as any of the key passages or bits of dialogue.</p><p>They were chosen by the author. </p><p>And as a reader, I want to read what the author wrote. I don't want to read what someone <i>thinks</i> I should read.</p><p>The question here is one of integrity.</p><p>Any book, by its very nature, is of its time, and so will also reflect the sensibilities and language of its time. And to that extent, I can see perhaps the sense of adding a publishers' note in the end papers advising readers of that fact. It's merely a guide, a sop to the more sensitive reader, that leaves the book unsullied</p><p>But change the language?</p><p>That feels like a step too far. Any novel represents the author's vision and story, and language and description and dialogue is integral to that. Changing one word, one sentence, one paragraph, or a character's name or description, undermines that cohesive vision.</p><p>There's often a reason an author may have used a racial slur in a book, or gave a character a certain character trait, or presented a character with a physical difficulty. We don't know that reason - and nor should we - so it's not for us to second guess why it's there.</p><p>But it is there, and it should remain there. We can acknowledge it; comment on it; wince at it. But, change it?</p><p>If you're offended by it, well, don't read the book; or, just put the book to one side.</p><p>To push for having the book altered to suit your own sensibilities or that of a certain group in society seems utterly selfish and self-important.</p><p>So, going back to the original article's point, I am, evidently, now a radical. </p><p>I don't feel like one. But I understand the (incredibly minor) role I play as a collector in keeping reality, and truth, and artistic integrity alive.</p><p>Indeed, I also have a full collection of Spike Milligan's works - loved by children and adults alike but, in their subversiveness and (in the case of his war memoirs) unexpurgated frankness, they are ripe for the sensitivity readers chopping block. </p><p>Same with my Tintin first editions.</p><p>Much of their contents would make the average Gen-Z aploplectic. But, I enjoy them, nonetheless.</p><p>By keeping them on my shelves, and perhaps in future passing them on to someone else or selling them through a dealer, I feel some solace that I am undertaking an entirely passive, but revolutionary act, in the name of truth and reality, during this current period of cultural perturbation.</p><p>As if I needed another reason to keep my collection safe, and growing!</p><p>What do you think?</p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-65236701888045679722023-03-03T14:01:00.002+00:002023-03-03T14:13:04.125+00:00Reading versus listening<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifs_IC8h8C1OxjGBxiVK4ZZly1qAYQbdAlJLRxYbC-AonDZHgDLlBeVAihq3uxyysbJ_UDHWH60GSDkOcmHMbww8PA-J2KohZGB4D6q8VuiLO4tU0V9lpHaplt-yfdA91nPIhN7mLKFANDrV3YnyBLDcUUiEU6NtKPI1Qunp2LyxD3AgmKFixexC7poA/s640/Berlin%20Game%20Audiobook.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifs_IC8h8C1OxjGBxiVK4ZZly1qAYQbdAlJLRxYbC-AonDZHgDLlBeVAihq3uxyysbJ_UDHWH60GSDkOcmHMbww8PA-J2KohZGB4D6q8VuiLO4tU0V9lpHaplt-yfdA91nPIhN7mLKFANDrV3YnyBLDcUUiEU6NtKPI1Qunp2LyxD3AgmKFixexC7poA/w480-h640/Berlin%20Game%20Audiobook.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Berlin Game audiobook on cassette, read by Paul Daneman</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span></span>I was recently contacted by email from a reader asking if I knew anything about the actor who read the audiobook of <i>Spy Story</i>, whose performance he particularly enjoyed. I didn't, as it happens, but it made me think about the audiobook phenomenon.<p></p><p>To that end, there were also postings on Deighton Dossier facebook group asking why readers could no longer get many of Deighton's stories on audiobook format in the US (according to the author's agent, this is a temporary phenomenon, as the rights to said audiobooks is currently being renegotiated).</p><p>Judging by a number of posts indicating people prefer to read/listen to Deighton's book in audio form, there's clearly demand for this author's books - and, indeed, many authors' books - in listenable format.</p><p>As a collector of Len Deighton books I have - alongside my first editions, special editions, paperbacks and other phenomena - many of his books as audiobooks. Yet, I've never listened to an audiobook from start to finish.</p><p>Why is that?</p><p>I have nothing against audiobooks<i> per se</i>. They are a perfectly legitimate form of media alongside the printed page, and their popularity has grown massively over the past thirty years or so, particularly with the rise of comapnies like audible.com.</p><p>I can see how they can provide a different experience to a reader, akin to listening to the radio.</p><p>Thinking about them prompted me to take another look at (or should that be, listen to) some of the audiobooks of Len Deighton's novels and see if my feelings were still the same.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>First task: find a tape recorder (remember those?). Most of the audio books I own of Deighton's works are on audio cassette. I managed to find a very old flat, desktop player, which I - literally - had to dust off.<p></p><p>I have, in storage, about 25 different audiobooks of Len Deighton novels: all ten books of the Samson series; <i>Bomber</i>, <i>The Ipcress File</i>, <i>Spy Story</i>, and a number of others. Most are UK editions by Chivers Audiobooks, but with a couple of US editions too.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4CA2PHeugjc6KfrU0qXNXYIbGUOwiFkI4eecgaFlhWmZ60CDVIH69vLlJnPZOzJ9PT08C_pO9Aobt6HUMvKAJ0oKMZagoGXWwWtYG6_od78o8IvBtae_U0TGg181VfIEeEojJtaYE4HzwoafATil_zCUGLLpI7e77MMEx13FtB1zp8ErYNTjRVvHIw/s4032/Bomber%20Audiobook%20Chivers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4CA2PHeugjc6KfrU0qXNXYIbGUOwiFkI4eecgaFlhWmZ60CDVIH69vLlJnPZOzJ9PT08C_pO9Aobt6HUMvKAJ0oKMZagoGXWwWtYG6_od78o8IvBtae_U0TGg181VfIEeEojJtaYE4HzwoafATil_zCUGLLpI7e77MMEx13FtB1zp8ErYNTjRVvHIw/w300-h400/Bomber%20Audiobook%20Chivers.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bomber, read by James Faulkner</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">The publisher</h3><p>A little bit of online research identified that<b> Chivers Audiobooks </b>was a British publisher based in Bath, and they seem to have had their heyday in the 'eighties and 'nineties, when audiobooks - often back then referred to as 'books on tape' - were a small but popular part of the book world, and evidently popular in libraries (a number of mine have library stamps). It was one of the first audiobook success stories, and expanded to have a US arm, Chivers Sound Library</p><p>Chivers was subsequently amalgamated with BBC Audiobooks into a new company owned by BBC Worldwide; it, in turn, was then sold to a US company called AudioGo. That company eventually ran into financial trouble and ceased trading around 2015. I suspect it, like other similar companies, was a victim of the growth of online e-books and streaming and the rise of <b>audible</b> (owned by Amazon), the behemoth of the modern audiobook world.</p><p>Chivers was one of the first companies, according to Wikipedia, to employ British stage and TV actors to narrate their books. Understandable, given that a key function of any audiobook is not just clarity and diction but the capacity, using just the spoken word, to bring characters to life.</p><p>Interestingly, the Chivers audiobooks were published just over a decade after the original spy novels were published, and in quick succession. So, <i>Berlin Game</i> the book was published in 1983, but the audiobook only came out in 1992; <i>XPD</i> was first published in 1981, but the audiobook came out in 1997; <i>Spy Line</i> came out in 1989, and its audio version only four years later.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTSyvG3PnEDMuCLF43YNFLnbXjkVMI_dfuETgqNufoZTX6tnfFedke6dnHB1qQxFNqKrSQw66OGG4vAV-h7_F5ur8fgoHGTpRXvjdMyDBHkAh2_wuGJqPJJCf1rFcWeNSxDde5u5NdSW8c3_D0jgMxXPaBKX5ZfD2aHDRuzHueC8kboG2haz_xjtgBA/s640/Spy%20Line%20Audiobook.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTSyvG3PnEDMuCLF43YNFLnbXjkVMI_dfuETgqNufoZTX6tnfFedke6dnHB1qQxFNqKrSQw66OGG4vAV-h7_F5ur8fgoHGTpRXvjdMyDBHkAh2_wuGJqPJJCf1rFcWeNSxDde5u5NdSW8c3_D0jgMxXPaBKX5ZfD2aHDRuzHueC8kboG2haz_xjtgBA/w300-h400/Spy%20Line%20Audiobook.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spy Line, read by Paul Daneman</td></tr></tbody></table><p>This leads me to think that in the 'late eighties and 'nineties, audiobooks weren't on the radar of the publisher as a core product, with the rights being sold to Chivers who I guess spotted the potential of the market as the idea of books-on-tape grew, secured the rights, and then rushed the back catalogue out.</p><p>Most of the audiobooks I have are UK versions, but there was/is clearly a US market too. I have a couple of audiobooks - this time, on compact disc - from US publisher <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstone_Audio">Blackstone Audio</a>, which is still in existence and is one of the largest independent audiobook publishers.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsW2b9dv1bzbFNh9LES8DNW3JFKnC_3Xibk-wpfPX8kNZ36fbFEmYgw5yhBrZVG5tEua4CyW255APKtSeBZpZQwWrhlO37_Mg7iVE4zX0VcVNybnwiQo99UTnibKFvJ24VcG5SUm3A8QVQccmfzdhgV3GzY7otgV9HQegymObgMCvJSprH1MuetY5b9w/s4032/Faith%20CD%20Audiobook.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsW2b9dv1bzbFNh9LES8DNW3JFKnC_3Xibk-wpfPX8kNZ36fbFEmYgw5yhBrZVG5tEua4CyW255APKtSeBZpZQwWrhlO37_Mg7iVE4zX0VcVNybnwiQo99UTnibKFvJ24VcG5SUm3A8QVQccmfzdhgV3GzY7otgV9HQegymObgMCvJSprH1MuetY5b9w/w300-h400/Faith%20CD%20Audiobook.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Faith, read by Robert Whitfield</td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;">The actors</h3><p>The main British actor which Chivers used in the 1980s to read <i>Berlin Game </i>and many of the other Bernard Samson novels, was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Daneman">Paul Daneman</a>, a RADA-trained actor who did mostly stage and TV dramas in the UK. He certainly has a clear, relatively accentless voice and does a reasonable job as both narrator and interpreting the characters' dialogue, both for male and female characters. His background at RADA means you get more of a 'performance' in each audiobook: they are more than just someone simply reading each of the words in sequence, and his diction and timing seem, well, professional.</p><p>By contracting him for the first six books of the Samson series, there is a continuity for the listener in having the same narrative voice throughout. Based on my collection, Daneman seems to have been Chivers' go-to narrator for their other Deighton books, having also narrated <i>The Ipcress File</i>, <i>Spy Story</i>, <i>Funeral in Berlin</i>, among others.</p><p>But he didn't do all of them: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Faulkner_(actor)">James Faulkner</a> was brought in to read the last three: <i>Faith</i>, Hope and <i>Charity. </i>Evidently, he's still an active actor, having been in Game of Thrones.</p><p>Another British actor called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jayston">Michael Jayston</a> - a member of the Royal Shakespeare, no less - provides the narrator for the short story series <i>Declarations of War</i>, and while the timbre and volume of his voice is obviously different to Daneman's, they both do a perfectly serviceable and entertaining job with the text provided.</p><p>Interestingly, my US edition of <i>Faith </i>also uses a British narrator - Robert Whitfield, but he was not an actor but a former BBC continuity announcer. I imagine form followed function, in that it made sense to US audiences to have an English accent for what was essentially an English spy novel.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The design</h3><p>Among the Chivers audiobooks - all on tape - the packaging is in dimensions very similar to the hardback book, but instead of pages there is a brittle plastic casing, with formed spaces into which up to 16 audio cassettes are placed.</p><p>One things I noticed on many of the audiobooks is that these plastic forms did not always hold the cassette in place very well - and are damaged easily - which must have meant many readers at the time opening the audiobooks and experience three, four or five cassettes falling out one after the other, as I experienced upon re-examining many of these for the first time in many years.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc91lVnEyzPdpsTY6t8PjX4Y1erirvJyeCNqylBB0m-xFW2j0z0DHPFh7kePWEr9agoce467y0pJrmWnMvAzwkO8_sd0G62bV87GvkHwONzngHskGlngEK1JjHx6A0sKWVSOgseT2VECO-_jBYvchx0j1R_4QvgXzjGshMbH8K55LcPY8CVcLnWP6_gg/s4032/Declarations%20of%20War%20Audiobook.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc91lVnEyzPdpsTY6t8PjX4Y1erirvJyeCNqylBB0m-xFW2j0z0DHPFh7kePWEr9agoce467y0pJrmWnMvAzwkO8_sd0G62bV87GvkHwONzngHskGlngEK1JjHx6A0sKWVSOgseT2VECO-_jBYvchx0j1R_4QvgXzjGshMbH8K55LcPY8CVcLnWP6_gg/w300-h400/Declarations%20of%20War%20Audiobook.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Declarations of War, illustrated by Gordon Chubb</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>For the Chivers' editions, many of the covers use the same illustration as on the book: <i>Declarations of War</i> uses the illustration by Gordon Chubb used on the paperback versions of the book; whereas <i>Spy Hook </i>uses a brand new uncredited design based around the Berlin Wall, <i>Spy Line</i> uses a line drawing of a barbed wire barb, hinting again at the Wall.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The experience</h3><p>Removing the requirement to read - which takes concentration and a modicum of energy - and simply asking the reader to listen is an altogether different phenomenon from simply opening a book. For a start, the narrator has a distinct, external voice; when one reads - and I assume it's the same for everyone - the narrative voice sounding out the words is likely to be your own, familiar voice. </p><p>So, there's something new for a reader who maybe is used to reading and 'hearing' their own voice, as I am. It's certainly not an unpleasant experience, and it's best done sitting down in a chair, relaxed, with a nice drink, because it does require concentration. On tape or CD, you do also as a listener/reader have the option of pressing pause - just as you can always put the bookmark in the book - if the doorbell rings, or if you wish to get a drink.</p><p>I did try listening to one book in bed, but - and I'm sure this isn't a new phenomenon - I found myself drifting off to sleep and, consequently, waking up with the narration having moved on. So, I don't think for me an audiobook would work in the same way - or be as satisfying - as simply being tucked up in bed with the novel itself.</p><p>Most importantly, the big difference I found was the odd sensation of hearing the words of Bernard Samson, or the unnamed spy of the first few novels, differently to the 'voice' I'd attributed in my imagination to that character whenever I'd read them.</p><p>And yet, I don't feel this sense of oddness, and dislocation, when watching the ITV adaptation of <i>Game, Set and Match </i>or any of the Harry Palmer movies. And I think that's because on the movie or TV screen, as a viewer you have multiple sources of information - dialogue, visuals, background sound, music - to concentrate on, so you don't notice voices quite so intently as when there is just one, the narrator.</p><p>Audiobooks are - invariably - a single voice, performing all the functions that, as a reader, you perform yourself. So, it felt a little like being in the mind of a second reader, which perhaps shouldn't be surprising. I can certainly see the value of audiobooks to some readers, and on picking out the odd example from my collection I could imagine myself one day listening to one, from start to finish.</p><p>But, I don't foresee myself doing so any time soon.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Conclusions</h3><p>Whether it's Len Deighton's books, or any other novel, I like to be my own narrator, and build the characters for myself. Audiobooks, for me, remove that degree of control and therefore provide a slightly different, but maybe no less rewarding, 'reading' experience.</p><p>I don't currently have an audible account or own any books in .mp3 format, or stream them. Yet, many readers clearly do and for any author, what counts is not whether the 'reader' experiences the book in paper, electronic or tape format ... but whether they enjoy what you've written.</p><p>And in whatever format, as a long-standing reader, I continue to enjoy Deighton's novels.</p><p>What's your experience of using audiobooks - either for Len Deighton novels or for any other novel. Do you use audiobooks alone? Do you like books and audiobooks? Or are you, like me, sticking with paper?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-31030168112457729212022-09-21T12:14:00.002+01:002022-09-21T15:52:42.199+01:00A different kind of Dossier: the Jackdaw 'JFK Assassination' special<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYrPF3suNlQEMmywlpc73FSiIfDOQBGEaIL3obYiUzw8ScwTz-TXnW5kbtJxVSCF6MPloQ4lWj6gyIqAz8ip9BiajrF6FKYukbaXKdtmn_KwcrfwDEgIf2kF0XSSwzJKkCJG0PvzufeeO-_tY8f9pLheZ5gGDB9ctlEbqnSTL4DK2gmuCsW5EqsYqxA/s4032/IMG_3016.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYrPF3suNlQEMmywlpc73FSiIfDOQBGEaIL3obYiUzw8ScwTz-TXnW5kbtJxVSCF6MPloQ4lWj6gyIqAz8ip9BiajrF6FKYukbaXKdtmn_KwcrfwDEgIf2kF0XSSwzJKkCJG0PvzufeeO-_tY8f9pLheZ5gGDB9ctlEbqnSTL4DK2gmuCsW5EqsYqxA/w640-h480/IMG_3016.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br />An email conversation with a fellow collector recent alighted upon the topic of "The Assassination of President Kennedy", the folder (not book) of essays and pictures about the assasination of the US president compiled and designed by Michael Rand, Howard Loxton and Len Deighton.<p></p><p>The conversation was prompted by seeing an <a href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384983304550?hash=item59a2cb0966:g:cYAAAOSw-6liv8ye&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAoJUZdGamTe+1gZ475pM1Qvh9ADjVQ884K7NAySfvjTnJkJYnZ8ImtUV8ZbTlwiO1mSd8eY5fEE6XQmAQj7L9R3TyUX88AbyXgq/Dxqg9B2GXC4TzSS9G6zGTyUmc2cUTuBaK1SEXg/O83MSO/xHrR5nlPPZs3lbYSYTGSKOijq+/PU2UNjV1E/oha4ynIDN9LKXXchCeoHXj/2gNio1M7K8=|tkp:Bk9SR6zY5J7oYA">eBay listing</a> for a pristine, signed copy of the Jackdaw Folder, valued at over £1,000! The price perhaps reflects that it's signed by the author, but even so, it's pretty steep. As a collector I've been tempted many times to pay over the odds for a rare Deighton, but that took my breath away. I fear the seller may have to temper their outlook.</p><p>Nevertheless, it prompted me to take my copy off the shelf, and look at it again, something I haven't done for a number of years in point of fact. And, to consider its value as a 'book', a collectable item, and its place within the wider canon of Deighton books.</p><p>It's one of the favourite items I own with a Deighton collection, for many reasons. It's format is unusual, and well designed. It's an interesting subject matter. It's rare, which is always a draw for a collector. And, perhaps, given the subject material, it's an even-handed attempt to address the most controversial of topics for which there are a thousands of books all telling a different angle on the story.</p><p>If you've only read Deighton's novels, you may not be aware of this unusual entry in his catalogue. Let's explore it further.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">What is it?</span></h2><p>This item is certainly an outlier in Deighton's catalogue. For a start, it's not a book. It's a folder, containing a number of loose-leaf items pertaining to the 1963 assassination, thematically presented to provide the reader with the basic information about the case and an insight into the discussion around it. These are:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>A scale model in card paper of Deeley Plaza, which the reader can build to better understand the <i>mise en scene</i> of the assassination</li><li>A facsimile of an anti-Kennedy poster circulated in Dallas</li><li>A photograph of the assassination</li><li>A summary of the autopsy report included in the Warren Commission</li><li>Illustrations of the President's wounds</li><li>The FBI report on the autopsy</li><li>A descriptive sheet of the autopsy</li><li>A photo of the President's bloodied shirt</li><li>Jackie Kennedy's official testimony to the Warren Commission</li><li>Warren Commission document 767</li><li>An advertisement for the rifle used by the assassin</li><li>A reproduced of the alleged weapon</li><li>A list of questions raised by the evidence</li><li>Five broadsheet essays covering the different aspects of the case.</li></ol><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUVn5TQXERgQAXgrF7k7pV0MClNAzKMyzl7ypoEe6Jho-azusVktNN-0KGHBaUWMUsc06EuUKy0Hx4yyWbmm-oGZzcGS2leWDh9W-pdh262YKRk3FerETtGXXbWpakrGds7Y_vlQVQrlsn7mPSbAQJZ1u-rRKr16DUk-WjzCEhGvXtQ6FUA1o5UZzrQ/s4032/IMG_3017.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUVn5TQXERgQAXgrF7k7pV0MClNAzKMyzl7ypoEe6Jho-azusVktNN-0KGHBaUWMUsc06EuUKy0Hx4yyWbmm-oGZzcGS2leWDh9W-pdh262YKRk3FerETtGXXbWpakrGds7Y_vlQVQrlsn7mPSbAQJZ1u-rRKr16DUk-WjzCEhGvXtQ6FUA1o5UZzrQ/w640-h480/IMG_3017.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqKlYjH42xS1T0Ad2pJIeiCMAJwqI7wmV-kHy360pIZIiCq_91HvKs0b3AH30zqEidlSY41LUOChMJRo_vDZuVzacExo2l8queC658LsP5syknHWZEoi_TqP2tVpnks9zgcNsiVL-POhtTUyN8ny7N3HkJyvXI5YLyFcLUjvMKdGwpG5iUQs6DLWdCA/s4032/IMG_3018.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqKlYjH42xS1T0Ad2pJIeiCMAJwqI7wmV-kHy360pIZIiCq_91HvKs0b3AH30zqEidlSY41LUOChMJRo_vDZuVzacExo2l8queC658LsP5syknHWZEoi_TqP2tVpnks9zgcNsiVL-POhtTUyN8ny7N3HkJyvXI5YLyFcLUjvMKdGwpG5iUQs6DLWdCA/w640-h480/IMG_3018.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br />However, it's not by any means a source of information for conspiracy nuts. It's a reasoned, well put-together and interesting alternative to a dense book, for someone coming to the subject first time, such as school children.<p></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Who contributed?</span></h2><p>Len Deighton is one of three authors. <b>Michael Rand</b> was the Sunday Times Magazine's art director for thirty years, someone who would have been known to Deighton as a fellow graphic designer and from his time working on a number of feature articles in the same magazine.</p><p>As to <b>Howard Loxton</b>, the third contribution, an online search didn't produce anything concrete as to his connection to the other two authors, or his wider contribution to literature and design. (If any blog readers can thrown any light on him, do please add a comment). My suspicion is that, like Rand, he too was involved in the publishing or magazine world, so likely a companion of the author.</p><p>It's not clear which specific elements or essays Deighton wrote - the one about Jack Ruby perhaps, or the broadsheet on the Warren Commission? The likelihood is that they probably wrote it collectively, as the style seems consistent across all the content; that is, there isn't any one thing that stands out like a passage from a Deighton book.</p><p>In the separate notes on the exhibits, each one has several paragraphs of explanatory text, giving more detail about each aspect of the assassination and the subsequent investigation, which concluded - famously - that the killing was the responsibility of Lee Harvey Oswald. The whole thing feels thorough, a trait one associates with Len Deighton's non-fiction historical writing, certainly.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Who was its target audience?</span></h2><p>Thirdly, the format is largely targeted at schoolchildren and teachers, not the regular reader. It's an educational tool, but clearly for a high or secondary school level; perhaps as part of a history or civics class. The intention with a folder was clearly to have something which could be opened and shared by pupils around a table or on a bench: exchanged, discussed, and examined.</p><p>Only 1,500 of the original edition were ever produced, and few are found in perfect mint condition or indeed complete. Not surprising, given that most will have ended up in educational settings and - well, you know kids - have had parts lost or written or, or the diorama would have been punched out and assembled. </p><p>The collection as a whole does present a single opinion or viewpoint; rather, it lays out the facts in front of the reader in an interesting and visually appealing way, and was clearly designed to allow the reader/class to draw their own conclusions rather than a single viewpoint. However, it is clearly drawing a lot on the conclusions of the Warren Commission, so there is little consideration of more outré theories of the assassination.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">What's the best bit?</span></h2><p>Undoubtedly, it's item number 1, a military green foolscap folder containing the pieces for a cardboard cut out diorama of Deeley Plaza in Dallas. As well as instructions for pushing out each element from the cardboard and assembling it, it contains a guide to the key positions in the model.</p><p>Children were encouraged to build it and use it clearly as a discussion point for the lesson. My own copy is mint and complete and contains the mini open-top car in which the President rode (this tiny piece is often missing in other copies of the folder I've seen; understandably so, given its size). </p><p>I've often felt tempted to assemble the model, to see how it looks when completed. But then the collector in me takes over: a pristine, non-assembled version of model is crucial to maintain the integrity of the item; it's the sort of thing collectors will look out fore. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqGro6ygIunyA8MPiq0Ep8MjSKmOHzMgrkk-GaEIAe_NQZ3xyH-1u1q8kyKaRNUb7eFd1lTqjqx0lHbeIw8f-8PGsHgp7_jzk89qQBHuWJh-stLVmJtmXQREnCOd_mGPQF-uWhuuZhPyzh5o-Es_uHNpYIS7qZZv_DIlcY-wjcP7ZdYKfGIVRLkptiA/s4032/IMG_3013.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqGro6ygIunyA8MPiq0Ep8MjSKmOHzMgrkk-GaEIAe_NQZ3xyH-1u1q8kyKaRNUb7eFd1lTqjqx0lHbeIw8f-8PGsHgp7_jzk89qQBHuWJh-stLVmJtmXQREnCOd_mGPQF-uWhuuZhPyzh5o-Es_uHNpYIS7qZZv_DIlcY-wjcP7ZdYKfGIVRLkptiA/w480-h640/IMG_3013.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmk01P2Zkdo_Kp7yYxXe0Na5HlLJyYCNARdTOWsZxkJy_j9kbJtqk7P2l4zmPKubqeVvDPlur_ONu7VumvwKuBCrsv6ebbJFoMUO1zwnHanBenDt-VkWnh-B2Izs9GLWrDudHyz7YMZm0Omlv4G_N6rDHXKWMoR5lLP5Zh_HEoVlkS4kUWZJ9nDHSwQ/s4032/IMG_3014.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmk01P2Zkdo_Kp7yYxXe0Na5HlLJyYCNARdTOWsZxkJy_j9kbJtqk7P2l4zmPKubqeVvDPlur_ONu7VumvwKuBCrsv6ebbJFoMUO1zwnHanBenDt-VkWnh-B2Izs9GLWrDudHyz7YMZm0Omlv4G_N6rDHXKWMoR5lLP5Zh_HEoVlkS4kUWZJ9nDHSwQ/w640-h480/IMG_3014.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWiMm88cqehRpxn7TFxlIIyxCdG398-fMoFQR2RU71Mpvgmav4iLyeTX24x0-WJfAD3jhZGVxzd_ONFUOEA2O1hafufddlY6FHE7_HMeS-W1C2N2ShR59yiTWZY6CerbL3YFuSS9gXPTCuQ7ZxbFsfmsBV7CRSOdQRRnZwXIFLrDf_43uEaZCtF77lMw/s4032/IMG_3015.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWiMm88cqehRpxn7TFxlIIyxCdG398-fMoFQR2RU71Mpvgmav4iLyeTX24x0-WJfAD3jhZGVxzd_ONFUOEA2O1hafufddlY6FHE7_HMeS-W1C2N2ShR59yiTWZY6CerbL3YFuSS9gXPTCuQ7ZxbFsfmsBV7CRSOdQRRnZwXIFLrDf_43uEaZCtF77lMw/w640-h480/IMG_3015.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">What do we know about the publisher?</span></h2><p>Jackdaw Publications is a US-based educational publishing company specialising in primary source documents; indeed, the company is still publishing.</p><p>The edition I own was published in the UK through a Jonathan Cape/Jackdaw tie-up (Cape was Deighton's publisher already by 1967, when this folder was produced), but I think the version available in the US is pretty much the same item.</p><p>On the back of the blue contents document is a list of other similar Jackdaw folders. They cover a diverse range of topics, from The Battle of Agincourt to Joan of Arc, from The Armada to The Crimean War (my copy is, clearly, the UK edition).</p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Is it collectable?</span></h2><p>Perhaps because of the association with Deighton, this has become the rarest and most collectable of the hundreds of Jackdaw folders produced.</p><p>If you want to avail yourself of a copy - and don't fancy shelling out £1,000+ on eBay - then <a href="https://www.jackdaw.com/p-283-assassination-ofbr-president-kennedy.aspx">this page of the Jackdaw Publications website</a> indicates that facsimiles of the 'sixties original folder are still available to purchase (albeit, without the Presidential Seal on the back of the original). There is even (isn't there always, nowadays) a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jhkelsey7/">Facebook group</a> associated with the Jackdaw phenomenon; for many people who went to school in the sixties and seventies, these Jackdaw folders were, evidently, quite the thing.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The verdict</span></h2><p>It's interesting; a rarity. And oddly out of sync with the trajectory of Deighton's career at the time of publication (1967), by which time he's already published the first Harry Palmer novels, and <i>The Ipcress File</i> and <i>Funeral in Berlin </i>had already been turned into movies.</p><p>So, as an author he was very much on the up at time of publication, which makes the decision to contribute to what is essentially a school textbook quite intriguing. He didn't have to, but more likely he wanted to as he was interested in the topic, it was timely, and he was helping out friends and colleagues.</p><p>Whatever the reason, it's a fascinating piece of ephemera that is still available from time to time online, and certainly at prices far below the listing linked to above.</p><p><br /></p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-11655470851800740942022-06-24T22:02:00.005+01:002022-06-24T22:02:32.254+01:00The art of Shirley Deighton<p>A recent comment on this blog asked for some examples of the work of <b>Shirley Deighton</b> (nee Thompson), the artist and illustrator (Deighton was also an illustrator and graphic designer), who was Len Deighton's wife until they divorced in the late 'sixties. He the writer, she the artist, they were very much the creative pair in sixties swinging London.</p><p>Here are some of the paintings and images I have on file, some of which are taken from an episode of The Antiques Roadshow, in which a number of her illustrations were bought along for valuing:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5gEJRE4bz68g5X--WPK8iiTviYaM-L0NWlhnlyBYDA9-dOaieDMqxwIa5GF4gt2bdb313XjnKXh6jkrXN6kHS7OFVSoWS1CkUMsN251Sah3NCwsA-ZE3OjXVWVUhFIhi-MuBNdqLoCPV72rBFiT1zpqxwko0fSznxOpkzDMorQ6zoRm17ls_EZkOyw/s468/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2039%20Watermarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="339" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5gEJRE4bz68g5X--WPK8iiTviYaM-L0NWlhnlyBYDA9-dOaieDMqxwIa5GF4gt2bdb313XjnKXh6jkrXN6kHS7OFVSoWS1CkUMsN251Sah3NCwsA-ZE3OjXVWVUhFIhi-MuBNdqLoCPV72rBFiT1zpqxwko0fSznxOpkzDMorQ6zoRm17ls_EZkOyw/w290-h400/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2039%20Watermarked.jpg" width="290" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-wES6qJA1m3pvzYUYJEq3p5DSDd5c_pwrao75f-dPwaJqRki-tGFiiBM6pfa8ofwpctcFPj-_1qG1cAVcA4mq3fRvd5Jf3tVCKSgTRXEI-nli6QjvrlCSeAVjAKzk1NoDMQZoJNhgRoRFOD_eCourkG_r7vofsEQspOAw5QNeii1_cJQQGDUaHB0V9Q/s468/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2037%20Watermarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="336" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-wES6qJA1m3pvzYUYJEq3p5DSDd5c_pwrao75f-dPwaJqRki-tGFiiBM6pfa8ofwpctcFPj-_1qG1cAVcA4mq3fRvd5Jf3tVCKSgTRXEI-nli6QjvrlCSeAVjAKzk1NoDMQZoJNhgRoRFOD_eCourkG_r7vofsEQspOAw5QNeii1_cJQQGDUaHB0V9Q/w288-h400/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2037%20Watermarked.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPspKc5gEOjMDVmHES37NiVsvOpkLSBBYkIXhL6K4D0W_PXdlWfuO7y8NFpPzTOXpwGLmALf-DDDIvBGWOm47EtE11KgQppJvIkWxC-idS_lKhNS-wgrBKSeV89o5Vp_kRMpppZxDjI0RPP85zVTRS1uFTeSLc4ebiUncocC0aC4ZM0hs4ENbV9hU3hA/s468/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2036%20Watermarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="348" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPspKc5gEOjMDVmHES37NiVsvOpkLSBBYkIXhL6K4D0W_PXdlWfuO7y8NFpPzTOXpwGLmALf-DDDIvBGWOm47EtE11KgQppJvIkWxC-idS_lKhNS-wgrBKSeV89o5Vp_kRMpppZxDjI0RPP85zVTRS1uFTeSLc4ebiUncocC0aC4ZM0hs4ENbV9hU3hA/w298-h400/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2036%20Watermarked.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh10Yp13MuFjCjhAfOU99ANqKqM8D4aQF07oBAr4q-HLqN-PzrY3yywy7N6zy1M2wfLHFRV1JErwVcXYb6tJJWSZnLgSlXVX-Db1BQC-dawDHtFWGfVv735XoCJVJUu-LnRsUxh7vRaRrCfz8MzXwg3ugPltBsqLV85ptT3iQIa7JYklPiPM_3LPfDjzg/s468/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2040%20Watermarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="342" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh10Yp13MuFjCjhAfOU99ANqKqM8D4aQF07oBAr4q-HLqN-PzrY3yywy7N6zy1M2wfLHFRV1JErwVcXYb6tJJWSZnLgSlXVX-Db1BQC-dawDHtFWGfVv735XoCJVJUu-LnRsUxh7vRaRrCfz8MzXwg3ugPltBsqLV85ptT3iQIa7JYklPiPM_3LPfDjzg/w293-h400/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2040%20Watermarked.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_uwur-FQdom_ww3kkzm_oTu1tFJlmjNIqyZMtkvevPCDVXp8RCtPwqrg6z0H-gq2atUOaMtVS6BOPX8s_ZXMVorZfEp3dF7JCAlzK0a69rjUftG7Uilu6QuLGRM2RYwfTIrXtfgEH4LYy_DXPLYwOYUNcUHbnOzA8BQvyCvyVawfq6aYfgZxHi5fTg/s468/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2032%20Watermarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_uwur-FQdom_ww3kkzm_oTu1tFJlmjNIqyZMtkvevPCDVXp8RCtPwqrg6z0H-gq2atUOaMtVS6BOPX8s_ZXMVorZfEp3dF7JCAlzK0a69rjUftG7Uilu6QuLGRM2RYwfTIrXtfgEH4LYy_DXPLYwOYUNcUHbnOzA8BQvyCvyVawfq6aYfgZxHi5fTg/w285-h400/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2032%20Watermarked.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17f71eyI7nXUA81fUuKWpNCn5oJEGtYJsnGtNnSd9LxQ512RXQ-IrL8p2qBzgraAp2qhK2EthvTb2YnkviOWqce30g_NgAMm7_PnYmXBKxxwFLhvc0EDuuJjfeuJ645vT0lBwrqGjgnX4WeoDb2fNpD3IsCTFcrrKsf33h8hLVqRiUV3RsDWBrHYJJw/s832/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2023%20Watermarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="832" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17f71eyI7nXUA81fUuKWpNCn5oJEGtYJsnGtNnSd9LxQ512RXQ-IrL8p2qBzgraAp2qhK2EthvTb2YnkviOWqce30g_NgAMm7_PnYmXBKxxwFLhvc0EDuuJjfeuJ645vT0lBwrqGjgnX4WeoDb2fNpD3IsCTFcrrKsf33h8hLVqRiUV3RsDWBrHYJJw/s320/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2023%20Watermarked.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1-m1c8vuPRreFiwvs7QyflqTujA4fvDCVx2EvD-rW0ztoNngQqxnn5Qc31VLJ37RZ8TUex7XVzpofRACZp5b_2uJzHX5TqrFwwHgRy4AeSLbAfQxTxx3kBj56yv0WrxjJs9ynCR-IYQ8DvCj-1RLe01Bk6J4wFwBG6t9JSAs3EK0mfWbsh4whttcrQ/s832/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2016%20Watermarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik3IGiBbGOJfvoWbWDjqGO4HXkK9JnHUlJXvTyoFgHGJ1LiOOdZbpW2zb6WUACpY8AWCwhj6s4pCAgD7NnRDa3V3t-OJKFMg1yPxF9_UpI8eH1Q82Zw9ICZlYncju5y_6_9YT4e7xNEZ4CQn3qDGtftFbw4_mNJTRJWb-LyuEly9NYdH_vrXYexs6a9Q/s468/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2027%20Watermarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="335" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik3IGiBbGOJfvoWbWDjqGO4HXkK9JnHUlJXvTyoFgHGJ1LiOOdZbpW2zb6WUACpY8AWCwhj6s4pCAgD7NnRDa3V3t-OJKFMg1yPxF9_UpI8eH1Q82Zw9ICZlYncju5y_6_9YT4e7xNEZ4CQn3qDGtftFbw4_mNJTRJWb-LyuEly9NYdH_vrXYexs6a9Q/w286-h400/Shirley%20Thompson%20AR%2027%20Watermarked.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-26232738087999280542022-06-12T17:29:00.006+01:002022-06-12T17:29:48.374+01:00Never a cross word<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4m7w68sWPUN4n1LBxptUKtMZsOyHU6UQ8zxe0lzHlhaMIXKc1Ij5Q9LM5A-r4KXkaHCNewWXIhkWhqXox-QbhQ8l4n2F4djffeUOf5CprUlg7kWNlvdG_DuWOb8SgSzjnnD8G49MsyQMnf2g_HL9j8zHQGPGSxED7ZevFj_jV4IiPzIaBMm2ay0qmQ/s2432/Horse%20Under%20Water%20Endpapers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2432" data-original-width="1824" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4m7w68sWPUN4n1LBxptUKtMZsOyHU6UQ8zxe0lzHlhaMIXKc1Ij5Q9LM5A-r4KXkaHCNewWXIhkWhqXox-QbhQ8l4n2F4djffeUOf5CprUlg7kWNlvdG_DuWOb8SgSzjnnD8G49MsyQMnf2g_HL9j8zHQGPGSxED7ZevFj_jV4IiPzIaBMm2ay0qmQ/w480-h640/Horse%20Under%20Water%20Endpapers.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crossword competition laid in the first edition<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Earlier this month, the Guardian's crossword blog writer wrote a nice little piece about, well, crosswords, and their contribution to developing the reader's understanding of Len Deighton's famous 'unnamed spy' - later, of course, Harry Palmer.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2022/jun/06/puzzlers-book-club-horse-under-water-by-len-deighton">article looked in particular at <i>Horse Under Water</i></a>, the second book in the series but the only one of the four main books not turned into a film starring Michael Caine (the producer Harry Saltzman chose to film <i>Funeral in Berlin</i> first, because in the mid-60s the city had become the hot-spot of the Cold War, so to speak, and he thought it would make a better movie. While there were some early plans for a <i>Horse Under Water</i> film, nothing - sadly - ever materialised)</p><p>The piece recalls that, famously, the chapter headings in <i>Horse Under Water</i> are in the form of crossword puzzle clues, and that the crosswords on the endpapers of the original first edition drew on clues which in effect, when solved, created a sort of table of contents for the book.</p><p>I'm pleased - after getting in touch - that they used a couple of my images and provided a link to the page I have on the main Deighton Dossier website specifically to do with the crosswords in this book. In the Bernard Samson series, in London Game, Bernard Samson too is found toying with a crossword, using it to elicit a false answer from Giles Trent's sister to get to the bottom of the former's attempted suicide and his potential guilt as a London Central spy.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-67014904155366534072022-05-15T19:10:00.006+01:002022-05-15T19:13:08.458+01:00It's all in the detail<p>Recently I purchased three original marketing photographs produced by Jonathan Cape's marketing team for the 1970 launch of the first edition of <b>Bomber</b>, Len Deighton's <i>magnum opus</i> about the experiences of the wartime bombing raids over German which is often regarded as on of his best novels (certainly, of his non-spy fiction books).</p><p>The novel is also, famously, the first modern novel written on a true IBM PC, which at the time took up much of the room in Deighton's office in his ground floor flat in London, <a href="http://deightondossier.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-technology-of-writing.html">as I wrote about a number of years ago</a>. </p><p>Although it <a href="http://deightondossier.blogspot.com/2010/03/bomber-misses-its-target.html">missed out on being shortlisted</a> for the Booker Prize in 1970, <b>Bomber</b> was lauded by writer Anthony Burgess as one of the 99 best novels of the twentieth century in the English language. </p><p>Part of the reason for the particular success of <b>Bomber</b> (which was also turned into a Radio 4 play) is Deighton's attention to detail. As a writer it has often been acknowledged by readers and critics that Len Deighton's books are full of exquisitely research details, particularly when it comes to military materiel and historical occurrences. Some readers have found this propensity for technical minutiae off-putting, but many others - myself included - feel it adds a level of realism that grounds the story and reassures the reader that they story they're reading is as true to life as it can be.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>The publicity shots below show something of Deighton's approach to marshalling the facts and ensuring every novel he wrote didn't leave his hands without being scrupulously accurate.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmJ2AwxFIyMc7Bnr4CnuQcoSDJ6h2L33vvUlZNJtumF1kzsZmE4gN5F5AUHvSSeNdNu2VE7V_joOY7Be9hnckzW3KkbJJZ4kzPtAt5CZFTXExbV1EHxFnXj0BScd4uUgOSEBcfpP6hs0l-uTg_fu0AJvn_2YlAxinHfThKX6NpsFo0TQ3YTLPzFQeow/s3272/Len%20Deighton%20Bomber%203%20Watermarked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3272" data-original-width="2156" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmJ2AwxFIyMc7Bnr4CnuQcoSDJ6h2L33vvUlZNJtumF1kzsZmE4gN5F5AUHvSSeNdNu2VE7V_joOY7Be9hnckzW3KkbJJZ4kzPtAt5CZFTXExbV1EHxFnXj0BScd4uUgOSEBcfpP6hs0l-uTg_fu0AJvn_2YlAxinHfThKX6NpsFo0TQ3YTLPzFQeow/w422-h640/Len%20Deighton%20Bomber%203%20Watermarked.jpg" width="422" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMgaWglngHuxKbS-PA8SGQIHvZ2q6GzODrlg67Q7wyrENTDdFFxvYbp6nZFPEKQCwygU6KoJSWHIUNcuBZKr7uZ1tO6swvr7bGtXCdaITCfrtOXkWWS3k0l9Pt_QVqmIGn95h_1rpCicj6bw6lDsBx2KkqJ5B3iQLOWmidr7SlLNMyacAv8iLoDrUJQ/s3276/Len%20Deighton%20Bomber%201%20Watermarked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2148" data-original-width="3276" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMgaWglngHuxKbS-PA8SGQIHvZ2q6GzODrlg67Q7wyrENTDdFFxvYbp6nZFPEKQCwygU6KoJSWHIUNcuBZKr7uZ1tO6swvr7bGtXCdaITCfrtOXkWWS3k0l9Pt_QVqmIGn95h_1rpCicj6bw6lDsBx2KkqJ5B3iQLOWmidr7SlLNMyacAv8iLoDrUJQ/w640-h420/Len%20Deighton%20Bomber%201%20Watermarked.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrV6jrFJd8TvAi1xkXpVe0500RPzoAMAfqDhSBlCJmdXDv8qwh4EHTbPV_X04u8WYItFgLonaq-GSFrAaD-OvjEOYST1Lfri-GHZIWHc34NnuBjnsKSJzo5VSshZK0cR_1cPi0bP26-NoFGA5pKwd0JLVoOtGtCfFthpdN3etBATj0KUeXzhZt6ntzvA/s3276/Len%20Deighton%20Bomber%202%20Watermarked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2152" data-original-width="3276" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrV6jrFJd8TvAi1xkXpVe0500RPzoAMAfqDhSBlCJmdXDv8qwh4EHTbPV_X04u8WYItFgLonaq-GSFrAaD-OvjEOYST1Lfri-GHZIWHc34NnuBjnsKSJzo5VSshZK0cR_1cPi0bP26-NoFGA5pKwd0JLVoOtGtCfFthpdN3etBATj0KUeXzhZt6ntzvA/w640-h420/Len%20Deighton%20Bomber%202%20Watermarked.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><b>Bomber</b> is the epitome of this. Not content with researching archives and military histories to understand what the reality for a bomber pilot during the war was, the author was able to use his renown to get access to the real thing - as the above pictures illustrate (although, this is of course a German bomber); it also allowed him to talk extensively to air and ground crews - on both sides - who flew the planes and maintained them, to ensure that every description, every conversation on board the plane and on the ground, had the verisimilitude that he felt would give the reader the best experience and, metaphorically at least, put him or her in the plane with the main characters.</p><p>As the top picture shows, assiduous use of military maps and information, with every fact and snippet added to an extensive coloured card collection which formed the 'database' for consulting during the writing of the novel, ensured that after months of preparation, he could write his novel confident that he could represent the experience of wartime bombing raids as accurately as possible and, therefore, create the best novels he could create.</p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-35571463660691442132022-03-19T12:57:00.003+00:002022-03-19T13:23:50.770+00:00The Ipcress File tv series - the verdict<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnQYE2HdqYuKhKCQ3_yBAB2KNp4R_FeygV9Nj2iA0xWU9Ftsa3CuNTadtm-E4QsbQ6lkvCHYel8sL5lhx0shU5V39hsvxgMN1b2JhIEApHbj3KZIiEjPz1fIOKdt9PJw-uavwwHdKoDOZjzL35ugaroYkT1dzDsWVoKEFz3gFKk2PlXBwW775JW9ORZQ=s1366" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnQYE2HdqYuKhKCQ3_yBAB2KNp4R_FeygV9Nj2iA0xWU9Ftsa3CuNTadtm-E4QsbQ6lkvCHYel8sL5lhx0shU5V39hsvxgMN1b2JhIEApHbj3KZIiEjPz1fIOKdt9PJw-uavwwHdKoDOZjzL35ugaroYkT1dzDsWVoKEFz3gFKk2PlXBwW775JW9ORZQ=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dalby, Harry and Jean ready for action</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>Well, after months - and I mean months - of hype and pre-publicity, the new tv adaptation of Len Deighton's <b>The Ipcress File</b> has broadcast its first two episodes on commercial channel ITV in the UK (and all six episodes made available on ITVhub streaming). </p><p>And the verdict from this viewer is ... it's pretty good. Indeed, very good. An adaptation worthy of the book.</p><p>Sure, it's not the original Michael Caine film of the same name, and that's probably a good thing, so strong is the cultural imprinting of that performance on the British viewing public. If you remember that, then this new series - and the new Harry Palmer portrayed by<b> Joe Cole</b> - provides six hours of very entertaining, stylish, engrossing and believable drama.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>(I'm conscious that there may be readers of this blog in countries outside of the UK who haven't seen the series yet, so any comments below about how I viewed the series will be as spoiler-free as possible.)</p><p>Here are my top take-aways from having watched all six episodes:</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Joe Cole is not Michael Caine's Harry Palmer, and that's fine</h4><p>Young British actor Cole gives a good performance throughout and, noticeably, it improves over the series, reflecting the fact that each scene and episode was filmed by director James Watkins in sequence. So you can see the acting chemistry, and the relationships between the main characters, blossom, to a degree. </p><p>Cole maintains the surly disdain for authority and the chippy laddishness of the original unnamed spy from the book, and also from Caine's performance, but this is overall a more subtle Harry Palmer, one focused more on drama than on periodic dips into subtle comedy. The style of quips and one lines made famous in the first film are still there, but overall this is a more serious performance, reflecting the nature of the adaption. Like Caine, he's not action super spy, and the fighting sequence are befitting of a made who rarely shoots and relies on his wit and insight, than his fists.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">It's more of a proper thriller than the film</h4><p>Two advantages producers <b>Will Clarke</b>, <b>Andy Mayson</b> and <b>Sandy Lieberson </b>had which original producer Harry Saltzman did not: budget, and time. It's evident from the quality of the set design, the overseas locations (Croatia standing in for Lebanon scenes), the length of the production and the quality of the scriptwriting that producers had space to let the original - very complicated - story breathe, and unfold. </p><p>The overall tone is more of a crime thriller, and the music is much more sombre and low key in the series than in the film, where John Barry's score was almost one of the main characters.</p><p>The script by <b>John Hodge</b> is pretty tight, and each episode is brought skillfully to a level of tension and denouement which allows the tension for the viewer to be well-paced right up to the 'reveal' in the final episode, which is a departure from the book (and an interesting one at that).</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">It's an adaptation from the original book, not an exercise in verismillitude</h4><p>Some reviewers and viewers have complained that it's not like the original movie. Other reviewers and viewers feel that the script veered too far from the original book and that the ending felt forced. I don't sit in either camp.</p><p>There was enough from the original book - indeed, key scenes in Lebanon and Tokwe island that were missing from the original film were back in the tv series - to make it authentic enough and a tribute to the original books.</p><p>Indeed, the quality of the script was such that the convoluted - indeed, often confusing - nature of the exposition and plot in the original books (noted by a number of columnists) is to a degree replicated. The viewer is skillfully guided by the actors and the director through scenes to a place where he or she may think they have understood one character's relationship to the other, only for the next episode to prove them wrong.</p><p>A thriller over six episodes needs to keep the viewer on their toes, and this series does it well.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Jean Courtney's expanded role works well enough, and Boynton fits the part</h4><p><b>Lucy Boynton</b>'s character Jean Courtney is one example of where producers and script writers have tampered with the original, largely one suspects to fit in with modern mores and the need for a strong female lead character. Whereas in the book she's an assistant at W.O.O.C.(P)., in the TV series she's a full agent, and arguably as crucial to the plot development as is Harry Palmer. But in the context of the series, it works, I believe.</p><p>Boynton's Jean is posh, guarded, ambitious and a tough cookie, and has a significantly greater amount of screen time than her film counterpart. Boynton plays her as icy cold, slightly stiff - perhaps too stiff at times - but like Joe Cole's Palmer, her portrayal seems to fit well with the overall more serious tone of the series. As a character, too, there's scope for further development.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Tom Hollander's Dalby is excellent</h4><p>No surprise, really - he's a great actor. Stepping into the shoes of Nigel Green's portrayal of the original Dalby from the film could have been a poisoned chalice, but Hollander's portrayal is altogether more complete, I think, and reflective of what's in the book.</p><p>Sure, he plays up the old school tie elements, the chumminess of Whitehall at the time, which works well as a source of tension with Harry Palmer, particularly in the early scenes where Dalby has Palmer tied on a string, metaphorically speaking.</p><p>But you can also see a real relationship between the two develop over the six episodes, as trust builds and any early scepticism about Palmer's shady past is moved beyond. Indeed, by the end, there's a degree of mutual respect between the two, which contrasts sharply with how the original film ended.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Ashley Thomas' Maddox adds a new layer of complexity</h4><p>The CIA underhand and disguised involvement in Harry's disappearance and subsequent torture by the practitioners of the IPCRESS system was part of the original book, but the role of the Americans as the real 'power behind the file' across the series is really amped up as the programme develops.</p><p>The flirtatious entrapment of Jean by Maddox, and his ambiguous relationship with the American General Cathcart, who's in charge of the development of the US neutron bomb which Harry and Jean witness on Tokwe, leave one as a viewer wondering quite what his deal is - is he for real, is he trustworthy, is he a traitor, or is he one of the heroes? That's the sign of a good thriller - uncertainty, until the final resolution in episode six.</p><p><b>There is scope for more</b></p><p>All the key characters make it to the end intact, and give the appearance of a 'team' being forged at W.O.O.C.(P). This clearly gives the producers, and scriptwriters, an opening to move onto further Harry Palmer stories - either <i>Funeral in Berlin</i>, <i>Horse Under Water</i> (never filmed), <i>Billion Dollar Brain</i> or <i>An Expensive Place to Die</i> - or to branch off into original material (the arguably more riskier move).</p><p>Clearly, this will be dependent upon the success of the series, and the response from commercial advertisers on TV and on streaming, but if it's a hit - and the signs are it could be - then the foundations are good for further development, particularly in characters.</p><p>Joe Cole's portrayal has been great, terrible, or so-so, depending on which reviewer you read. But I think he's a competent actor, and no fool. He was clearly aware of Caine's performance and adopted subtle nods to it in his own (the glasses, for one), but he's done enough to make his own version of Harry Palmer stand on its own two feet.</p><p><b>The nods to the original film show producers recognised they're handling a classic</b></p><p>The producers - including executive producer Steven Saltzman, son of Harry Saltzman, the original producer - could have been lazy and just remade the film. They didn't do that, and have tried to embellish the original plot in the book in order to create enough material for a six hour series.</p><p>But they've equally not tried to paint over the original colour. They kept key elements of the plot intact; the characters, while subtly different, can still trace a line back to the book and the films (the potrayals of Chilcott-Oates and office harridan Alice, for example); and the relish with which the look and feel of sixties Berlin, London and Lebanon were portrayed in great detail shows they were cognisant of what had gone before. </p><p>The nods to the original film were sufficient and subtle enough to provide a hat-tip to the original, without ever descending into pastiche. The frequent use of Dutch angles - or wonky camera work, according to dissatisfied critics - was reminiscent of Otto Heller's original cinematography, but also generally worked to give the series a distinct visual style.</p><p>The chippy by-play and understated romantic attachment between Harry and Jean is playfully understated and their relationship is believably difficult, but also warm.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">David Dencick's Colonel Stok was not as bombastic as Oskar Homolka's</h4><p>This was the one character that jarred a little, so different was it from the book, plus the fact that the character only really cemented itself into our minds in Funeral in Berlin. The character in the tv series is still duplicitous and as flirtatiously ambivalent about the Cold War as only the most zealous of Cold Warriors can afford to be, and the portrayal is fine.</p><p>Indeed, like Harry Palmer, his character and his relationship to the bespectacled spy also has more time to be expounded - the relationship in London which ends in tragedy is a new twist - and that adds something.</p><p>I guess, however, that so iconic was the original back and forth repartee between Homolka and Caine that it's difficult as a viewer to cut through that. But, if there's a <i>Funeral in Berlin</i> adaptation, then there's scope for this to develop I guess.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Bringing in Harry's backstory made sense</h4><p>His black market past in Berlin is only ever alluded to in the books, and in the film, but as a way of understanding the character's predicament, his relationship to Dalby, and his development throughout the series, it makes perfect sense.</p><p>Palmer is a man in a bind, with a way out, and a route to redemption and to prove himself, not just as a man but as a working class spy in a world still ridden by class who - by the end of the series - proves his capability as a spy. It's a cornerstone of the character and essential to making him believable.</p><p>So, what did other readers make of the series, if you've already seen it or are watching it? Do share your thoughts below (but keep any spoilers to a minimum if you can).</p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-35101761976235838172022-03-03T19:58:00.006+00:002022-05-15T19:13:49.482+01:00The Ipcress File TV series premiering 6 March<p>This Sunday in the UK - and in many of the international TV markets to which the rights have been sold - the new adaptation of The Ipcress File by ITV will be seen for the first time.</p><p>This week has seen a lot of the weekly TV listings guides in the UK publish feature articles about the series, focusing on the lead actors - Joe Cole as Harry Palmer, and Lucy Boynton as Jean Courtenay (Jean Tonneson in the book) - as well as providing some background on the book.</p><p>Much of the advanced publicity around the book has, not unsurprisingly, focused on comparisons between the new series and the original 1965 movie starring Michael Caine. Interestingly, all the signs are from the producers and the actors that while there are the odd 'tributes' to the original movie, this TV series will be different.</p><p>One advantage for the TV series of course is a bigger budget, allowing the producers to film more of the overseas scenes in the book (such as in the Pacific Atoll where a nuclear bomb test is due to take place) which the original film budget didn't stretch to.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>Below are some examples of the articles giving the background to the series and interviews with the actors.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjaK1KS3nuGwlt6G-atp3PhfhzsGDUDX98MkfM3YeWZiQ8ydLs7v0FfcfD5AG6-Clea9AjL1lNUKrT1EvzdRYd-qQn3EXn7wRJY6w-TLeYVbMsTXGo3G4u_rplUSOr-KWNUqj6RKoC15OYqgx0OYBTdhioE4IuzxpeSIcVJhq7LHbDunb6LmwdKNpSOtw=s3472" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3472" data-original-width="2488" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjaK1KS3nuGwlt6G-atp3PhfhzsGDUDX98MkfM3YeWZiQ8ydLs7v0FfcfD5AG6-Clea9AjL1lNUKrT1EvzdRYd-qQn3EXn7wRJY6w-TLeYVbMsTXGo3G4u_rplUSOr-KWNUqj6RKoC15OYqgx0OYBTdhioE4IuzxpeSIcVJhq7LHbDunb6LmwdKNpSOtw=w286-h400" width="286" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkE74BS__eWYhj4YWLCFnlGH93AheZ63ERD0_2XVJDw16FPUAmraU114WeE5Zd9_1qKmNV_q0wgPAFI83hpoIz9il-y7m-Ty7XYJqLJSowRkmejdd5wVEX1zoy2dhm2q0yxCR0v6SRXDhHyTDY--Uldf0Stjj2KpJOwejOVnGbdqAu9WgXawb0j0urBA=s3488" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3488" data-original-width="2504" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkE74BS__eWYhj4YWLCFnlGH93AheZ63ERD0_2XVJDw16FPUAmraU114WeE5Zd9_1qKmNV_q0wgPAFI83hpoIz9il-y7m-Ty7XYJqLJSowRkmejdd5wVEX1zoy2dhm2q0yxCR0v6SRXDhHyTDY--Uldf0Stjj2KpJOwejOVnGbdqAu9WgXawb0j0urBA=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjB4dsbdcSF_WAnl3xncSYqAgJVzQ7mZSOelqXrLnPr5d9TsBbx-63TjpraO6CAN8yLkve71fAGq_lfnorxLX0rIfk06xvfZQoddmecF-r0gio3-_lJV2sEDSjnvfV6Dz5IDFrmCZ4UWfIAq1wPOL5HzlW1yIEFQvU9ZoiY-l_8jXll2beo5qx4ogkpfQ=s3488" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3488" data-original-width="2504" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjB4dsbdcSF_WAnl3xncSYqAgJVzQ7mZSOelqXrLnPr5d9TsBbx-63TjpraO6CAN8yLkve71fAGq_lfnorxLX0rIfk06xvfZQoddmecF-r0gio3-_lJV2sEDSjnvfV6Dz5IDFrmCZ4UWfIAq1wPOL5HzlW1yIEFQvU9ZoiY-l_8jXll2beo5qx4ogkpfQ=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2aNng0ZaHuZG9dqU1pHJUb1Wi0ZbWr6HqDS-dZxGpkWHCyJ-YA1ajrusuBO2TrGNLCvTrMbDjyCD1uYzdoGz3QuSMfzbEdQo5_mSgYbESRnw2xbzB8nSxbHzjk5K-aSWqet17oJyhJOLu8bIh2EDrZOAUfp8pXplL_x7JovQ0a2zd7AbnlQm-9qfdgA=s3488" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3488" data-original-width="2504" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2aNng0ZaHuZG9dqU1pHJUb1Wi0ZbWr6HqDS-dZxGpkWHCyJ-YA1ajrusuBO2TrGNLCvTrMbDjyCD1uYzdoGz3QuSMfzbEdQo5_mSgYbESRnw2xbzB8nSxbHzjk5K-aSWqet17oJyhJOLu8bIh2EDrZOAUfp8pXplL_x7JovQ0a2zd7AbnlQm-9qfdgA=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoNDAKoUYpBX174ThwuKwwyf_Qg95mmCe5RCGHxGAinvdmnRpc1nsws3Uo-EGzvZJHUrZa2jeK_MtCvcBH8Jlp0ynkvown-gJ3Py4cnihLDfKfw6ccCYUbacHsEdbSIx6ve-dJNjiFfDz9Zh4v5kSkAKq7m_JjYc6thKM5gIjGXobBY26JG0s8GtB4lQ=s3488" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3488" data-original-width="2488" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoNDAKoUYpBX174ThwuKwwyf_Qg95mmCe5RCGHxGAinvdmnRpc1nsws3Uo-EGzvZJHUrZa2jeK_MtCvcBH8Jlp0ynkvown-gJ3Py4cnihLDfKfw6ccCYUbacHsEdbSIx6ve-dJNjiFfDz9Zh4v5kSkAKq7m_JjYc6thKM5gIjGXobBY26JG0s8GtB4lQ=w285-h400" width="285" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjH7lq-lk3XKr3iQS-fmLImiUwgqThjeYA000lSmRa7m3RcS0jv-ispxD1Nj4kI3JFIlaIW4wFPEXB6ipwQQ1PDiqmiSIEtzdn1B7M5xmmjbZq49ghTVGzihdQraeAAx69Wi9lutgdhzEX40Cu079tOviSg_6IuHx9K3n_j8hdt05LVKIiRkCwEvYyKLQ=s3488" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3488" data-original-width="2504" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjH7lq-lk3XKr3iQS-fmLImiUwgqThjeYA000lSmRa7m3RcS0jv-ispxD1Nj4kI3JFIlaIW4wFPEXB6ipwQQ1PDiqmiSIEtzdn1B7M5xmmjbZq49ghTVGzihdQraeAAx69Wi9lutgdhzEX40Cu079tOviSg_6IuHx9K3n_j8hdt05LVKIiRkCwEvYyKLQ=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-5262614613191247822022-02-19T18:52:00.004+00:002022-02-19T18:52:30.874+00:00Happy 93rd Birthday, Len<p> ... for yesterday (I forgot to post this up yesterday!).</p><p>On 18 February, Len Deighton celebrated his <b>93rd</b> birthday, having been born in London - Marylebone to be exact - on that day in 1929.</p><p>Readers of his novels, his histories, and his cookbooks from around the world will I'm sure join the Dossier in sending good wishes to the author.</p><p>2022 is something of a marquee year for the author - next month, ITV broadcasts its lavish remake of <i>The Ipcress File</i> - and the year also marks the sixtieth anniversary of that novel's first publication in London - the first edition sold out almost on the first day, and has sold consistently well ever since, right up to last year's Penguin reissues.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijvcbM1N3oXAzwfwtRRQBaDHYVeuKSHcY6MWf7IUtJUF7WtPGMNgRGc16j4zUpSbDYN1VX_pVu2RKsHtCCvBjFRY8_izZ1X8DM2IF583NwTtEZDJzuyKrrDdZ6-eRbuNwC5uT3jhVWW1oNH7ffiZhC0-pTYpPo6IhGpKxm0pUj_wEOVKO1M2gIt-7QoA=s1024" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEijvcbM1N3oXAzwfwtRRQBaDHYVeuKSHcY6MWf7IUtJUF7WtPGMNgRGc16j4zUpSbDYN1VX_pVu2RKsHtCCvBjFRY8_izZ1X8DM2IF583NwTtEZDJzuyKrrDdZ6-eRbuNwC5uT3jhVWW1oNH7ffiZhC0-pTYpPo6IhGpKxm0pUj_wEOVKO1M2gIt-7QoA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Len Deighton in a 1983 publicity photo</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-91277060355605781602022-01-24T18:44:00.002+00:002022-01-24T18:44:44.110+00:00ITV releases teaser trailer for new Ipcress File series<p> UK commercial broadcaster ITV has released the first teaser trailer for the new TV series of The Ipcress File, which will be broadcast in the UK in March (details for other locations to be confirmed).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="368" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PT0yc_6J3FA" width="628" youtube-src-id="PT0yc_6J3FA"></iframe></div><br /><p>While little of the plot is given away, it's clear that the series will make some significant departures from both the book and the 1964 original film starring Michael Caine, such as the more active agent role for Jean, played by Lucy Boynton, evidence of the backstory of the 'unnamed spy' - Harry Palmer - and his role in the Berlin black market which led to military prison and ultimately, the job with W.O.O.C.(P)., plus the sidebar story involving the nuclear test in the Pacific, which is a big part of the book but which was of course not featured in the original film.</p><p>The music, too, is very different to John Barry's original film score, which may be no bad thing; it certainly hints at a more obvious thriller tone to the TV series, and there are obvious hints at more visceral action scenes than was the case in the original film.</p><p>So, early encouraging signs perhaps that this isn't just a pastiche, by-the-numbers remake, but a serious attempt to retell this classic spy story.</p><p>But the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, or in this case, the viewing. Set your TV calendars for March.</p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-29197542228217646232021-12-23T19:25:00.005+00:002021-12-23T19:25:51.336+00:00Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to Deighton Dossier readers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuOjXtEJNHW4jJB1sjritp9Kjd4xk3zaLvS0MAiw7VOPkiSOy2YgRINyYTQr4nrJZ4tPSJ9i7tOAa5DPFRYTOlxvIm4uSJaHdb0rikUwbHz7QQLE4vff1I0Rx3hwVzz2_LiHGwoA06XIe5ZkZTQHdK4Ju45JJK_4xrm6j0GjnnyL5iP_PLCKtGl6z1fg=s1280" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="846" data-original-width="1280" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuOjXtEJNHW4jJB1sjritp9Kjd4xk3zaLvS0MAiw7VOPkiSOy2YgRINyYTQr4nrJZ4tPSJ9i7tOAa5DPFRYTOlxvIm4uSJaHdb0rikUwbHz7QQLE4vff1I0Rx3hwVzz2_LiHGwoA06XIe5ZkZTQHdK4Ju45JJK_4xrm6j0GjnnyL5iP_PLCKtGl6z1fg=w640-h424" width="640" /></a></div><br />'"Cheer up, Werner. It will soon be Christmas," I said.'<div><br /></div><div><i>Bernard Samson to Werner Volkmann, first line, Chapter 1, Mexico Set</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Like Bernie and Werner in Werner's Audi in freezing West Berlin, we're all waiting for Christmas.</div><div><br /></div><div>So it's an appropriate time to wish all readers of this blog - plus visitors to the main Deighton Dossier website or the Facebook group - Yuletide wishes. While blog posting this year has been rather light, on the Facebook group particularly there's still been plenty of good discussions among collectors and readers of Deighton's books.</div><div><br /></div><div>And early in 2022 for viewers in the UK - and certainly later on in the US and likely other TV markets - we'll get to see another of Deighton's spy creations - 'Harry Palmer' (as he became) - who will be seen played by Joe Cole in the new ITV drama series <i>The Ipcress File</i>, broadcast 33 years after the last TV series (also on ITV) featuring Bernard Samson, <i>Game, Set & Match</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hopefully, the new series will bring renewed interest in the books, the character and, of course, the author.</div><div><div><br /></div></div>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-72142805444429135852021-10-07T12:37:00.002+01:002021-10-07T12:37:09.179+01:00Deighton up for Southwark Blue Plaque<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3P5Nk6CkpZlZxMp2sQWcBnil5NHJJXd5TZAoHY5e1ZJus7MYJ3TRFMBeifwgQi1MW10hEEF_gTkCofkRdez1x9FqtH3TZejPTsWZ0oDvJcqRGRx6nDwokNXZ2yXQ8-IbZ4OK0KjAufbh/s1152/L.M.2011-6134_xgaplus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="1152" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3P5Nk6CkpZlZxMp2sQWcBnil5NHJJXd5TZAoHY5e1ZJus7MYJ3TRFMBeifwgQi1MW10hEEF_gTkCofkRdez1x9FqtH3TZejPTsWZ0oDvJcqRGRx6nDwokNXZ2yXQ8-IbZ4OK0KjAufbh/w640-h426/L.M.2011-6134_xgaplus.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View over Southwark<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>As an author, Len Deighton has often eschewed literary prizes and honours, believing his work speaks for itself.</p><p>But as someone born in London, who lived there during much of his early life until his career as an author really took off, he might appreciate a blue plaque there in his name.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/history/southwark-blue-plaque-nominees-len-deighton-the-spy-fiction-writer-who-typed-the-first-book-written-on-a-word-processor-in-borough/?unapproved=45882&moderation-hash=b43190d13e359eec5b772ebd851021e9#comment-45882">Southwark Blue Plaque</a> scheme is currently seeking support for nominees for recipients to honour those who've lived in and contributed to the London Borough.</p><p>One of the nominees is Len Deighton, who lived in a flat in Southwark during the sixties and wrote many of his books while resident in the borough.</p><p>Dossier readers are welcome to add their support for the nomination.</p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-84107859499636334442021-09-30T17:42:00.008+01:002021-09-30T17:42:47.001+01:00More Penguin classics roll off the production line...<p>Today I've received in the post a further five books from the Penguin Modern Classics editions, which have been dropping onto booksellers shelves throughout 2021.</p><p>The latest editions are:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Close-Up</i></li><li><i>Yesterday's Spy</i></li><li><i>Spy Story</i></li><li><i>Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy </i></li><li><i>An Expensive Place to Die</i>.</li></ul><p></p><p>The bold cover designs by Richard Green continue to be visually interesting - each book features the Ray Hawkey-inspired chevron motif linking back to his original Penguin covers from the 1960s, with some bold colour choices, each too with the 'dot matrix' B&W photo pointing to the themes explored in the novels.</p><p>The cover of Yesterday's Spy bold, with its bold white cover, hints at a nod to the original Hawkey first edition covers for the unnamed spy stories in the 'sixties, which for the time were groundbreaking in their use of white on the dustcovers, which was traditionally avoided by book designers due to its propensity to show the dirt, where customers for example picked them up to browse. </p><p>There are a few more still to come out later in the autumn, including <i>Goodbye Mickey Mouse</i> and <i>City of Gold</i>.</p><p>I've been very impressed with Penguin's approach and its readiness to go all-in on the design motif that connects each and every book being republished and honours the company's long standing connection to the author. They've evidently taken a lot of time and care over each edition, which no doubt will help with attracting new readers to the novels.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkDoOl0gt2m6bqsB7ICU1bYqfsvwqw7N25-YeueXySQfggdvBBhsk8OWf7naHzDI9UEkFhuTLfawcj6AOZEGzDMgTWcQTHNHdm3BjOJIS4qVpEiZFgT55mwYtLZJAYBcEf0Z5wlAqL7Pk/s2048/IMG_2844.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkDoOl0gt2m6bqsB7ICU1bYqfsvwqw7N25-YeueXySQfggdvBBhsk8OWf7naHzDI9UEkFhuTLfawcj6AOZEGzDMgTWcQTHNHdm3BjOJIS4qVpEiZFgT55mwYtLZJAYBcEf0Z5wlAqL7Pk/w480-h640/IMG_2844.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2uvsT-VoAPFSHSHVx4Ho2XZ3rhaSd9BTto0Dc9WHhU_oaRUSBKmOkrS0pqLjZIDnC6Eqkb7mTboMhlaNpCnYuyjOjZm81iHHR_z02aOsbw_M_Mg7xHtJHBXuz5lcFHiHZaYq0mEXbEKKx/s2048/IMG_2845.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2uvsT-VoAPFSHSHVx4Ho2XZ3rhaSd9BTto0Dc9WHhU_oaRUSBKmOkrS0pqLjZIDnC6Eqkb7mTboMhlaNpCnYuyjOjZm81iHHR_z02aOsbw_M_Mg7xHtJHBXuz5lcFHiHZaYq0mEXbEKKx/w480-h640/IMG_2845.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-X_laTUVlR5xIF3ZrgyeCIs0a_FniGLjECa96Y10saLSlOkEz30ewa9n1z09-8AGFpELP5w25Iu6fj3IqAnXsRN_V0Nd0jZTtMnraiDcbBbb-MZ8mz-Gry1RfWVgnn32M-hec-MuaD61/s2048/IMG_2846.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-X_laTUVlR5xIF3ZrgyeCIs0a_FniGLjECa96Y10saLSlOkEz30ewa9n1z09-8AGFpELP5w25Iu6fj3IqAnXsRN_V0Nd0jZTtMnraiDcbBbb-MZ8mz-Gry1RfWVgnn32M-hec-MuaD61/w480-h640/IMG_2846.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTx3f4z4TNB8dniWaoL2g12y1BXZ6oHz0MaujUZwMpgFftr0Kx-3arW3au0aj8X8RmVqIPPg5iu4u_sOdhphmMuQxYE8Z0qPfXcP7eJAWdsEDVvwrAz5K0qSr5EalQ5malSCDgKzOP32jF/s2048/IMG_2847.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTx3f4z4TNB8dniWaoL2g12y1BXZ6oHz0MaujUZwMpgFftr0Kx-3arW3au0aj8X8RmVqIPPg5iu4u_sOdhphmMuQxYE8Z0qPfXcP7eJAWdsEDVvwrAz5K0qSr5EalQ5malSCDgKzOP32jF/w480-h640/IMG_2847.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEu-aCbQoRtmf2FUPJzN22bu4gTd471dRn3tHsIdDlhwz7HkopNWUhJiwNKZ6w-JN9n14kec8LpvgrXQylIttXExt7_04pvZYta0nFPDA5vGeJBbIW9MZFQKBmetIQmJJsjQDgEpNk9JyJ/s2048/IMG_2848.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEu-aCbQoRtmf2FUPJzN22bu4gTd471dRn3tHsIdDlhwz7HkopNWUhJiwNKZ6w-JN9n14kec8LpvgrXQylIttXExt7_04pvZYta0nFPDA5vGeJBbIW9MZFQKBmetIQmJJsjQDgEpNk9JyJ/w480-h640/IMG_2848.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-8517186576571899562021-08-07T17:31:00.005+01:002021-08-14T08:31:17.252+01:00Eastern Europe in England<p>I recently did some searching of various newspaper archives and found this interesting article from the Daily Mirror newspaper from late in 1987, during the filming of the Granada TV mini-series Game, Set and Match, based on the three Len Deighton novels of the same name (which was broadcast in Autumn 1988).</p><p>Famously, it recounts how - given that the Berlin Wall still existed at the time, and filming behind the Wall was, unsurprisingly, not allowed - the producers had to improvise when filming the many scenes requiring actor Ian Holm (as Bernard) and others to be in Eastern Europe.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOwNxFNe_WA-N4Qu7TKc1h7etLCJzoULpaMo0hZ5iFnkJKU_6rcWCmi2QxCGgDEw4WtYOHhHXdfeZfy3QWOJB2h9zHqqW1HKb_wWfdCmePxMzNZUZAew-nLAKKipUQl8Vfqn7PjnK6jmsa/s640/Bolton_Town_Hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="640" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOwNxFNe_WA-N4Qu7TKc1h7etLCJzoULpaMo0hZ5iFnkJKU_6rcWCmi2QxCGgDEw4WtYOHhHXdfeZfy3QWOJB2h9zHqqW1HKb_wWfdCmePxMzNZUZAew-nLAKKipUQl8Vfqn7PjnK6jmsa/w640-h416/Bolton_Town_Hall.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gdansk, Lancashire.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>For the scenes in Gdansk Railway Station, Manchester's Victoria Station (now majorly different in layout) stood in, thanks to the addition of some Polish signage and Eastern Bloc cars.</p><p>For example, Bolton Town Hall stood in for Gdansk, in the scene where Bernard goes behind the Iron Curtain to meet with Yuri Rostov to seek his defection, the failure of which leads Bernard to flee Eastern Europe via an escape across the wall (a scene which is told in flashback in the books, but which provides the opening scenes in the TV mini series that provide a context for explaining Bernard Samson's position back in London Central, desk-bound.</p><p>Other filming was done in and around the North West (the series was produced by Granada TV, the regional commercial TV station in England which formed part of the ITV network). For instance, the village of <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/50-37+Church+St,+Great+Budworth,+Northwich+CW9+6HH/@53.2941426,-2.5060583,18z/data=!4m15!1m9!4m8!1m3!2m2!1d-2.5114926!2d53.2918165!1m3!2m2!1d-2.5048733!2d53.2940289!3m4!1s0x487aff26ab5c2f75:0x5935a475ee1eda07!8m2!3d53.2941157!4d-2.5049351?hl=en&authuser=0">Great Budworth</a> near Northwich stood in for Cosham (which is actually on the south coast of England in the books), for the scene where Bernard and Werner discover the body of McKenzie in the departmental safe house, left there by Erich Stinnes, who is seeking to undermine Samson's position within London Central by pinning the murder on him.</p><p>The two-page article from the Daily Mirror, which explores other aspects of the production (including the filming in West Berlin and Mexico), was part of the pre-launch publicity around the series which, despite Granada TV's largest drama budget up to that point, ultimately failed to prove the smash hit that was expected. Famously, due to disagreements with the producers during the making of the film, the commercial rights for the series were withdrawn by Len Deighton, meaning the series - and its many North West locations - haven't ever been broadcast again on British TV, or released on DVD.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DpKUI0prjgan9nGzr_Hxr9Nw2IWAz8W6VLpkhMXQWucZgS5VONkRu_Jxx-zpDs9qWrg8VrWY27QAXW3aGssDrBOYinJPqJLdwVnomU86a-IVMJoVOaoRJ9ZHJsxfgKD5FZdXMqhJD0Jw/s2048/Daily+Mirror+1987+November+23+1+GSM+TV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1447" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DpKUI0prjgan9nGzr_Hxr9Nw2IWAz8W6VLpkhMXQWucZgS5VONkRu_Jxx-zpDs9qWrg8VrWY27QAXW3aGssDrBOYinJPqJLdwVnomU86a-IVMJoVOaoRJ9ZHJsxfgKD5FZdXMqhJD0Jw/w452-h640/Daily+Mirror+1987+November+23+1+GSM+TV.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEwaK8Plc3KPZpO5YQs-UTvr7JqW9kDHDc-FkptMN59mgvS3p1WUwKRmfDqUWCz4zuVzs4wW2ypleCLHwoQHFUiSTubhC2DvOdBognYLoCvIKBgu0l-Ho8SbhMbmFddfjLQgfjn8lje_r/s2048/Daily+Mirror+1987+November+23+2+GSM+TV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1447" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEwaK8Plc3KPZpO5YQs-UTvr7JqW9kDHDc-FkptMN59mgvS3p1WUwKRmfDqUWCz4zuVzs4wW2ypleCLHwoQHFUiSTubhC2DvOdBognYLoCvIKBgu0l-Ho8SbhMbmFddfjLQgfjn8lje_r/w452-h640/Daily+Mirror+1987+November+23+2+GSM+TV.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-55412710943201994712021-05-16T13:02:00.005+01:002021-05-16T13:02:58.002+01:00Couple of recent Deighton-related articles readers may be interested in<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFEiQuEAa-7TXLxjhsUr8n7JczPDNYD1YB4F3kBx_K7pXAokHJNGE9Tc4Ae9EwNG7pVo5NLi2jIA5E_82tb1m96CHtPIaLZYTrBumhRauf1QceVdgf7N2mWzKba4xiLwIcXikFWf3yS4z/s2048/IMG_2799.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFEiQuEAa-7TXLxjhsUr8n7JczPDNYD1YB4F3kBx_K7pXAokHJNGE9Tc4Ae9EwNG7pVo5NLi2jIA5E_82tb1m96CHtPIaLZYTrBumhRauf1QceVdgf7N2mWzKba4xiLwIcXikFWf3yS4z/w640-h640/IMG_2799.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Things are relatively quiet with respect to news about Deighton's books - now that the Penguin editions are starting to roll out - but there are still the odd article relating to the author and his works for readers to be aware of.<p></p><p>In The New Statesman (a UK-based, broadly left-of-centre magazine), journalist John Gray has written a profile style piece called <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/len-deighton-spy-novels?fbclid=IwAR1vWjg4Rh5muvfQKNznNZuWgmiEzciAP5gy8vbJ60jXjp54Y1BfypxxClE">Len Deighton and the mundanity of spies</a>. If you can look past the odd spelling error (sub-editors failed to correct a reference to 'Leighton'), then it's worthwhile giving it a read, as the writer compares Deighton's spy thrillers with other classic characters and stories from Maugham and Fleming and others.</p><p>Earlier in the month, in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/may/02/why-len-deightons-spy-stories-are-set-to-thrill-a-new-generation?fbclid=IwAR1oaho63qoJr81Ez9FLOJ3dWctEc8J2iYRrEFDR7f0MxZtGOAcTpIJOWwQ">The Observer</a>, Deighton's son Alex - who has been co-authoriting the most recent cookstrips in the magazine with his father (now, sadly, at an end), discusses with the interviewer the recent launch of the new Penguin Modern Classics editions, and his father's continued legacy of books being enjoyed by new generations of readers.</p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-12495921396083069392021-03-13T15:55:00.002+00:002021-03-13T15:55:17.661+00:00New Disney editions looking very stylish<p>Last year, it was <a href="https://www.thebookseller.com/news/deighton-become-penguin-modern-classic-author-1221002?fbclid=IwAR3yoo0UwqKN7YolCbX1rCZNZCUbX2v1Qf1q_PID5-XSGk8tUMaQOyeRV1E">announced</a> that Penguin had secured the paperback writes to Len Deighton's fiction and non-fiction output, and would publish them under its Penguin Modern Classics imprint. </p><p>The first cover images for the initial releases in the series have been released, and they look mightily impressive, based on those available so far (all the books are available for pre-order, but not all covers have been shared yet).</p><p>The overall look and feel has been created by Penguin's Art Director Tony Stoddart, and what is immediately apparently is how his overall feel seems to make passing references to previous Penguin film tie-in editions from the sixties, with the famous covers featuring Michael Caine as Harry Palmer, which were designed by Len Deighton's long-time collaborator, Raymond Hawkey.</p><p>Take a look, and see what you think.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFe-WMkObpwNOEYttCj9x2RlJ4TVY9_4cJbpybMcXoH-m_z19EnO42Adi7RVxtk8JKBGfLqS6R7btZccnGbl_FXbSzBpGX9MWZ6QR3CQOkj3jmUk4QwP46wFd1Qazhf2yd4BRBaI3Ug_b_/s675/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFe-WMkObpwNOEYttCj9x2RlJ4TVY9_4cJbpybMcXoH-m_z19EnO42Adi7RVxtk8JKBGfLqS6R7btZccnGbl_FXbSzBpGX9MWZ6QR3CQOkj3jmUk4QwP46wFd1Qazhf2yd4BRBaI3Ug_b_/w418-h640/image.jpg" title="Funeral in Berlin, 2021, Tony Stoddart" width="418" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Funeral in Berlin 2021, designed by Tony Stoddart<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZ485eWA5fTAhMWvXNS3L28wzAvR7_t9ApNY85k_g6FEel2IHNy2BTUbrw7Gwk5TmLBAkK99-I_7zsT2_ZIzXUeDC9jx39Kdctv25NOBshrby7aop1ZpQ4EcVISzOWQ-3LW35RS6Q1uGi/s2048/Funeral+in+Berlin+Penguin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZ485eWA5fTAhMWvXNS3L28wzAvR7_t9ApNY85k_g6FEel2IHNy2BTUbrw7Gwk5TmLBAkK99-I_7zsT2_ZIzXUeDC9jx39Kdctv25NOBshrby7aop1ZpQ4EcVISzOWQ-3LW35RS6Q1uGi/w480-h640/Funeral+in+Berlin+Penguin.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Funeral in Berlin 1966, designed by Ramond Hawkey<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div>The orange chevron in the new edition is a wonderful homage to the famous - and famously successful - three editions of the 'Harry Palmer' novels which were published by Penguin in the 'sixties; they did not, however, have the rights to The Ipcress File.<div><br /></div><div>These <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/search-results.html?q=Len+Deighton">new editions</a> will include all Deighton's fiction output, plus many of his historical works too.<br /><br /><p><br /></p></div>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-36090602076940366112021-02-26T20:25:00.003+00:002021-02-26T20:25:30.388+00:00Another serendipitous find<p>As a collector of Len Deighton's output (along with a couple of other authors) for a number of decades, through talking to dealers, scouring second-hand book shops and trawling online sites like ABEBooks, I've got a pretty good idea of what the market is:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Which books are rare</li><li>How often the crop up in the market</li><li>What represents good value</li></ul><div>That allows me, as a collector, to be more focused and targeted and ensure that any spare cash I use on adding to my collection, is well-used and helps me get a more complete collection.</div><div><br /></div><div>Every so often, something comes along that I've never heard of or seen before for sale; one recent example explored here on this blog was the <a href="http://deightondossier.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-quest-is-over-tale-of-elusive-ss-gb.html">SS-GB Whitehall postcard</a> - super rare - which I found after years of searching. Surprisingly, within a couple of months, I found another (which I purchased) that included some of the original publicity content sent out to booksellers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Feast and famine, and serendipity. Such is the experience of the serious book collector.</div><div><br /></div><div>This week, I found another item that was totally off my radar. It's a limited edition book of illustrations, called <i>An Alphabet in praise of Frogs and Toads</i> by John Norris Wood. And, it has a foreword by Len Deighton (as a serious collector, I don't collect just Deighton's books, but his forewords and book jacket illustrations too). </div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUF-Yu0hiJX2aYoGGZCa74E7U6qUh0RJI6ecU0YKdK9CDX106ZzbvMarb3HPIcOsIkw65S-yeOvu1LFi4zoNrLEXnvy1MrLiS9zDIr5TWfxP7ulJ85WsNDJg4g-EviL26wiqpa8S0cqeV/s2048/IMG_2695.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUF-Yu0hiJX2aYoGGZCa74E7U6qUh0RJI6ecU0YKdK9CDX106ZzbvMarb3HPIcOsIkw65S-yeOvu1LFi4zoNrLEXnvy1MrLiS9zDIr5TWfxP7ulJ85WsNDJg4g-EviL26wiqpa8S0cqeV/w480-h640/IMG_2695.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzkvYUut0npddhFMviX5K7RNxEGpkHv5sanEukBGPoZVnxBb6jGMX8t_G3WSG-cPvsbnz6MbLZALWmnqOZamZPdjNMwA_TmlVAAYVCz_VbIW8c8JVU1dWVYFLtJ6VYJOMgQG6qPTs2lS9j/s2048/IMG_2692.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzkvYUut0npddhFMviX5K7RNxEGpkHv5sanEukBGPoZVnxBb6jGMX8t_G3WSG-cPvsbnz6MbLZALWmnqOZamZPdjNMwA_TmlVAAYVCz_VbIW8c8JVU1dWVYFLtJ6VYJOMgQG6qPTs2lS9j/w480-h640/IMG_2692.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7qbbXma1IF7IxlY2gfFlxZARuLxMmtl2xTdXdnCK3ZzMzY_RCfOBbpXJa8K4Hsv9fk1ZUKnU4EuwDuvL0HumowuB-eewOfNooARJfjoCG9S4OhzooPEw3crd3kJ8677iAGTdR-xDTL-E/s2048/IMG_2696.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="655" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7qbbXma1IF7IxlY2gfFlxZARuLxMmtl2xTdXdnCK3ZzMzY_RCfOBbpXJa8K4Hsv9fk1ZUKnU4EuwDuvL0HumowuB-eewOfNooARJfjoCG9S4OhzooPEw3crd3kJ8677iAGTdR-xDTL-E/w491-h655/IMG_2696.jpeg" width="491" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Why? Well, it turns out Wood and Deighton were fellow students at London's Royal College of Art, where both were graphic designers and illustrators. Deighton's forward recalls his time at the college and his friendship with Wood. The book itself is simply page after page of - admittedly well done - pictures of frogs and toads. But, as a limited private printing of just 320 copies, it's rare.</div><div><br /></div><div>I checked with other collectors and online and found that the market price was in the £2-300 mark.</div><div><br /></div><div>Me? I paid £50 online for it. I'd consider that a bargain for something so rare. </div><div><br /></div><div>It just goes to show that for those of us who enjoy collecting books - of whatever kind - there's always something new to find, and that's why we do what we do; that's why collectors are rarely satisfied or say to themselves, "You know, I'm done."</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy collecting.</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-67581735327724639662021-01-01T21:00:00.002+00:002021-01-01T21:00:24.313+00:00A new Harry Palmer on the horizon<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Eq2hwwBWSiPEOHfA_TuHSelZH-E1csn-ZLyf2YsE7Yp1bZ9LgBay2jCrB0sw4qhwkZPp6GyzAjDp31KNZszbq9Mku9nWed97cVNXXr5kkYF7REIbhp0rMU5Ls7liOrUMz06Bo49jPSJx/s413/Jo+Cole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="413" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Eq2hwwBWSiPEOHfA_TuHSelZH-E1csn-ZLyf2YsE7Yp1bZ9LgBay2jCrB0sw4qhwkZPp6GyzAjDp31KNZszbq9Mku9nWed97cVNXXr5kkYF7REIbhp0rMU5Ls7liOrUMz06Bo49jPSJx/w400-h385/Jo+Cole.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new Harry Palmer. What, no glasses?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> Before Christmas, ITV delivered a Christmas present for Deighton fans, of sorts.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/itv-commissions-six-part-spy-thriller-ipcress-file">new six-part TV series based</a> on <i>The Ipcress File</i> novel is planned for broadcast this year, with a new younger cast recreating Len Deighton's first novel - reimagining, perhaps, given the fabled original movie starring Michael Caine is so well known.</p><p>The part made famous by Michael Caine will be played by young British actor Joe Cole, who's most famous for his role in BBC 1's <i>Peaky Blinders </i>historical drama. He'll be joined by actress Lucy Boynton - who one imagines will play Jean - and also Tom Hollander. Further details are awaited about the series but the signs in the ITV press release are relatively positive.</p><p>With six parts, presumably an hour long, the producers should have more time for character development and to visit more parts of the books - including those in the Pacific - which were excised from the original cinema version. </p><p>Potentially, too, they have the option to explore more of Harry Palmer's back story - the producers are sticking with the name created for the film, given the brand value of doing so - particularly his criminal acts within the army in Berlin which originally landed him with Colonel Ross in W.O.O.C.(P).</p><p>Of course, any series based on a book from the 'sixties will inevitably be 'updated' and made 'relevant', but as long as it's not egregious or doesn't get in the way of telling the story, such things are forgiveable.</p><p>Still, it should be fun, and I wait to see with interest whether it can hold its ground with the original.</p><p>Now, some better 2021 New Year news would be to hear that Clerkenwell Films - holders of the TV rights for all nine Bernard Samson books - has, having held the rights for over five years - announced plans to start filming the series.</p><p>But, maybe we have to wait for April Fool's Day for that announcement.</p><p>What do other readers think - good idea or not, the Ipcress update?</p><p><br /></p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-9873154506466260932020-12-14T10:19:00.001+00:002020-12-14T10:19:12.037+00:00On the passing of a great ...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-M8RufQIwfb_PVkOg0zvDpS6cXfuIR3hJR_zKnEOFueIZGcFwqKC7sKc4CMXtHcsrpsuxZR8vMFCBYAJJ1EBptLocAusedsRUq9NvRk7MVqA5FSDiI9eIdAxmrj_-DFLmMI45Uo3TfXTS/s1793/1200px-John_le_Carre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1793" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-M8RufQIwfb_PVkOg0zvDpS6cXfuIR3hJR_zKnEOFueIZGcFwqKC7sKc4CMXtHcsrpsuxZR8vMFCBYAJJ1EBptLocAusedsRUq9NvRk7MVqA5FSDiI9eIdAxmrj_-DFLmMI45Uo3TfXTS/w429-h640/1200px-John_le_Carre.jpg" title="John Le Carré, 1931-2020" width="429" /></a></div><br />Sad news in the world of spy fiction with the passing of David Cornwell, aka <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-55297558">John Le Carré</a>, aged 89 after a short illness.<p></p><p>What is there to say about him that hasn't already been said, not just in the last 24-hours in the numerous obituaries published around the globe, but over his sixty-year career.</p><p>The spy's spy fiction writer.</p><p>A literary giant</p><p>A writer who transcended the spy genre.</p><p>A chronicler of our age.</p><p>He was clearly all these things and much, much more. It is rare to find anyone who enjoys reading spy fiction who has not read some - all - of Le Carré's books, from the most famous ones like <i>Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy</i>, to lesser-known works such as <i>The Mission Song</i>.</p><p>His contribution to the genre is without doubt. </p><p>He was also a contemporary of Len Deighton (who is the older of the two, at 91 years old) as a spy fiction writer, and he, Deighton and Ian Fleming were, certainly in the 'sixties, often regarded as the big triumvirate of spy fiction authors who put the genre on the map and paved the way for many other authors in their wake.</p><p>While Len has been in effective retirement for two decades, Le Carré was writing new fiction well into his late eighties.</p><p>While readers around the world - and his books were popular in many markets beyond the UK and US - will mourn today, we shouldn't be too sad, because in a full and well-lived life he created unforgettable characters and stories which will remain with us for a long time to come.</p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-86070415539073593242020-09-17T19:36:00.002+01:002020-09-17T19:43:55.424+01:00It's not quite a new novel, but hey ....<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFcWx6fiL5ZIhSlfA2xJzxGzupx_hwaj-X_m5r2A06PTc5GPk40eE_WGx3C1M2dSqoTapKtzdJixEIPdO0oW6fwKz4Ln0OwP-ZnJ1rPWBnuUvQLhFR5IWCELgds7w7eOvNwwqCFKO5xKE/s2048/IMG_2574.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="403" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFcWx6fiL5ZIhSlfA2xJzxGzupx_hwaj-X_m5r2A06PTc5GPk40eE_WGx3C1M2dSqoTapKtzdJixEIPdO0oW6fwKz4Ln0OwP-ZnJ1rPWBnuUvQLhFR5IWCELgds7w7eOvNwwqCFKO5xKE/w403-h403/IMG_2574.jpeg" width="403" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rather natty cover of Howdunit<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Len Deighton is long into a well-deserved retirement - his last full novel was well over 25 years ago - but he still writes regularly and this week his first piece of published writing, at least that I'm aware of, since his 2012 James Bond e-book, has appeared.</p><p>It's a chapter in <b>Howdunit</b>, a new compendium by the members of the Detection Club. A masterclass of crime and thriller fiction from masters of the genre.</p><p>And the book as a whole is dedicated to Len, who, the reader is reminded, was first elected to membership of the Detection Club in 1969.</p><p>So, it's his fiftieth year of membership. He's their longest serving member.</p><p>How many of ever can say we've been a member of anything for fifty years or more?</p><p>So, what will you find in this book, which is sure to be catnip for spy fiction and thriller readers alike as well as hardened crime fines? </p><p>Well, how about:</p><p>...<b>Val McDermid</b>, on letting the story be the driver...</p><p>...<b>Ngaio Marsh</b> on the value of great research to a story...</p><p>...<b>John Le Carre</b> on the joy of writing...</p><p>...and <b>Ian Rankin</b> on why crime fiction is good for you.</p><p>That's just a taste of what's available in this tome (and it's a book that feels weighty, hefty, and deserving of that title.</p><p>There are over 500 pages of content for a relatively modest £25 for the hardback limited edition.</p><p>So what of Len's contribution?</p><p>His chapter, fourteen pages long, is entitled: <i>Different Books; Different Problems; Different Solutions</i>.</p><p>Essentially, it is Len recounting his experiences as a writer of nearly sixty years. Sharing anecdotes (many familiar, some new) and passing on tips.</p><p> For instance, The value of research in ensuring you get things right:</p><blockquote><p>"<i>I have abandoned three books halfway through and it is a miserable experience</i>."</p></blockquote><p>Ah. What might have been! He gives infomation about what they were:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The well-known Vietnam-based story around fighter pilots</li><li>An espionage story about an orchestra travelling behind the Iron Curtain</li><li>A book about worldwide revolutionary movements, from the Bolsheviks and onwards.</li></ul><div>The benefits of leaving paper behind and writing Bomber on his new IBM word processor in 1969, famously the first novel fully written on a Word Processor:</div><blockquote><div>"<i>Revisions, corrections and edits are always part of my writing process; and scribbling between the lines on typewritten pages, as well as cutting them up and rearranging paragraphs, kept me on my knee brandishing the glue pot.</i>"</div></blockquote><p>The benefits of not wasting anything already started, and recycling it:</p><blockquote><p>"<i>Like most writers I begrudge wasted experience (even my abandoned revolution research was used in a South American locale for MAMista).</i>"</p></blockquote><p>The value of coincidence and happenstance to a writer in being able to bump into the spy fraternity and, one imagines, draw on their stories:</p><blockquote><p>"<i>Visiting a friend in HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs on a sunny day [who was that?] when visitors and inmates were gathered in the grassy interior lawn, I found George Blake, one of Russia's most successful agents, seated at the next table. Maxwell Knight of MI5 and Sir Maurice Oldfield, the head of MI6, were friends of friends. They were everywhere. One didn't have to look beyond our writing fraternity to find men who had worked in the service.</i>"</p></blockquote><p>Overall, it's a neat insight into the life of a writer. </p><p>Like many of the other authors in this book I suspect, writing about himself, and the process of writing, is I imagine something Len would happily exchange for writing about a character or a scene.</p><p>But for a reader, it's a way to understand the process and thinking behind the characters and situations which you have enjoyed over the years are given another facet, as the process of their creation is given just a little bit more detail.</p><p>If you read any sort of thriller fiction, there is plenty beyond simply Len Deighton's chapter in this book to raise your eyebrows and thumb your bookshelves.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-79909396446944299852020-07-12T10:11:00.002+01:002020-07-12T10:12:52.429+01:00Snippets from the RipsterLockdown's been an odd experience. Even as some restrictions ease, it's going to be an odd summer.<div><br /></div><div>I recently received a nice message from author Mike Ripley - who's a long-standing friend of Len Deighton, and of the Dossier. Judging by the pic he shared, he's coping fine with lockdown!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsOZO7oq0wuQDx6ZZH4cB1c6R651TEogAuGNbiP_xh7aIVF4DIsJxst_jW2M0OyRmjqQnM7kKynQOEeGneTKS9EQIsPH8jpTa8WNOgNohlQEqm-UrwKnupx_0qX_BKG81sXFb-qrq_UnUd/s630/image002.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="306" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsOZO7oq0wuQDx6ZZH4cB1c6R651TEogAuGNbiP_xh7aIVF4DIsJxst_jW2M0OyRmjqQnM7kKynQOEeGneTKS9EQIsPH8jpTa8WNOgNohlQEqm-UrwKnupx_0qX_BKG81sXFb-qrq_UnUd/w304-h625/image002.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike Ripley suffering through lockdown!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Mike - who writes the always excellent 'Getting Away with It' column in the online Shots magazine is a great source for all the latest news in crime and thriller fiction, pointed me in the direction of two recent homages, if you will, to Deighton's wok.<br /><br />In his newspy story<b> Hammer to Fall,</b> John Lawton includes this scene:<br /><br /><blockquote><i>The hero spy returning from a mission to Finland in 1966 goes to the home of his boss to find that the boss’ wife - a notoriously bad cook – has left ‘a nice little bourguignon on the hob’ for them. The spymaster boss tells our hero:<br /><br />“Ever since she discovered Len Deighton’s Cookstrip she’s been unstoppable. Calls it cuisine à la spook … her shorthand for it is spy-fry.”</i></blockquote><br />Nice pun!<div><br /></div><div>And in Mike's own new book <b>Mr Campion's Seance</b>, a visiting Interpol agent is waiting for Campion at Scotland Yard. When Campion arrives he finds him surrounded by a pile of newspapers. The setting is November 1962:<br /><br /><blockquote><i>‘Your English is as annoyingly good as it always was.’ Campion pointed to the pile of Evening Standard newspapers on the chair and leaned over to peruse the one open on the desk. ‘Is that your secret? A close reading of the juicy stories in London’s evening papers?’<br /><br />‘Superintendent Luke kindly gave me yesterday’s issue to read whilst I was waiting and I discovered this wonderful serial, a new spy story called </i>The Ipcress File<i>. I simply had to know what had gone before and one of the constables found me copies of last week’s papers. It is really very good; you should read it.’<br /><br />‘Are you sure it’s fiction? Our newspapers seem to be uncovering spy stories every week these days.’<br /><br />‘This story reads like it is true, but it is fiction. The paper says there will be a book soon.’</i></blockquote><br />Mike tells me he sent Len a copy of my book which (he said) he enjoyed, and told him about the John Lawton reference. He emailed Mike back: ‘How nice to hear that I am not forgot.’</div><div><br /></div><div>Indeed.</div>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-89793678651512701652020-06-18T12:07:00.006+01:002020-06-27T16:14:31.659+01:00The quest is over: the tale of the elusive SS-GB postcardThis is a post about collecting, and the thrill of tracking down big game.<div><br /></div><div>In my case, the 'big game' was in fact small and rather insignificant - a postcard 4 inches by 6 inches. But bagging it bought to the end fifteen or more years of patient stalking.</div><div><br /></div><div>This blog - and the <a href="https://www.deightondossier.net" target="_blank">Deighton Dossier</a> main website - started as a means of documenting and sharing my collection of Len Deighton books and other items. It has since grown over a decade and more into a small but well-informed community of fellow collectors, readers and spy fiction fans, including over on the main <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/deightondossier">Facebook</a> group.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm still a keen book collector - not just of Deighton, but other authors too. Even though my collection is (according to a number of dealers) impressive, there are still odd gaps here and there. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most of these I would class as 'hyper rare' items of ephemera. This week, after keeping my eyes open online for fifteen years plus, I found what I'd been looking for.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is this, a simple postcard, part of the marketing materials for the first UK edition of SS-GB:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkhytgYXUKVqAKfwaU933oA2qIZfeXDJVaWTRFbbHvuxt-VnvFeMpPAk1nL62GS2avDm2tlk0fD8gGcPS_tl1udx6LW_4fE7wBw_M4hGffgEa2CEn3vBZHe5buJ48CCRYCj4RcieZJXt4T/s3024/IMG_2465.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkhytgYXUKVqAKfwaU933oA2qIZfeXDJVaWTRFbbHvuxt-VnvFeMpPAk1nL62GS2avDm2tlk0fD8gGcPS_tl1udx6LW_4fE7wBw_M4hGffgEa2CEn3vBZHe5buJ48CCRYCj4RcieZJXt4T/w500-h500/IMG_2465.jpeg" title="Small, but much sought after" width="500" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0IFBXMJFXuEbVguhSgfRk_60mzxhX7PPRMu0QV4eIAiu4ryp_RTp1kVKPbZaaDQXeJhU4P7Pwb4rzBNtpyZTh7eroy5dJCuk22G4F_a_b8zuGI5ut5LUOGlJu8nyJF_ChHdp1JffaIXR5/s3024/IMG_2466.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0IFBXMJFXuEbVguhSgfRk_60mzxhX7PPRMu0QV4eIAiu4ryp_RTp1kVKPbZaaDQXeJhU4P7Pwb4rzBNtpyZTh7eroy5dJCuk22G4F_a_b8zuGI5ut5LUOGlJu8nyJF_ChHdp1JffaIXR5/w500-h500/IMG_2466.jpeg" width="500" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Designed by Raymond Hawkey, it shows on the front the 'Siegesparade in London, 20 April 1941', divisions of Waffen SS marching confidently down Whitehall to mark the victory of the Nazis over the British which forms the central conceit of Deighton's famous 'alternative history' thriller, which was made into a <a href="https://www.deightondossier.net/films/ssgbtv/" target="_blank">series</a> by the BBC.</div><div><br /></div><div>The image was also used on the dust jacket of the UK first edition.<br /><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>On the back, in English and German, it states that "the Führer takes the salute in Whitehall on his 52nd birthday as SS Divisions march past," along with a legend that SS-GB marks "Len Deighton's most original spy story yet," just in case anyone picking this up mistakes it for real.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that's not that out of the realms of possibility. Like most things Hawkey produced, it is exquisitely done. Pre-photoshop, the angle of the photograph and the perspective of the marching soldiers is perfectly aligned to create the illusion of a conquering army. The sepia colouring, and the quality and weight of the cardboard of the postcard is absolutely as it should be. It looks convincing.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can see the marketing angle adopted by Deighton's publishers: authenticity is the watchword. </div><div><br /></div><div>They wanted potential readers and booksellers to believe that the book was the closest thing to a reliable answer to the question 'What would have happened it the Nazis had won', as is possible. What better way to do that then by recreating the answer visually?</div><div><br /></div><div>A part of the same marketing push is the booklet of SS-GB 'Hitler stamps', also produced by Hawkey, which famously was so authentic that is allegedly fooled a number of antique stamp dealers upon its release (though I feel this may be aprochryphal, a story shared by collectors and philatelists alike). </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHUwBC5wh2XmIf95YgBGe6jJzOIFYewi8mcamuZD2yVBbnVL1eDEVo7uj2OQamDhUwZWeFuuZZVyotZj1jfWy8tuBQtZyTv777CFKfAv09UXbd5N3Up2kw-xjWX1c92F_M0FHjdjdcqpIT/s1014/SS-GB+stamps+2+Watermarked.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="1014" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHUwBC5wh2XmIf95YgBGe6jJzOIFYewi8mcamuZD2yVBbnVL1eDEVo7uj2OQamDhUwZWeFuuZZVyotZj1jfWy8tuBQtZyTv777CFKfAv09UXbd5N3Up2kw-xjWX1c92F_M0FHjdjdcqpIT/w625-h250/SS-GB+stamps+2+Watermarked.jpg" width="625" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So, that was my quarry. I already had a copy of the stamps purchased a number of years ago, but the postcard had eluded me. I would have to buy both items. </div><div><br /></div><div>I had seen one photo of the postcard in an article in a specialist collectors' magazine, but nothing beyond that. </div><div><br /></div><div>This week, that changed. I have a regular search on eBay for Deighton items, and peruse it every so often to keep an eye out on the global marketplace of books and ephemera. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most of the time it yields little I don't already have, but this last week - in a genuinely exciting moment - I spotted it on eBay.</div><div><br /></div><div>A postcard AND a set of stamps on sale. At a <i>bargain</i> price (<i>way</i> below the market value of £400-450 for which SS-GB stamp booklets alone - rare as hen's teeth - go). I 'watched' it, and put in a bid, a little over the price asked to give me some wiggle room. </div><div><br /></div><div>On Monday, the auction was to end.</div><div><br /></div><div>I sat in front of my computer, in anticipation, the eBay listing open. I was still the only bidder. 1m 50s and counting down. </div><div><br /></div><div>I upped my bid by £10 ... just in case.</div><div><br /></div><div>45s. </div><div><br /></div><div>Would I be outbid by another collector? Surely, there must be others out there who know the provenance and value of these items, sold here for a massive discount on the market price?</div><div><br /></div><div>0s. </div><div><br /></div><div>A brief pause.</div><div><br /></div><div>"You have won the auction." </div><div><br /></div><div>I breathed easier. </div><div><br /></div><div>One bid was all it took to end fifteen plus years of curiosity and regular checking of the global market for Deighton-related items which, while not a patch on the market for Ian Fleming's Bond books, has a certain size and, as the number of books and items in circulation diminishes, increasing value.</div><div><br /></div><div>I paid so far under the odds that I felt some sympathy for the seller, who perhaps expected the keen starting price to generate a flurry of bids for collectors.</div><div><br /></div><div>But most of all, I feel a sense of satisfaction that my collection - which over the years has given me a great deal of pleasure and connected me with some interesting fellow readers and, of course, the author himself - was one step further to completion.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's a feeling that explains why, I imagine, most collectors collect books, or the books of one particular author. </div><div><br /></div><div>There is a finite amount of 'stuff' out there, of varying value and number. </div><div><br /></div><div>For serious collectors - and I'm thinking in particular of a friend who is widely regarded as one of the top Ian Fleming collectors in the UK - completeness is everything. Gaps in a collection shout loudly and often, asking to be filled.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes - and certainly in the case of Bond books - that can require a second mortgage.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the case of the elusive SS-GB postcard, it required me to outlay just the cost of a few books or take-out pizzas.</div><div><br /></div><div>The only question now: what next to hunt down?</div><div><br /></div>Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764631039755560338.post-29153450737877391582020-03-27T17:35:00.002+00:002020-03-27T20:21:54.958+00:00An organised shelf is a happy shelfLike a large part of the world's population right now, I am in 'lockdown' mode as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic, doing my part to help reduce the spread of the infection through the community where I live by working from home and staying indoors (unlike all those members of the community in vital jobs like medicine and food distribution who are the heroes of the moment).<br />
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It's tough at time, but as the aphorism goes, when you're given lemons ... . So, I've had much more time on my hands to spend with my books: not just my collection of Deighton books, but all the books on my shelves. And one way to use that excess spare time is to get round to dusting and, more importantly, re-arranging the books on my shelves.<br />
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Here's the result for bookshelf one, which was certainly an improvement on how it looked befor:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLtpflan0QLykNAu-u1gsk-oyb-px-iVlwgA3SM-MQYf6NRG_xvOTOQ4HNQu2aKwgzMEQuhD9dL4OxNOo1cR4zT1rXtfIBMMq8QOZqoA4N3d0_12RIDgWO9Dj1ibH87YnCA9Vvk-4rQOk/s1600/IMG_2398.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLtpflan0QLykNAu-u1gsk-oyb-px-iVlwgA3SM-MQYf6NRG_xvOTOQ4HNQu2aKwgzMEQuhD9dL4OxNOo1cR4zT1rXtfIBMMq8QOZqoA4N3d0_12RIDgWO9Dj1ibH87YnCA9Vvk-4rQOk/s640/IMG_2398.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Taking all the books off the shelf, putting them into different category and size piles, then putting them back in a new way was a very satisfying thing to do. It didn't achieve anything or immeasurably improve my life, but I was glad I did it, so much so that I then proceeded to go through all my other shelves.<br />
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Why?<br />
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It got me thinking, why did I spend the time doing this, and not something else? Why did I choose one way of arranging my books, while other people choose alternative ways of arranging theirs.<br />
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As is the modern way, I went online and did an search on the internet for 'the psychology of tidy bookshelves'. And wouldn't you know it: page after page of blog posts, magazine articles, social media post, all about why people have, or don't have, tidy shelves (general, and book).<br />
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This article, for example, in <a href="https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/organizing-tips/g3449/what-your-book-organization-says-about-you/" target="_blank">House Beautiful</a> magazine (not, I might add, a regular read, but just one of the search results I clicked on) suggests that the way you stack your books tells you something about who you are and how you think. While I don't give much credence to the psychological and intellectual underpinnings of House Beautiful, the broad idea is right. Indeed, how your or I perform any activity - tying our shoes, buying clothes, doodling on a blank page - is likely to offer some insight into how you think and approach life.<br />
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So, as a book collector, who enjoys reading, looking at, handling, admiring and searching for books - especially, given the nature of this site, the works of Len Deighton - it made me pause for thought over coffee about what my books shelf style says about me, and why - in this current global pandemic - spending quality time with your books can be helpful and fulfilling. (Though, of course, while fun, it's no replacement for the current lack of human contact many of us around the world face!)<br />
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Your books are an important part of your life</b><br />
They're not as important as family, health, mental well-being, no, of course not. But books of whatever kind - spy novels, cook books, picture books, coffee table books - serve to nourish the soul and stimulate the mind. I know on each of the seven book shelves I own that, having curated every book on them, I know that in times like the present, when I have more time in the house, I'll find something I want to read and will feel comfortable losing myself in.<br />
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Tidying a bookshelf can throw up surprises.</b><br />
By tidying up four bookshelves of various books, I discovered I had duplicate copies of three first editions of books (one a Deighton, but two from other collections). I wouldn't ordinarily buy two copies of a book if I didn't need to, so I wondered: why had I done that. A few thoughts: as one gets older, clearly, the mind doesn't remember as much as when you were 15. So, simple forgetfulness.<br />
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It might also point to the fact that, prior to this tidying up, my shelves were disordered, and these duplicates - which I might have spotted if the collection were logical and ordered - would have come to light earlier. I also pondered on another source: the modern ease with which buying books, especially collectable books, can create a degree of laziness in the collector and encourage purchases where you just 'might not be sure' you have the book, without first actually checking if you do. If nothing else, that's money I could be saving right there in those three books (value about £55).<br />
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The de-cluttering phenomenon can apply to books, too</b><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">2019 was the year the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190515-can-decluttering-your-house-really-spark-joy" target="_blank">Marie Kondo effect </a>became a world-wide revolution, apparently. </span>"Tidying can transform your life." I wouldn't go that far, but certainly I can see how a concentration on a specific task, the creation or order and harmony (for example, having all the book spine titles reading the same way) can de-stress and generally bring a smile to your face. Ms Kondo has created ire among book collectors for her throwaway approach to books and generated a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/52f3432b-ac48-4c0b-bc5a-708788e70e95" target="_blank">meme war</a>. Like all things on social media, it's more heat and light but was certainly funny for the most part. I don't get the impression she is anti-book, perhaps more anti keeping books just for the sake of keeping them.<br />
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But is that what collectors do? I don't think so. There is purpose to their collecting (their certainly is to mine, which is personal to me, specific, not motivated by monetary value, and tied to specific, long-standing interests which I intend to continue pursuing). However, I have known collectors who - through having any strategic focus to their collecting - perhaps might benefit from a little of Ms Kondo's teaching. But, only a little.<br />
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I certainly found it satisfying to re-group all my Bernard Samson ennealogy books together - UK, US and German first editions - on a shelf at eye level, as these are my favourite books and, on reflection, it felt odd that they had been scattered on different shelves. Now, there is a nice degree of orderliness and finality to it: these books, and others in different collections, just should be together.<br />
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<b>People like to show off</b><br />
I admit: I like people to look at my bookshelves, and my different collections. Books, I guess, send positive signals to friends, partners, acquaintances that you have something about you, you have some heft, you're, as the phrase says, 'well read'.<br />
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With social media, this has become something of a phenomenon - and indeed, perhaps this post is ironically emblematic of the growth in 'humblebragging', using memes like <b>#Showusyoushelves</b>,where people post up images of their bookscases, as I have done, online.<b> </b><br />
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What does it mean? Is it bad? I don't think so. Is it showing off? Probably. Does it harm anyone? No. It could be all these things and many more. I'm sure I get a frisson of pleasure when someone makes positive comments about my shelves, my collections, my choices, my interests. Who wouldn't.<br />
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Tidying helps protect your books from damage</b><br />
I spotted a number of my Deightons - especially one or two with the red ink on the spine, red being especially vulnerable - were showing signs of fading, so I moved them down to a shelf more out of the light. But it's not just spines; it's only when books are taken out and inspected that you can spot signs of partial fading, where the extent of the fade is determined by the books immediately contiguous to that particular book. This can lead to some unfortunate effects.<br />
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In some cases, I've simply turned the books spine inwards. It makes them hard to identify, but until I can come up with a long-term solution, that's my play.<br />
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It reminds you of long-forgotten gems</b><br />
Just through the simple process of tidying, I've put aside two or three books I've not looked at in years, to reacquaint myself and be reminded why I purchased it in the first place. Rare is it that I will look upon a book and think, 'why am I keeping that?'<br />
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All in all, there is no science to a book shelf, It's an extension of a person's personality, so it will always be flawed, erratic, and incomplete.<br />
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Ms Kondo's tidyness extremism isn't for this collector, but the general lesson I took from this morning of tidying was that it's always good to spend time with your books!Deighton Dossierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01764108300942425651noreply@blogger.com2