Tuesday 18 October 2016

New video surfaces - Thames TV interview Deighton ...

Thanks to Deighton Dossier Facebook reader Jack Les Camela, a new video has surfaced on YouTube, showing an interview by Thames TV's Trevor Hyatt on the Afternoon Plus show.

Watch it here:


It's a good 25 minute long. As it's from 1983, it was part of the publicity drive for Berlin Game.

What we learn from it:

  • Len Deighton doesn't read his books again once they're published
  • The low budget of The Ipcress File made it a good film
  • He's not at all resentful of the fact he's never won the Booker Prize!
Enjoy!

Saturday 8 October 2016

Deighton near the top of the charts, again

Some good news for readers of quality spy and thriller fiction.

Len Deighton's SS-GB has climbed to the top 10 of paperback sales in the UK, according to The Times.

My theory is that much of this is down to the Waterstone's push (see stories below) to its customers, making the book thriller of the month for September. Perhaps some of it's down to people curious about the upcoming BBC series?

Whatever it was, for fans of Deighton and this book in particular, it just goes to show that quality is persistent and rarely fades totally from view.

Thursday 6 October 2016

Worth a read - who is the ... 'anti-Bond'

A new article up this week on the Literary 007 blog looking at the literary legacy of James Bond writer Ian Fleming.

This two-page article by writer David Craggs asks the question: what was the impact of James Bond? Much like matter has anti-matter, his contention is that the creation of Bond enabled the creation of a number of 'anti-Bonds', including - famously - the unnamed spy created by Len Deighton.

Share your views in the comments below.