Reviews for Ashenden : Or, the British Agent

The average rating for Ashenden : Or, the British Agent based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-05-18 00:00:00 Corey Duguay Somerset Maugham's Ashenden: Or the British Agent (1927) is the first spy novel written by someone who actually worked for an intelligence agency. It is also the work of a writer who had the knack for creating a vivid character in few words, and then allowing that character to reveal his story�and usually more of himself than he would wish�to the attentive reader. Maugham�both in this book and in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of his short stories�was a great influence on spy novelists in general and on Eric Ambler in particular, whose masterpiece A Coffin for Dimitrios would not have been the same without Maugham. His locales�Geneva, Naples, Paris, Basle, Lucerne, Petrograd�are efficiently and convincingly created, and provide a fine backdrop for Ashenden's encounters with many memorable characters: R, the enigmatic head of British Intelligence; �The Hairless Mexican,� a flamboyant agent employed as an assassin by the British; traitor and good family man George Caypor and his devoted German wife; �His Excellency,� an ambassador with a surprising past; Anastasia Alexandrovna, flighty lover and committed revolutionary; and Mr. Harrington, the forthright and foolhardy American seeking business contacts within the new revolutionary Russian government. In fact, there are so many different locales, so many colorful people participating in so many unconnected stratagems, revealing themselves in so many distinct conversations, that it would not be surprising if a reader concluded that Ashenden was no more than a collection of themed short stories printed in chapters to make it look like a novel. This particular reader, however, thinks it qualifies as a novel. Not only does Ashenden's profession help unify the many revelations of deception and the hidden aspects of character recorded here, but the �Great War� helps unify the narrative too. The book begins in the heart of Western Europe, in neutral territory, and progresses from the carrying of small bits of information, to the arrangement of assassinations and betrayals, to violent disruptions in the Russian streets in the days before the Soviet revolution. Throughout the novel, the morality of Ashenden's sphere of action becomes increasingly compromised until at the end he arrives at the gates of a newly unstable modern world. If you decide to read this, strive to obtain an edition (like this one) that includes not only the 1928 novel but the preface to the 1941 edition. By 1941, the 67 year-old Maugham had slipped out of favor, dismissed as a plot-driven popular writer who concocted neat little fictions far removed from the complexities of modern existence, from the loose ends and sloppiness of life. His preface is a spirited�although prickly-- defense of the traditional literary concepts of �a beginning, a middle and an end.� Maugham dismisses the assertion that �fiction should imitate life,� asserting that this is �merely a literary theory like another.� In our post-post-modernist atmosphere, this preface has something to say to us. If we can claim no longer that it speaks �the truth,� I still think it safe to claim this much: what Maugham says here now shines with a newly burnished "validity."

Review # 2 was written on 2014-08-05 00:00:00 Pablo Pablo This fascinating, and delightful, book is often regarded as the first spy story and a precursor to Smiley and James Bond. Based on W. Somerset Maugham�s real life experience working for the Secret Service in WWI, this is a collection of linked stories about his fictional alter ego Ashenden. Like Maugham, Ashenden is an author; approached by a middle-aged Colonel (later known as �R�) at a party in London, shortly after the outbreak of the first world war. He suggests that, as Ashenden speaks several European languages and his profession is a perfect cover, he joins the intelligence agency. Despite the comment that, �if you do well you�ll get no thanks and if you get into trouble you�ll get no help,� Ashenden seems happy enough to oblige. What follows is an odd , often bizarre, series of events which mainly take place in hotels, restaurants and trains, far from the theatre of war. Espionage in WWI was often frowned upon as not being gentlemanly. While describing an agent, nicknamed �the Hairless Mexican,� that Ashenden is asked to accompany to Italy, R remarks that, �he hasn�t had the advantages of a public school education.� Again, when Ashenden suggests that another agent has offered to carry out as assassination for money, R expostulates, �damn it all, we are gentlemen!� However, despite the various restrictions and general distrust of spying, Ashenden has a calm head and is entrusted with some very important missions. We follow him through France, Switzerland, Italy and Russia, as he uncovers spy networks, accompanies agents to intercept certain documents, tries to trap Indian nationalists and is bored to death by an American businessman on the Trans-Siberian express. Maugham�s writing was never less than brilliant and this is no exception. To spend time in the company of his writing is always a delight and this is a wonderful, charming set of stories � told with typical British reserve � but perhaps even more moving because of the understatement. Although Ashenden does not venture into the field of battle, we (and his hero) are always aware of the soldiers in their trenches and the fact that the outcome of his various missions may result in a firing squad at dawn...