The World at Night

I am a huge fan of Alan Furst; I've read all and enjoyed of his 1940's era books -- most of them several times. Except this one. To me, Furst's novels have three great strengths. 1: Atmosphere -- an ability to transport the reader back to the smokey, uncertain times as WWII was getting started; 2: G......more

There was a slow build-up and the novel didn't really catch fire for me until the final third, but that is maybe as it should be. What Furst has created is an evocative exploration of what it was like to lose your country, way of life and future and then to have to continue living. It's an intellige......more

I've read all of Furst's WWII books. These aren't action novels. They are atmospheric and very evocative. In some ways, they are all the same book and the same main character, but I don't that isn't necessarily a criticism. This is one of the best of the bunch. The desperation, fear, and apathy that......more

On the radio, the BBC. A quintet, swing guitar, violin-maybe Stephane Grapelli - a female vocalist, voice rough with static. The volume had to be very low: radios were supposed to be turned over to the Germans, and Casson loved the thing, couldn’t bear to part with it. It glowed in the dark and play......more

Jean Casson is a hedonist, a self-indulgent pleasure seeker, who loves life, especially Parisian life, parties, good food and drink, and women, primarily those he frequently beds. He is a modestly successful film producer in the 1930's Paris coordinating international resources for a film's inceptio......more