"Ashenden" by W Somerset Maugham

Nigel: wanted to read W Somerset Maugham

Nigel explained how he had wanted to read something by W. Somerset Maugham for sometime despite knowing very little about him.  
He was very impressed by this book.  In addition to being beautifully written it has the ring of authenticity - Nigel felt that a lot of what Maugham relates is rooted in truth, and the vast majority in his own experience.

Nigel is intrigued by spying and World War 1.  A while back Robin chose the film adaptation of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", and like this book that film seemed to depict real spies (as opposed to the James Bond depiction) who lead unusual, solitary and interesting lives.  Never sure who they can trust and relying on their wits and intelligence to survive.

All the stories are good, and four of them really pack a punch (The Hairless Mexican, The Traitor, His Excellency, and Mr Harrington's Washing).  People die, people get hurt.  The story that has stayed with Nigel the longest is The Traitor - in particular the anguish of the Grantley Caypor's widow.

In His Excellency, Maugham uses a literary sleight of hand, Maugham - who was gay but in the closet during the events he is describing - is almost certainly speaking of himself.  Society in those days had clear expectations of sexual conduct - and that would have been an end to the matter.  Whilst I enjoyed this tale, it also dragged just a bit and is perhaps too conventional when compared with the other stories but the sentimentality also feels undeniably real.  

Keith: felt cheated

A minor masterpiece.  9/10.

Our Royal correspondent, Keith felt cheated by this book.  The preface promised a spy novel and yet the book is a collection of interrelated short stories rooted in Maugham’s own experiences as an agent, that reflect the ruthlessness and brutality of espionage, its intrigue and treachery, as well as its absurdity.  What a swizz.  

Keith wanted more, stating, "this is not a spy novel but a novel about spying".  4/10

Hamish was also "thrown by the preface" before going on to describe how the book was well written with well developed characters and great endings to each story.  

Ashenden is recruited by a Colonel known to him only as R., and sent on a variety of missions that include playing escort to an eccentric Mexican assassin, arranging for a traveling dancer to betray her revolutionary Indian lover, ascertaining whether an Englishman spying for Germany might be recruited as a double agent, attempting to prevent the Bolshevik revolution, and more. Sometimes he succeeds, frequently with bittersweet results, and sometimes he fails. Occasionally his objective or the outcome is not known to the reader, since Maugham is more interested in describing the people Ashenden meets than in the specifics of his efforts.  

Ultimately Hamish thought the book felt slight.  6/10

Nick: loves WW1 war poets

Nick explained how World War 1 is the era he likes best in fiction and evoked the splendour of the war poets with a faraway look in his eye.  He also took time out to recommend "The Secret Agent" by Joseph Conrad.  

Nick "loved it".  Travel, romance, grubbiness - this book has it all.  Maugham’s writing is wonderful and the stories in Ashenden are excellent. Nick thought it was impossible to pick a favourite story, as each has indelible moments: “The Traitor” and “Giulia Lazzari” being unforgettable.

Maugham has a knack for creating vivid portraits of his characters while wasting not a single word.  Here’s an example from “A Chance Acquaintance”: 

Mr. Harrington was devoted to his wife and he told Ashenden at unbelievable length how cultivated and what a perfect mother she was. She had delicate health and had undergone a great number of operations, all of which he described in detail. He had had two operations himself, one of his tonsils and one to remove his appendix, and he took Ashenden day by day through his experiences. All his friends had had operations and his knowledge of surgery was encyclopedic. He had two sons, both at school, and he was seriously considering whether he would not be well-advised to have them operated on.

Nick concluded by picking up on Nigel's point about how Ashenden is the antithesis of James Bond by stating that the latest James Bond film "Skyfall" has quite a bit in common with Ashenden, and he wondered if Sam Mendes, the film's director, had read "Ashenden".  8/10

Tristan: witty, urbane and delightfully detached

Tristan enjoyed it.  It felt modern and evoked the era beautifully.  Tristan enjoyed the ferries, steam trains, numerous baths, and the wonderful characters. It seems, on the whole, espionage work a century ago was both, bureaucratic and boring, and then thrilling, macabre and absurd, with the emphasis being on the former, although the book emphasises the latter: Ashenden encounters a hairless Mexican, a dying English nanny to two Egyptian Princesses, any number of French farmer's wives carrying secret messages in their bosoms and an endlessly chattering American on the train to Petrograd with an interest in his own laundry bordering on the hysterical. 

Ashenden is witty, urbane and delightfully detached as he encounters unique, strange people with a wry, disinterested eye.  Tristan thought it amusing and dark, for example the grim tableau of an owner's dog howling as his widow realises why her husband hasn't been writing recently, whilst Ashenden strolls off impassively despite having got to know both of them and having contributed to his death. 

Was this the first spy novel?  It's certainly one of the best. 7/10.

Don: an impressive understanding of humanity

This was Don's first foray into the world of Maugham and it was a fine journey.  Don does not enjoy Spy novels and yet was won over by the beautifully crafted Ashenden character. Don immersed himself in the story and visualised the characters and the environment. One minute he was on a ferry journey, the next collecting flowers in the Alps., and then eating scrambled eggs with a Russian woman called Anastacia Alexandrovna. Marvellous, lucid, elegant, and it displayed an impressive understanding of humanity. Don was also fascinated to get an idea of what Maugham's experiences as an intelligence offer entailed.

Mr Harrington was remarkable. An amalgam of several real life characters, and a man who met his his demise in an entirley believable way. 

8/10 (and not to be consigned to the compost heap).

If Robin was a spy he'd be Ashenden. Forget James Bond with his car chases, dolly birds, gadgets, Martinis, and explosions, and instead embrace the romance of Edwardian travel, exotic encounters with Russian ‘foxes’ and a stiff upper lip measured with enviable tolerance and old school values. 

The book conjures up sufficient intrigue to keep it compelling and evocative.  Robin especially enjoyed the train journey from Vladivostock to Petrograd and the threats from revolutionaries.  Would the British Government ever think they could halt the Russian revolution with one man and a sack for of cash?  The book was romantic without being sentimental.
One of the best sections was the ambassador recounting his flight of fancy with the woman from the circus.

An excellent choice and I will read more Maugham. 8/10

Hove Book Group awards this book an average score of 7/10.  

"Diamond Dogs" by David Bowie

With supreme serendipity we also discussed the merits of David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" album.  

The discussion took place on 8th January 2012, not only was this Mr Bowie's 66th birthday, he also chose to surprise the world with the release of a new single and the announcement of a new album.

Thanks David Bowie - and Happy Birthday.

Nigel explained how this was one of the first albums he ever owned.  An old friend and an old friend that even today never fails to remind him of the excitement he felt when he first heard it as a 14 year old who had very little else to compare it with.  The opening howl of 'Future Legend' before the monologue is probably the greatest opening of any album he can think of...

And in the death, as the last few corpses lay rotting on the slimy thoroughfare, the shutters lifted in inches in Temperance Building high on Poacher's Hill, and red, mutant eyes gaze down on Hunger City. No more big wheels....fleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats, and ten thousand peoploids split into small tribes, coveting the highest of the sterile skyscrapers, like packs of dogs assaulting the glass fronts of Love-Me Avenue, ripping and rewrapping mink and shiny silver fox, now legwarmers, family badge of sapphire and cracked emerald, any day now...the Year of the Diamond Dogs...."This ain't Rock'n'Roll....This is Genocide!" .....before that glorious riff.  

Just as the listener is settling in for the superior glam musical presaged by the title track, then comes Sweet Thing/Candidate which ups the ante even higher.  Nigel was entranced by this this song as a teenager. An ambitious, epic pop tune - music and lyrics coming together to create something magnificent.  Nigel could wax lyrical about every lyric, perhaps "I'm glad that you're older than me, Makes me feel important and free" or maybe "there's a shop on the corner that's selling papier mache, Making bullet-proof faces; Charlie Manson, Cassius Clay", it's all wonderful - one of his best songs, and the album's key track.

Just one year after Diamond Dogs was released came the "plastic soul" of 'Young Americans. Both "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" and the Shaft-inspired wah-wah guitar style of "1984" signpost this new direction.  This further extends the musical variety and adds to the album's splendour.  And of course Diamond Dogs also anticipates punk rock - Bowie himself describing the Diamond Dogs of the title song as "little Johnny Rottens and Sid Viciouses".

Nick also "loved it".  Hamish found it hard to go back and evaluate whole albums having been that bit too young to have embraced it first time round.  Tristan felt it was not quite up there with the other stuff.  Keith put the whole thing into context by detailing the top albums of 1974.  Fascinating stuff.

Basically it's got the lot.  Keep cool Diamond Dogs rule.  

And so ended another wonderful gathering of the Hove Book Group - we'll be back next month for cultural discourse, beer and crisps.  Happy New Year.