Alan Furst Forum

Alan Furst

Forum

Just starting reading Dark Star and looking for discussion and information on author and background of book.

>>By Pitmanite (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 17:57)

Alan Furst

His first three books are not really very distinguished. They are about drug culture hijinks & not about WWII. They can be pretty much overlooked (He has agreed in interviews.) except by fanatical readers like me..

Your Day in the Barrel, 1976

Paris Drop, 1980

The Caribbean Account, 1981

This next book is transitional. It's a Spy novel set in the late 70's. Not bad.

Shadow Trade, 1983

This is where the really good stuff begins...

Night Soldiers, 1988

Dark Star, 1991

The Polish Officer, 1995

The World at Night, 1996
Red Gold, 1999

Kingdom of Shadows, 2001

Blood of Victory, 2002

>>By dac (Friday, 23 May 2003 15:39)

Even though he does occasionally reference characters from earlier WWII novels in later works, it's not really necessary to read them in order. The exception is The World at Night & Red Gold which are essentially one long book.

>>By dac (Friday, 23 May 2003 15:42)

Here's a link to a good interview...
http://www.identitytheory.com/people/birnbaum9.html

>>By dac (Friday, 23 May 2003 15:43)

looking forward to his new book. i just bought murder in the bastille by cara black because he gave it a great blurb...in fact he recommended all the books in her parisien series.

>>By happy37 (Tuesday, 18 May 2004 02:25)

Good summary above, "dac"--I recently have discovered and read each volume in the series that begins with Night Soldiers, with the exception of Spies of Warsaw, which I am near completing.
I have enjoyed these books tremendously and through them have come to understand much better many of the complex rivalries and enmities that were fundamental to the coming of WWII and to the way it played out.
So far as I know, none of Furst's novels have been made into films (?). If I am correct in this assumption, I wonder why. They seem wonderfully cinematic!! Please correct me if I'm wrong (and I'll get busy tracking them down on Netflix).
My one serious critique of Furst's marvelous achievement in this series, is that, aside from one or two of the more complex and less satisfying earlier volumes, there seems to be a standard plot: a protagonist and associates living danger filled lives of spying and resistance, and often enjoying actually or seemingly doomed romantic attachments, with some of the latter being resolved in the end with lovers (unrealistically?) escaping the turmoil somehow.

>>By dreamsailer (Sunday, 28 Aug 2011 17:27)

The discussion board is currently closed.