FUNERAL IN BERLIN by Len Deighton

 Finihsed Su 11/17/24

This was one of my ancient paperbacks that I had never read. An enjoyable read and the writing was far superior than what I was expecting. Baldacci makes the plot more important than character development or tone, but Deighton's writing is just the opposite. I had a little trouble keeping track of the story, but the superior writing easily made up for the slight confusion.

My take on what happened: 

The 'hero' is tasked with getting a scientist out of East Berlin. He was to be smuggled out of the country in a casket, however another agent was in the coffin. He wanted to assume the identity of a dead Jew who was extremely wealthy, yet died in one of the camps. This man had phony ID and he was hoping to go to Switzerland, show the identification, and become a rich man.

From a blog on the internet:

"In this story, the nameless spy is sent to East Berlin to facilitate the defection of an East German scientist. He must work with the Russian security-chief Colonel Stok and Hallam of the British Home Office. An elaborate plan is set up to get the scientist out of East Berlin. This book was published only three years after the Berlin Wall was constructed; in the introduction, Deighton speaks of the time he spent in East Berlin shortly after the wall went up. The setting feels very authentic.

This book in the series had some interesting differences from the first two. There are over 50 chapters and  almost all of them start with a brief tidbit about a move or strategy in chess. For example: "Players who relish violence, aggression and movement often depend upon the Spanish Game." With no knowledge of chess, this meant nothing to me, but it was a nice touch anyway.

This story was not entirely told in first person. From what I remember, the first two books were told only from the nameless spy's point of view and in first person. In this book, there where chapters here and there that were in third person and focused on the story from various character's points of view. I liked that change, although the narration of the nameless spy is one of the best elements of the story.

There are lots of great characters in this story. The aforementioned Stok in East Berlin and Hallam in London are both memorable. Johnny Vulkan is a double agent that has helped the agency before. There is a discussion with the head of the agency regarding using Vulkan on this case:

'The point I'm making is, that the moment Vulkan feels we are putting him on ice he'll shop around for another job. Ross at the War Office or O'Brien at the P.O. will whip him into the Olympia Stadion and that's the last we will see of him...'

Dawlish touched his finger-tips together and looked at me sardonically. 

'You think I am too old for this job, don't you?'

I said nothing.

 'If we decide not to continue with Vulkan's contract there is no question of leaving him available for the highest bidder.' 

I didn't think old Dawlish could make me shiver.

Another element I like in these stories is the addition of footnotes. They are not extensive enough to break the flow of reading but do add bits of information which would not fit in the flow of conversation.

This book was made into a film, as was The Ipcress File. Michael Caine starred in both films. I had seen The Ipcress File film for the first time in May of this year. I enjoyed it; Caine was just wonderful in the role (called Harry Palmer in the films). However, it was only a bit less confusing than the book. I watched the film adaptation of Funeral in Berlin very shortly after finishing the book and I liked this film even better than the first one. Probably because I understood what was going on, plus my increased familiarity with the characters."

I borrowed the film from Hoopla and watched it on Tu 11/19/24 and the film was streamlined and I think it made more sense. The whole subplot about the 'science of enzymes' was dropped and how Broume was in the concentration camp and his rich family was barely mentioned. Harry Palmer is 'Edmund Dorf' and Johnny Vulcan was actually a Nazi prison guard who was trying to get Broume's paperwork so that he could claim Broume's two million dollars in a Swiss account.