Ashenden, or, The British Agent

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Ashenden– Secret Agent 1914-1918: Giulia Lazzari in five episodes, adapted by Marjorie Bilbow, produced byGeorge Angell and read by Roger Delgado. Part of the Book at Bedtime series. [26] This book consists of a handful of interconnected short stories about a British intelligence officer, Ashenden. The stories are based on Maugham’s own experiences as an intelligence agent stationed in Switzerland working for the Allies during the First World War and then in St. Petersburg as an undercover agent with Kerensky in power and the October 1917 Bolshevik Revolution soon to take place. The stories are set in Geneva, Basel, Lausanne and Lucerne, Switzerland, Thonon, France and St. Petersburg, Russia. W. Somerset Maugham’s Ashenden, or the British Agent is an example of one of my favourite genres, the early 20th century espionage tale. While spy stories set during World War 2 and during the Cold War have their charms I find the earlier tales set during the First Word War or in the years leading up to that war much more appealing.

Maugham cannot write badly but this book is still (structurally) an imperfectly strung together group of short stories and novellas. It can also be rather self-consciously literary at times. Ashenden is an exaggerated autobiography. It’s based on Somerset Maugham’s activities for MI6 during World War One, although dramatised. The first ‘realistic’ spy story? The British government asked Somerset Maugham not to include several other stories in the novel, as they revealed too much about the methods and activities of Britain’s spies. This might explain why some of the less dramatic incidents, such as Miss King’s stroke and the Ambassador’s love affair (which, in fairness, is beautifully written), are included. It may also explain why the book is disjointed. There are hints and references in the novel to other events and people, presumably ones who appeared in the censored stories. The remaining stories feel like glimpses at the remains of a longer novel. The final Russian section in particular feels like it is building up to a climax, but then just cuts out as the revolution starts. The truth behind some of the storiesshut their eyes to dirty work so that they could put their clean hands on their hearts and congratulate themselves that they had never done anything that was unbecoming to men of honour." Il che echeggia la vicenda personale dello stesso Maugham che durante la Grande Guerra fu coinvolto dal servizio di spionaggio inglese, proprio come anni dopo capitò a Graham Greene. Ashenden’s response to the reality of spying is to become emotionally detached. The story is told with a great deal of dry humour, but his disillusionment is particularly clear in the Russian section of the novel. Ashenden makes it clear that he is not the right man for the job and the Secret Service has sent him purely because no one else is available. Characterisation The book closes with a tragic satire of two types of bourgeois - the Russian liberal and the American businessman - but there is an unusual generosity of spirit here, as if the confusion of the middle classes in a collapsing West had resulted in a strange camaraderie.

Ashenden – Secret Agent 1914-1918: Mr. Harrington's Washing in five episodes, adapted and read by Roger Delgado, produced by George Angell. Part of the Book at Bedtime series. [27] The novel opens with a brief description of Ashenden’s recruitment to the Secret Service by ‘R’. ‘R’ assigns Ashenden to Switzerland, a hotbed of spying because of its location and its neutrality. Miss King It seemed to me that, in this book, Maugham had a tendency to portray female characters as manipulative and controlling. There are at least two, arguably three, in this category, each with men in complete thrall to them. By contrast, although Ashenden’s boss “R” is efficient and ruthless, some of the other male characters have an innocence about them, men out of their depth in the wartime world. This seemed to be especially the case with the Englishman Caypor, who has a German wife, and the American businessman Harrington. To be honest, these were the characters I most identified with, which probably tells you something about me. That said, the stories were interesting and takes our author-turned-spy, Ashenden across Europe amid World War I. Maugham gives his “proxy” Ashenden, a dry-wit humour. He is an astute observer of people, who are as Ashenden says, “his raw material”. Which I do agree, is true for Maugham and is what indeed makes him a wonderful writer. The stories were very witty and humorous at places. The last one though, was a bit sad. There is a particular scene where a diplomat is telling Ashenden a story of his life, and the following dialogue takes place. 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.The stories combine Maugham's talent at character detail with a tragic structure where an affecting and sometimes funny person is damaged in the game of national spying. Some regard these as the forerunner of all the more sceptical spy fiction written by such as Eric Ambler, Graham Greene and books such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Raymond Chandler was a great admirer of Ashenden, writing to the author in January 1950: "There are no other great spy stories - none at all. I have been searching and I know". [1] Chapters [ edit ] Bírtam. Csak a legeslegutolsó bekezdésben Maugham – merőben indokolatlanul – ne vágta volna hozzám a giccsgránátot. Tratto caratteristico del Maugham che conosco è l’ambientazione spesso esotica. Qui, come si addice alla spy story per antonomasia, si gira il mondo, sia geograficamente che negli incontri umani: Svizzera, messicani, italiani, Orient Express, americani, Rivoluzione russa.

In the preface to Ashenden, Maugham wastes no time in revealing that this book is "founded on my experiences in the Intelligence Department during the war, but rearranged for the purposes of fiction." He later goes on to say that

Ashenden: The Movie

I was very impressed by this book. It was the first book I read by W. Somerset Maugham. Maugham's beautiful writing evokes the life of a spy and is based on his own spying experiences during World War 1.

If the book can appear to be callous on the surface, it is only the detachment of the doctor dealing with pain and disease. We should remind ourselves that Maugham was originally trained in that profession at St. Thomas'. It may have been a bit of self-promotion, but Maugham later said that after the book was published Winston Churchill accused the author of contravening the Official Secrets Act, resulting in Maugham destroying 17 unpublished stories which presumably would have been a sequel. In contrast, Maugham’s portrayal of the ‘villains’ is humane and sympathetic. For example, in The Traitor, the description of the German spy learning that the British have executed her husband leaves the reader sympathising with her, not with Ashenden. Ashenden was one of the first ‘realistic’ spy novels, taking a cynical view of espionage and its human consequences. It was hugely influential, with authors like Eric Ambler, Graham Greene, Len Deighton and John le Carré all following the example set by Maugham. Ashenden: Title In the tale told by an ambassador, in a literary sleight of hand, a man speaks of another where Maugham is clearly speaking of himself in the voice of the first.Kathleen Kuiper, Cakes and Ale (novel by Maugham). Britannica.com, 2011. Accessed 23 November 2013. Maugham begins this 1927 novel with a preface explaining “This book is founded on my experiences in the Intelligence Department during the war, but rearranged for the purposes of fiction. Fact is a poor story-teller.” At least in outline, Ashenden’s career mirrors Maugham’s. He spends the first part of the war in Switzerland before being sent to Russia in 1917. As Maugham describes, “In 1917 I went to Russia. I was sent to prevent the Bolshevik Revolution and to keep Russia in the war. The reader will know that my efforts did not meet with success.” Ashenden travels through Russia by train from Vladivostok to Petrograd. Maugham did this too. Britannia, melyek valának fegyvereid, melyekkel egykoron igába hajtottad a világot? Hűvös ész, fanyar humor és kifogástalan társasági viselkedés a koktélpartikon. Ashendennek mindez megadatott, és még valamivel több is: a káprázatos emberismeret. Ami tulajdonképpen szakmai követelmény nála, hiszen civilben író a szentem, de kitör az első világháború, a haza pedig szolgálni hívja, berukkol tehát hírszerzőnek*. Hisz ki lenne jobb hírszerző, mint egy író? Mind a ketten információkkal és félinformációkkal (valósággal és fantáziával) dolgoznak, csak amíg egyikük elegyíti a kettőt, a másikuk szétválasztaná. Szóval Ashenden a kémek Paradicsomába, Svájcba kerül (meg később máshová is), és keveri-kavarja, miközben ilyen-olyan figurákkal hozza össze a sors. Tőrőlmetszett kémnovellák, így, akinek szíve központi bugyrában székel a cselszövevények iránti vágy, jó eséllyel szeretni fogja őket. Ugyanakkor Maugham erőssége nem a csűrés-csavarás, hanem a jellemrajz és az erkölcsi konfliktusok ábrázolása, úgyhogy kapunk egészen káprázatosan felskiccelt, komplex szereplőket meg feloldhatatlan morális dilemmákat is, mindezt egy finom, elegáns atmoszférába ágyazva. Alapvetően ez az atmoszféra az, amitől végig jó volt nekem a kötetben: a békebeli európaiság leheletét érezni benne, amire elviselhetetlen súllyal nehezedik a háttérben zajló világégés, az a világégés, ami aztán pozdorjává is zúzta a fenn említett békebeliséget. Úgy is felfoghatjuk tehát az írásokat, mint a Pax Britannica hattyúdalát, amit (talán) alá is húz, hogy az utolsó novella egy tüdőszanatóriumban játszódik. I don't know that I'd go quite so far as that. He hasn't had the value of a public-school education. His ideas of playing the game aren't quite the same as yours and mine. I don't know that I would leave a gold cigarette-case about when he was in the neighbourhood, but if he had lost money to you at poker and he had pinched your cigarette-case, he would immediately pawn it to pay you."