Ashenden

Dryly witty, with a splinter of ice at its heart

Maugham is a master of social observation and controlled exposition. Here he puts his talents as an author to work to write about his activities as a British Secret Agent during the First World War. There is little in the way of Bond-like derring-do in this collection of separate tales as Maugham was serving more as a spymaster safely ensconced in Switzerland for the duration. He speaks of his agents and the various schemes he became involved with, usually at the instigation of his piratical Chief, the redoubtable "R", who reminds one of the half-mad Brigadier Ritchie-Hook in Evelyn Waugh's "Sword of Honour" trilogy. He works to uncover double agents working in Switzerland or to lure dangerous enemies in Germany by enticing them with patient trickery to cross into Allied territory - where they are promptly snapped up by the waiting authorities and just as promptly executed. Maugham allows himself a little regret over this, but very little. and not for long. There is a marvellous sequence towards the end where Maugham finds himself despatched to Russia with enormous amounts of money in an attempt to prevent the government from collapsing and seeking a separate peace with the Germans. The characters are no doubt based on real individuals he encountered which adds considerably to the piquancy of these tales.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

“My name is Somerville,” said Ashenden.

Would you listen to Ashenden again? Why?

Yes. The stories were left open and intriguingly ambiguous.

What other book might you compare Ashenden to, and why?

John Le Carre's "Secret Pilgrim" has a similar structure of linked stories about the underside of espionage, in Le Carre's case during the the Cold War, and in Somerset Maugham's case, during World War 1. The geography of the two novels and their views of Europe at a time of crisis also bears comparison.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The downbeat capture of a German spy at a lakeside port in France.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The above scene because the implication is that no one really wins in the spying game.

Any additional comments?

Somerset Maugham uses a technique, which is common in formula-fiction, in which character can be read off from external features and, especially, the eyes. And yet the stories that make up “Ashenden” are more subtle and open-ended, than one might expect. Possibly, the spy genre, to which Maugham makes such an important contribution in “Ashenden”, assists him in such indirection. There are the epistemological conundrums and double- and even treble-agents; but, more unusual for an age brought up on John Buchan, Dornford Yates and Sapper, these spy stories are downbeat and morally ambiguous. Stories end, sometimes as a chapter might end – up in the air or apparently in the middle of something. These moments are memorable and the form of loosely-linked stories contributes to the uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty that runs through the book, outweighing the surface characterisations, some racist or at least crass. Somerset Maugham is far less middlebrow than he liked to make himself out to be. And, in his use of Ashenden as a spy whose cover is that of a playwright collecting material for his plays, he remains as good as any writer in bringing geography into fiction, here Europe during the years of the First World War. Hotels, trains, steamers, frontiers, and towns and cities in supposedly neutral countries, notably Switzerland, which are full of spies and secret police. As in John Le Carre’s espionage novels, the routine of intelligence gathering and channelling it to the spy-masters is suddenly pierced by violence.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Cold narrative. Fascinating insight.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys espionage, thrillers or history. It's both one story and a collection of short stories as Ashenden goes about his intelligence work first in Switzerland then in 'X' (Russia). As opposed to the derring do of Ian Fleming's Bond or the intricate plotting of Deighton or Le Carre, Ashenden shows the warts and all monotony, frustration and tedium of spying, which rather than being dull is brought alive by the clinical, matter-of-fact brilliance of the writing, often with biting humour. Somerset Maugham based the character on his own experiences of spying for Britain, and you get the feeling the author went through many of the events he describes in the book. The descriptions of characters are excellent and Ashenden's own feelings towards the shabbiness of the situations in which he finds himself ordered are captured superbly.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Ashenden?

Difficult to give say without giving too much away. The way he handles and reads the two detectives he finds in his hotel room in the first chapter is a sound introduction to the book's suspense, humour and Ashenden's cool assessment.

Which character – as performed by Christopher Oxford – was your favourite?

Oxford's voice is brilliant for the lead character Ashenden. His depiction of 'R' is good too.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

My name is certainly not James Bond

As spy fiction goes this could not be further from the James Bond of the movies or (with the possible exception of Quantum of Solace) the novels. However, that is very far from being a bad thing. Ashenden (aka Somerville) is no action hero, his world is occasionally threatening but mostly dull, the stories are brief, tantalisingly incomplete and extremely light on plot. BUT it works. Maugham conjures an atmosphere that, while not endearing you to any of the characters - most of whom seem implausible - comes over as genuine. This is how things probably were, not how escapist fiction would have us believe.
In the introduction Maugham describes how true stories come across; incomplete, unsatisfying and with a tendency to fade and this is exactly how these tales come over. It is as if he is telling us they are true tales from his own past and they most probably are. The world has moved on, people are different but Maugham's writing is still worth a read.

old school spy novel but a lacking story line

OK book did start well but jumped from smaller story to smaller story sometimes found it difficult to follow