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Ashenden

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When war broke out in 1914, Somerset Maugham was dispatched by the British Secret Service to Switzerland under the guise of completing a play. Multilingual, knowledgeable about many European countries, and a celebrated writer, Maugham had the perfect cover, and the assignment appealed to his love of romance, and of the ridiculous.

The stories collected in Ashenden are rooted in Maugham's own experiences as an agent, reflecting the ruthlessness and brutality of espionage, its intrigue and treachery, as well as its absurdity.

©1955 W. Somerset Maugham (P)2012 Audible, Ltd. Classiques Espionnage Espions et politique Fiction Guerre et militaires Thrillers et romans à suspense
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This work is apparently based on the author’s personal experiences as a spy during World War I. Certainly, the various episodes that are included have a ring of truth. From a 21st century North American point of view, they also evoke a nostalgia worthy at times of say Agatha Christie or Downton Abbey.

However, the work does not really constitute a novel as there is no overall plot and almost no connection between the various vignettes except the presence of Ashenden, the main character.

Though the various characters are colourful and the mini-plots interesting, a general darkness overshadows the work. Indeed, almost all the stories abruptly conclude in death. Ashenden himself does not seem to have any qualms in this respect … or in any others. Indeed, he seems detached from humanity with neither family nor personal friends and simply displays a blind (and rather stupid) trust to the orders he receives from R, his mysterious superior.

In the audio version, the narrator is exceptionally good with a calm, collected voice that perfectly fits the tone of the work. Though many French words are correctly pronounced, it would have been preferable for him to systematically verify things with a francophone as some, such as ‘migraine’, come out as gibberish.

For the listener of the audio version, one stretch is quite ironic as Ashenden lengthily criticizes those who listen to books read out loud rather than reading them for themselves.

Disappointing!

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