The London Embassy

Spencer Monroe Savage

by Paul Theroux

A series of stories describes the experiences of a young political officer during his first assignment to the American embassy in London

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, American, British Literature, Novels

220 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work is The Great Railway Bazaar (1975), a travelogue about a trip he made by train from Great Britain through Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, through South Asia, then South-East Asia, up through East Asia, as far east as Japan, and then back across Russia to his point of origin. Although perhaps best known as a travelogue writer, Theroux has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel The Mosquito Coast.

He is the father of Marcel and Louis Theroux, and the brother of Alexander and Peter. Justin Theroux is his nephew.

Reviews

[Lobstergirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had one good line: “Ambassador Noyes had another trait I had noticed in many slow-witted people: he was tremendously interested in philosophy.”

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It always feels like there's something missing from Paul Theroux's fiction, and it's hard to pin down exactly what. He is unparalleled as a travel writer, but his brilliant turns of phrase and breadth of knowledge are somehow cast adrift in his fiction. He can't seem to find an overarching theme or device to propel the stories beyond themselves. The individual anecdotes and observations are brilliant and nuanced, but the central personalities or points seem slippery, undefined.

But for some reason or another I enjoyed "London Embassy" more than any other fiction I've read by Theroux. At first I expected a long narrative arc but after a few chapters it reveals itself as a collection of short stories linked by their narrator, an unnamed mid-level CIA functionary at the US embassy in London. Just a bare minimum of espionage, instead each chapter is a character study, a British or an American individual lovingly drawn.

The ending feels a bit flat, less a summation or conclusion to the sketches than a weird THE END just plopped there. Still, the whole thing was a quick, satisfying read, and a lot of fun.

[Johnny G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book on the train to and from New York. The reason why I brought it along is because Paul Theroux is my favorite travel writer and the book was short enough that it fit in my pocket!
I get the feeling that Theroux had met a lot of interesting people during his time in London in the early 1980's and felt compelled to write a chapter about each, embellishing with just enough detail to fictionalize. Some of the people he writes about at the American Embassy in London are famous, boring, liars, deceptive, lovely and even crooks. On my train ride home, there were three very immature Millennial girls jabbering away next to me so it was hard to give some of these chapters a fair shake, but when I returned home and settled into my comfortable chair I was able to finish it, but don't want to give any spoilers as to the creative final chapter.

[Don Siegrist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paul Theroux is one of my favorite writers but I would rate this as one of his lesser works. The protagonist is an American foreign service employee recently posted to the US embassy in London. Each chapter focuses on a person he meets or an event he becomes involved in. The first story is probably my favorite. It centers on a reception held at the embassy in honor of his recent arrival. The cocktail party dialogue is brisk and sparkled with witticisms and bon mots. What I (as someone who's never been to such a soiree) would imagine it to be. Theroux's great at character observations and this chapter also includes amusing observations about the differences between Brits and Yanks.
Its unclear (to me) if there is a point to the overall story arc other than as a vehicle for Theroux to tell stories...and he is a good storyteller. It almost feels like a script for a TV series, with each episode a peek into the zany and strange world of a US Embassy. I can see Ricardo Montalban as the ambassador...no wait that was Fantasy Island.

[Zuberino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up because I had really enjoyed "The Consul's File", the narrator being the same unnamed American diplomat who had so regaled us with his Malay adventures in the earlier volume.

Unfortunately, this one's a bit of a damp squib. Desultory plots, less than compelling characters - worst of all, Theroux contrives to turn London into a thoroughly uninteresting place! Which is a travesty really, since any writer looking to do more than scratch the surface of this city is likely to be be generously rewarded. But Theroux appears to be genuinely uninterested; thus these wan stories. Only a couple intermittently caught attention: the one where a classic "English rose" gulls him into buying a flat, another one where he restores the explorer Burton's bones to their rightful resting place. The rest are all much of a muchness, so just give it a pass.

[JYBoardwalk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I maybe would have considered this book "clever" in the '80s; now just seemed dated.

[Barbara Sibbald]

Hugely entertaining, whether or not you know anything of embassy and embassy life/politics. If you are in that world, I suspect the scenarios might be all too familiar: the political appointments, constant monitoring, erroneous assumptions, dutiful dinners etc. etc. It's basically a collection of linked stories with a trajectory running 18 months or so of the narrators appointment to the American Embassy in London.
Being Theroux, there are also some great passages, such as:

"Doctors are the most practical of men, and psychiatrists the most practical doctors. They deal in the obscure but make it obvious, and they treat it with common sense. They argue on behalf of the patient. They are the friends we all ought to have for nothing. They take their time; they ae slower than lawyers; they have a kind of selfish patience." p 126

"We saw each other at parties just as often as before, because we concealed the fact that we had become lovers. I was not naturally a concealer of such things, but she made me secretive, and I saw that this was a part of all friendship -- agreeing to be a little like the other person." p 144

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novel about a US diplomat in London. Each chapter is an anecdote about a particular character he met during his work there. Many are soft jibes at weird English characters. Gently amusing, easy reading. Only a couple of hundred pages. Ideal holiday read

[Chris Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it. Read The Consul's File first but read it.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable! Mention of amherst on the last page. Sending to sally

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely little book. Crackles with cynicism. Theroux at his most effervescent.

[Nelly Fisher]

DNF'ed after one chapter. The amount of sexism, racism, anti-homosexuality is enough for a lifetime.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few good stories, but I prefer his travel books .

[Patricia Eichenlaub · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a peculiar book. I grew into liking it. I will miss his stories.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The London Embassy is an intriguing collection of short stories built around one character that has just been appointed the political officer to the American Embassy in London. Written in the first person, our man in London observes his new city, its inhabitants and his colleagues with a wry eye, resulting in an entertaining portrait of this great capital city in the early 1980's. It is also a very personal story as you learn about our leading man's loneliness in a profession that has taken him around the world - most recently from a tiny village in Southeast Asia where he was American Consul, before being thrust into the lights and complexities of London. As a bonus this enjoyable book at just over 200 pages is also an unexpected love story.

[Matthew Gibb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequal to The Consul's File by the same author. In this edition the former character is promoted from his post in Ayer Hitam,Malaysia to the London Embassy,where he chronicles the lives of Brits and his adaptation to their cultural eccentricities. The chapters are short and entertaining and read like a series of sequential short stories. The ending sums up what is essentially a version of auto-biographical fiction since Theroux actually lived in England for many years.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a surprisingly engaging, wonderful little book. I've been a huge Theroux fan for years, so I'm shocked that I missed this one, published in 1983, until now. This collection of short stories features Theroux's trademark wry observations on British culture and personalities. It is not dated at all, in fact, it's surprisingly relevant to our times in places. I was absorbed from start to finish and sad when it ended. A brilliant, lost gem.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is stories, episodes of a person's life who works in the American embassy in London. The time period it was set in, early 80's, brought back memories to me. I especially liked his story of the co-worker who wore an earring, and how the older boss told him to tell the guy to remove it. I had forgotten that it used to be considered a sign of being homosexual.

[Oceana2602 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of linked short stories about the narrator's life at the US embassy in London. Observant, poignant, sarcastic - every story is brilliantly written and memorable in its own way. And though the book was written 25 years ago, it's a fresher read than most of what is published today.

This is why I love Theroux.

[Michel Gerebtzoff · Rating 1 out of 5]

picked it up in a beach shack and dropped it three chapters later. didn't age well, and probably not very convincing even back them (and certainly not realistic, even if forcing it is part of the game). i felt the three chapters i read lacked depth and nuance. In that case i like a plot but there is none either.

[Lysergius · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novel, whose protagonist is a US diplomat posted to London, in which each chapter contains an anecdote about a particular person or character he meets during his posting. Quite a number of which poke gentle fun at odd English characters. I was mildly amusing, and an easy read.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Theroux has been recommended to me for years. This book is a great snapshot of London in the 80's. The book is a series of short vignettes about the main character who goes unnamed until the very end. I found him a bit hard to connect with which is why I gave the book 3 stars.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

informative, interesting, entertaining accounts, really like short stories. As usual, Theroux provides describes both the good and no-so-good aspects of the place and its people, in a way that seems real, aka "eyes wide open".

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories of a person working for the American embassy in London in the later half of the 20th century.

[Greta]

Entertaining flashback to life in London.

[DaughterDaDa]

So far, engaging light reading, foibles and foolishness among American embassy staff in London in the 1980s.

[Jenny Downing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully enigmatic and each story leaves the reader wondering...

[Velvetink]

29/11/2013 1 0f 20 books for $10 the lot

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Theroux routinely goes off on pretentious pendantic tangents...I gave up and never finished the novel.