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Only When I Larf
PB 1st Sphere PBO.
251 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
18 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Len Deighton
242 books913 followersDeighton was born in Marylebone, London, in 1929. His father was a chauffeur and mechanic, and his mother was a part-time cook. After leaving school, Deighton worked as a railway clerk before performing his National Service, which he spent as a photographer for the Royal Air Force's Special Investigation Branch. After discharge from the RAF, he studied at St Martin's School of Art in London in 1949, and in 1952 won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1955.
Deighton worked as an airline steward with BOAC. Before he began his writing career he worked as an illustrator in New York and, in 1960, as an art director in a London advertising agency. He is credited with creating the first British cover for Jack Kerouac's On the Road. He has since used his drawing skills to illustrate a number of his own military history books.
Following the success of his first novels, Deighton became The Observer's cookery writer and produced illustrated cookbooks. In September 1967 he wrote an article in the Sunday Times Magazine about Operation Snowdrop - an SAS attack on Benghazi during World War II. The following year David Stirling would be awarded substantial damages in libel from the article.
He also wrote travel guides and became travel editor of Playboy, before becoming a film producer. After producing a film adaption of his 1968 novel Only When I Larf, Deighton and photographer Brian Duffy bought the film rights to Joan Littlewood and Theatre Workshop's stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! He had his name removed from the credits of the film, however, which was a move that he later described as "stupid and infantile." That was his last involvement with the cinema.
Deighton left England in 1969. He briefly resided in Blackrock, County Louth in Ireland. He has not returned to England apart from some personal visits and very few media appearances, his last one since 1985 being a 2006 interview which formed part of a "Len Deighton Night" on BBC Four. He and his wife Ysabele divide their time between homes in Portugal and Guernsey.
Deighton worked as an airline steward with BOAC. Before he began his writing career he worked as an illustrator in New York and, in 1960, as an art director in a London advertising agency. He is credited with creating the first British cover for Jack Kerouac's On the Road. He has since used his drawing skills to illustrate a number of his own military history books.
Following the success of his first novels, Deighton became The Observer's cookery writer and produced illustrated cookbooks. In September 1967 he wrote an article in the Sunday Times Magazine about Operation Snowdrop - an SAS attack on Benghazi during World War II. The following year David Stirling would be awarded substantial damages in libel from the article.
He also wrote travel guides and became travel editor of Playboy, before becoming a film producer. After producing a film adaption of his 1968 novel Only When I Larf, Deighton and photographer Brian Duffy bought the film rights to Joan Littlewood and Theatre Workshop's stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! He had his name removed from the credits of the film, however, which was a move that he later described as "stupid and infantile." That was his last involvement with the cinema.
Deighton left England in 1969. He briefly resided in Blackrock, County Louth in Ireland. He has not returned to England apart from some personal visits and very few media appearances, his last one since 1985 being a 2006 interview which formed part of a "Len Deighton Night" on BBC Four. He and his wife Ysabele divide their time between homes in Portugal and Guernsey.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
March 25, 2011
In this rather fine novel about the world of professional con-artists, the author starts off by telling you what it is that distinguishes a master conman from an amateur. Anyone can fool a sucker once. What makes you a master is the ability to do it again. If you're a truly great conman, you can even pull it off a third time. Every time, the mark will somehow believe that it's different now and he's not going to be conned again.
I thought of this a couple of weeks ago when playing backgammon with a friend whom I'll refer to as N. The person in question is an extremely competent gambler, and during some periods of her life has made a living out of playing high stakes bridge. So I was a little nervous, but backgammon is only fun if you play for money. We agreed we would play for one Swiss Franc a point.
N made a suspicious number of elementary mistakes and moaned about how she'd forgotten everything she'd ever known about backgammon. She laid it on really thick, and even gave an absurd explanation of how she calculated the odds for various combinations. It would have been more convincing if she hadn't then made the correct play most of the time. But she still contrived to lose a few francs.
Well, I was up, wasn't I? So we played again a couple of days later, and I won a small amount again. I started to wonder if I wasn't better at this game than I thought.
The third time, N got a bunch of lucky rolls and came out ahead. I'd got used to winning, and almost suggested raising the stakes so that I could take my revenge. But I managed to control myself.
Okay. I know it's a con. I know N is much better than she's pretending to be. But somehow, at the same time, I'm half convinced that she's really no good and I'm the expert, so why not play for real money?
To be continued!
I thought of this a couple of weeks ago when playing backgammon with a friend whom I'll refer to as N. The person in question is an extremely competent gambler, and during some periods of her life has made a living out of playing high stakes bridge. So I was a little nervous, but backgammon is only fun if you play for money. We agreed we would play for one Swiss Franc a point.
N made a suspicious number of elementary mistakes and moaned about how she'd forgotten everything she'd ever known about backgammon. She laid it on really thick, and even gave an absurd explanation of how she calculated the odds for various combinations. It would have been more convincing if she hadn't then made the correct play most of the time. But she still contrived to lose a few francs.
Well, I was up, wasn't I? So we played again a couple of days later, and I won a small amount again. I started to wonder if I wasn't better at this game than I thought.
The third time, N got a bunch of lucky rolls and came out ahead. I'd got used to winning, and almost suggested raising the stakes so that I could take my revenge. But I managed to control myself.
Okay. I know it's a con. I know N is much better than she's pretending to be. But somehow, at the same time, I'm half convinced that she's really no good and I'm the expert, so why not play for real money?
To be continued!
July 27, 2023
I’ve read and enjoyed all of Len Deighton’s Harry Palmer novels and Bernard Samson novels, but this is my first time reading a Deighton novel that’s not a spy novel of some kind. This one is a crime comedy from 1968 featuring three con artists – veteran Silas, his lover Liz and young Bob – who work as a team to stage elaborate cons, typically in the form of fake business investment deals. All three characters take turns as narrators, and unreliable ones at that (as you might expect con artists to be).
The story follows a fairly standard template – Silas, Liz and Bob take on a new con that doesn’t go as planned and the team starts to fracture as young Bob gets impatient with Silas running the show, and has designs on Liz, etc. But it’s also an exploration of the generation gap of the late 1960s – Silas is a WW2 vet who (his criminal aspirations aside) embodies the disciplined, stiff-upper-lip values of that generation, while Bob is an impulsive working class yob who has done time and resents the older generation telling him what to do. Liz is somewhere in between as a not-so-neutral observer.
Despite all that, I confess I didn’t get much out of it. The basic story is okay, but Deighton’s characters get sidetracked by unannounced flashbacks (which in Silas’ case are rather lengthy, possibly because WW2 scenarios are Deighton’s comfort zone). The multiple-narration device also makes it hard to get a grip on who these people really are, especially when Silas and Bob start improvising scenes just to see how long they can stay in that character. Maybe that’s the point, but still, I found myself skipping a lot. Anyway, there’s a lot to like here, but for me is just never really gelled into a likeable whole.
The story follows a fairly standard template – Silas, Liz and Bob take on a new con that doesn’t go as planned and the team starts to fracture as young Bob gets impatient with Silas running the show, and has designs on Liz, etc. But it’s also an exploration of the generation gap of the late 1960s – Silas is a WW2 vet who (his criminal aspirations aside) embodies the disciplined, stiff-upper-lip values of that generation, while Bob is an impulsive working class yob who has done time and resents the older generation telling him what to do. Liz is somewhere in between as a not-so-neutral observer.
Despite all that, I confess I didn’t get much out of it. The basic story is okay, but Deighton’s characters get sidetracked by unannounced flashbacks (which in Silas’ case are rather lengthy, possibly because WW2 scenarios are Deighton’s comfort zone). The multiple-narration device also makes it hard to get a grip on who these people really are, especially when Silas and Bob start improvising scenes just to see how long they can stay in that character. Maybe that’s the point, but still, I found myself skipping a lot. Anyway, there’s a lot to like here, but for me is just never really gelled into a likeable whole.
March 21, 2023
Very dated (NYC cab fare $1.25?!). Characters became tedious.
August 17, 2013
Silas, Bob and Liz are three con people, existing in something of a love triangle that often causes stresses and strains in their working relationship.
They undertake a number of scams, picking their marks with care and then very professionally conning them out of plenty of money ... of course, it was money for nothing as far as the mark was concerned!
Some of their tricks worked beautifully but one of them goes disastrously wrong with very nasty consequences. However, their final mark who turns up in Beirut is very cleverly deceived and deprived of a substantial amount of cash, once again for a bag full of worthless paper.
The threesome take off with the proceeds with another lady tagging along but, in a lively twist at the end, two of the protagonists end up with not what they expected!
Some of the scams are excellently described, a couple of others not quite so good but overall it is an enjoyable read and good for a larf!
They undertake a number of scams, picking their marks with care and then very professionally conning them out of plenty of money ... of course, it was money for nothing as far as the mark was concerned!
Some of their tricks worked beautifully but one of them goes disastrously wrong with very nasty consequences. However, their final mark who turns up in Beirut is very cleverly deceived and deprived of a substantial amount of cash, once again for a bag full of worthless paper.
The threesome take off with the proceeds with another lady tagging along but, in a lively twist at the end, two of the protagonists end up with not what they expected!
Some of the scams are excellently described, a couple of others not quite so good but overall it is an enjoyable read and good for a larf!
April 24, 2020
I pulled this dusty volume from my late father's collection of mid-twentieth century paperbacks because of Deighton's reputation as a spy novelist, but what do you know, here we have three grifters, Silas, Bob, and Liz, narrating their adventures via alternating first person accounts. The trio comprise a bold--and sometimes very successful--team of disciplined (more or less) con artists of high ambition. From the distance literature allows the reader to keep from its subjects, Silas, Bob, and Liz come off as an amusing, and occasionally even likeable, squad of big money scammers.
I warmed up to this story along the way, and, I will admit, I didn't see its happy surprise ending coming. All in all, it was a fun romp.
I warmed up to this story along the way, and, I will admit, I didn't see its happy surprise ending coming. All in all, it was a fun romp.
August 26, 2020
I haven't seen the film but I should think Dickie Attenborough is the perfect Silas.
OK so this is a 'crime caper' novel and it's quite entertaining. I think Deighton writes about the difference between the men who fought in the war and the younger generation really well. Silas was a soldier, Bob's only 26, and he's working class as well. Each think the other is - wrong.
There's a bit where Bob talks about how 'one pop group from Lancashire make no difference to society, it's still run by people who went to Eton and I can't see that changing any time soon' (I paraphrase) which seems very, um, prescient. Anyhow, it's entertaining enough, plus all your period details (he's good on clothes) including casual racism and sexism.
OK so this is a 'crime caper' novel and it's quite entertaining. I think Deighton writes about the difference between the men who fought in the war and the younger generation really well. Silas was a soldier, Bob's only 26, and he's working class as well. Each think the other is - wrong.
There's a bit where Bob talks about how 'one pop group from Lancashire make no difference to society, it's still run by people who went to Eton and I can't see that changing any time soon' (I paraphrase) which seems very, um, prescient. Anyhow, it's entertaining enough, plus all your period details (he's good on clothes) including casual racism and sexism.
January 26, 2015
This is great fun - not as deep as his best work but very enjoyable and easy to read. I seem to recall reading that he had to write it very quickly to establish the copyright for the film, which just goes to show what a great writer he is. I'd love to see the film again but like so many British films from the sixties and seventies they seem to have disappeared into the ether. Each chapter being told from a different character's point of view works really well, as you are never quite sure what the truth is - appropriate for a book about conmen.
August 13, 2012
A one off for Deighton. An almost comedy novel with a loveable? trio of conmen/woman.
Deighton had intentions of writing a factual book about conmen but after some research dropped the idea in favour of a novel.
It's not the first time he's started with an idea only to leave it, change it or resurrect later.
Turned into quite a good film which seemed to disappear off the map, I've never even seen it on TV although his earlier novels that were also filmed turn up regularly.
Deighton had intentions of writing a factual book about conmen but after some research dropped the idea in favour of a novel.
It's not the first time he's started with an idea only to leave it, change it or resurrect later.
Turned into quite a good film which seemed to disappear off the map, I've never even seen it on TV although his earlier novels that were also filmed turn up regularly.
February 9, 2019
I didn’t think I’d enjoy this book but I was rather pleasantly surprised and impressed! Can’t wait to get to the rest of the Len Deighton in my collection!
December 21, 2021
This didn't quite work for me. The three narrators worked in offering different perspectives on life and each other, but I didn't really get the motivations for any of them, only the immediate justification.
The novel was about 3 con artists who work together to make serious money, but the main problem for me was that it was driven by outlining the con and how it worked. And then too much of the link sections were very similar boys-playing-at-soldiers games, reaffirming rather than developing their relationship. The proportion of explaining the con, compared to the execution, was also weighted too much towards the former, partly because there was little jeopardy in the cons themselves - one was busted, but there wasn't much in terms of adapting the original plan.
It was readable, but not particularly exciting, although it wasn't clear exactly how it would end and I did like the conclusion. Yet I still don't know what Bob or Liz wanted from life and given this was sixties money, I've no idea what sum of money would have been enough for them. I suspect this was published for the completionists rather than on its own merit.
The novel was about 3 con artists who work together to make serious money, but the main problem for me was that it was driven by outlining the con and how it worked. And then too much of the link sections were very similar boys-playing-at-soldiers games, reaffirming rather than developing their relationship. The proportion of explaining the con, compared to the execution, was also weighted too much towards the former, partly because there was little jeopardy in the cons themselves - one was busted, but there wasn't much in terms of adapting the original plan.
It was readable, but not particularly exciting, although it wasn't clear exactly how it would end and I did like the conclusion. Yet I still don't know what Bob or Liz wanted from life and given this was sixties money, I've no idea what sum of money would have been enough for them. I suspect this was published for the completionists rather than on its own merit.
March 3, 2018
My copy of Only When I Larf includes a wonderful introduction by the author Len Deighton. He sets the scene for this, his first non espionage novel, all about the world of confidence tricksters.
As a student, Len shares with us that he lived in seedy Soho and observed a lot of these con men first hand, watching how they worked and the scams they operated.
Inspired by these dodgy deals, Deighton tells us the story of 3 scam artists - Bob, Liz and Silas.
The book starts with a big con in NYC, the story quickly moves to London where the trio then try to rip off an African nation, selling scrap metal masquerading as arms, then the final big one. I cant tell you too much about these capers as it will spoil the book for you.
Each chapter is written from either Bob, Liz or Silas's viewpoint. This makes for fast reading and a quick understanding of the characters thoughts and motives. The book written as if they are all on a jolly jape has very serious consequences. Len brings us down to earth with a bang. Bob, Liz and Silas are not exactly Robin Hood and his merry men even if they think they are.
Enjoyed this one but not a Deighton classic, it gets a 3 from me.
As a student, Len shares with us that he lived in seedy Soho and observed a lot of these con men first hand, watching how they worked and the scams they operated.
Inspired by these dodgy deals, Deighton tells us the story of 3 scam artists - Bob, Liz and Silas.
The book starts with a big con in NYC, the story quickly moves to London where the trio then try to rip off an African nation, selling scrap metal masquerading as arms, then the final big one. I cant tell you too much about these capers as it will spoil the book for you.
Each chapter is written from either Bob, Liz or Silas's viewpoint. This makes for fast reading and a quick understanding of the characters thoughts and motives. The book written as if they are all on a jolly jape has very serious consequences. Len brings us down to earth with a bang. Bob, Liz and Silas are not exactly Robin Hood and his merry men even if they think they are.
Enjoyed this one but not a Deighton classic, it gets a 3 from me.
April 7, 2020
Dated. Not aging well.
I have read other Deighton books--really a long time ago--and seen a movie from one of his novels. Deighton has an impressive resume. This was published in 1968. It's about con games, there are homophobic slurs, the author comes across as misogynistic. I got to page 17 and put it in the Goodwill pile to donate.
This is shelter at home time. I am working and there is not much to do on weeknights and weekends but read. I try to give the books up to page 100. If I am giving up before 25 it sucks--
I have read other Deighton books--really a long time ago--and seen a movie from one of his novels. Deighton has an impressive resume. This was published in 1968. It's about con games, there are homophobic slurs, the author comes across as misogynistic. I got to page 17 and put it in the Goodwill pile to donate.
This is shelter at home time. I am working and there is not much to do on weeknights and weekends but read. I try to give the books up to page 100. If I am giving up before 25 it sucks--
September 20, 2020
Flashbacks with no introduction confused me at first, and the characters didn't seem very likeable. However, as the plot evolved, I became more of a fan. The tale is told from the points of view of the three main characters whose purpose in life is to con victims into giving the three large sums of money. Moral aspects of such a life goal are not considered. Their last gig ends with quite a twist. Rating probably 2.5.
Read
February 7, 2021An oddity of sorts in the Deighton oeuvre, though still suffused with secret dealings. Three narrators—sadly not always sufficiently distinguished from each other—lots of comedy, and a sense that the whole, harsher world of spies is little more than an enormous comedy that usually has tragic consequences. Worth the read. Second reading: first sometime in the 1990s, in Ottawa, which is when I got into Deighton originally.
April 8, 2023
Spoiler alert: a WW2 veteran leads a three-person confidence team in fraud scams on three continents. Their stories are told from the perspective of each con team member: Silas, Liz, and Bob.
Will the team succeed in their biggest caper or will their "marks" catch them out? Very entertaining with humour and tension.
Will the team succeed in their biggest caper or will their "marks" catch them out? Very entertaining with humour and tension.
May 4, 2021
I good story, well enough written like all of Deighton’s stuff, but just nothing all that special. A good filler until I can get my new David Housewright and Stephen Hunter books later this month. ‘Until then I’ll read the first of the Bernard Sampson trilogies by Deighton.
Read
June 23, 2022I tried to read this when I was 8 or 9 (?) purely because the cover looked interesting.
Too young to appreciate it, too old now to remember much about it. That said, I saw the film as a teenager and realised I could remember bits of the book, so I must have made a good stab at it.
Too young to appreciate it, too old now to remember much about it. That said, I saw the film as a teenager and realised I could remember bits of the book, so I must have made a good stab at it.
November 21, 2022
Not one of his better books, still a pretty good read.
March 13, 2023
Maybe the structure….maybe the change of pace from the earlier novels…. Maybe the cons….Just couldn’t read this one…..
March 20, 2017
Originally published on my blog here in February 2004.
At this point in his career, Deighton seems to have been searching for a new direction. The three novels and the short story collection - An Expensive Place to Die, Only When I Larf, Bomber and Declarations Of War - which include Deighton's effective abandonment of his Harry Palmer character are the most diverse of his career. Only When I Larf is the only one of his novels, for example, which could be classified as a comic thriller. (His other works may have comic elements, but here the comedy takes centre stage.) So Only When I Larf and the short stories of Declarations of War mark dead ends, as Deighton never wrote anything like either of them again.
Only When I Larf (joke answer to the question "When does it hurt?") is the story of three confidence tricksters: Silas, an upper class older man whose distinguished war record hid the beginnings of his criminal career; Bob, young and working class, and tired of always playing subordinate roles; and Liz, Silas' girlfriend, whose beauty is often an important part of building up a relationship with the mark. The novel is told from the point of view of each of these characters in turn, a device which enables Deighton to clearly show the reader the development of tensions between the trio, which gradually build throughout the story, especially after a big con goes badly wrong.
In most of Deighton's novels, the prevailing atmosphere is one of cynicism, leavened with satirical black humour. Here, the proportions are reversed, though the humour is not as amusing as the nuggets in, say, The Ipcress File. What drives the plot is the combination of different kinds of differences between Silas and Bob (temperament, generational and class); Liz is a peripheral observer of the friction between the two of them.
I can see why the comedy was something Deighton wanted to try, with humour playing an important part in the earlier novels; and I can see why he never made it quite so central again. There is a bitterness to Only When I Larf which makes it hard to like as a comedy, and much though I admire some of the ideas in it and the way it is written, it will never be one of my favourite Len Deighton novels.
At this point in his career, Deighton seems to have been searching for a new direction. The three novels and the short story collection - An Expensive Place to Die, Only When I Larf, Bomber and Declarations Of War - which include Deighton's effective abandonment of his Harry Palmer character are the most diverse of his career. Only When I Larf is the only one of his novels, for example, which could be classified as a comic thriller. (His other works may have comic elements, but here the comedy takes centre stage.) So Only When I Larf and the short stories of Declarations of War mark dead ends, as Deighton never wrote anything like either of them again.
Only When I Larf (joke answer to the question "When does it hurt?") is the story of three confidence tricksters: Silas, an upper class older man whose distinguished war record hid the beginnings of his criminal career; Bob, young and working class, and tired of always playing subordinate roles; and Liz, Silas' girlfriend, whose beauty is often an important part of building up a relationship with the mark. The novel is told from the point of view of each of these characters in turn, a device which enables Deighton to clearly show the reader the development of tensions between the trio, which gradually build throughout the story, especially after a big con goes badly wrong.
In most of Deighton's novels, the prevailing atmosphere is one of cynicism, leavened with satirical black humour. Here, the proportions are reversed, though the humour is not as amusing as the nuggets in, say, The Ipcress File. What drives the plot is the combination of different kinds of differences between Silas and Bob (temperament, generational and class); Liz is a peripheral observer of the friction between the two of them.
I can see why the comedy was something Deighton wanted to try, with humour playing an important part in the earlier novels; and I can see why he never made it quite so central again. There is a bitterness to Only When I Larf which makes it hard to like as a comedy, and much though I admire some of the ideas in it and the way it is written, it will never be one of my favourite Len Deighton novels.
June 25, 2025
I bought this at the end of 2014, having seen the film and read the book long ago, in the early 1970s. It’s not the kind of thing I normally read, and I didn’t get around to reading it until 2024. Then I read the introduction, the first six chapters, the last three chapters, and didn’t feel a need to read the middle nine chapters.
It’s a study of the psychology and methods of a mostly successful gang of three confidence tricksters—Silas, Liz, and Bob—and the sexual and other tensions between them.
The book is copyright 1967, and the film was released very promptly in 1968—co-produced by the author, though he didn’t write the screenplay. I lived through the 1960s as a child, and I’ve read a fair amount of science fiction written in the 1960s, but I haven’t read much fiction set in the real 1960s, and it feels a bit odd now to be taken back to that time, when the Second World War was a relatively fresh memory and some of the slang in use was left over from the 1940s and 1950s.
The author, Len Deighton, was born in 1929, so he was about 38 by the time this book came out: younger than Silas, older than Bob and Liz.
The book is quite well and carefully written, but it’s not the sort of book I really enjoy. The ending is OK but seems rather inconclusive and undramatic; perhaps the author wanted to say that stories don’t have to end in triumph or disaster. I see from a synopsis that the film altered the ending in an attempt to add drama to it.
It’s a study of the psychology and methods of a mostly successful gang of three confidence tricksters—Silas, Liz, and Bob—and the sexual and other tensions between them.
The book is copyright 1967, and the film was released very promptly in 1968—co-produced by the author, though he didn’t write the screenplay. I lived through the 1960s as a child, and I’ve read a fair amount of science fiction written in the 1960s, but I haven’t read much fiction set in the real 1960s, and it feels a bit odd now to be taken back to that time, when the Second World War was a relatively fresh memory and some of the slang in use was left over from the 1940s and 1950s.
The author, Len Deighton, was born in 1929, so he was about 38 by the time this book came out: younger than Silas, older than Bob and Liz.
The book is quite well and carefully written, but it’s not the sort of book I really enjoy. The ending is OK but seems rather inconclusive and undramatic; perhaps the author wanted to say that stories don’t have to end in triumph or disaster. I see from a synopsis that the film altered the ending in an attempt to add drama to it.
March 11, 2016
Fun story & easy reading.
Three con artist work the big time in the 1960's. There's Silas who is the leader because he was an officer in the British tank division in WWII. There's Liz who is the daughter of Silas' deceased regimental leader and with whom he is in love. And, there's Bob who is always portrayed as the servant or bumbling idiot. He, too, is in love with Liz but, until now, has not made any mention of it.
There first caper was in New York scamming a toy company out of a quarter of million dollars. When they are back in London, they start a second caper scamming the new African country Magazaria out of millions but it goes askew. Their third caper is scamming a London businessman and a Beirut bank. However, for this caper Bob is now the lead man, Silas doubts his ability, and Liz falls in love with Bob.
Can a con con another con artist and still laugh about it?
Three con artist work the big time in the 1960's. There's Silas who is the leader because he was an officer in the British tank division in WWII. There's Liz who is the daughter of Silas' deceased regimental leader and with whom he is in love. And, there's Bob who is always portrayed as the servant or bumbling idiot. He, too, is in love with Liz but, until now, has not made any mention of it.
There first caper was in New York scamming a toy company out of a quarter of million dollars. When they are back in London, they start a second caper scamming the new African country Magazaria out of millions but it goes askew. Their third caper is scamming a London businessman and a Beirut bank. However, for this caper Bob is now the lead man, Silas doubts his ability, and Liz falls in love with Bob.
Can a con con another con artist and still laugh about it?
books-abandoned
January 9, 2012I’m not sure why I read only 20 pages of this story about a confidence team bilking people. Perhaps I fail to identify with people who deserve disapproval. Perhaps the reasonably well drawn characters do not interest me and the marks are shallow, so no sympathy goes their way. At the very least it has something to do with Deighton not revealing enough of the scam up to this point, so plot and character development unfolded without my being clear on why or what it might lead to. I might feel invested if I knew what was at stake with each line of dialog and what those lines were building towards. At any rate, this book is just not for me.
August 23, 2009
A book set in the 1960's about con-artists.
The first half took me a month to read. Normally I finish a book within 3 days. The characters were intersting but man was it ahrd to follow and difficult to get in to. Each chapter changed narrators. At about page 110 I couldn't put it down. The character development was over and I was finally into the story. I liked it a little less near the end again, but ended up being able to say I like it.
The first half took me a month to read. Normally I finish a book within 3 days. The characters were intersting but man was it ahrd to follow and difficult to get in to. Each chapter changed narrators. At about page 110 I couldn't put it down. The character development was over and I was finally into the story. I liked it a little less near the end again, but ended up being able to say I like it.
March 14, 2015
The book is described as a suspense novel, but this story of 3 con artists working their trade is more interesting for its use of 3 narrators than anything else. However, the device wears a little thin as you go simply because there's no tension from narrator to narrator. Some points change depending on who's relating an episode, but Deighton would have had to have played with this a little more to make it pay off.
dnf
April 10, 2018Interesting, but a difficult read. Deighton can break continuity as a style device. He does it here in two ways. First each of the three protagonists narrate the novel in first person. Second each gets locked into flashbacks that disperse the narrative. In addition, our characters are not smart enough to be effective con artists. Overall, a disappointment. I reached the halfway point when I gave up. I just didn’t care.
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July 23, 2011Len Deighton demonstrates his scope as an author with this witty novel about a team of English con artists. With the same attention to character development and back story the reader is drawn into the lives of the characters. would probably make a decent movie !
July 5, 2023
This was from my bookshelf, so I'd read this before (according to markings, I'd finished reading this in November 2006). It still seemed a fresh read.
I have extreme respect for Len Deighton overall. This is one of the lighter novels, not involving international espionage. Recommended!
I have extreme respect for Len Deighton overall. This is one of the lighter novels, not involving international espionage. Recommended!
April 27, 2013
I don't know what I thought this was about, but I did enjoy it. I would have rated it 3 1/2 stars :)
This was all about 3 con artists. Each give there "view" during the con. They evolve/de-evolve and you're around for the ride. The humor was very British and I enjoyed it!
This was all about 3 con artists. Each give there "view" during the con. They evolve/de-evolve and you're around for the ride. The humor was very British and I enjoyed it!
July 26, 2016
I liked it. Not a topic one would normally expect from Mr. Deighton, but a fun read either way.
This is a comic thriller of a love triangle among members of a confidence team. A fun read as each member tells part of the story from their own point of view.
This is a comic thriller of a love triangle among members of a confidence team. A fun read as each member tells part of the story from their own point of view.
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