Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Our February selection is a classic spy novel by Eric Ambler, published in 1939.

Wikipedia contains the following biographical information about Ambler:

Ambler was born in Charlton, south east London into a family of entertainers who ran a puppet show, with which he helped in his early years. Both parents also worked as music hall artists. He later studied engineering at the Northampton Polytechnic Institute in Islington (now City, University of London), and served a traineeship with an engineering company. However, his upbringing as an entertainer proved dominant and he soon moved to writing plays and other works. By the early 1930s, he was a copywriter at an advertising agency in London. After resigning he moved to Paris, where he met and married Louise Crombie, an American fashion correspondent.

At that time, Ambler was politically a staunch anti-Fascist and like many others tended to regard the Soviet Union as the only real counterweight to fascist aggression – which was reflected in the fact that some of his early books include Soviet agents depicted positively and as sympathetic characters, the undoubted allies of the protagonist.

Like numerous like-minded people in different countries, Ambler was shocked and disillusioned by the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939. His post-war anti-Communist novel Judgment on Deltchev (1951), based on the Stalinist purge-trials in Eastern Europe, caused him to be reviled by many former Communist Party and other progressive associates.

When World War II broke out, Ambler entered the army as a private soldier. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1941. He was soon reassigned to photographic units. He ended the war as a Lieutenant-Colonel and assistant director of the army film unit. After the war, he worked in the civilian film industry as a screenwriter, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his work on the film The Cruel Sea (1953), adapted from the novel by Nicholas Monsarrat. He did not resume writing under his own name until 1951, entering the second of the two distinct periods in his writing. Five of his six early works are regarded as classic thrillers. He created the 1960 American detective TV series Checkmate.

Ambler divorced Crombie in 1958, marrying the same year British-born Joan Harrison, a film producer, screenwriter and associate of Alfred and Alma Hitchcock. The couple moved to Switzerland in 1969 and back to Britain 16 years later. Harrison died in 1994 in London. Ambler died in 1998.

A Coffin for Dimitrios was been adapted for film in 1944.

A most interesting thing also is that the book is called The Mask of Dimitrios, but in the USA the name was changed.

Jazzy wrote: "A most interesting thing also is that the book is called The Mask of Dimitrios, but in the USA the name was changed."

Mask? Coffin? Whatever !!!

Bernard wrote: "Jazzy wrote: "A most interesting thing also is that the book is called The Mask of Dimitrios, but in the USA the name was changed."

Mask? Coffin? Whatever !!!"

It doesn't expressly say so, but I think that the USA used the word 'coffin' so people would know it was a mystery, perhaps?

I read this book a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. I've since read two more books by Ambler.

Rosemarie wrote: "I read this book a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. I've since read two more books by Ambler."

I've been meaning to read something by Ambler for at least a couple of years - I went through a vintage espionage phase a few summers ago where I read a whole bunch of them. I called it "the summer of spies".

That sounds positively dreamy. instead of The Summer of Pies....The Summer of Spies!

Or the Summer of Spy Pies?

Jazzy, I even made a graphic for it:



That I used on a different book site before it crashed!

ooh i love it! Shall we have another one?

Bernard wrote: "Or the Summer of Spy Pies?"

will they be wearing sunglasses?

I'm about 50% finished with Dimitrios & I like it, but I also don't really get it. It reminds me a little bit of Graham Greene's Stamboul Train. It seems very disconnected. It's definitely very different than what I had expected - I was expecting a traditional spy tale.

oh i forgot to start this one. I'll read it after Wuthering Heights :)

Jazzy wrote: "oh i forgot to start this one. I'll read it after Wuthering Heights :)"

I know! I have to make myself a list at the beginning of every month so that I can check off my planned reads.

I finished this one this evening - what an ending.

Definitely not a spy novel, so I had some trouble getting into it - not at all what I expected. But once I got into it, it was really gripping. The ending was quite the shocker!

I liked it & am definitely interested in reading more by Ambler.

I finished this last night too. Great story of an 'amateur detective'! Enjoyed it as well :)

Jazzy, I would also call this more of a piece of detective fiction than espionage. I really liked the frame of Latimer researching Dimitrios sort of on a whim, and then finding himself with a huge problem on his hands once it spirals out of control. My only reservation with the book is that I really couldn't figure out where Ambler was going until he got there. Very clever.

Am still on the library waiting list for this! ETA another 4 weeks -- must have a pocket of NTLRC-types in my community 😊

That's ok Vee we leave the threads open so you will still get a chance for discussion if you want!

VeeInNY wrote: "Am still on the library waiting list for this! ETA another 4 weeks -- must have a pocket of NTLRC-types in my community 😊"

I bought mine! It seemed like a book I would enjoy more than once :)
I can't find any books at the library - they're closed in lockdown anyway, so I buy all my books unless i find a free ebook on the net.

I’ve started this one a little late, I was wondering if I’d manage to fit it in this month but I fancied a change from what I’d been reading. I’m about a third of the way through and I’m still not sure what to expect, there seems to be a lot of undercurrents that may come to a head or may not. I’m definitely intrigued and am enjoying it so far.
I find myself a little lost (geography wise) at times as so many place names and geographical areas have changed in these areas that I find it confusing. It’s not taking away from the story much though.

I just finished this, but the time is gone when I enjoyed this sort of novel.

It is not unusual for titles to be changed for different anglophone markets, and is done after careful consideration. A contemporary novel I quite enjoyed that has a different title in the States and Canada from the UK is The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise but the original title in the UK is Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo

I have to say that I find the North American title more appealing, so they made a good choice in doing that.

This wouldn’t be a book I would usually pick up but it was on offer and it was a group read so I thought I’d give it a try. I really enjoyed the twists and turns throughout, the views of women were very much of the time of writing, but other than that it was really enjoyable. Thanks for the suggestion.

Your welcome Georgina!
It is always nice to stretch out a little so you can say I tried that!

BTW: That is pretty much what this year is about group wide.

Georgina wrote: "This wouldn’t be a book I would usually pick up but it was on offer and it was a group read so I thought I’d give it a try. I really enjoyed the twists and turns throughout, the views of women were..."

I'm happy to hear you liked it! I was over the moon with it, pondering it well after i put the book back on the shelf.

Georgina wrote: "This wouldn’t be a book I would usually pick up but it was on offer and it was a group read so I thought I’d give it a try. I really enjoyed the twists and turns throughout, the views of women were..."

I’m glad you enjoyed this book, Georgina. I want to read it too but am still catching up with my February reads!

Me too Trisha! I have fallen way behind....blaming it on the Son :(

You know I think it's an audiobook on youtube too... I'll go look for you!

YES!! Here it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNy05...

Hope this helps you to finish it sooner.

Jazzy wrote: "You know I think it's an audiobook on youtube too... I'll go look for you!

YES!! Here it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNy05...

Hope this helps you to finish it sooner."

Thanks, Jazzy.

Jazzy, you are doing an excellent job of looking after us.

Hope you can have a go at it, Trisha!
I just listened to some and it sounds like a good reader.

Thank you Bernard, that's kind of you to say.
I just know some people have a hard time finding time alone for reading and audiobooks are easier as they could listen whilst making the dinner or maybe taking a bath :)

Jazzy wrote: "Hope you can have a go at it, Trisha!
I just listened to some and it sounds like a good reader.

Thank you Bernard, that's kind of you to say.
I just know some people have a hard time finding ti..."

I like listening to audiobooks when I have to walk somewhere that’s boring. Recently I’ve also used them for just the first few chapters of some books, especially when names or dialect are unfamiliar. It’s a good way to get interested in the story without being distracted.

Trisha wrote: "I like listening to audiobooks when I have to walk somewhere that’s boring. Recently I’ve used them for just the first few chapters of some books, especially when names or dialect are unfamiliar...."

That sounds like a great way to utilize audiobooks. I have tried and I find myself getting distracted very easily or my mind just wonders.

Trisha I'm mainly wondering, where do you walk that it's boring?
I tried using a walkman to listen to music when walking but so many things keep going on outside I gave it up because I wanted to see and hear them, but i do live smack bang in the city centre.

PS. And if i go through the park there might be COWS!

Trisha, I know what you mean about boring walks. I live in a quiet residential neighbourhood where not a lot happens.

Jazzy wrote: "Trisha I'm mainly wondering, where do you walk that it's boring?
I tried using a walkman to listen to music when walking but so many things keep going on outside I gave it up because I wanted to se..."

When I get to it, the park area is lovely with lots to look at. But to get there I have to walk along a very boring long, straight road that feels endless, with just the drone of passing traffic to entertain me! Cows in your park? Very scary, that would definitely make me stay away.

Trisha wrote: "Jazzy wrote: "Trisha I'm mainly wondering, where do you walk that it's boring?
I tried using a walkman to listen to music when walking but so many things keep going on outside I gave it up because ..."

No it's perfectly fine about the cows, there are a couple of pastures linking the park to the other roads with paths, although once I was going across one of the pastures and the cows wanted to cross the footpath, eyeing me cautiously, and i considered this may not be the safest route, so went back to the gate and walked around. Usually they just do their thing and ignore the people on the footpaths.

Jazzy wrote: "Hope you can have a go at it, Trisha!
I just listened to some and it sounds like a good reader.

Thank you Bernard, that's kind of you to say.
I just know some people have a hard time finding ti..."

True. I am finally "reading" the unabridged Three Musketeers on audio CD while finally organizing the nightmare my office/piano room (I don't teach at home) has become over COVID and the year prior. She shelves were already neat, tidy and done, but it's my desk and a few other places. This is for a GR group I've been on almost since I joined but the seldom read books I am interested in.

I missed the humour when I was a youth reading this, because at that point I had no idea who Don Quixote was, and that bit at the beginning really helps get it going.

I finally got round to reading this, but didn’t enjoy it & probably won’t read anything else by the author. The frequent changes of location seemed to be completely irrelevant to the story, while the story itself felt much longer than necessary.

oh what a shame.
I really liked it.

Finally received this ebook from the library and was glad to read it. It was not the "spy thriller" we have come to expect in these days, but I found the intrigue around the Balkans to be a large gap in my recall of history, so this was a good prompt to go back and explore that part of history.

VeeInNY wrote: "Finally received this ebook from the library and was glad to read it. It was not the "spy thriller" we have come to expect in these days, but I found the intrigue around the Balkans to be a large g..."

I'm glad you enjoyed it!