The World at Night: A Novel

A good deal of this relatively short book held my interest for the scenery and mood presented by the author. When looking at a couple of his other books, I see that presenting a realistic atmosphere of World War II Europe is this writer's gimmick. He is quite good at it, and there are certainly worse schemes in vogue by various popular writers.
I rate this book low, but not because it is so slow moving. I have enjoyed other books with a deliberate pace. My problem with the book is that the plot is not presented until about half way through the book. Even then, the climax registered as barely a ripple in the water. When I finished the book, I wondered where was the rest, and what was the point of telling the story. I understand from other reviewers that the writer has a sequel to possibly complete the story. The book would have been better if the two volumes had been combined. I doubt that I will invest in the second book.

It is difficult to beat Alan Furst on atmosphere in Paris and I enjoy it thoroughly book after book.
Having said that I find his evocation of pre-war Paris better than his Paris during the war.
However the moment when he describes France outside of its capital I find the atmosphere dropping quickly,
not just in TWAN but in other books as well. This is mainly caused by inaccuracies in French geography, like when hero Casson in TWAN is driving north with the French army in May 1940, passing through Rheims towards Sedan, wrongly stressing the Flemish aspect of the population here and remarking on the influence of the winds swooping in from the English Channel. It is like Furst is describing Pas de Calais and Artois rather than Champagne and Ardennes/Meuse.
This sort of inaccuracies re France is such a turn-off that for me I find it difficult to enjoy the rest of the book when the story has returned to Paris.

Review: THE WORLD AT NIGHT by Alan Furst
Reading Alan Furst's novels about Europe circa 1937-42 is an experience like no other. Immediately the reader is drawn into a world that is, for an American, a revelation. Europe during that time was watching as Hitler marched, with steadily increasing strength, through Germany and then, one by one, through neighboring countries, shifting boundaries and political alignments throughout a Europe that was still exhausted and smarting from the ravages of WW1, the global flu epidemic that immediately followed the war, and the Great Depression. For centuries Europeans have endured through variations of this experience, and there is a sort of cultural memory and mindset that informs European behavior as they feel the ground shifting under them yet again. They are stoic, they are disheartened, they begin to adjust to whatever the new regime may be, and in this case, they sense that it is going to be a particularly ugly one.
M. Casson is Furst's man for this season. He is a Parisian, a film producer with offices in Paris, a wide network of business friends and associates, a wife with whom he has "an understanding" - they live apart, each of them takes lovers as they wish, but they are friends - and a tendency to fall in love with each woman who crosses his path and attracts his attention, and he is indeed a man who loves women, whether or not they are pretty, shapely, sexy, whatever. Each woman he spends time with fascinates him in her own way, and he is attuned to their complexities and fascinated to learn who they are, and to share their world (and their beds).
As The World At Night opens, it is May 10, 1940, and Hitler is making his way through Belgium, headed for France. How will the French react? With deft strokes, Furst conjures the French sensibility for us. The French will wait. They have declared war, but fighting the Germans never was worthwhile. They will live with the Germans, hating them as they watch their insensitive occupation of everything French, and specifically for Casson, Parisian.
Casson's life has been deliciously Parisian; a relaxed approach to business, a love affair now and then, periods of ennui, parties with old friends and lovers. His life has been interchangeable with his art movies, filled with complex women and naive men, all done in shades of gray. Casson's life is about to change.
Casson is approached by the Resistance to do a job for them - but wait, it turns out this is a fake, an entrapment; fortunately he has declined, and escapes a potentially nasty situation. He is approached by the real Resistance, and because of his circumstances, feels he is ready to make a commitment and indeed, he recognizes that he has little choice, so he agrees to do a job for them. Besides, it involves a journey to southern France, and may offer him the opportunity to search for Citrine, his lost love. Casson has reason to think she may have returned to Marseilles and this is his chance to avoid travel restrictions, find her, and offer her his heart.
His effort fails, on both counts. And now Furst takes us down with Casson, into the depths of an ancient, dimly-castle, as it were: we go together with Casson as he descends the uneven stone steps lit by smokey torches into a dark, damp, unknowable and ultimately compelling underworld: Paris under siege. Jewish colleagues are banished to America or stay in Paris secretly, fearfully. Nazi businessmen and SS elite take over the restaurants and nightlife, the heartbeat of Paris. Friends align themselves, some with the aggressors, some with the resistance.
Casson begins to learn his new life. He passes on love affairs - or at least, promising sexual attractions - as he carries his torch relentlessly for Citrine. Very little in his life is under his own control. He accepts assignments for the Resistance, he really has no choice.
Casson's life becomes that of a stranger, an unwelcome stranger. His world, formerly so gentil, is no longer. Furst draws us into Casson's Paris, a city full of heartbreak, an existence that is uncertain. His world can no longer be seen by looking directly at it. It can be perceived only the way things are seen at dusk, in the early dark. To see anything in the world at night, looking directly at it will not work; you will not see it. You must look beside it, beyond it, and you will see it on the edge of your vision, and capture its image in your peripheral vision only. As Furst etches in the lines of his portrait of Casson, we hold our breath, daring only to look at the story of this man's life from a difficult perspective, as it were, at night.

In this book you are immersed in Paris during the occupation, you feel, see, taste, and experience life in this wonderful evocative portrayal of war time Europe.

Alen Furst is a master of the gritty espionage thriller of period world war two. The story of movie maker Jean Casson, hedonist Parisian playboy, and his struggles to live and survive while his world collapses is intriguing and whole engaging, the only lapse is the story doesn't have a strong plot, it wanders and then ends... c'est la vie.

Normally Alan Furst is a great writer, but he appears to get bored about 90% of the way through the book, it was 4 star until the end where the story just stopped, did i miss a conclusion???? Nope there wasn't one, bingo it just ended, i could have written a better ending, very disappointing.

The Alan Furst novels all have this inside close up feel of of war. Not the raging battles scenes but the personal struggles and frightening situation people find themselves in by accident, association or choice. Artfully descriptive.
One of the best features in he's stories is that the hero appears to always make it out alive. I became addicted and have read almost all of his novels.

Once again, Alan Furst has brilliantly taken us back into the 1930s and 1940s, this time to Paris in the immediate aftermath of the Nazi Germany invasion. The protagonist, a film producer who initially thinks life can continue as normal, takes us step by step through the transition from sadness to resentment to anger to resistance against a brutal occupying force.

Furst's real achievement in this novel is taking the mundane and the normal and weaving them into the difficult and violent world of war and occupation. Everyday experiences like eating, drinking, earning a living, loving and talking are the primary daily behaviors around which the characters interact, but they are all intruded upon by the occupation. This is what makes the book so "real."

Furst combines history, fiction, and the mysteries of espionage as well as anyone since Eric Ambler. He is always worth reading.

Furst is always interesting in my opinion, and having just come back from a trip to Paris, I was eager to read a Furst novel that takes place there. The recreation of Paris during the German occupation was very well done, I thought, and I liked the fact that Casson was a film producer because I think that makes for interesting reading. What didn't work for me was his relationship with Citrine - I didn't think Furst prepared us properly for how important the relationship became to Casson. And as far as the ending goes, talk about mailing it in. What happened - did the editors at Random House contact Alan on vacation in Provence and tell him his manuscript was late and to just send them all he had, even if it wasn't complete? That's certainly how I was left feeling. Oh, well. It doesn't diminish my enthusiasm for Alan Furst - just leaves me shaking my head a little.

But a worthy effort. I like Mr. Furst's description of
occupied France. >Spoiler< I don't believe Casson's escape from
the Gestapo, and I'm disappointed by his "escape" from the
people trying to get him out of France at the end of the
book. A lot of people put their fictional lives on the line
to get him to England, and he can't stand leaving his
girlfriend. Typical Frenchman, LoL. Sorry, just had to say it.
Again, though, the descriptive writing is first-rate, I think.

i could only read half this book before tossing it --just bad!!!!

no suspense no characters you can care about-no plot-

i think i could write a better book.

and filled with foul words and sex scenes(not too graphic but constant)save your money