Berlin Game

infobox Book |
name = Berlin Game
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Len Deighton
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Espionage novel
publisher = Hutchinson
release_date = 1983 (UK)
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
pages = 301 pp
isbn = 0091541905
preceded_by =
followed_by = "Mexico Set"

"Berlin Game" is a 1983 spy novel by Len Deighton, and the first novel in the "Game, Set and Match" trilogy, being succeeded by "Mexico Set" and "London Match", all featuring the character of SIS employee Bernard Samson. Deighton's novel "Winter" (1987) is a prequel to the series, covering the years 1900-1945 and providing the backstory to some of the characters.

Plot summary

A highly-placed double agent in East Germany codenamed "Brahms Four" wants to come to the West. Brahms Four is one of Britain's most reliable, most valuable agents behind the Iron Curtain, and that he should be urgently demanding safe passage to the West sends a ripple of panic through the SIS. Bernard Samson, a former field agent, and now working behind a London desk, is tasked to undertake the crucial rescue. After all, it was Brahms Four who had once, nearly twenty years ago, saved his life.

But even before Samson sets out on his mission, he is confronted with undeniable evidence that there is a traitor among his colleagues — a traitor planted by the KGB. Clearly, it is someone close to the top, close to Samson himself. It could by Dicky Cruyer, his incompetent supervisor - whom Samson despises. It could be the American Bret Rensselaer, who has built his entire career around the work of Brahms Four — and who is spending an inordinate amount of time with Samson's wife, Fiona (also an intelligence officer). It could be Frank Harrington, the 'rezident' - or head of the Berlin field unit. In fact, it could be any member of the senior staff at London Central — even the Director-General himself.

Bernard travels to East Berlin to assist the escape of Brahms Four, and decides at the last moment to send Brahms Four out in his place. His suspicions of treachery prove well-founded when he is captured and subsequently confronted by his wife, who had defected and betrayed the operation.

Adaptations

Bernard Samson was played by Ian Holm and Fiona Samson by Mel Martin in a 1988 Granada Television adaptation of the "Game, Set and Match" trilogy, entitled "Game, Set and Match", transmitted as twelve 60 minute episodes. [cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = "Game, Set, and Match" (1988) | work = | publisher = Internet Movie Database | date = | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092360/| format = | doi = | accessdate = 2008-06-19] Filmed on location in Berlin and Mexico, the project included a large international cast with 3,000 extras and a budget of $8 million. It is considered the most ambitious espionage miniseries ever filmed. While critically acclaimed, the ratings for the series were a disaster.cite book | last = Britton | first = Wesley | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Beyond Bond: Spies in Fiction and Film | publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group | date = 2005 | location = | pages = p. 134 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0275985563] It was adapted by John Howlett and directed by Ken Grieve and Patrick Lau. It is not easy to find: Netflix doesn't have it, nor do most libraries.

Other

The novel contains an early mention of the urban legend that President John F. Kennedy's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" remark actually translated to "I am a jelly doughnut." In "Berlin Game", the character Bernard Samson is told that he is "berlinerisch":

In the preface to the reprint edition, Deighton notes that the novel is told in the highly subjective voice of the character of Bernard Samson, "who is inclined to complain and exaggerate so that we have to interpret the world around him." The author adds that "Readers who take Bernard’s words literally are missing a lot of the intended content."

In the prequel to the trilogy, "Winter" (1987), Deighton reminded his readers that the views of the characters were not necessarily those of the writer. Quoting James Jones he says: "...readers should remember that the opinions expressed by the characters are not necessarily those of the author..."

Notes

ee also

*Ich bin ein Berliner