I read that Len Deighton just died, and that he'd written spy novels meant as a rebuttal to Ian Fleming. So I borrowed "The Ipcress File," and am digging in. I'm enjoying his unhurried pace and attention to scene details.

#books
#bookstodon
#LenDeighton

Len Deighton revolutionized spy fiction with his unnamed, working-class anti-heroes whose cynical realism and bureaucratic worlds offered a sharp contrast to glamorous spies, leaving a lasting mark on the genre. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/03/24/world/len-deighton-dies-aged-97/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #lendeighton #authors #literature #movies #harrypalmer #michaelcaine #sloughhouse #slowhorses #ianfleming #johnlecarre #jamesbond #georgesmiley #bernardsamson
Six decades ago, Len Deighton created a man for our times

Unlike Ian Fleming and John le Carre, creators of James Bond and George Smiley, respectively, Deighton never worked for the British intelligence service.

The Japan Times

Varsin monet nuoruuden sankarit, kirjoissa tai elokuvissa oli Deightonin luomia, niin oli myös roistot ja pahikset

>> https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/obituary-len-deighton-novelist-and-cookery-writer

#LenDeighton

🔴 Midnight in Berlin by Speckled Band is out now to stream and download 👇

https://youtube.com/shorts/5gTZdH0Z2dg?si=WSlLp6SB1AcDha2g

#coldwar #lendeighton #jamesbond #johnlecarre #berlin #spies #music #newmusic

Midnight in Berlin by Speckled Band out now! #newmusic #newmusicfriday #newsingle #newrelease

YouTube
“Outside was February and the first snow of the year. At first it was the sort of snow that a sharp P.R. man would make available to journalists. It sparkled and floated. It was soft yet crisp, like some new, sugar-coated breakfast cereal. Girls wore it in their hair and the Telegraph ran a picture of a statue wearing some." #LenDeighton (Billion Dollar Brain)
“It was the morning of my hundredth birthday. I shaved the final mirror-disc of old tired face under the merciless glare of the bathroom lighting” #LenDeighton (Billion Dollar Brain)
“I gave him the Browning FN pistol and three 13-round magazines. Dawlish put them into a large manilla envelope and wrote ‘gun’ on the flap.” #LenDeighton (Funeral in Berlin)
“Inside the semi-precious light of the stained glass softly dusted the smooth, worn pews, and a complex of brass candlesticks glinted like a medieval oil refinery.” #LenDeighton (Funeral in Berlin)
“Dawlish sprinkled a cold smile over me. He wore the sort of spectacles that customs men tap for hollow noises. He rested them on his large ears and then tucked a handkerchief as big as a bedsheet into his cuff.” #LenDeighton (Funeral in Berlin)

‘You didn’t like the coffee?’ she asked.
‘Is this anarchist’s coffee?’ I asked the girl.
‘Grounds enough for arrest,’ she said.
I suppose someone had said the same thing before. Or maybe they thought of the joke and then built the coffee shop around it.

#LenDeighton (Spy Story) #coffee