In 1939, as the German army ravages his country, Captain Alexander de Milja joins the intelligence service of the Polish underground and undertakes many daring and defiant missions. "The Polish Officer" is Furst at his best: masterfully suspenseful, brilliantly atmospheric, and surprising to the last page.
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In 1939, as the German army ravages his country, Captain Alexander de Milja joins the intelligence service of the Polish underground and undertakes many daring and defiant missions. "The Polish Officer" is Furst at his best: masterfully suspenseful, brilliantly atmospheric, and surprising to the last page.
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The protagonist of this WW II spy novel is Captain de Milja, a Polish officer who is recruited as part of the Polish underground resistance following the fall of Warsaw to the Nazis in 1939. De Milja is a man of few words, perceptive, hard, unafraid of danger, and able to adjust to new situations. He also has no difficulty in attracting women and has several lovers, of varying duration, to accompany him through his adventures. His wife, to whom he is devoted, dies midway through the book.
This novel tells the stories of de Milja's experiences as a spy in Warsaw, Paris and the Ukraine. It is episodic in character with each unit of the story essentially self-contained. The writing is fast-paced and hard-boiled as befitting a spy story. There were times when I thought the story flagged and lost my interest.
Alan Furst knows has subject matter and depicts well the fall of Warsaw and Paris and the activities of the Partisans in the Ukraine. The Nazi's failed invasions of Britain and the U.S.S.R. form the backdrop of the book and they are well-conveyed. I found the middle sections of the book the most interesting with good depictions of people and places, particularly low life in Paris.
The book is good to read because of the perspective it brings to WW II which is both unusual and realistic. The book is somewhat more than a spy novel due to Furst's attempt to develop and show growth in the character of his hero. This development occurs in the final section of the book which explores the confusing world of conflicting partisan resistance movements in the Ukraine. Oddly enough, the plotting and spying in this section are, to me, the weakest in the book.
De Milja changes in this way. In the prior sections of the story, Furst establishes him as a lover and a ladies man. There are occasions when De Milja takes a mistress in part to save his cover and many other occasions where he takes a lover only because he wants to do so. The connection between spying and amorous activities is an established one. There are tensions and risks in this line of work, and surely a feeling that one must enjoy what one can.
In the final chapter of the book, de Milja meets a young woman refuge named Sasha. She is not particularly beautiful or talented, but she is fleeing for her life, she is vulnerable, and she is available. De Milja saves her life, through great peril. Sasha lets it be known that she would be willing to, perhaps even interested in, sex with De Milja as they weave their way through danger.
Furst makes a great deal of de Milja not availing himself of this opportunity. (Even though de Milja and Sasha need to bundle together in a car to keep warm at night.) I think this shows a development in de Milja's character from the rather free-wheeling womanizer he is in the earlier sections of the book. It also shows that he has developed some sense of looking at his female companion as an individual rather than as a pawn in a global game of war. I think we are meant to see de Milja as developing a quality of compassion in this portion of the story and a sense of connectedness to another person. He is willing to forgo sex, even when it is offered, welcome, and not even illicit in order to bring Sasha and himself to safety. It is buried in lots of war detail and not really prepared for during the body of the novel, but Furst shows development in the character of his hero.
This is why the book is more than a spy story.
Robin Friedman
junglechef
Nov 10, 2011
More WW2 Reality From Furst
Alan Furst writes about a part of WW2 that no author I have read touches upon. He explores the underground, the spying and the effect of the war on the lives of normal people just trying to be patriotic (in some cases) or just trying to exist and keep their things in tact (the French).
His writing is raw, but richly sentimental; factual, yet filled with characters created by the circumstances. I hope he keeps cranking these things out. I have now read seven of his WW2 books and keep looking for more.
