The Ipcress File by Len Deighton # The 1962 Club

The Ipcress File by Len Deighton is I suppose what could be described as being charmingly dated. It was the first spy novel by the author. I wondered how many readers would be flumoxed by this:

Getting Keightley to tell one the punch line immediately was like trying to get an aspirin without first removing the cotton wool. 

I’m sure you have to be a certain age!

Anyway, I enjoyed this one although as usual with spy novels you’re  (I’m) never quite sure what’s actually going on.

The Cold War is in full swing and the book’s unnamed protagonist has just recently been transferred from a military intelligence unit to one within the British intelligence services, reporting directly to the British Cabinet. Top biochemists are disappearing, it’s presumed they’ve been abducted by the Russians. There have been eight top rank disappearances within six and a half weeks. Who is masterminding it all?

I can’t say too much about the plot, but it features brainwashing, the CIA, a neutron bomb test, kidnap, mental torture and class distinction as the working class protagonist from the north of England is unimpressed by what amounts to the ‘old boy network’. There’s a wee bit of romance thrown into the mix too.

Len Deighton was inspired  to write this first spy novel because as an 11 year old he had had the experience of having as a neighbour a woman (Anna Wolkoff) who had been arrested as a spy. She had been a White Russian emigree but had ended up spying for the Germans during World War 2. Deighton witnessed her arrest by MI5 in 1940.

The Ipcress File was made into a film in 1965 and a TV series was loosely based on the book in 2022.

# 1962 Club – The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard

The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard isn’t exactly an uplifting read. I was trying to imagine how it would have felt to read it back in 1962. I imagine that it wasn’t quite as  unnerving as I found it to be. The fact is that the world in which the story is set is getting too close for comfort nowadays.

Global warming isn’t actually mentioned as that phrase hadn’t been coined by then, but that is what is causing the death of the Earth. The temperatures are reaching unbearable heights (some places have already reached the temperatures mentioned) and the consequences are the growth of rampant tropical jungles which are being over run by all sorts of alligators. The year is 2145.

It’s a watery world which is clogged with sargasso type weeds and only the tops of tall buildings poke out of the water. Later in the book it’s revealed that the city below the water is actually London.

Solar radiation has melted the polar ice caps and has caused much of the world to be engulfed with water. The main character is Dr Robert Kerans and he’s part of a group of people who have been sent to study the flora and fauna that is appearing in the lagoon which is covering London. Kerans is living in a penthouse in what had been The Ritz Hotel, poking above the lagoon. The scientists are all having nightmares, but one of them, Beatrice, has decided that she won’t be leaving her hotel room when the time comes for them to leave the area, despite the fact that she wouldn’t be able to last long with the heat becoming ever more unbearable and food running out.

When a group of pirates headed by a man called Strangman turn up things go from bad to worse. They’re looting whatever they can from the water above London and they have quite a haul of gold, jewels and historical artefacts.  It all turns into a horrific experience, particularly for Kerans.

So, as you will realise, this was not a relaxing and enjoyable read although I found the characters and the situations to be believable.

This is the first book that I’ve read by Ballard, but Jack has read most of his books and he says they tend to be depressing. It’s probably not all that surprising given that as a teenager he spent two and a half years in a Japanese internment camp during WW2. I dread to think what he experienced then.

 

 

# 1962 Club – Previous 1962 reads

Karen of Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings and Simon of Stuck in a Book are jointly hosting another of their ‘Club’ weeks and this time it’s the 1962 Club. So we’re reading books published in that year. I had quite  a tough time deciding what to read, mainly because as you can see from the list below, I’ve already read so many books that were published in 1962. I’ve opted to read The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard and The Ipcress File by Len Deighton, both of which belonged to Jack and were living in the overflow bookcases in the garage. I’ll be reviewing them both soon and should be able to fit in another 1962 read, if I can find another book to read.

The Tightening String by Ann Bridge

A Murder of Quality by John le Carre

My Friend Flora by Jane Duncan

Blood on the Mink by Robert Silverberg

Girl with  Green Eyes by Edna O’Brien

Apple Bough by Noel Streatfeild

The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer

The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett

The Demoniacs by John Dickson Carr

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck