Talk:Ashenden: Or the British Agent

The original spy stories?
Was this book really such a groundbreaker? I can think of lots of books like the ones by John Buchan which came before it; further, I've read it, but the stories don't seem to have much in common with either Len Deighton or Ian Fleming's. Perhaps someone could provide a reference for such opinions? --DannyWilde 05:17, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

Yes it was, because of the character of the narrator. Instead of being a man of action, such as John Buchan's or the hero of "Riddle of the Sands", he is a mildly depressive retiring sort of gent, who would rather spend an evening in his room reading a book, with a mild distaste for what he as to do. He even has a healthy sense of unreality, as exhibited when R. describes an episode where a French minister has important papers stolen from him by a causal lady acquaitance who drugs his drink. Ashenden remarks that playwrrights will be unable to ues that particular plot for much longer, as it was getting so hackneyed. This is why it is a groundbreaker. Ashenden frequently remarks that he is only a cog in a vast machine, and never knows what is happening in the Big Picture. When he sends Grantly Caypor to certain death as a traitor, the first he knows of his execution is when his dog (who he has left in Switzerland) begins to howl. British Intelligence have not bothered to inform him any other way. --Celephicus (talk) 09:51, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Recent change to plot summary - "refused to enlist"?
Although the previous version was rather inelegant English, it suggested that Asheden tried to enlist, but was rejected. This tallies with my recollection of both the stories and the TV version, but my copy of the former is not immediately to hand. It's not the same as him "refusing to enlist," as it has been changed to. Can someone who can check the original stories confirm it one way or the other? Nick Cooper 12:41, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Oh say, can you, C?
This was less borrowed by Fleming from Maughm than copied from MI6/Secret Service practise... Trekphiler 07:04, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

'John Ashenden'?
You call the protagonist 'John' Ashenden: I've never read this book, but you say he is also the narrator of Cakes and Ale. The narrator in that is William Ashenden.

Unknown
The article says “It is unknown whether they were rewritten slightly from original publication”. It cant' be unknown, can it? Someone will know, at the very least having compared the two editions. If the contributors to this article don't know it, this doesn't make it “unknown”. Goochelaar (talk) 21:56, 6 December 2019 (UTC)