Berlin Game
Encyclopedia
Berlin Game is a 1983 spy novel by Len Deighton
Len Deighton
Leonard Cyril Deighton is a British military historian, cookery writer, and novelist. He is perhaps most famous for his spy novel The IPCRESS File, which was made into a film starring Michael Caine....

. It is the first novel in the first of three trilogies about Bernard Samson
Bernard Samson
Bernard Samson is a fictional character created by Len Deighton. Samson is a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the Secret Intelligence Service – usually referred to as "the Department" in the novels. He is a central character in three trilogies written by Deighton,...

, a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the British Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...

 (MI6). Berlin Game is part of the Game, Set and Match trilogy, being succeeded by Mexico Set
Mexico Set
Mexico Set is a 1984 spy novel by Len Deighton. It is the second novel in the first of three trilogies about Bernard Samson, a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the British Secret Intelligence Service . Mexico Set is part of the Game, Set and Match trilogy, being...

and London Match
London Match
London Match is a 1985 spy novel by Len Deighton. It is the concluding novel in the first of three trilogies about Bernard Samson, a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the British Secret Intelligence Service . London Match is part of the Game, Set and Match trilogy,...

, and followed by the Hook, Line and Sinker trilogy and the final Faith, Hope and Charity trilogy. Deighton's novel Winter (1987) is a prequel to the nine novels, covering the years 1900-1945 and providing the backstory to some of the characters.

Plot summary

The time is the early 1980s. A highly-placed 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
Bernard Samson
Bernard Samson is a fictional character created by Len Deighton. Samson is a middle-aged and somewhat jaded intelligence officer working for the Secret Intelligence Service – usually referred to as "the Department" in the novels. He is a central character in three trilogies written by Deighton,...

, 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 be 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
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...

 and Fiona Samson by Mel Martin
Mel Martin
Mel Martin is an English actor. She has appeared in such British television programmes and films as The Pallisers, Love for Lydia, Bergerac, Cover Her Face, Lovejoy, Inspector Morse, Cadfael, When the Boat Comes In, Midsomer Murders and "A Touch of Frost".She starred as Fiona Samson, the double...

 in a 1988 Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 adaptation of the Game, Set and Match trilogy, entitled Game, Set and Match, transmitted as twelve 60 minute episodes. Filmed on location in Berlin and Mexico, the project included a large international cast with 3,000 extras and a budget of $8 million. While critically acclaimed, the ratings for the series were a disaster. It was adapted by John Howlett and directed by Ken Grieve and Patrick Lau. It has not been officially released on VHS or DVD.

Other

The novel contains an early mention of the fact that President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner
Ich bin ein Berliner
"Ich bin ein Berliner" is a quotation from a June 26, 1963, speech by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin. He was underlining the support of the United States for West Germany 22 months after the Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall as a barrier to prevent movement...

" 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. The book's epigraph
Epigraph (literature)
In literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional...

 is a quote from James Jones
James Jones (author)
James Jones was an American author known for his explorations of World War II and its aftermath.-Life and work:...

: "...readers should remember that the opinions expressed by the characters are not necessarily those of the author..."

Trivia

In Quentin Tarantino's film Jackie Brown
Jackie Brown (film)
Jackie Brown is a 1997 American crime drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is an adaptation of the novel Rum Punch by American novelist Elmore Leonard and pays homage to 1970s blaxploitation films....

, Robert Forster
Robert Forster
Robert Forster is an American actor, best known for his roles as John Cassellis in Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, and as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, the latter of which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.- Early life :Forster was born Robert Wallace...

's character, Max Cherry, can be seen with a copy of this novel.

In Arthur Penn’s film Target
Target (1985 film)
Target is a 1985 film directed by Arthur Penn. It stars Matt Dillon and Gene Hackman.-Plot:In Dallas, Walter Lloyd runs a lumber business. After checking out at the office, Walter stops by the local racetrack, where his college-age son Chris works repairing stock cars...

, Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...

’s character, Walter Lloyd/Duncan (Duke) Potter, can be seen with a copy of this novel.
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