In
Joseph Kanon’s book, Leaving Berlin, an American Communist writer returns to
Berlin as a spy and discovers that the woman he once loved is now a Russian
spy. This is a nicely atmospheric, character-driven spy thriller set roughly
the same time as Kanon’s previous book TThe Good German. We’re immediately
dropped into the complex political and ideological situation that was postwar
Berlin, and Kanon does an excellent job of introducing us to the various
characters with a minimum of fuss. The city (as much a character as any of the
humans) is haunted for Alex, and a series of flashbacks fills in his complicated
relationship with his former lover . (All of Kanon’s books have a woman like
Irene, even Los Alamos, and we’re reminded of the line from The Good German,
“You should never have come back to Berlin.”)
This
is Alex’s story and he’s an intriguing protagonist. He’s a man being
manipulated, but he doesn’t come off as weak or passive. His friends—like the
playwright Bertolt Brecht—and his admirers—almost everyone—respect his work,
which is passionate and anti-Fascist and brave. But it’s not simple—nothing is
simple in Berlin.
