Film Noir Buff Style Forum / On Len Deighton

A Fine Sadness · 2021-10-02 12:08:29

Having prepared one of my Italian dishes, I plucked Len Deighton's 'ABC Of French Food' from the shelves. Now, after discussing Bond and Fleming, how about those alluring, 'iconic' Penguin paperbacks from the 60s, with their rather modernist covers? 'The Ipcress File', in its cinematic incarnation, does get a look-in every now and then: the priceless scene of gourmet Harry bumping into his boss in Macfisheries or wherever, buying tins of - what? - mushrooms? I find the book covers entrancing, the contents less so. But it's all mixed in somehow: 60s spy movies, Soho, a growing appreciation of food in fish and chip/pie and mash Blighty, that raincoat etc. etc. Yes?

An Unseen Scene · 2021-10-02 12:19:05

My icon to the left is from his London Dossier. That's Twiggy looking back at us through the keyhole.

Yuca · 2021-10-02 12:22:41

His fiction is superb. But a decent cook avoids tinned food.

A Fine Sadness · 2021-10-02 12:47:22

Oddly enough, when preparing tomato-based sauces, canned tomatoes are said to be better than fresh. This afternoon, though, I sliced fresh tomatoes with mushrooms for my pork/bacon dish. Very rarely go near canned anything otherwise. I learned to cook from scratch years ago, my speciality then being a French farmhouse dish using cubed beef, orange peel and black olives. Quite a lot of preparation and cooking involved but worth it.

woofboxer · 2021-10-02 13:36:58

Ah yes, Harry Palmer says to to the character played by Sue Lloyd ‘I’m going to cook you the best meal you’ve ever had’….then does her a mushroom omelette. Still, he got his leg over.

An Unseen Scene · 2021-10-02 13:42:19

Blimey when reminding myself about London Dossier - I found my old picture blog is still online.

Not checked in years but loads of relevant pics and links. Have fun at https://squareendknittedtie.tumblr.com/

Last edited by An Unseen Scene (2021-10-02 16:49:27)

Yuca · 2021-10-02 16:45:15

I love and often make a good mushroom omelette. Spinach omelette is a bit more complicated but tastes even better.

The fact that he's buying tinned mushrooms suggests that they were hard to find fresh in 1960s London.

Yuca · 2021-10-02 16:47:17

I've read every Deighton novel I've ever been able to find in charity shops (which is a lot) and every one has been extremely well-written and entertaining.

A Fine Sadness · 2021-10-03 03:05:26

With reference to design, Pan and Penguin both turned out splendid covers during the first half of the 60s, trailing off by 1970 (as, I suppose, did so much of value). They've tended to increase in price on the secondhand market for the artwork more than the contents. Who did the photography for 'The Ipcress File', 'Funeral In Berlin', 'Billion Dollar Brain' etc.? I once managed to upset a local bookdealer by buying something with a Minton wrapper from his 50p bargain shelves. Early paperbacks by Penguin cookery writers - not just the divine Elizabeth - should be snapped up whenever encountered.

A Fine Sadness · 2021-10-03 03:32:37

Nothing to do with Len Deighton. A female writer of chick-lit style soft porn moved out of London and now lives two streets away from me in this trendy town. I clapped eyes on her a few weeks ago, hauling a few bags of shopping from her car to the front door. So, I thought, that's what they look like.

A Fine Sadness · 2021-10-03 06:23:40

Yuca: perfect fried potatoes. My own 'concoction'. Use Maris Piper whenever possible. Shallow fry in a little vegetable oil, a greater amount of olive oil, a generous portion of butter. Salt and pepper. A light dusting of plain flour. Low heat, cover, turn frequently. It's the oil/butter combination that does it for the flavour, the flour for the crispness. As for eggs, didn't Bond - and Fleming - more or less live on them? Jamaican cuisine, according to Noel Coward, tasted 'like armpits'. I disagree. It's cheap, cheerful and exceptionally nourishing. If you get on good terms with the cook, you'll sometimes be offered tasty bits to try.

Yuca · 2021-10-03 10:12:34

Curry goat is my favourite Jamaican dish, closely followed by the likes of saltfish and ackee, callaloo, stew chicken, rice'n'peas and homemade coleslaw. There are probably some other good dishes I don't know.

I very rarely ate British food when I was in England. The thought of eating it in JA (or India) is pretty depressing but it must have been common at one time for Brits abroad. To digress slightly but still on a literature theme: probably my favourite Orwell is Burmese Days, which certainly shows what a shitshow colonialism was. For all concerned.

Last edited by Yuca (2021-10-03 10:15:11)

A Fine Sadness · 2021-10-03 11:21:12

I found 'Burmese Days' very depressing, but I take your point. Never liked '1984'. Had to teach 'Animal Farm' for GCSE. I much prefer 'Down And Out In Paris And London' and roughly the first third or so of 'Wigan Pier' (before it becomes too polemical).

A Fine Sadness · 2021-10-03 11:30:15

Away from Len Deighton, we've just finished watching 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' for about the fourth time. I rather like Ian Bannen's rumpled crumpled countrywear look. It suited him. Now about to start 'Smiley's People'. Also revisited 'Between The Lines'. Neil Pearson's character sometimes had a decent roll to his collar. When the BBC wanted to get it across that a character was a neo-Nazi they stuck him in either a flying jacket or a Fred Perry top. Oh dear.

Yuca · 2021-10-03 17:37:13

I find 1984 depressing and indeed haven't reread it since my teens. But Burmese Days, despite its complete nihilism and/or misanthropy, appeals to me greatly. I think there's some very dark humour in there, and he certainly doesn't pull his punches in his portrayal of colonialism. Animal Farm is a masterpiece. Certainly his most perfect novel. A Clergyman's Daughter, Keep the Aspidistra Flying and Coming up for Air are all brilliant, despite any flaws. I like the non-fiction too.

RobbieB · 2021-10-03 23:04:01

I have read 1984 roughly once every 10 years since my teens. It has become increasingly depressing for me to do so. I must be a masochist. I agree with Yuca on Animal Farm, another book I re-read from time to time.

#1 2021-10-02 12:08:29

On Len Deighton

#2 2021-10-02 12:19:05

Re: On Len Deighton

#3 2021-10-02 12:22:41

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#4 2021-10-02 12:47:22

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#5 2021-10-02 13:36:58

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#6 2021-10-02 13:42:19

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#7 2021-10-02 16:45:15

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#8 2021-10-02 16:47:17

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#9 2021-10-03 03:05:26

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#10 2021-10-03 03:32:37

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#11 2021-10-03 06:23:40

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#12 2021-10-03 10:12:34

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#13 2021-10-03 11:21:12

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