Mission To Paris

By: Alan Furst

Narrated by: Daniel Gerroll

Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

Autumn 1939, war has been declared, and though bullets and bombs are yet to fly, Frederic Stahl’s decision to shoot a film in Paris seems ill-advised.

Soon after his arrival, Stahl is drawn into a clandestine world of foreign correspondents, and spies of every sort. As a celebrity from neutral America - who can travel across the continent freely - Stahl could be very useful indeed...

©2012 Alan Furst (P)2012 Simon and Schuster

Critic Reviews

"Ideally complex, intelligent, hugely intriguing, Furst is in a class of his own" (William Boyd on Night Soldiers)

Leasurely paced second world war drama

What did you like best about Mission To Paris? What did you like least?

Best: interesting setting, and some original characters.

Worst: the slow, and occasionally slightly dull, narration was sometimes out of sync with the more dramatic parts of the novel.

What didn’t you like about Daniel Gerroll’s performance?

Too slow, as if deliberately trying to drag it out. The dialogue would have been improved in many areas with a faster and more expressive delivery.

Any additional comments?

Decent story, but some of the characters could have been fleshed out a bit more.

disappointed, slow story

I enjoy a lot of fiction set around the WW2 period. But this book was slow going, although the second half was better than the first. An actor goes to Germany and is persuaded to take part in a film festival. later he tries to help a companion get out of Hungary. The characters seemed stereotyped and stsle. The style of writing was very telling which was reflected in a straightforward no nonsense reading. Even the tender moments sounded like the narrator was reading the news forecast. I was hoping for so much more.

Performance ruins possibly good book

Would you try another book written by Alan Furst or narrated by Daniel Gerroll?

I would try Alan Furst again (largely because my husband recommends him so highly) but I would never listen to anything by Daniel Gerroll again. He has ruined this book for me. He adopts a laconic style that on the whole makes him sound bored as soon as he begins. The worst thing about him is that his stress patterns are all over the place which actually makes it difficult to follow the meaning at times and I find myself more focused on mentally correcting his stress and intonation all the way through rather than concentrating on the story so I keep losing the thread! The only reason I have stuck with it so far is that my husband tells me Alan Furst is so good. He must be so disappointed with this reading. If I had written it I would be devastated by this performance. Thankfully only forty minutes left to listen to!

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I haven't actually got to the end yet. I will steel myself to get through the next half an hour!

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Daniel Gerroll?

Sean Barrett or Dan Stevens, neither of whom ever disappoint or possibly Saul Reichlin. In fact I have discovered really enjoyable authors that I had never read or even heard of by going to these actors' collections and choosing one of those.to listen to.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Mission To Paris?

It's difficult really to remember any particular scene as it all merges into one dreary whole

Any additional comments?

Buy the book and read it instead of wasting a credit on listening to this version of it

Disappointing

Would you try another book written by Alan Furst or narrated by Daniel Gerroll?

No, once is enough.

What will your next listen be?

Something with more pace and a narrator who has read the book beforehand.

What didn’t you like about Daniel Gerroll’s performance?

It sounded as if he had not read or understood the book. Or maybe the book did not bring the best out in him.

What character would you cut from Mission To Paris?

I would have liked more characters added. Real people from the period.