"The Mask of Dimitrios", by Eric Ambler

Novel, 1939

Spy thriller, whose touch of paranoia and the shadowy role of bankers give it a more contemporary edge - with only a few twists and adjustments, this could be a late 60s Pynchony romp or a story for our own times. Some lovely descriptive touches and an establishment of the world of espionage on some rather sordid activity and a cast of fairly undesirable characters. Nonetheless and despite bogging down towards the end, this is a cracking look at the grime of a Europe trying to work through the early part of the twentieth century. 

"The Grand Budapest Hotel", directed Wes Anderson

Movie, 2014

A witty, colourful and fast paced character study and homage, perhaps, to a grander Europe in the early twentieth century, played for thrills, action and - occasionally - a palpable tenderness and poignancy. Within this star-studded chocolate box of a movie are some well-worked themes and devices, and yet there's also something refreshingly original  - the mixture of bathos and comedy sitting on top of the whirlwind of fun is quite remarkable and rewards attentive viewing.

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