Ashenden, or The British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Maugham’s series of stories, or whatever this is, claim to be a somewhat fictionalized version of experiences the author had while a spy for the U.K. during World War 1. It’s a disjointed lot that tries to connect at different points and clearly disconnected at other points. There are a couple extremely well written complete stories near the end. Otherwise this is a set of chapters that leave the reader feeling like they are missing what could have connected the whole.

Odd that Maugham’s alter-ego, Ashenden, is written inconsistently throughout this book. Sometimes I wondered, while reading, if Maugham was filing more than one person under the moniker of Ashenden. But, why would he do that and make the book uneven? But, that’s what it is – uneven. That or Maugham was schizophrenic. Seems he would not intentionally document that. Obviously, I left this book more than a bit confused at to just who I was reading about.

Again, the writing is otherwise top notch and the last couple chapters are well worth reading. But, as a whole….

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 5 out of 10 points.

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