The Berlin Exchange

Product Information

It’s not a secret, is it? Of course I know. In this work you have to know everything about your clients.” Well, but he’s not a professional. Sabine coaches him, but the reason it’s good is that he’s so natural, a real boy. That’s my theory anyway. Of course he likes having the car, things like that.” Hans peered at Martin, rifling through some mental file drawer. “The spy?” How he’d be known now. Hans turned to Kurt. “You might have told me. I suppose he’s already promised to Gerhard? Some favor you owe him.” The right moment for them. If you have to crash through a barrier—even an ambulance—it would slow you down.”

You’re a serious person,” she said, glancing at the rest of the room, her voice throaty with smoke. “That’s what I think. So far.” Almost a laugh, caught in time. Then, when she kept staring, “We don’t have politics. Not like here.” Martin's actions during the war landed him in English prison and would have gotten him executed in America; he feels incredible guilt for helping create weapons that would kill hundreds of thousands of people. Stefan's decision to call for peace go against the Cold War objectives of East Germany and Russia. Discuss the role that individuals can play in global events and the idea of personal accountability. How are these themes important today? After, they lay still for a few minutes, and then he rolled off, slightly embarrassed, afraid he’d given himself away, who he really was. She reached over and took out a cigarette, something he imagined she would do every time, the way he’d first seen her, smoking.A faint nod. “Peter. He’s always known you were his father. We made sure of that. So he’s curious. He thinks you’re a socialist hero.” Hans,” Kurt said, suddenly hearty. “What are you doing here? During working hours.” He looked at his watch. “Not some assignation, I hope. The hotel has a reputation to protect.” I’m too much a coward,” she’d said. “All the blood. I don’t have the stomach for that. It doesn’t bother you?” The eyes of the Stasi are always watching. Discuss scenes where you noticed characters being careful about what they said, even when the Stasi weren’t mentioned. What did they seem most nervous about discussing and what did that say about the values of East Germany?

Martin can’t figure out why he’s being treated as a valuable asset to be exchanged. His scientific knowledge is many years out of date. He thought he was a forgotten man. He learns that his wife, Sabine, who he agreed should divorce him when he went to prison, has a new husband, Kurt, whose job as a lawyer is to arrange prisoner exchanges. Sabine says that Peter, the son she had with Martin, is growing up and she wants him to know his father, so she got Kurt to pulls strings. In chapter 5, Martin is with Peter for a photoshoot for an East German television show, Die Familie Schmidt, and Peter mentions that Kurt only allows photographs of the new plazas, free of damage from the war, otherwise “everybody thinks East Berlin is all like that.” How does Kurt’s vision of East Berlin compare with the one you had at the beginning of the novel?

Joseph Kanon

No, no. Sabine. The British would say no and she would say, ask again. Offer them more. I think she feels—you know, you’re so many years in prison. Only you.” So he knew. But of course he would. “But the British still said no. I think because the Americans didn’t like it.” The driver stayed slumped over, but a young man opened the passenger door, hands up. “Don’t shoot.” He looked at the driver, distraught. “You killed him. Murderers.” It’s what I do,” he said easily. “These exchanges with the West. It’s a kind of specialty. I used to work with Vogel, the lawyer. You’ve heard of him?” Apartments are assigned,” Kurt said, explaining. “I’ll get you a priority on the list, but until then, the Berolina. A guest of the state.” He lowered his voice, suddenly practical. “You still have an English bank account, yes? Hard currency. Very valuable here when you transfer the funds. Well, come.”

Martin glanced out the window. Another glass high-rise, dreary in gray Berlin, designed for sun. The socialist experiment, with car and driver. The Berlin Exchange, by the veteran spy-story author Joseph Kanon, expertly describes what happens when a disillusioned former agent tries to come in from the cold. . . . Kanon vividly evokes the suspicion, hypocrisy and relentless grayness of life in the East. . . . the plot shifts into high gear and turns into a complex, high-stakes operation in which Martin, thrillingly, is pulling all the strings. He’s one step ahead of his enemies, and three steps ahead of us.” — Sarah Lyall, The New York Times Book Review In chapter 3, Martin meets up with his old handler in Russian intelligence, Andrei, who asks him to begin spying for them again; we learn Martin passed atomic secrets from the United States to Russia. How did this affect your view of Martin? How has his position changed since going to prison?

Need Help?

But will the SED want them to know? Nobody dies at the wall these days. You still have your old habits, Hans.” He turned to Martin. “Hans is a refugee from the West. He used to work for Springer, so he’s a bloodhound with a crime story. Except there is no crime in the Republic.” Good. So, first come to dinner. See Peter. You want to see your old friend Schell? Of course. See anybody you like. Well, maybe not Ulbricht. Nobody sees him. Except Frau Ulbricht.” He smiled, an easy joke, patching things over. “But there’s a right time.” He moved his hand to Martin’s chest, a faint pat. “Let me arrange things.” The moment Martin decides not to betray Stefan changes everything. What would you have done? Could you put your life and the safety of your family at risk to make sure the truth was spoken? If Martin knew at the time how it would turn out, do you think he would have made the same decision? Yes,” she said, crushing out the cigarette and looking at him. “It’s a good fit. And once that’s right, you always have it.”

The way you want someone to look at you. Like a hunger. And I thought—if we’re telling the truth—maybe with him. But I had to know first. If we fit. You see, I don’t lie to you. I wouldn’t say this if we didn’t fit.” He stopped, whirling around to face the man in the hat, startling him. The man halted, his body still pitched forward, and looked at Martin for a second. Not the way this was supposed to happen. Neither of them said anything, staring, and Martin wondered what showed in his face, the anger he could feel running through him, or a more hidden despair. This is what it was going to be like. He’d known, even at Invalidenstrasse, taking the first steps. His life now. And then the man, as if he had heard him, moved his mouth in a small smile and nodded. He started walking again, past Martin, everything understood. When he reached the Kino, he waited, as if he wanted to make sure Martin got home safely.This book! I pondered for an entire day before doing the review. That is not my usual practice- doing the review almost immediately upon finish. It's fully 4.5 stars. I wanted to round it up but couldn't. Why? Because the nature of the beast is so complex and manipulative and frankly confusing- that the character / plot/ transitions/ continuity remain entirely mixed throughout the book. It's difficult to even remember all the primes' names. There are probably 20 to 25 all going in various and shadowed (or not) directions. Thus it is not an easy read. From “the most accomplished spy novelist working today” ( The Sunday Times, London), a “heart-poundingly suspenseful” ( The Washington Post) espionage thriller set at the height of the Cold War, when a captured American who has spied for the KGB is returned to East Berlin, needing to know who arranged for his release and what they now want from him. A novel that gives paranoia a new name, Kanon's latest in a brilliant collection—including Leaving Berlin (2014) and Istanbul Passage (2012)—may be his most tightly rendered. The suspense builds quietly, almost stealthily, before tightening its grip. Another supersophisticated spy thriller from a ranking master." — Kirkus (starred review) In chapter 4, Martin is at a meet-and-greet with other physicists working on nuclear energy for East Berlin when he begins talking with Klaus Fuchs, an eminent German physicist and former atomic spy, who feels safe in East Berlin. When Martin questions him, he answers, "No FBI, no more army intelligence, with their questions, trying to trap you. All those years, not knowing if— But now it's safe. You can breathe." How is his perspective different from Martin's? A journalist, Hans Reiger, constantly dogs Martin about a violent incident that occurred during his exchange, in an effort to answer the same questions Martin has about it. In chapter 4, Kurt insists again that "nobody wants such a story," yet goes out of his way to throw Hans off the trail. What does this signal about the importance of Hans's story? Who do you think could be interested after all?