20091201125804
Anarchist in a Tie
Michael Barber on Eric Ambler: Journey into Fear, The Mask of Dimitrios, Cause for Alarm, Epitaph for a Spy and Uncommon Danger
Many years ago I asked Eric Ambler whether he deliberately travelled in search of material. The answer was an emphatic No: ‘If you go looking, you don’t really see. That’s why I never carry a camera – you can’t see things properly through a lens.’ For Ambler, the most lasting impressions were those recorded obliquely. He quoted approvingly Max Beerbohm on Beau Brummell: ‘He looked life squarely in the face out of the corners of both eyes.’