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John Le Carre

piedro

piedro

New Member
i had heard that Le Carre's "The Tailor of Panama" was highly critically acclaimed so i started it a year ago.
i was confused from the first line. i had read nothing like that before. the style was too complicated. i gave up after 30 pages.
my friend told me i started with the wrong book and to read his books you need to completely focus on reading and not read it passing-bye like i did.
he is still in my waiting list but i plan to read his books
 
I agree completely. My first (and only) le Carre was The Tailor of Panama. I couldn't get into it at all. I don't have any plans to read the others. :(
 
I struggle with John le Carré books. But, years ago, I read The Little Drummer Girl and fell in love with one of the characters – the Palestinian captured and tortured by the Israelis. I watched the film, and transferred my attentions (woman’s privilege to change her mind, blah, blah) to the Palestinian soldier boy who met and travelled with Diane Keaton to the Palestinian camp.

His ‘image’ became a character in my head, rapidly mutating from a Palestinian soldier boy, to a fisherman/boy in the West Coast of Scotland. Try I as might to match him up with attractive young women, he proved to be gay – rats!

I have little control over my characters, but I love them, all the same. :)

Some may ponder the meaning of life. I ponder the fact that a ‘bit’ actor who appears for ten minutes in some old film, can become a hugely important character in my writing. Years on. :eek:

And to think he will never know. I feel like a stalker. :eek:

Third Man Girl
 
I also find them hard work. I will give him another go some day. There must be something there I think. Maybe I just need to try a bit harder.
 
John LeCarre and I go back a long way. I started with his The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (cold war suspense) and have read practically everything he has written as it has come out. I especially enjoyed A Perfect Spy and anything with George Smiley. All of his plots are complex - layered - and The Tailor of Panama is especially so. Try one of the earlier books.
 
I've just finished 'The Looking-Glass War', and I thought it a good book, although I didn't understand why so many people seem to esteem him so highly. Perhaps other spy thrillers are really poor?

A good book, but it didn't float my boat.
 
I thought 'Smiley's People' was excellent, better than 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy', in fact.

Interesting point I wish to make (beware of spoiler): the title of the latter. In the story, 'Sailor' isn't used because to rhymes too well with 'Tailor' - in the book's title, 'Sailor' is replaced by 'Spy' - in the story, 'Tailor' is the code-name for the mole (the 'Spy'). Clever.
 
Damn, was spoiled as I read Gabrielle's post! Grr.

Anyway, I'm almost at the end of tinker tailor, and by golly what an extremely fantastic book! Luscious, luscious prose. This is such a departure from what we've been trained to expect from a spy novel, as it's slow and deliberate, and I have to say he does take a little effort. But I feel like I know more intimately now what spy work really entail now in the real world, none of that flashy cars and flashy chicks and flashy gadgets. I had thought that would take the fun out of the book, but it's almost like a mystery, a whodunnit.

I really like George Smiley, the tragic, fatalistic yet self-composed master spy who lets his instinct take over amidst personal difficulties. A strange sense of pity and quiet respect for the guy.

I was lucky to drop in on the first of a trilogy as this book is, so I'm plenty looking forward to finishing this one and getting the second book. And I was pleased to find out that I actually accidentally have the third book on my shelf already.

Will want to see how the movie holds up against the book.

Since le carre was actually involved in the spy trade himself, I wonder what he would write given today's technology (since, of course, his books are set in the 70's more or less, and thus less reliant on email, for example).

Highly recommended!
 
LeCarre is the favorite of mine. Not mentioned so far is that more than a little of his writing is based on true life and episodes in the clandestine world.
 
DS, We haven't seen the new film of TTSS yet, but have seen the mini series with Alec Guiness as Smiley, it's 7 hours long, and is most intricate. I don't know how it can be successfully compressed into the few hours a film has to work with. The remarks I've seen about it seem to convey that it is confusing. I can believe it.
 
Pont, easy! You just replace all that dialogue with gun fights and car chases! :)

Yeah, I just learned about the mini series too.... I think I'll try to find it, because then it'll also be a distinction of seeing Alec Guinness for the first time not able to wield the Force. :)
 
LOL, ahhh, but Smiley has his own light saber.

Heck, Guinness was the whole reason I saw Star Wars to begin with! :D
 
My favourite author; but I can understand that his stories may not be everyone's "cup of tea"!

Douglas
 
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