The Spy who Came in from the Cold | 
I keep finding new books to be excited about on your #auldlangspine list, @vivastory ! I have been on a spy kick lately and have never read le carre, so may take your lead to pick up a George Smiley book (but may indulge my idiosyncracies by reading Call for the Dead first). But the other covers pictured here are also speaking to me, so we'll see. I hope you also find something that speaks to you. A big thanks to @monalyisha for organizing 🥰
My first John le Carré book and it was excellent — beyond the smart plot twists of good spy fiction it read like great literature. This has probably been on my tbr longer than any other book. Thanks to my November #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks I finally read it!
pickI read the first chapter - twice, stopped for inspiration to YouTube a fascinating interview with the author about the book and subsequent movie. Then I read a synopsis on the book and downloaded the distinguished English accent audiobook for a stereo read/listen experience. Sometimes I just need to treat a book like a play with a playbill detailing the acts. It was great!
#BookSpin Cat: Pub 20th Century
pickThis Cold War espionage novel is a classic for a reason - every scheme and double-cross has a reason and a plan behind it. Every action has consequences and everyone is playing the long game. Absolutely loved this one.
pickWow! What a book. I couldn't put it down. The story reminded me of ATOMIC BLONDE in many ways, but obviously, the book is better! le Carre doesn't flinch from the brutal reality of the spy business and the atrocity that was the Berlin Wall, and both sides are equally to blame. What an excellent book to teach point-of-view. Author Graham Greene said of this 1963 novel, that it was “the best spy story I have ever read.“ I have to agree.
“Leamas said nothing, just stared through the window of the checkpoint, along the empty street.“
Another potential spy book for our book club.
pickA brilliant spy thriller which constantly had me second guessing who was double crossing whom. Leamas is sent on one last assignment in the shadow of the recently constructed Berlin Wall that leaves him questioning the politics and morality of both sides. A great book cover as well. 8/10
pickA tightly plotted gem of a novel. 🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲 8/10 bikes
pickSaw this at B&N and couldn't resist the impulse buy. I rarely re-read books, but made an exception in this case. Somehow I left this one off my top 21 of 21 list, which is unforgivable given how good it is. About as perfect as a novel gets; not a word is wasted, and the twist ending is both devastating and wholly earned, so rooted in the characters' particular psychologies that in retrospect it was inevitable, which are the best "twists" of all.
#weremember #JohnLeCarré A worn book club edition of his first book , & a Franklin Library First I found at a yard sale. I have yet to read him .
pickI liked the very human representation of the spy with all his foibles. This made for a refreshing change from the James bond films.
has to be the longest someone has taken to read this book 😭
the cpa exams are taking up too much reading time 🤬
As famous as Le Carré is , I haven‘t read him. Found this old book club edition at a thrift store , couldn‘t resist.
pickLeamas is probably my favorite spy character ever written. He‘s at the end of his career and holds no illusion about the ugliness of his profession. He‘s no ideologue. At least, he is no longer one. This is perhaps the most le Carré novel that le Carré ever wrote, written with an insider‘s knowledge of espionage along with a tightly coordinated plot of traps within traps. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ok. I admit. I‘m obsessed with le Carré spy novels.
so-soSpy fiction isn't really my thing, so I doubt I would have picked this up if hadn't been a book club choice. I can recognise that it was groundbreaking at the time, and the supplementary material in this edition was interesting but the book still left me feeling rather meh. I'm certainly not running out to get any of his other books.
pickThe bestselling novel in the U.S. in 1964 was the third of Le Carré's George Smiley novels, though Smiley's role is minor here as his colleague Alec Leamas goes undercover to target an East German counterintelligence agent. It's tight, twisty, and morally ambiguous. A terrific spy story, though I'm conflicted about some casual racism and homophobia: I know it's 1963 and we're not expected to admire these guys anyway, but still.
pickEmbarrassed to admit I‘ve never read LeCarre until now, as spy and espionage books have never been my cup of tea. But I‘m hooked. Terrific suspense and impeccable prose, and much is coming out now about how LeCarre‘s spouse was crucial to shaping and crafting his narratives. I found this first American edition cheap(!) on Biblio.
pickI don't know what I appreciate most about le Carre's novels - the meticulous, insider's knowledge of the spy trade; the tightly constructed plots that seem to slowly close in on you like a net; or the characters themselves, extremely capable yet emotionally stunted, isolated, and paranoid, doing sometimes awful things for reasons they don't always understand, but which every once in a while might legitimately save the world.
What do you think spies are: priests, saints and martyrs? They're a squalid procession of vain fools, traitors too, yes; pansies, saints and drunkards, people who play cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten lives.
Sometimes she thought Alec was right - you believed in things because you needed to; what you believed in had no value of its own, no function. What did he say? "A dog scratches where it itches. Different dogs itch in different places."
"Some people keep canaries, some people join the Party," he'd said once, and it was true.
pickThe third Smiley novel, this is the book that solidified Le Carré as a master of espionage fiction. Full of twists, clever plots, and unforgettable characters, this is a slow burn that draws you in then pushes you to the heart-stopping, heartbreaking conclusion. Like several of the Smiley novels, George plays a background role - unassuming, but critical, just like Smiley himself.
Next up... I‘m watching the classic film before rereading the third Smiley novel - The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. I love Richard Burton almost as much as I love George Smiley. ☺️
pick4 1/2 🌟
#doublespin for December #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks
Book 31 #murder2020 @Tove_Reads
#germany #readingeurope2020 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
182pts #tbrbook #teamreadnosedreindeer #wintergames2020 @StayCurious
One of my favourite authors. RIP
pickThe story is easy to follow - which says a lot about a book that features duplicitous people with facile agendas. You feel like you know everything that‘s happening in a scene, but it turns out that you don‘t. Even the characters don‘t. He does all this while using an omniscient narrator. That‘s the literary equivalent of a magic trick. The climactic scene is a treat -imagine Perry Mason and Mrs. Marple going at it. The ending was perfect.
#ThankfulThursday
1. I like to surprise others by giving them presents when I think of it and not waiting for Christmas or a birthday. I recently sent my sister a pillow case, just because it was cute and she likes hedgehogs.
2. This week I am thankful for my home and family. I live near where some of the wildfires are and I feel for those folk who lose everything in these times.
Thanks for the tag @ABooksyGirl 😀 . Wanna play @Tanisha_A ? 😃
pickThis was a good one! Who can you trust, what pieces go where!? The end was so good! Pretty sure this book was made for folks like me who dig espionage, intrigue, & treachery! 😊 174/1,001 #1001Books
pickI read this after seeing it was highly recommended by some authors I like, but I'm still not sure I understand what it's about 🤣 I like John LeCarre's writing a lot, but I might need to reread this one to actually get the twists. 3.5⭐
pickIt took me 2 months to slog through the first 200 pages, but just an hour to finish the remaining 150 odd pages. The pieces were carefully placed, sophisticated yet painstakingly dragged along, but the ending was more than worth it ❤
And that proves why it is an all time classic! Exploring moral choices is something I always love, and the perspective shown here is gut punching. Stick to it and you won't regret it 💯👍
#litsy #quarantine #read
Book haul from the Book Sorting today. Somebody only got about 20 pages into The Topeka School before they bailed, leaving a lovely tree bookmark.
Lucky me!
These two #smile books are on my tbr for this year! Tagged book features George SMILEY & works for #readingeurope2020, whereas the Oscar Wilde one is for #covercrush on #booked2020. #reallyrandomfebruary @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Cinfhen (Oscar would work for Victorian!) @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage
so-soI keep trying... I even keep trying with novels by Le Carre ... but spy novels might not be for me. You‘d think they would be an easy transition from mystery & thriller. But they‘re just not. And I‘m always left thinking, “All that? For nothing?” pretty much after each one, no matter how well it was written 🤷🏻♀️
#NamasteNovember #WinterTheme For some reason ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold‘ has become our Christmas Eve film (for at least the last five years): I first read the book when I was having a break in Berlin (I like to theme my holiday reading), it was snowy and freezing.
pickGreat book! I need another like it! East Europe, an operative alone and unafraid, surrounded by adversaries. Suggestions?
pickThe third in John Le Carré‘s GEORGE SMILEY SERIES (a follow-up to CALL FOR THE DEAD) has Smiley very must in a minor (albeit critical) supporting role but that doesn‘t matter as this ice-cold, ruthless, brutal spy thriller novel is an exquisitely plotted affair about treachery and counter-espionage and how lives become disposable to those in power when it suits their interests in what is commonly viewed as a classic spy novel.
pickThis is a fun little read with twist. It is a classic Cold War spy thriller.
#winterwonderland #December1963
According to my search the berlin wall opened briefly in December 63 for visits between relatives.
This is one of my favourite books written in 1963 and also one of my favourite films which has richard burton in his best form and an ending centred on the wall.
#babyitscoldoutside #winterwonderland
" 'It's bad out there', my contact assured me as the fireplace roared. 'You're much safer here with us.' I wanted to agree, hoping the dizzy spell would pass. Instead, it intensified, as the holiday scene around me blurred and shifted. 'Say, whatsssin this drnkk?' I slurred, at the same time the answer came to me, as clear as silver bells. Poison.
@TrishB @Cinfhen
pickA pick for the tight plotting and elegant writing. Still not crazy about Liz's role though.
This is a normal for a dining room, right?
