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A Small Town in Germany
A Small Town in Germany: A Novel | John le Carre
11 posts | 6 read | 1 to read
From the New York Times bestselling author of A Delicate Truth and Our Kind of Traitor which is now a major motion picture starring Ewan McGregor, Naomie Harris, Stellan Skarsgrd and Damian Lewis. John le Carrs memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life, will be available from Viking in September 2016 "Haven't you realized that only appearances matter?" The British Embassy in Bonn is up in arms. Her Majesty's financially troubled government is seeking admission to Europe's Common Market just as anti-British factions are rising to power in Germany. Rioters are demanding reunification, and the last thing the Crown can afford is a scandal. Then Leo Hartingan embassy nobodygoes missing with a case full of confidential files. London sends Alan Turner to control the damage, but he soon realizes that neither side really wants Leo foundalive. Set against the threat of a German-Soviet alliance, John le Carr's A Small Town in Germany is a superb chronicle of Cold War paranoia and political compromise. With an introduction by the author. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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swynn
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Pickpick

(1968) When files go missing from the British embassy in Bonn, Alan Turner arrives to sort out what happened while the diplomatic personnel wish he would just keep it quiet. The thief is quickly identified, but his motives and location remain a mystery. This is *so* LeCarré: espionage novel as psychological thriller, pensive, deeply cynical, gorgeously written. Also: the resolution has chilling parallels to our current historical moment.

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TrishB
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Number 1 best seller in what?
More from the bizarre best seller categories 😁

Butterfinger So funny. 3y
BookwormM 🤣🤣 3y
DivineDiana Computer glitch! 😂 3y
Tamra 😂 3y
75 likes4 comments
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DGRachel
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Le Carré is the master of the slow burn political novel. He crafts his tale painstakingly, almost painfully, slowly, drawing you in page by page. Two hundred pages in, you feel like nothing has happened and just when you are starting to ask if anything is going to happen, the knots start to unravel and all of a sudden you can‘t look away and you can‘t put the book down. I found the ending disappointing, but the journey to it was worthwhile. ??

vivastory I'd be curious to know which ones are your faves once you finish your read through 4y
DGRachel I also want to note that this book is definitely a product of its time. It is filled with homophobic, sexist, and xenophobic language. I failed to notice it when I first read the book 20 years ago, but yikes. 4y
DGRachel @vivastory I‘m looking forward to reading his newer works. 20-ish years ago, I stopped at The Little Drummer Boy and read Single & Single out of order because a friend gave me the book. The only “new” books I‘ve read are The Pigeon Tunnel (his memoir) and A Legacy of Spies, as it continued the Smiley books and I love Smiley so much. 4y
63 likes3 comments
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DGRachel
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“That‘s the trouble with Americans, isn‘t it, really? All that emphasis on the future. So dangerous. It makes them destructive of the present.”

GingerAntics Interesting perspective. I‘ve always seen it the other way. Americans are too concerned with the afterlife and a different place all together, that they don‘t care what they do in the here and now. Questions of the future are always met with “god will provide.” 🙄 Indigenous people‘s talk of each decision needing to be considered through the lens of what consequence it will have 7 generations from now, leading to better, greener decisions now. 4y
DGRachel @GingerAntics I think it‘s meant less as Americans are focused on the impact their actions will have on the future as more of Americans are looking for the next big, new, shiny thing and will grasp for it, even if “we” burn the world down around us in our quest. (And to the characters in this book, Americans are tacky “new money” upstarts with no sense of history) 4y
GingerAntics @DGRachel well, that certainly is accurate for some Americans, yes. 4y
BarbaraBB I think the quote is true both for Americans as for other wealthy countries. @GingerAntics I love that 7 generations thinking. Fortunately it is something I come across more and more in not-indigenous decision making too. 4y
GingerAntics @BarbaraBB I totally agree with that being the mentality of the rich and those in rich nations that believe themselves to be superior to others for whatever reason. I have also seen a wider embracing of the 7th generation mentality. It‘s good for everyone. 4y
46 likes5 comments
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DGRachel
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“Amazing the way things are hushed up here, I must say. You give a new meaning to the “need to know”, you do. Everyone knows except the people who need to.”

Ah, spies. 🤣🤣

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DGRachel
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I know I say this every month, but month-end close week is exhausting and I swear each one is worse than the last this past year. One more day to go, and now it‘s more than an hour past my bedtime, I‘ve put in too many hours of work, and I‘m wired. Reading Dark Age will just keep me up, so I‘m hoping le Carre will pull me down into a good story and allow me to sleep soon. 🤞🏻

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DGRachel
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I ❤️ John LeCarre, especially his older stuff. #smalltown #rockinmay

Pilot doesn't look too impressed, though. 😂 #dogsoflitsy

Dogearedcopy A few years ago, I started reading LeCarre novels in publication order (there are elements of the Circus outside of the George Smiley books); but I stopped right before 'The Little Drummer Girl'. I really need to go back to my "Summer of Smiley!" #Smileyistheman 8y
DGRachel @Dogearedcopy I love Smiley! LeCarre is publishing a new book with Smiley in it later this year. I'm SO excited! 8y
GatheringBooks traveling to germany soon! perhaps i should pick this one up for some airplane reading 8y
SusanInTiburon ❤LeCarre❤ 8y
Cinfhen Hubby reads LeCarre...maybe I should consider a read.... 8y
74 likes1 stack add5 comments
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BookmarkTavern
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I'm so excited for my #novembertbr! I've had a lot of good books waiting patiently. I know The Witches is at the bottom, I just need to finish it. #photoadaynov16 @RealLifeReading

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DGRachel
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These are my most treasured #usedbooks. Back before Amazon, if you wanted an out of print book, you had to hunt for it! Growing up, I was lucky enough to have a fantastic used bookstore nearby. It took 6 months, but eventually I found them all. They aren't in great shape, but I have fond memories of obtaining them. 😍 #augustofpages

MrBook Niiiice! 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👌🏻 8y
LeahBergen I love "the hunt" for book treasures. 8y
23 likes2 comments