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I prefer this thread title. So even though DR got there first, I'll reply to this one.
He leaves behind a great body of work. And 89 is a good age to reach. His family can and will mourn, but the rest of us should simply look back over what was achieved and celebrate someone who stands as good in the overall literary canon, and an all-time great in his particular genre.
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Similar for me with le Carre and Graham Greene - though I can't claim to have read quite *all* of either's whole output...yet.Last edited by Ray de Galles; 14-12-2020, 12:27.
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I have done something similar over the last decade or so, moving from never having bothered with spy stuff until reading Amor and others waxing lyrical about Eric Ambler and then having a real espionage etc. jag.
Might watch our Tinker, Tailor DVDs again over Christmas.
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Originally posted by Ray de Galles View PostToo much to ask for the BBC to put 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' on air over Xmas/NY in tribute? Last time I looked it wasn't even on the iPlayer - though I suppose there might be rights issues.Last edited by Vicarious Thrillseeker; 14-12-2020, 08:01.
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Originally posted by Vicarious Thrillseeker View Post
You can find it on YouTube, Ray - I watched it last week. I found it under 'TTSS re-synched sound'. I'll see if I can find the link.
I'd just like to watch it on proper TV, and think it deserves the wider airing.
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Here's a link to the complete BBC Smiley radio plays - genuinely excellent.
The Complete SmileyThe complete collection of acclaimed BBC Radio dramas based on John le Carr?'s best-selling novels, starring Simon Russell Beale as George...
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Originally posted by Reginald ChristThe BBC adaptation of Tinker, Tailor is indeed brilliant, though the theatrical adaptation holds its own in comparison.
Apropos of your MacLean reference there, only last night I read a wonderful bit of trivia related to him:
In the early 1970s, the show [Desert Island Discs] tried to interview Alistair MacLean but ended up accidentally booking the European director of tourism for Ontario, Canada (obviously totally unknown to anyone in the United Kingdom), who happened to have the same name.
With Roy Plomley too much of a gentleman to offend the wrongly booked guest, the recording went ahead even after the mix-up was realised, but the episode was never broadcast.
Seriously, though, RIP to le Carre, clearly a very decent man as well as a very fine writer.Last edited by Various Artist; 14-12-2020, 12:08.
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Some great essays
His father
https://twitter.com/MicheleBerdy/status/1338423989350363137?s=20
Filming with Richard Burton
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Originally posted by Reginald Christ
I'm referring to the Oldman film, yeah. I didn't realise there was a stage play version, I'll have to check that out!
It ought to make a terrific stage play, though, but to the best of my knowledge that's something that doesn't exist as yet.
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Anthony Barnett reminds us about le Carres campaigning
https://twitter.com/AnthonyBarnett/status/1338540196774748164?s=20
It's the discovery, in his sixth decade, that half a century after the death of Empire, the dismally unmanaged country he'd done a little of this and that for is being marched off to quell the natives on the strength of a bunch of lies, in order to please a renegade hyper-power that thinks it can treat the rest of the world as its allotment...
We marched with him and his wife Jane in London against the visit of President George W Bush in November 2003. With his bright eyes David picked out a demonstrator with large polished boots as a policeman.
In 2006, enraged by the Israeli attack on Lebanon and with his views no longer so welcome in the mainstream press, he published a surgical condemnation in openDemocracy and in support of Saqi Books.
When we needed to launch a funding campaign he gave us its lead endorsement:Last edited by Nefertiti2; 14-12-2020, 18:57.
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“The privately educated Englishman is the greatest dissembler on earth.... “Nobody will charm you so glibly, disguise his feelings from you better, cover his tracks more skillfully or find it harder to confess to you that he’s been a damn fool.”
They are: “[M]en who see the threat to their class as synonymous with the threat to England and never wandered far enough to know the difference.”
In my lifetime probably no one understood the English ruling class better than Le Carre. His insights are more true today — and even more pertinent — than they were when written. He'll be be greatly missed.
Christ this is the shittiest year of my lifetime.
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