The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was his first large success, and I'd suggest it as a good introduction to both his style and most common themes.
It also has the advantage of not being part of a series (unlike the Karla Trilogy or the other more Smiley-centric books) and is shorter than some of his later work.
It's such a legend that I felt a bit let down when I finally got around to reading it, tbh. But that's with most things, I think. I find I end up looking for much larger themes or ideas or something, and generally just find a good story.
David Cornwell once put The Spy Who Came In From the Cold at the head of his list of the best John le Carré books. Given that Cornwell is John le Carré, that seems recommendation enough.
It's such a legend that I felt a bit let down when I finally got around to reading it, tbh. But that's with most things, I think. I find I end up looking for much larger themes or ideas or something, and generally just find a good story.
What sort of larger theme were you looking for WOM? I would argue that one of the main things that le Carré is pushing is the fundamental emptiness and moral vacuum of Intelligence work. It's sort of an anti-theme.
What sort of larger theme were you looking for WOM? I would argue that one of the main things that le Carré is pushing is the fundamental emptiness and moral vacuum of Intelligence work. It's sort of an anti-theme.
Yeah, no idea really. It's just...you know when you hear the title of a book your whole life and think "there's really going to be something epic in there" when I get around to reading it. And then...it's just a story. Like, in music when you hear an album that causes your head to swivel in a whole other direction, or a sound that makes you think 'how did I live without knowing that sound'? I had perhaps artificially high expectations for it.
I'm reading A Farewell To Arms right now and am experience the same "meh...it's just a story". No slight to the work, but I was expecting something life-altering.
Yeah, no idea really. It's just...you know when you hear the title of a book your whole life and think "there's really going to be something epic in there" when I get around to reading it. And then...it's just a story. Like, in music when you hear an album that causes your head to swivel in a whole other direction, or a sound that makes you think 'how did I live without knowing that sound'? I had perhaps artificially high expectations for it.
I'm reading A Farewell To Arms right now and am experience the same "meh...it's just a story". No slight to the work, but I was expecting something life-altering.
Why...I don't know.
I just listened to FTA read by John Slattery. Hemingway is more about the style than the story.
I always use Ctrl+Alt+whichever vowel I want an acute on. I have the numerical keypad combos for various other characters (ê, ¡, ¿, ñ, ç, ö, ã, ü, etc.) in my muscle memory – when I'm in front of keyboard they come to me, but right now I'm not and I can't actually think which numbers give me which character.
Personally, I'd start with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, as it's a really gripping and deep immersion in the world of espionage that feels absolutely authentic.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is absolutely brilliant and you could read it in a day. However, I'd venture that it's quite an enigmatic and even experimental book in some ways. It deliberately plays with what the reader does know and what they don't, and what is said and not said in this very short book. So it feels almost like a short story to me, and is a little different to some of his later ventures into that world.
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