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I've been planning on watching the movie for some time, but after the Episode 0 discussion, I'm pondering reading the book.

Is it a good enough book to go out of my way to read? I think I recall Chris calling it a big of a slog at points.

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I can get back to you in a couple of days on that. I just picked it up from the library. What I'm concerned with is that it is like the 5th book dealing with the same protagonist.

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I can get back to you in a couple of days on that. I just picked it up from the library. What I'm concerned with is that it is like the 5th book dealing with the same protagonist.

Chris an I both read it devoid of the context of any of LeCarre's other books and at least in our opinion it holds up very well in that stand alone context.

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I've been planning on watching the movie for some time, but after the Episode 0 discussion, I'm pondering reading the book.

Is it a good enough book to go out of my way to read? I think I recall Chris calling it a big of a slog at points.

Yes. It was my first Le Carre book and I really liked it. It is a slog and very confusing at first, but the payoff is very worth it. I recommend it if you want a rewarding book. But just a warning, it's a complete opposite of Ian Flemming (as mentioned in the podcast) so don't go into it expecting a whole lot of action.

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I must be in the slog portion. There are a few bits that I think are very interesting but so far they are small islands in a bog. I'm about halfway through the book at the moment. Not gonna put it down because I want to see where this is going.

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Just finished the book. It does get a lot better toward the end. I only have one gripe about the book.

I wish we were offered more possibilities as to who the mole could have been. It seemed obvious from a literary point of view that it was...

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Reading the book right now myself, having already seen the film when it was in theaters. One of the things I'm really enjoying about the book that couldn't make it into the movie is each of the characters' histories. The novel has much more time to gesture at operations past, and generally soil everyone with the dirty work of maintaining England's decaying empire—more of information and alliances than of the old colonial rule—in the face of the Soviets.

It still works in the movie because one of the core values of the story is in rendering everyone else an unreadable enigma who could break either way. In the film, this bleeds over even more into the main characters, since we can't be assured by their past exploits.

Also this is really making me pine to watch the film again, but it's no longer available in iTunes for rent—probably a premium channel exclusivity deal—so I'll have to pick up the DVD instead!

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Just finished the book. It does get a lot better toward the end. I only have one gripe about the book.

Okay, this motivates me a little. I’m 130 pages in and the story’s somewhat interesting, but mostly I’m bored, there’s just so much blah blah.

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Okay, this motivates me a little. I’m 130 pages in and the story’s somewhat interesting, but mostly I’m bored, there’s just so much blah blah.

I wouldn't recommend the Dragon Tattoo books (Millennium Trilogy) for you then. They contain a lot more blah blah filler that's a little outdated and pertaining solely to Sweden.

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I just read Smiley's People, the final book in the Karla trilogy, and I thought it was absolutely fantastic. It's like an Agatha Christie novel where, because of the secret service bullshit, you can actually believe that something this intricate and complicated could be taking place.

 

The only other le Carré book that I have read is The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. I thought it was okay, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Smiley's People. Despite the rather intricate plot, the only thing I can actually remember about The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is the endless "He could be lying about him lying about him lying about.."

 

I rarely feel like they get the protagonists "right" in movie adaptations, even if some are perfectly acceptable. For example, I liked Martin Freeman in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it is not at all how I imagined Arthur Dent when reading the book. That said, Gary Oldman fucking nailed George Smiley! The calmness, the efficiency in both movement and speech, everything. (well, except for physique) I'm actually glad I watched Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy before reading any of the Smiley books, because I could never have conjured a more perfect image of George Smiley in my head. Can't wait for the sequel.

 

I wonder whether I should read The Honourable Schoolboy or Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy next. :)

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Oh whoa, your read Smiley's People before Tinker, Tailor? That must have been weird. But I agree, it's a fantastic book. I think I liked The Spy Who Came in From the Cold more than you did, though. I agree that it's very different, but I like its lean and focused story. And Le Carre masterfully keeps you in the dark about what's going on the whole time.

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Oh whoa, your read Smiley's People before Tinker, Tailor? That must have been weird. But I agree, it's a fantastic book. I think I liked The Spy Who Came in From the Cold more than you did, though. I agree that it's very different, but I like its lean and focused story. And Le Carre masterfully keeps you in the dark about what's going on the whole time.

 

Haha... yeah, I have seen Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy three times already so I thought it would be better to start with one of the other books in the series so as not to get bored while reading it. I don't remember why exactly I chose Smiley's People over The Honourable Schoolboy. Probably because of the length or the availability. There were quite many references to TTSS in Smiley's People (Karla, Ann, Haydon, Toby, ...) but I think I managed to connect most of the dots based on the movie. Obviously, I don't know how heavily the events of The Honourable Schoolboy were referenced in the book, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything essential. Definitely going to read both of the books now, though.

 

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was a good and interesting book. Smiley's People just happened to be more up my alley.

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Honourable Schoolboy is good but it's a side trip from the story of TTSS and Smiley's People and is not often referenced in Smiley's People.

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Haha... yeah, I have seen Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy three times already so I thought it would be better to start with one of the other books in the series so as not to get bored while reading it. I don't remember why exactly I chose Smiley's People over The Honourable Schoolboy. Probably because of the length or the availability. There were quite many references to TTSS in Smiley's People (Karla, Ann, Haydon, Toby, ...) but I think I managed to connect most of the dots based on the movie. Obviously, I don't know how heavily the events of The Honourable Schoolboy were referenced in the book, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything essential. Definitely going to read both of the books now, though.

 

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was a good and interesting book. Smiley's People just happened to be more up my alley.

 

For contrast, you should watch the Spy Who Came in from the Cold film with Richard Burton. It's somehow even bleaker than the book, but still magnificent.

 

I've only read TTSS and Spy, both of which I really enjoyed. The methodical spy work, absent all the James Bond style trappings, was definitely not what I was expecting when I first started reading. It's a joy to see a more honest depiction of this kind of story. Spy especially does not shy away from showing how odious both sides of the Cold War are, even Smiley does not come off as noble, whereas TTSS (more so in the movie) is a bit more forgiving towards the British spies.

 

Right now I'm reading A Most Wanted Man, which is a much later le Carre novel. The Cold Was is over, so the focus is entirely on intelligence post 9/11. The book is definitely not as interesting as his earlier work, but it still has the same attention to bureaucracy that I love. It also does a good job of criticizing modern anti-terrorism policies, like extraordinary rendition, while still making you sympathize with these intelligence officers who are constantly competing with each other for information. I'm mostly just reading this book in anticipation of the movie that is coming out in a few months, but I think it's worthwhile if just to see how le Carre has changed as an author over several decades.

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I've only read TTSS and Spy, both of which I really enjoyed. The methodical spy work, absent all the James Bond style trappings, was definitely not what I was expecting when I first started reading. It's a joy to see a more honest depiction of this kind of story. Spy especially does not shy away from showing how odious both sides of the Cold War are, even Smiley does not come off as noble, whereas TTSS (more so in the movie) is a bit more forgiving towards the British spies.

 

I have only read two Ian Fleming short stories ("The Living Daylights" and "From a View to Kill" that came with the positively epic Penguin Mini Modern Classics Box Set) and they did feel quite silly and almost naive when compared to le Carré's work. I can definitely see why some people might enjoy James Bond style espionage story over that of George Smiley's, but based on the little I have read from both authors I vastly prefer le Carré.

 

(Someone should fix the title. That capital "I" bothers me way more than it should.)

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If you like Le Carré's writing and haven't read A Perfect Spy already, you definitely should. This is easily the most impressive book of his that I have read. It is a fantastic coming-of-age story centered around Magnus Pym, a British intelligence officer, and his relationship with his extravagant and ridiculous con-man father Rick. Magnus vanishes shortly after Rick's funeral and starts writing frantically, which understandably drives the intelligence officers crazy. Le Carré's writing of Magnus' writing is fantastic in that it is almost impenetrable at first – with him addressing by turns his wife, his son, his handler, and (if I remember correctly) occasionally his dead father; with the narrative focus quickly shifting between Rick and himself, and with him often referring to himself in third person as “Pym” – giving you a clear sense that you are witnessing a man who is determined to let it all out and fast. And oh boy, does he have things to say.

 

Ultimately, the book is about father-and-son and other relationships, about trying to please everyone, about betrayal, and about destroying lives. Before I started reading the book, I was a bit put off by the title because I thought that this would be a very spy-ass spy novel. In reality, the book is practically devoid of tradecraft, and instead focuses on what it means and takes – psychologically – to be "a perfect spy".

 

Apparently this book is very autobiographical, with many parallels between le Carré and Pym. For example, both lost their mothers at early age, both had ridiculous and probably damaging con-man fathers, and both worked in the British intelligence service. And both were driven to write about their lives, to some extent, through this book and the book within the book. I'm looking forward to reading more about the parallels between the two, because while the writing – on sentence level – is some of the most dryly humorous of any le Carré book I have read, the novel as a whole can be absolutely brutal.

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I read The Spy Who Came In From The Cold last year and got a kick out of it. I loved how it digs into the premise that 99% of spy work is convincing the enemy that you're a dumb schlub, incapable of anything. It's constantly trying to sell yourself as incompetent and slow, and maintaining that persona for years until it actually becomes your skin. It's so weird. It's why Hollywood people go crazy, so I can imagine spies going nuts as well. I mean, personality is in itself such a malleable concept, after a while you can't help but wonder who the hell you are.

 

Rewatched Tinker Tailor a few weeks ago (the movie), and it was so good. Absolutely loved it, and this time I actually understood what was happening, which was a plus.

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Haven't read any Le Carré yet, but considering how much I loved TTSS, I feel I should dive in. Is TTSS the place to start? Or are earlier novels worth going to?

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Tinker Tailor would probably be a good place to start, since it's substantively the same as the movie but structurally very different. Having the movie in your head will make it a bit easier to follow. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is also really good and shorter and more focused than Tinker Tailor. Just be aware that the George Smiley that shows up in that book isn't really the same George Smiley that shows up later.

 

Man, I should read more Le Carre.

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Seeing all this talk of Tinker Tailor reminds me that the Alec Guinness version is on youtube in its entirety and IMO worthwhile.

I mean of course it's going to look dated next to the movie, but I still liked it.

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