John Le Carre Dead

[taxman 12]

I'm surprised nobody has started this thread before me.

 

John Le Carre (real name David Cornwell) died last week.

 

I only got into his books recently and I find them on the whole unputdownable. For people who haven't read them and think his spy novels are all paracuhting into enemy territory and shooting villains would be disappointed. He described the tedium, grey margins, deceit and double crossing of a mundane and largely inconsequential trade.

 

Having worked for both MI5 and MI6 his observations held a bit more weight then others of the genre.

 

I love his books.

[Mister M 1,625]

41 minutes ago, taxman said:

I'm surprised nobody has started this thread before me.

 

John Le Carre (real name David Cornwell) died last week.

 

I only got into his books recently and I find them on the whole unputdownable. For people who haven't read them and think his spy novels are all paracuhting into enemy territory and shooting villains would be disappointed. He described the tedium, grey margins, deceit and double crossing of a mundane and largely inconsequential trade.

 

Having worked for both MI5 and MI6 his observations held a bit more weight then others of the genre.

 

I love his books.

I've never read anything by Le Carre before, but although I associate him with writing about the time of the Cold War, many commentators pointed out that his writings were later informed by events such as 'extraordinary rendition' and the 'war on terror'.

I did watch the recent adaptation of his Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy & thought it was fantastic.

[Thirsty Relic 214]

Apart from the spy books (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Smiley's People and the rest of that series.), I think that many people who watched an excellent series on TV called "The Night Manager" starring Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie may have missed that it was an adaptation of his book of the same name.