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New entry for the Reading Bingo!
For the "A 'Classic' Book" square I read John Le Carrè's 1974 novel, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I chose the 'classic' square because it's considered one of the masterpieces of the spy genre, and I have to agree.
Based on Le Carrè's personal experiences in the British Secret Services, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the first novel in the Karla series, and the first to have George Smiley as its protagonist. Smiley is recruited by the Circus to root out a high-level mole after one of their agents was shot and captured by the Russians; it's a thriller about an aging spy spying on the spies. That being said, it's very different from the usual spy story: it's basically a collection of conversations. Nothing actually happens until the last chapter, while the author chooses instead to have the characters tell each other everything. It's Smiley talking with suspects and witnesses and old colleagues, having them telling him pieces of a puzzle, that he later pieces together by talking to Guillam. Even the 'action scenes' are always narrated, in recollection, by one character to another. It's a very unique writing style that I'd never met before, and it made it very hard to follow what was happening. Le Carrè fixates on small details, and sometimes skips descriptions altogether, creating a world that is only viewed from the perspective of his characters, never of the narrator.
Me, I first watched the movie in 2011 in the cinema, and I loved it to pieces, so I was in this weird position where I actually knew who the mole was all along. It actually helped me a lot, because I could pin the actors' faces to the names, and it made it way easier to remember who was who. Plus the story is very complex and convoluted, so knowing in advance who the bad guy was, it actually helped me a lot with following what was happening.
One thing that took me completely by surprise was the frank discussion by the author of the bisexuality of one of the main characters. It was actually more direct here than in the movie, where they chose a more romantic, delicate approach to it. What surprised me even more was that the fact that the love of this character's life was a man was never condemned by the other characters, nor by the narrator. At one point it was even seen as one of the few good and positive things about his life. I grew up on Hitchcock's movies, and I'm a kid of the 80s, so I was naive enough to think such things were not discussed in the 70s, and certainly not in the UK, and even when they were, they were seen in a very negative way. I was proven very wrong. Kudos to you, Mr Le Carrè!
Final verdict, it's a very beautiful novel, though very, very sad. It is after all a tale of betrayal, of an age that's fading, of beliefs that are forgotten, and that probably were never heartfelt to begin with. The pacing, the long conversations, the absence of proper action can be tiring, so it's better read in short bites. And with a lot of ice cream ready by the end.
I also highly recommend the movie, it's truly a masterpiece. ♥
For the "A 'Classic' Book" square I read John Le Carrè's 1974 novel, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I chose the 'classic' square because it's considered one of the masterpieces of the spy genre, and I have to agree. Based on Le Carrè's personal experiences in the British Secret Services, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the first novel in the Karla series, and the first to have George Smiley as its protagonist. Smiley is recruited by the Circus to root out a high-level mole after one of their agents was shot and captured by the Russians; it's a thriller about an aging spy spying on the spies. That being said, it's very different from the usual spy story: it's basically a collection of conversations. Nothing actually happens until the last chapter, while the author chooses instead to have the characters tell each other everything. It's Smiley talking with suspects and witnesses and old colleagues, having them telling him pieces of a puzzle, that he later pieces together by talking to Guillam. Even the 'action scenes' are always narrated, in recollection, by one character to another. It's a very unique writing style that I'd never met before, and it made it very hard to follow what was happening. Le Carrè fixates on small details, and sometimes skips descriptions altogether, creating a world that is only viewed from the perspective of his characters, never of the narrator.
Me, I first watched the movie in 2011 in the cinema, and I loved it to pieces, so I was in this weird position where I actually knew who the mole was all along. It actually helped me a lot, because I could pin the actors' faces to the names, and it made it way easier to remember who was who. Plus the story is very complex and convoluted, so knowing in advance who the bad guy was, it actually helped me a lot with following what was happening.
One thing that took me completely by surprise was the frank discussion by the author of the bisexuality of one of the main characters. It was actually more direct here than in the movie, where they chose a more romantic, delicate approach to it. What surprised me even more was that the fact that the love of this character's life was a man was never condemned by the other characters, nor by the narrator. At one point it was even seen as one of the few good and positive things about his life. I grew up on Hitchcock's movies, and I'm a kid of the 80s, so I was naive enough to think such things were not discussed in the 70s, and certainly not in the UK, and even when they were, they were seen in a very negative way. I was proven very wrong. Kudos to you, Mr Le Carrè!
Final verdict, it's a very beautiful novel, though very, very sad. It is after all a tale of betrayal, of an age that's fading, of beliefs that are forgotten, and that probably were never heartfelt to begin with. The pacing, the long conversations, the absence of proper action can be tiring, so it's better read in short bites. And with a lot of ice cream ready by the end.
I also highly recommend the movie, it's truly a masterpiece. ♥
