Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2010 14:12:54 GMT -4
Starting a thread for this writer and his books, hoping that he will get a lot more attention with the new film version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy coming out soon.
So yea, I really love LeCarré. He has an awesome ear for dialogue and describing a character simply by the how they speak. He is also awesome at the whole "shades of grey" thing, where all characters are flawed somehow and there is always some kind of tragedy regardless of who wins.
I have read all his books, and while he is still good, I think he was in his prime during the Cold War. My favorite books of his are Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People. I've read them more times than I remember and always find new nuances and goodies in them. As a whole, I probably prefer Smiley's People by a thin margin, but Jim Prideaux from Tinker Tailor is such a great character that I sometimes read that book just to "meet" him again: the parts of the book when Jim is working as a teacher are writing gold. The little drummer girl is a fantastic read as well (which is why I was disappointed in the movie-version: it seemed very flat and not all that well cast imo).
Also, George Smiley is one of all-time favourite literary characters. There is just something so vulnerable and honourable about him, being a misfit and a genius at his work all at the same time. All the books about Smiley are worth reading imo. Even the "murder mysteries" featuring him that are lighter reads than the spy-stories: A Murder of Quality and Call for the Dead.
So yea, I really love LeCarré. He has an awesome ear for dialogue and describing a character simply by the how they speak. He is also awesome at the whole "shades of grey" thing, where all characters are flawed somehow and there is always some kind of tragedy regardless of who wins.
I have read all his books, and while he is still good, I think he was in his prime during the Cold War. My favorite books of his are Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People. I've read them more times than I remember and always find new nuances and goodies in them. As a whole, I probably prefer Smiley's People by a thin margin, but Jim Prideaux from Tinker Tailor is such a great character that I sometimes read that book just to "meet" him again: the parts of the book when Jim is working as a teacher are writing gold. The little drummer girl is a fantastic read as well (which is why I was disappointed in the movie-version: it seemed very flat and not all that well cast imo).
Also, George Smiley is one of all-time favourite literary characters. There is just something so vulnerable and honourable about him, being a misfit and a genius at his work all at the same time. All the books about Smiley are worth reading imo. Even the "murder mysteries" featuring him that are lighter reads than the spy-stories: A Murder of Quality and Call for the Dead.