This was a couple weeks ago actually ... I didn't notice a RIP thread to note the passing of one of the great authors of the 20th Century.
John le Carré - Wikipedia
John le Carré - Wikipedia
John le Carré ... RIP
- Thread starter Doc4
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I am glad you started this thread. It would not do to not honor le Carre.
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- #3
I read "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" in high school.
It really caught that cold war feeling that predominated the 50s-60s-70s. Those were the days!!
It really caught that cold war feeling that predominated the 50s-60s-70s. Those were the days!!
I missed this news. I've enjoyed many of his books. RIP.
Several years back I read The Constant Gardner and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
While they weren't my favorites, I intend to revisit some of his work. Reading his obituary he sounds like a fascinating individual, especially appreciated hearing about his father...
www.nytimes.com
While they weren't my favorites, I intend to revisit some of his work. Reading his obituary he sounds like a fascinating individual, especially appreciated hearing about his father...
John le Carré, Best-Selling Author of Cold War Thrillers, Dies at 89 (Published 2020)
Breaking from the James Bond mold, he turned the spy novel into high art as he explored the moral compromises of agents on both sides of the Iron curtain.
To me George Smiley was one of the most original and enduring of characters.
I agree with D4 that JL well-captured that paranoid cold war feeling, although I am not at all sure we should not have retained more of that feeling.
I agree with D4 that JL well-captured that paranoid cold war feeling, although I am not at all sure we should not have retained more of that feeling.
Le Carre read many of his own books for the audio version. He was a superb reader, probably the best I've ever heard. Highly recommend the audio versions! (And the print versions too, of course.)
R.I.P John le Carré. 
He was a great author. RIP John.
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- #10
Lots of his "George Smiley" works are available on Youtube and elsewhere for those who want to watch a bit to start "getting into" his works.
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- #11
The whole of the TTSS miniseries with Alec Guinness as Smiley is available. It’s as brilliant as the book.
I have been thinking about how to respond to this off and on for a couple of hours. I think I would say that that was one of the very best portrayals of a character from a book I have ever seen--an instance where the character on the screen was very much like the character in my head when I read the book. And it is brilliant. I still think I like the character in the book better. But I really cannot imagine someone liking one and not liking the other. Truly one of my favorite fictional characters.
