ScotlandGer Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 The Spy who came in from the Cold - John Le Carre Wow, just wow. Quite why I've never read le Carre before now baffles me. Brilliant. Finished it in, more or less, one go when travelling on a long(ish) train journey. Absolutely hooked. I'd seen the recent film of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and thought it was brilliant, but I'm not entirely sure I really understood what happened (I think some double-crossing was involved, like spies n' stuff) but knew it was based on le Carre's novel. I had been stuck for something to read so ducked into a Waterstone's and was about to pick up Tinker, Tailor when I spotted a 'staff recommendation' tag which said to start with Spy in from the Cold for le Carre novels. Not only is it a cracking read, but it sets up the character of Smiley for Tinker, Tailor. So, I'd second this recommendation. I've now picked up Tinker, Tailor and I'm a few chapters in (and it confirms my first thoughts, that it's definitely all about double-crossing by spies n' stuff, I think). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrooge1928 Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 There are two Smiley books before The Spy Who Came In From The Cold - Call For The Dead, about a security vetting which went wrong, and A Murder Of Quality, about a death in a public school. Both excellent, although they don't have the bone-dry humour that runs through the Tinker Tailor trilogy. I agree the recent Tinker Tailor film was good, but the Alec Guinness tv series was outstanding. All the episodes are on YouTube. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Henry Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 There are two Smiley books before The Spy Who Came In From The Cold - Call For The Dead, about a security vetting which went wrong, and A Murder Of Quality, about a death in a public school. Both excellent, although they don't have the bone-dry humour that runs through the Tinker Tailor trilogy. I agree the recent Tinker Tailor film was good, but the Alec Guinness tv series was outstanding. All the episodes are on YouTube. Technically that's three books, but Smiley's a fairly minimal character in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold. He's also a very incomplete character in those earlier set books - he's older, for one thing, than in the books where he's the star turn. I'd recommend the audiobooks if that's your thing, the Smiley books are read by Michael Jayston, who was in the excellent TV series. I'd also recommend A Delicate Truth, his most recent novel. It's a bit more political, but it's beautifully observed and I can't believe there isn't a movie in the works. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pittsburgh phil Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 (edited) SPOILERS WITHIN! Just finished Hiroshima Joe by Martin Booth. It's a pretty grim tale of a man who was taken prisoner by the Japanese during WW2, eventually ending up in a POW camp near Hiroshima when the atomic bomb dropped. He moves to Hong Kong after the war, but is unbalanced by the horror of what he saw and is reduced to stealing to survive, working for a Chinese gangster who was once an ally in the camp. He then becomes a marked man after murdering the gangster and his lady friend, and molesting a young boy who he mistakes for his dead lover. After finding out he's dying of radiation sickness he hangs himself from the balcony of his hotel, in full view of the boy he fiddled with. It's a real laugh a minute... Edited to add the spoiler warning.. Edited October 6, 2015 by pittsburgh phil 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Nooka Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Just finished Hiroshima Joe by Martin Booth. It's a pretty grim tale of a man who was taken prisoner by the Japanese during WW2, eventually ending up in a POW camp near Hiroshima when the atomic bomb dropped. He moves to Hong Kong after the war, but is unbalanced by the horror of what he saw and is reduced to stealing to survive, working for a Chinese gangster who was once an ally in the camp. He then becomes a marked man after murdering the gangster and his lady friend, and molesting a young boy who he mistakes for his dead lover. After finding out he's dying of radiation sickness he hangs himself from the balcony of his hotel, in full view of the boy he fiddled with. It's a real laugh a minute... There might be a spoiler or two in that post mate. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shandon Par Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Started The Shining. I've watched the film a million times and quite like having faces to put to the characters in the book. Also started David Walliams' new book Grandpa's Great Escape. My daughter normally prefers to read alone but with his books she insists I read them with her. It's no chore at all with his books. He borrows so heavily from all the stuff I liked when I was young (Roald Dahl, Spike Milligan). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Gaines Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Le Carre is worth reading pretty much every time. Excellent writer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killienick Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Started The Shining. I've watched the film a million times and quite like having faces to put to the characters in the book. Also started David Walliams' new book Grandpa's Great Escape. My daughter normally prefers to read alone but with his books she insists I read them with her. It's no chore at all with his books. He borrows so heavily from all the stuff I liked when I was young (Roald Dahl, Spike Milligan). I think you'll be disappointed with the book. Anyone I've met who read the book first hates the film and visa versa, (The film, to me, had a sense of foreboding which the novel lost in exposition. (Stephen King is a bit of a pervert as a novelist is he not?) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shandon Par Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 I think you'll be disappointed with the book. Anyone I've met who read the book first hates the film and visa versa, (The film, to me, had a sense of foreboding which the novel lost in exposition. (Stephen King is a bit of a pervert as a novelist is he not?) Liked it so far but only about a quarter of the way into it. Feels like a worthwhile exercise anyway as I've always been a big Kubrick fan and interested in all the problems that blighted the filming of it. I don't think there was ever an edit/version of the film Kubrick was totally happy with so I'm probably more interested in it as a bit of background reading. If I like the book it's a bonus. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross. Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Currently reading "Black Mass", having picked it up before realising there was a film coming out. Decent read in terms of showing just how fucked up the relationship between criminals and police is in some places. Before that I read "Revival" by Stephen King, Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian", Chris Brookmyre's "Dead Girl Walking", and James Ellroys "Perfidia" which I think was mentioned a few pages back. Enjoyed all of them, though I struggle at times with Cormac McCarthy, which took some effort to get through. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Nooka Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 (edited) I think you'll be disappointed with the book. Anyone I've met who read the book first hates the film and visa versa, (The film, to me, had a sense of foreboding which the novel lost in exposition. (Stephen King is a bit of a pervert as a novelist is he not?) Despite being a big SK fan I actually saw the movie before reading the book and I was underwhelmed tbh then read the book a few years later, it's has much greater 'supernatural' feel than the Kubrick 'insanity' movie and it just worked better imo. It was nice that Danny and Dick(pan bread in the movie) made a reappearance in Doctor Sleep which I also enjoyed. I just finished Child 44 last week, was a pretty gripping thriller which led me to check out the inspiration which was this absolute c**t. Will be checking out the movie at some point. Just started David Brins - Existence which has an intriguing premise, in the near future an alien artifact is discovered by mankind which leaves an already unstable world at the verge chaos. Edited October 6, 2015 by Tommy Nooka 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Nooka Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Enjoyed all of them, though I struggle at times with Cormac McCarthy, which took some effort to get through. I couldn't even finish one of his books, life's too short and there are too many good books out there to waste time fighting your way through his prose. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross. Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 I couldn't even finish one of his books, life's too short and there are too many good books out there to waste time fighting your way through his prose. I bought it at the airport a few months back, having forgotten how much of an effort I found the border trilogy. I also have a habit of being unwilling to start reading a book and not finishing it, no matter how bad it is. I definitely need to be in the mood for his stuff to even think about it, otherwise I get too bogged down in all the detail and in depth descriptions of almost every minute detail. I can understand why some folk love it, but to me it screams of arrogance on the authors part. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScotlandGer Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 (edited) Cheers for the recommendations with Le Carre scrooge and Savage, I'll definitely look them up after I've finished with 'Karla Trilogy'. I've already got the rest of the 'Karla Trilogy' on order from Amazon, so will be working through them first of all. I've turned into a bit of Le Carre fanboy in the space of a few days Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian", Chris Brookmyre's "Dead Girl Walking", and James Ellroys "Perfidia" which I think was mentioned a few pages back. Enjoyed all of them, though I struggle at times with Cormac McCarthy, which took some effort to get through. Blood Meridian is something else, it's one of my favourite books, but it really is something else. I get what you mean that it's an effort to get through, but it's really worth it imo, and is worth another read-through in a wee bit as the difficulty of some of the language etc. gets sorted on a second-read. Edited: reading skills obvs not great on a thread about reading books Edited October 6, 2015 by ScotlandGer 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieT1314 Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 (edited) I've never really been into books but currently reading Cocaine Diaries by Paul Keany. If anyone remembers Banged Up Abroad, there's an episode where a 45 year old Irish guy goes to smuggle 6 kilos of gear for 10 grand. He gets 8 years bird in Venezuela. I'm only half way through it but I'm engrossed. If anyone knows more stories/books like that I would love to get a look at them of them. As I say I couldn't tell you the last time I read a proper book but I'll have this one done by the end of the week. Marching Powder is about a guy who gets done for smuggling in Bolivia, the jail is full on mental. Just noticed someone has already posted this word for word. Edited October 6, 2015 by JamieT1314 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightswoodBear Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 I just finished Child 44 last week, was a pretty gripping thriller which led me to check out the inspiration which was this absolute c**t. Will be checking out the movie at some point. There is a TV movie called Citizen X with Stephen Rea and Donald Sutherland that is based on him. It's actually pretty excellent and well worth searching out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy It's a bit long. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Henry Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Cheers for the recommendations with Le Carre scrooge and Savage, I'll definitely look them up after I've finished with 'Karla Trilogy'. I've already got the rest of the 'Karla Trilogy' on order from Amazon, so will be working through them first of all. I've turned into a bit of Le Carre fanboy in the space of a few days Blood Meridian is something else, it's one of my favourite books, but it really is something else. I get what you mean that it's an effort to get through, but it's really worth it imo, and is worth another read-through in a wee bit as the difficulty of some of the language etc. gets sorted on a second-read. Edited: reading skills obvs not great on a thread about reading books Yeah, I read about four Le Carré books on the spin. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Currently reading a book called Ready Player One. Basically it's a mix between the Matrix and Willy Wonka as the quote on the front cover states. Very heavy on its nods to the 80s which was the main reason I purchased it. Basically it's set in 2044 and the world is ravaged, so most people spend their lives hooked into the online OASIS which is basically a virtual reality with thousands of planets and life is pretty much lived on there. The owner of the system has just died and he has no heirs, so what he done before his death was set up a quest and the winner will inherit his multi million fortune which some people believe isn't real due to it's difficulty as 5 years have passed and there hasn't been a sniff of a clue. The lead character finds the first clue which leads to everyone in the world willing to murder etc to inherit this world just because of how poor the quality of life is on Earth. I've not finished it but very interesting concept and it's an easy enough pick up and put down. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killienick Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 (edited) In terms of Cormac McCarthy's stuff being a struggle, I completely agree but I think his prose is ultimately rewarding. It's not the biggest struggle I've had with a book though, I think a book called 'My Name is Red' by Orhan Pamuk was the book that I nearly shelved the most. It's very hard to explain the narrative but essentially is a murder story told through many people's eyes, including the newly deceased. Being Turksh, the book draws heavily on Islamic culture and art and is generally quite alien to a western reader. The style is quite jarring too as the characters appear to break the 4th wall on occasion. Ultimately enjoyed it though and I'm glad I finished it. Edited October 7, 2015 by killienick 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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