Friday, January 26, 2018

Cephalopod Coffeehouse: January 2018

Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the works they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.  If you wish to add your own review to the conversation, please sign on to the link list at the end of my post.

Title: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Author: John le Carré
via Amazon
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was John le Carré's third novel and his international breakthrough.  George Smiley is back, though this time in a supporting role.  The story focuses instead on Alec Leamas, a longtime Berlin operative now burned out and eager to get out of the game.  The British Secret Service has one more job for him: a chance for revenge against his nemesis.

Given its stature within the genre, my expectations for the book were high.  I am pleased to say they were met.  The Spy Who Came in from the Cold takes all of the glitzy romance out of the espionage game.  Long gone are Bond's clever gadgets, exotic locations and supermodel lovers.  Le Carré's world is gritty, grungy and a lot more real.  Death, pain, betrayal and humiliation are all cold bureaucratic necessities.  So are tedium, detachment and loneliness.  In much the way GoodFellas did for mobsters, le Carré's novels reveal spooks to be more like your next-door neighbors than celluloid demigods.  Leamas's tale is entirely believable, which is exactly why it's so terrifying.

Parallels with The Night Manager, a more recent le Carré work (review here), are really interesting.  The two stories follow similar narrative patterns - a desire for revenge, the building of a cover, a complicating entanglement with a woman, etc.  The basic structure is close enough that one wonders if the author deliberately created an updated, more glamorous (more Bondish?) version of his masterpiece.

Please join us and share your own review of your best read from the past month.  This month's link list is below.  I'll keep it open until the end of the day.  I'll post February's tomorrow.  Meetings are the last Friday of each month.  Next gathering is February 23rd.


18 comments:

  1. I enjoyed The Night Manager TV series. I wonder if The Spy would be made into a series?

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    1. There was a successful film in the '60s, definitely on my radar.

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  2. I'm sure I read John Le Carre in my 20's and was quite taken with it then. The Night Manager was rather gruesome!

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    1. The book is definitely gruesome, especially towards the end. The TV series was much less so.

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  3. There was a BBC series of this, right?
    If there was, I saw it.

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    1. I don't believe so but there is one in the works. There was a 1965 film starring Richard Burton.

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  4. One to catch up with!
    Also - speaking of catching up - Big Apologies for being late with my review - I underestimated how much sparring for 5 hours would make my arms ache and have barely been able to type this last week. We were raising money for a UK charity that works to prevent young suicide, think we've managed to get £2,500 for them, so worth every bruise, but even so, I hate to be tardy!
    Will post have to post on Sunday as am working a care shift tomorrow... Hopefully less injured and more organised in February!

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    1. No worries. You’re doing important work. You’re welcome anytime.

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    2. Done! Plus I'm in for February, but I'll not jinx myself by promising to be on time! :-)

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  5. Sounds like a good espionage thriller. I may try to check out some of this author's work, especially since I've been meaning to read more mystery.

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  6. What a fun choice! I've been reading some low-level spy romances lately, so it's cool to think about espionage thrillers.
    Thanks for sharing!
    V :)

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  7. I read The Night Manager and Smiley's people and liked them both so I may have to pick this novel up as well. Thanks!

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    1. I have not read Smiley’s People but we watched the excellent miniseries. So far, I am thoroughly enjoying exploring le Carre’s work.

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  8. I never read the book but liked the movie very much. Excellent acting all around with some of my favorite actors. Around the 60's I think.

    cheers, parsnip and mandibles

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    1. 1965: Richard Burton, Oskar Werner, Claire Bloom, Sam Wanamaker

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