John Le Carre anyone ?

[Dave7]

I tried one of his books years ago and couldn't get into it so never tried another one........until this week. I think it is his latest, called Legend of a Spy.
A right load of old rubbish. I deliberately read it to the end to give it every chance but it got nowhere fast.
By coincidence, last night, I heard a tv presenter saying how much he enjoyed Le Carre's books......personally I just cannot see it.
Anyone else tried reading him?

 

[Smokin Joe]

Yeah, bored me to tears and I lasted till chapter two.

Len Deighton was my favourite when it came to spy fiction.

 

[Drago]

Nah, not enough rugged men, F15 fighter jets and damsels requiring the manly men to rescue them for my tastes.

 

[Salar]

Don't like any of the TV / film adaptions or the books.
Picked up one of his books up in a bookshop and had a quick flick through the pages, boring tripe.

 

[Drago]

Now, Gerald Seymour writes about tense action and violence, yet builds the characters and prose in the manner of Le Carre without being boring.

 

[andabby]

The Night Manager was ok, but do prefer Gerald Seymour too, after Sven Hassel of course.

 

[Dave7]

Nah, not enough rugged men, F15 fighter jets and damsels requiring the manly men to rescue them for my tastes.

And not enough people getting shot?

 

[Dave7]

So its not just me then. Glad about that. Strange that he has sold gadzillions of books.

 

[Corky Cyclist]

I am a huge fan of Le Carre. I love his plots and his characters. I can't think of a bad book that he's written. They do take some work but IMO that's the sign of a good author.

If anyone wants a challenging read, I'd recommend Bruno Latour or Hannah Arendt - they've both lots to say but it takes a huge amount of effort to unearth it.

 

[delb0y]

Yep, another fan here. I though the Tinker Tailor trilogy was awesome. Just superb. Looking forward to reading The Little Drummer Girl, too - thought the TV adaption was great. I liked Len Deighton's Bomber and Goodbye Mickey Mouse, (both brilliant) rather than his spy stuff. Graham Greene wrote many a fine spy novel, too - in the quiet manner (as per Le Carre).

 

[Drago]

Bomber is indeed fantastic.

 

[pjd57]

I'm more of a murder mystery fan.


Most of the stuff that makes it on to TV is usually worth reading.

 

[Globalti]

If you want to read formulaic writing try Wilbur Smith. His first novels were okay because they had a historical context but as he has aged his writing has become more and more predictable and far-fetched.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

The Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell follow the same theme. Sharpe gets framed up by some dastardly Frog, gets debagged by senior Brit, meets comely maiden who hates him, goes on daring mission with comely lady, captured and tortured by dastardly Frog, maiden succumbs to his charms, fights Frog and wins by dint of swift knee in the nuts during swordfight (not in the Marquess of Fontainebleau rules), completes mission and back home to Wellington for tea and medals.
I love them all, great reads.
Joking aside I love the way he weaves in random historical facts into the books.

On John Le Carre, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is superb, as is the film.

 

[byegad]

I too rate Le Carre, his books reflect the slow way real spying works.