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John le Carré has died
- julian55 6y agoI've read and enjoyed quite a few of his books and also enjoyed the TV adaptations. I happened to pick up a copy of Agent Running in the Field in a second hand bookshop last week so I'm looking forward to reading that in his memory.
- leothekim 6y agoOr did he?
- selimthegrim 6y agoSave that for the James Burke obit.
- mhh__ 6y agoHe had a very good innings, but what a shame. In every instance I have seen him speak he was always very thoughtful and prescient (The only thing I've heard him say that I recall disagreeing with was his view on the Hollis affair). One of the very last remaining survivors of that era of British intelligence, too. For those who haven't seen it, the most recent adaptation of TTSS is a near-masterpiece (especially in what it has to narrow down to an hour or two).
- selimthegrim 6y agoI rewatch the 1979 one every so often and there are still new things I notice.
- mhh__ 6y agoBoth Alec Guinness and Gary Oldman borrowed from le Carre when performing his character. Oldman's performance is on film, so it's not quite as subtle and slow as Guinness's but he captures the "Home is is where Smiley is least comfortable"-aspect rather wall.
- at_a_remove 6y agoI read my first of his, The Night Manager, almost by accident and was immediately struck with the precision of his thoughts and his ability to convey them. I had never touched anything in the spy genre, aside from the requisite odd Ian Fleming, and thought "damn, this guy really knows his stuff," although I haven't the background to actually know.
- simonsarris 6y agoHis autobiography, The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from my Life is very good, and an excellent audiobook because it is read by him, recounting his own memories and doing his own accents of other people he once knew. The book is a little more compelling if you've read a lot of his work but even if you've only read one and loved it, its almost certainly worth your time.
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- byeokim 6y agoThank you for recommending.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago> A spy modelled on Bingham, who was “breathtakingly ordinary … short, fat, and of a quiet disposition”, One of the defects of James Bond is he has too much charisma. If you ran into him, you would never forget him. That is actually, a downside for a spy. For the most part, you want someone who will just fade into the memories of those who encounter them, as just another face in the crowd, nothing special. Looks like le Carre painted a more realistic picture.
- mhh__ 6y agoWell, part of Guy Burgess's cover (if you will), was that he was so gay, so posh, and so drunk that it was impossible someone like that would be a spy.
- IfOnlyYouKnew 6y agoThere's also "telling everyone your real name", "believing you can survive that", "not showing up to either the government- or court-ordered sexual harassment seminar", alcoholism, and "unwillingness to fight international conspiracies that will severely impact the United Kingdom but happen to be headquartered in a drab location".
- jmnicolas 6y agoOf course James Bond is way too obvious, but a technique is to send a few decoys to focus enemy attention on them while the real spy is quietly doing the job.
- arethuza 6y agoIan Fleming's older brother Peter sounds closer to a basis for Bond: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Fleming_(writer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Fleming_(writer) He was also linked to the folks who started SOE who were the people who did actual Bond like things in WW2 and who were hated by MI6 and the traditional armed forces (particularly the RAF): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Operations_Executive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Operations_Executive
- atulatul 6y agoIIRC Ludlum mentions something similar when he talks about Bourne blending into the crowd.
- crossroadsguy 6y agoI first read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. I was hooked. Espionage after reading him would never be the same again. I can attribute my Cold War 'philia' just to him, I reckon. I am yet to read his autobiography. Other than some well-made new TV works based on his work like The Night Manager and The Little Drummer Girl, you might want to check out the excellent works on TV in the 80s and 90s; usually done by the BBC. He was the master of unhurried, ruminating, and unostentatious spy craft writing. Tasteful.
- kevinmchugh 6y agoThe Alec Guinness adaptations are wonderful. Similarly unhurried, a great word to describe it. It's all long, patient shots of people, sometimes having quiet conversations in bland offices. My dad was a huge fan of Le Carre, and would rewatch the series only when we weren't around. I assumed it was too salacious for us kids, turns out it's just too quiet, and a noisy house ruins it.
- User23 6y agoThe Night Manager is one of my favorite novels. The miniseries adaptation starring Tom Hiddleston is really enjoyable too.
- zbuf 6y agoLe Carré has a cameo that's worth keeping an eye out for, too!
- angry_octet 6y agoIf you've only seen the 2011 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy movie, do yourself a favour and watch the 1979 miniseries with Alec Guinness and the sequel Smiley's People.
- dimator 6y agoI came to speak highly of the 2011 film. I remember rushing to read the book before the film. The cast was just perfectly chosen, Oldman makes a perfect Smiley. The pacing and the intrigue are just palpably juicy. It's been an annual watch for me, luckily Netflix still stocks it.
- angry_octet 6y agoYes it's a fabulous cast. Colin Firth is fantastic, especially as a lothario, but Ian Richardson is marvelous too, so toffy. But there is so much material cut to make it fit into a feature film, so if you can tolerate the slow burn pace, check out the series.
- gabagool 6y agoAbsolutely. I found myself completely bewildered on my first watch of the film. For whatever reason I watched it a second time a little while later and found it absolutely enthralling. FWIW, the 1979 miniseries can be found in full on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjB5DuunpEyZQt2u70ziIv-e-kUg5AYFP https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjB5DuunpEyZQt2u70ziI...
- Macha 6y agoI think my biggest issue with the film is there's the scene where he finds the mole, then the next scene is after the mole has been arrested and plans are underway for what happens to do next but Smiley and the mole are just having a quiet conversation about tidying up matters in the mole's personal life. If you're not paying attention, it's easy to miss the climax and reveal has happened.
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- atulatul 6y agoI read a few of his novels and watched a couple of series, movies based on those. For me, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy... with Alec Guinness was the best of these. But one thing I noticed and liked is how dull the novels are. Not much happens. Till then I had read/watched Bond and similar fiction. And John le Carré was different. The complexity, uncertainty, deliberation, etc. was far better IMO than Bond's action and cigarettes. It was like watching Morse after Jack Bauer. And while saying one is better than the other is probably a matter of taste ("Bond lit his 70th cigarette of the day"), I liked le Carré more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_Tailor_Soldier_Spy_(miniseries) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_Tailor_Soldier_Spy_(min...
- Angostura 6y ago> But one thing I noticed and liked is how dull the novels are. Not much happens. Oh but it does. It just happens in the tilt of a person's head. I once travelled in South America for 6 months with only TTSS for company. Never got sick of re-reading it.
- el_nahual 6y agoI remember finishing The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (age 19 or so) and thinking that a) I absolutely loved it and b) nothing happened in it. It seemed like the entire novel was hints and suggestions and beaurocracy and yet somehow it was absolutely riveting. A few days ago I started watching the Alec Guinness Tinker Tailor and my wife commented on basically the same thing. Where other spy novels/shows are "bondian" and glamorous Le Carré is shabby and beaurocratic and magically more compelling.
- selimthegrim 6y agoHe died of old age, a little early.
- akamaka 6y agoAs a teenager, I picked out a copy of The Little Drummer Girl from a used book store quite by chance. I expected a simple spy action story, but what I read was a deep and anguishing examination of the personal impact of geopolitics on a someone’s identity. If you’re new to Le Carré and want to tip your toe in, I’d recommend watching The Night Manager mini-series. For someone who already enjoys Le Carré, it would be a shame to overlook A Perfect Spy, which is his most autobiographical and soul-wrenching work. Both the book and 1987 mini-series are excellent.
- Guillaume86 6y agoIn case you're not aware, there's also a recent mini series adaptation of "The Little Drummer Girl" starring Florence Pugh, it's worth the time imo.
- salgernon 6y agoI highly recommend, to the point of pain, the late 70s series British TV series “Sandbaggers”[1] “ Special Operations doesn't mean going in with all guns blazing. It means special planning, special care, fully briefed agents in possession of all possible alternatives. If you want James Bond, go to your library. But if you want a successful operation, sit at your desk and think, and then think again. Our battles aren't fought at the end of a parachute. They're won and lost in drab, dreary corridors in Westminster, and hopefully in Oslo.” [1] https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0077078/ https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0077078/ (Edit: note that this is not John Le Carrè, but another military officer, Ian Mackintosh. But it’s obvious they share a common thread)
- JimTheMan 6y agoI can second the fact that the sandbaggers is a riveting watch with charmingly low production values.
- euroderf 6y agoI can third it. A great series, very understated, shoestring budget.
- gonzus 6y agoI have this series but I have not been able to find subtitles for it (even in English), and the accents make it hard for my non-native ears to understand everything that's being said. I would LOVE to get my hands on working subtitles; any suggestions?
- gzexe 6y agoAnother series inspired by Le Carre is Mr. Palfrey of Westminster (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198187/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198187/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)
- W-Stool 6y agoSome years ago the editor of the New Yorker at the time was interviewed - probably "Fresh Air" on NPR or something like it, maybe a podcast, I don't honestly remember. But I do remember the conversation - the editor was asked what he did to relax away from his duties at the magazine, what did he do to unwind? He replied that he watched the BBC series "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "Smiley's People", over and over again because he thought they were absolute perfection, something that could never be improved with change. I tend to agree, thank you John le Carre' for bringing these stories and characters to life. Thank you Sir Alec Guiness for being - and I mean being - George Smiley.
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- dsohn0 6y agoWhy do people insist on asking questions that they could answer themselves in less than a minute?
- exhilaration 6y ago...the BBC series "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"... Just to save everyone 15 minutes of googling, it's not on Netflix or Amazon prime, but it is on Britbox: https://www.britbox.co.uk/programme/Tinker_Tailor_Soldier_Spy_39261 https://www.britbox.co.uk/programme/Tinker_Tailor_Soldier_Sp... Edit: and on YouTube according to a comment further below -- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25413572 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25413572
- audiometry 6y agoI concur—absolutely lovely shows. And very true fidelity to the novels, as well.
- ycombinete 6y agoOh wow! I had no idea they made a series! The movie TTSS movie is one of my all time favourites! Thank you
- porknubbins 6y agoBig loss, he was so much more than a spy thriller author, he was a scholar of the German language and literature, lead an interesting life and always had fascinating interviews. And his books weren’t so much spy novels as a gritty, realistic look into the world of espionage, crime, British high society etc. Its often pointed out but who but Le Carre could have come up with George Smiley, a soft spoken, frumpy bureaucrat who gets cheated on by his wife and yet is somehow heroic.
- Mauricebranagh 6y agoSome of those aspects are based on real life officers. The officer being cheated by his wife is mentioned in the official MI5 history and Maurice Oldfield (C) is famously one of the models for Smiley.
- benbreen 6y agoOne of my professors was the student of the don at Oxford who recruited John le Carré into MI6. I love le Carré's books so I was really intrigued by this, and asked him if he ever got recruited to MI6. To my surprise, he said yes. But it was done in a very le Carré-esque style. My professor had an interview with MI6 which he thought he bombed, and then didn't hear back from them, confirming his assumption... until he got a completely out-of-the blue job offer from an obscure UK government agency that involved lots of travel to Norwegian fisheries. He told me with a smile that it wasn't until he turned down the offer that he realized that he had gotten the MI6 gig, but he failed the final test!
- vuciv1 6y agoThat's such a fun story. What do you think they're gauging with such a final test?
- stupidcar 6y agoI'm now imagining a Pythonesque comedy sketch where he accepts the offer, but it turns out it really is just some obscure agency, and your professor goes wandering around the fjords talking in code to perplexed Norwegian fishermen.
- zeristor 6y agoPining for the Fjords?
- vmurthy 6y agoI liked the NY Times obit better [0]. Goes a bit deeper into his troubled childhood, the fact that his father was a charlatan etc. A memorable quote from the article is that his children gifted him a poster playing on the famous motivational one in World War II Britain, reading, “Keep Calm and le Carré on.” I think your legacy will carry on,sir. RIP [0]https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/books/john-le-carre-dead.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/books/john-le-carre-dead....
- Narretz 6y agoI don't know if you knew this, but the "Keep calm and carry on" poster was rarely published in WW2 times: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_Calm_and_Carry_On https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_Calm_and_Carry_On
- easytiger 6y agoIn terms of language change, i wonder when the phrase "carry on" changed. Historically I've heard it often said to ones valet for example when one is done with them. Famously "Carry on Jeeves", but i'm sure it was very much used in this sense as a polite stoic dismissal to return to work https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_On,_Jeeves https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_On,_Jeeves Then the "Carry On" bawdy farce comedy Movies starting in 1958, double entendre laden as they are, implying the historical reference as well as the implication of horse play and frivolity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_On_(franchise) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_On_(franchise) And then in my lifetime in my part of the world it was vernacular for "messing around" or something that has happened which is very much unbecoming. Often my parents would say things of the type "You grandmother lost her glasses on the bus, it was a while carry on" or if children were being raucous, "Would you stop carrying on like that"
- namdnay 6y agoRegarding his childhood and father, one of his books is semi-autobiographical and digs into that side of his life
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- atulatul 6y agoMaybe it's a bit out of place here. But if are into Stephen Fry And Hugh Laurie act, I'd recommend watching spy agency parody in addition to BBC's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The Tony And Control sketches from A Bit Of Fry And Laurie A sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i18bH4XCmHw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i18bH4XCmHw
- fotta 6y agoThat he passed on the day before he is in the NYT Crossword (Monday) as a clue is some cosmic timing.
- sseth 6y agoBesides the Smiley novels, The Perfect Spy is one of the most beautifully crafted of John le Carre's novels. Beautifully written with layers upon layers of meaning - each time you reread a Carre you see another facet. If there was a theme across his books - he was always concerned with the nature of betrayal. "Love is whatever you can still betray". Betrayal of country, of a spouse, and even of a parent.
- namdnay 6y agoMuch as I love Le Carré (and I say that as someone who has read every one of his books at least three times), I have to give one “criticism” which is that nearly all his books deal with decent but flawed upper middle class public school boys who went to Oxbridge, were more or less abandoned by their parents and have difficulty relating to the other sex. When you read a perfect spy, you understand why :)
- jack_riminton 6y agoWell, unfortunately that type has ruled the UK for most of the past few centuries! Current incumbent in the top seat is no exception
- namdnay 6y agoI’m sure a lot of people here will comment on his Cold War novels and their TV adaptation, but what is truly impressive to me is how he managed to switch gears mid-career and write blisteringly powerful indictments of the modern world. The little drummer girl (there’s a good BBC series of this, if you liked TTSS or NM check it out), Absolute Friends, the Constant Gardener..
- nhf 6y agoI remember a review for the Little Drummer Girl that said (paraphrasing): "This book has achieved the rare miracle of making you feel sympathetic to both the Israelis and the Palestinians."
- vermilingua 6y agoTangential, and I don't know if I'm just getting "old"; but does this obituary really need a segment "What was the Cold War?" I was born some years after the end of the SU, and I and everyone I know were still raised fully aware of what the Cold War was. Who is the BBCs target audience here?
- coldtea 6y ago>I was born some years after the end of the SU, and I and everyone I know were still raised fully aware of what the Cold War was. People don't know who the current vice president of their country is...
- vermilingua 6y agoFair point.
- sideshowb 6y agoWell one of our Brexiteer leaders didn't realize we were an island, so, there is that https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/08/dominic-raab-dover-calais-brexit-uk-france https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/08/dominic-raa...
- selimthegrim 6y agoHe's not the only one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuWJO-CXE1U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuWJO-CXE1U
- andyjohnson0 6y agoHe had a long and productive life, and I hope a happy one, but this is still a great loss. So many of the books are magnificent in their depth. So are the filmed adaptations: the BBC productions of Smiley's People and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; and the more recent film of the latter; and the Night Manager miniseries. What has also given me a lot of pleasure was the BBC Radio productions of the eight George Smiley books [1]. They've often kept me company: sometimes on long car journeys, sometimes when I'm feeling contemplative but need distraction. Such a treat. Thank you for it all Mr. Le Carré. [1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/smiley-season/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/smiley-season/
- jonathanstrange 6y agoIn addition to the Night Manager (2016) with Hugh Laurie's skillful (and very scary) portrayal of a weapon's dealer, there was also BBC's version of the Little Drummer Girl (2018) based on John le Carré's novel with the same name. If you like John le Carré adaptions, both are highly recommended! It's sad that he's gone, his novels are masterpieces, especially the later ones like the Constant Gardener in which he addressed topics that go beyond what's usual in spy novels.
- larrywright 6y agoThe Night Manager was a great series, and I’m glad I’m not the only one who found Hugh Laurie absolutely terrifying in that.
- Angostura 6y agoI thought Tom Hollander was similarly excellent, playing against type to be scary.
- cguess 6y agoHis was the most interesting character in the series I thought. The most unsure, the most to lose should things turn against him. Unlike the other characters he had no out, no one or not enough money to make an exit with if necessary.
- sherr 6y agoA very good writer. I only read my first le Carré about three years ago: The Spy Who Came in From The Cold. A great book and I saw why he was so highly rated. Since then I've read a lot of them and came to see, once again, how there are good writers and GREAT writers; le Carré in the latter category. His set pieces and dialog are mesmerising. I'm glad to still have many books of his to read but they'll always be ones I keep and can return to.
- ranko 6y agoIn a lovely interview from last year 'My ties to England have loosened': John le Carré on Britain, Boris and Brexit (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/11/john-le-carre-truth-was-what-you-got-away-with https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/11/john-le-carre-...), he discusses his life and career. His father was an interesting character ("I Googled him the other day and under ‘profession’ it said: ‘Associate of the Kray brothers’").
- jack_riminton 6y agoIf you've not read The Pigeon Tunnel you definitely should, its largely based around his father's exploits https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/08/the-pigeon-tunnel-john-le-carre-review-memoir-autobiography https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/08/the-pigeon-tun...
- pseudolus 6y agoSurprised that the 'The Honourable Schoolboy' hasn't received more mentions or discussion. Nominally a George Smiley book, it was the character of the 'honourable schoolboy' - Westerby - that dismantled the romanticism usually found in espionage thrillers. A very poignant end.
- sandinmyjoints 6y agoI thought it was a really ambitious novel that didn't quite live up to its ambitions -- for example, the ending, while poignant and "surprising but inevitable," as they say, was a bit too abrupt for me. I would have liked to see more of a denouement, especially around Elizabeth Worthington. One part that stays with me is Westerby's travel through Vietnam and a few other countries (maybe Thailand, Cambodia, Laos?) -- vivid, atmospheric, chilling, suspenseful -- just stunning.
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