KARLA'S CHOICE

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Had to give up on Nick Harkaway's debut under his dad's John Le Carré name, KARLA'S CHOICE. Liked what I read of it (and I adore Harkaway's work, GNOMON especially; his turning of phrase and rhythm is spectacular) and Harkaway made an honest go of it, but it lacked the authenticity of his dad's work. Not in the spycraft sort of way, but in the human voice behind it. Felt too much like reading a really good novelization of a really good film adapt of a Le Carré classic: I'd rather read the original. Had a similar feeling watching Mangold's INDIANA JONES flick: the characters are there but the absence of the heart behind is acutely felt. Time to let Le Carré rest. Solid go, but no.

12 favorite books, currently

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  • STONER (John Williams, 1965)

  • THE BLACK DAHLIA (James Ellroy, 1995)

  • RED HARVEST (Dashiell Hammett, 1929)

  • WAR AND PEACE (Leo Tolstoy, 1869)

  • THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS (Ursula K Le Guin, 1969)

  • MIDDLEMARCH (George Eliot, 1872)

  • FRANKENSTEIN (Mary Shelley, 1818)

  • THE BODY ARTIST (Don DeLillo, 2001)

  • BLINDNESS (José Saramago, 1995)

  • SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (Ray Bradbury, 1962)

  • KINDRED (Octavia Butler, 1979)

  • THE MEMORY POLICE (Yoko Ogawa, 1994)

SILVERVIEW

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Finished the final John le Carré novel written by David this morning, first written by Nick buried, somewhere, on the to-read stack. While it read as a coda to a 60+-year career and never reached the heights of his greatest – THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY, and THE CONSTANT GARDENER – it wasn't lacking in the character-driven pleasure of even the most middling le Carré efforts and was an enjoyable interlude between longer reads.

That said, one passage in particular packed a punch, a goodbye – not just from a character, but from a literary voice to his reader (or to his son, carrying on his tradition?):

"I am in the past now, Julian. I can do no harm. I wish you to know that, if occasion arises, you are free to discuss me. There are people we must never betray, whatever the cost. I do not belong in that category. I have no claim on you. I loved your father. Now give me your hand. So. When we return to the car park I shall say only a formal farewell to you."