and suddenly, a post!
My stomach is being horrendous AS USUAL and I'm at home, so have a poor attempt at an update.
Read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on the weekend. It's been on my to-read list forever and I ended up reading it all on Saturday, because otherwise I'd have never finished it; it's not exactly a pick up, put down sort of novel. One of the things I like about le Carre is the way he doesn't sit you down at the start and explain the characters and their shadowy complicated little world but instead makes you work at it... though it can be a bit unforgiving. Hence, reading marathon! (Also, it was cold.)
Part of the reason for reading is the movie version coming out later this year, which has a cast just short of The Hobbit in terms of 'how are these people all in one movie?' I hate seeing adaptations without having read the source and I'd been meaning to read TTSS anyway, SO. Colin Firth is just about perfect for the role he's been cast in. Gary Oldman isn't the first person to spring to mind for Smiley (Alex Guinness would have been amazing in the BBC miniseries, must find that somewhere) but he's Gary Oldman so he'll be fantastic. Tom Hardy I still see as clone Picard in Nemesis (IDEK, I think the horror of that movie burned itself into my brain somehow) but I'm sure he'll be fine. Was a bit iffy about Benedict Cumberbatch as Guillam (much as he's brilliant in everything, Guillam is kind of blunt and it didn't click) but the trailer has reassured me somewhat on that front. Apparently the movie version of Guillam is gay, though? Can't figure out the reasoning on that at this stage. Haydon being bisexual is an open secret in the book and his close relationship with Prideaux is an important plot point, and things are complicated enough without inventing additional reasons for Guillam to be conflicted and and and. But it could be a fantastic addition, what do I know. The movie looks amazing is the main point, anyhow.
The trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is now up, too. Looks as though they're not straying too far from what worked in the first one. Though RDJ's British accent may be slightly better this time, maybe? I always feel like I should dislike this version more than I do, but it's just so big and loud and silly that I can't. It's a bit like a bouncy labrador desperate to be liked.
(That Holmes-in-drag bit, though. As if any version of Holmes would be seen such an appallingly bad disguise. HOLMES WOULD MAKE A THOROUGHLY CONVINCING LADY, THANK YOU.)
Read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on the weekend. It's been on my to-read list forever and I ended up reading it all on Saturday, because otherwise I'd have never finished it; it's not exactly a pick up, put down sort of novel. One of the things I like about le Carre is the way he doesn't sit you down at the start and explain the characters and their shadowy complicated little world but instead makes you work at it... though it can be a bit unforgiving. Hence, reading marathon! (Also, it was cold.)
Part of the reason for reading is the movie version coming out later this year, which has a cast just short of The Hobbit in terms of 'how are these people all in one movie?' I hate seeing adaptations without having read the source and I'd been meaning to read TTSS anyway, SO. Colin Firth is just about perfect for the role he's been cast in. Gary Oldman isn't the first person to spring to mind for Smiley (Alex Guinness would have been amazing in the BBC miniseries, must find that somewhere) but he's Gary Oldman so he'll be fantastic. Tom Hardy I still see as clone Picard in Nemesis (IDEK, I think the horror of that movie burned itself into my brain somehow) but I'm sure he'll be fine. Was a bit iffy about Benedict Cumberbatch as Guillam (much as he's brilliant in everything, Guillam is kind of blunt and it didn't click) but the trailer has reassured me somewhat on that front. Apparently the movie version of Guillam is gay, though? Can't figure out the reasoning on that at this stage. Haydon being bisexual is an open secret in the book and his close relationship with Prideaux is an important plot point, and things are complicated enough without inventing additional reasons for Guillam to be conflicted and and and. But it could be a fantastic addition, what do I know. The movie looks amazing is the main point, anyhow.
The trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is now up, too. Looks as though they're not straying too far from what worked in the first one. Though RDJ's British accent may be slightly better this time, maybe? I always feel like I should dislike this version more than I do, but it's just so big and loud and silly that I can't. It's a bit like a bouncy labrador desperate to be liked.
(That Holmes-in-drag bit, though. As if any version of Holmes would be seen such an appallingly bad disguise. HOLMES WOULD MAKE A THOROUGHLY CONVINCING LADY, THANK YOU.)