The Pigeon Tunnel: John Le Carré

[bunn]

I haven't finished reading this yet, but I already know it's going to be the kind of book where I just want to read out random passages to strangers, so here is a bit I liked

Comments

[thesmallhobbit]

That sounds like an interesting read. Will there be more quotes?

[bunn]

Very probably! Apart from anything else, it's an excuse to use my George Smiley icon!

[heartofoshun]

I've adored his books my entire adult life. I have to track this down and read it, have been meaning to for a few months!

[bunn]

I adore his Smiley books. Some of the later ones I was less in love with, but I read and re-read the Smiley ones until I have lost count!

[heartofoshun]

The Smiley books are by far my favorites also!

[bunn]

In that case I have an anecdote I've probably not told you: when I was at university, I had a tutor who was popularly reputed to be a recruiter for British Intelligence. He never mentioned anything to me directly, but after I got my degree, I got a letter inviting me to a secret interview in London at the Ministry of Defence. It said something like 'in your own interest don't disclose this to anyone'. It was THE MOST LE CARRE THING!!!

Obviously, demonstrating just how utterly wrong he'd got me, I instantly told everyone I knew about it, and have been doing so periodically ever since. :-DDD

[ylla]

There is still 'power corrupts but we need electricity'? Which is good, because it's a good tag.

[bunn]

Ooh! So there is!

[timetiger]

Hmmm. I haven't read any Le Carré in years and years. You're making me think I need to remedy that.

[bunn]

This one is a kind of autobiography, and definitely very readable.

[bunn]

... the more-recent non-Smiley one I remember liking particularly was 'Our Game' although I liked the recent TV series of the Night Manager too.

[songblaze]

As a lawyer, I have to rather disagree with him about how I see facts. Facts are the scaffolding, the supports on which I build the compelling structure of my arguments. In a certain kind of case, facts are a great bell to be struck with a well-tuned argument so that the truth rings out and cannot be ignored.

But I am a rather liberal, activist sort of lawyer. There are those of us are rather agnostic about whether one can actually get at 'truth', so I suppose he's talking about them. Some are even agnostic about whether there is such a thing as trut.