A perfect spy -- or a perfect bore?

[uvula_fr_b4]

I've been intermittently reading John le Carré's 1986 novel A Perfect Spy since October; I'm up to p. 458 (almost to the end of Chapter 13) in the trade paperback edition (which has eighteen chapters and 590 pgs.), and I am more than ready to be finished with it.

Despite the big-love blurbs from the New York Times and Philip Roth (whose work I'

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Re: spies, lies, and counterfactuals

[uvula_fr_b4]

The one Philip Roth book I do intend to read is The Plot Against America; probably should read Portnoy's Complaint (or at least "Portnoy Darns His Socks," ha-ha) and Goodbye, Columbus at some point, but I'm in no tearing hurry to do so. I think I've tucked enough Harlan Ellison under my belt to have absorbed Roth's sexual preoccupations by osmosis any way.

For all my kvetching about A Perfect Spy, I am glad that I'm reading it; I'm just annoyed that it's going so slowly for me, far more slowly than any of the Karla Trilogy (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Honourable Schoolbooy; and Smiley's People; my review of the trilogy is here, BTW) did. I have a major complaint about the book's structure as well, but I'll address that if I post a review of it. (I'm snatching time on the family computer, as my desktop and laptop are both kaputt; pretty depressing setting up a LinkedIn account when you don't have a Facebook account to auto-populate it with "contacts.")

Good luck with Inherent Vice (a remaindered copy of which I also own