John le Carré
Monday, 14 December 2020 16:36![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
derwent_fThis morning, I woke up to find that John le Carré had passed away. Unexpectedly, I cried. It's the first thing that made me go "fuck you, 2020".
I bought a secondhand copy of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy last year. I'd heard the title tossed around before, the way you hear about classic works. The book was in good condition, and importantly, the price was in my range. So despite not knowing anything about the plot, only that it's an acclaimed work, I bought the book.
And then I read it. It wasn't love at first sentence, or even first chapter. Like I said, I didn't know anything beyond the short summary on the back cover, and I wondered what the hell does this Roach boy has to do with spying?
But then the story drew me in. And when I finally reached the ending, I did something very rarely do: I turned back to the first page and read the whole thing all over again right away.
The book made my almost-four-hours-in-total daily commute, in a cramped train car, bearable.
When I finished TTSS, I decided to read all his books in publishing order. I had to stop after The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, though, because the cumulative bleakness got too much, plus it was early in 2020 when the news about the virus began to dominate the papers.
If it weren't for TTSS, I probably wouldn't have gone back to writing. I still have one Ann/George WIP waiting for me.
I'm so glad I already took today off work so I can cry in peace.
I bought a secondhand copy of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy last year. I'd heard the title tossed around before, the way you hear about classic works. The book was in good condition, and importantly, the price was in my range. So despite not knowing anything about the plot, only that it's an acclaimed work, I bought the book.
And then I read it. It wasn't love at first sentence, or even first chapter. Like I said, I didn't know anything beyond the short summary on the back cover, and I wondered what the hell does this Roach boy has to do with spying?
But then the story drew me in. And when I finally reached the ending, I did something very rarely do: I turned back to the first page and read the whole thing all over again right away.
The book made my almost-four-hours-in-total daily commute, in a cramped train car, bearable.
When I finished TTSS, I decided to read all his books in publishing order. I had to stop after The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, though, because the cumulative bleakness got too much, plus it was early in 2020 when the news about the virus began to dominate the papers.
If it weren't for TTSS, I probably wouldn't have gone back to writing. I still have one Ann/George WIP waiting for me.
I'm so glad I already took today off work so I can cry in peace.
I am grateful for his life.
— Quentin Hardy (@qhardy) December 13, 2020
