Thanks, Suela. I actually have read--and loved--the middle book. And started the first. It was just so daunting a beginning I couldn't really get a running start on it. Plus, I think my attention span has shortened. It's all that web-surfing and instant gratification, I tell you! But I will assay it once more, once I pull up my socks.
Right, there comes a point where you have to either move on, or just buy yourself a Klingon costume and go with it.
Xander ,'Same Time, Same Place'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Beverly - Jun 03, 2004 1:12:27 pm PDT #3039 of 10002
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
Volans - Jun 03, 2004 2:18:13 pm PDT #3040 of 10002
move out and draw fire
OK, hivemind: a colleague's asked me for book recommendations, and while I can cover several genres, spy novels ain't one of them. So I figured (since I'm reading The Wisdom of Crowds ) that all of us are smarter than no single member, I'd ask all of us. What are the key spy novels to read?
(edited in order to use actual English grammar)
deborah grabien - Jun 03, 2004 2:19:57 pm PDT #3041 of 10002
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
What are the key spy novels to read?
Anything that says "John le Carre" on the spine.
And I'm a fan of the original Bond novels, rather than the shlocky movies; in the books, Bond always gets his heart broken and rarely gets the girl.
sarameg - Jun 03, 2004 2:22:26 pm PDT #3042 of 10002
Some of Nevill Shute's are spy-ish, though I think he's better known as a war author.
Connie Neil - Jun 03, 2004 2:27:30 pm PDT #3043 of 10002
brillig
Robert Ludlum. If your rec-recipient is into spoofs at all, "The Road to Omaha" is downright hysterical. What's the other Road book, "Road to Gandolfo"? Omaha is better.
For straight up Ludlum, "Parsival Mosaic." Twisted spy plotlines and a romance that made me smile.
Consuela - Jun 03, 2004 2:36:43 pm PDT #3044 of 10002
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
Alan Furst appears to be gaining ground on Le Carre for intensely-realistic spy novels. I read Night Soldiers, and thought it was brilliant. Very well written, complicated characters, great intrigue.
Deena - Jun 03, 2004 2:40:38 pm PDT #3045 of 10002
How are you me? You need to stop that. Only I can be me. ~Kara
Also The Bourne Identity, which made it to the movies in a much changed version; and anything by Helen MacInnes, wonderful stories, though older. Spy novels were my first adult love.
If your friend likes romance, more than a couple of the hot selling romance novelists have written some pretty intriguing spy type novels. I'm trying to remember one of my favorites, but the author keeps escaping me.
Volans - Jun 03, 2004 2:42:04 pm PDT #3046 of 10002
move out and draw fire
Ooo, good (taking notes). I should read Le Carre at some point. I gave Ludlum a shot back in junior high and hated him, but maybe worth a try again, so I'll use this as an excuse to get recommendations for myself as well. I should break out of my all sci-fi/fantasy/horror menu.
Adding it to the previous conversation, I've always been a little embarrassed to admit liking McKinley, but both The Blue Sword and Hero/Crown really stuck with me. I did the Erin thing of re-reading them a few years ago and mostly noting how much I'd matured. But I still like them.
I know I've really liked some Le Guin short stories, but I tend to read anthologies at one go, and never remember the titles of the stories, or even who wrote what. Left Hand and Dispossessed aren't long though, if you can count novellas.
deborah grabien - Jun 03, 2004 2:43:52 pm PDT #3047 of 10002
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Mustn't forget Furst, or MacInnes, who is splendid. Ludlum I have to be very much in the mood for.
Who wrote A Dandy in Aspic? The movie remains my favourite spy movie, to this day. (edit: Derek Marlowe.)
Volans - Jun 03, 2004 2:47:15 pm PDT #3048 of 10002
move out and draw fire
The rec recipient is my apprentice, a 25yo guy who claims to despise romance of any sort. But he really liked Love, Actually so I think it's a pose. Don't know that I could get him to read a romance novel, though, unless we replaced the cover with "Geeks Guide to Unix" or something.