re: romance and Ludlum--at least in Parsival Mosaic, the romance is integral to the character motivations, but the plot is the main focus. Beautifully convoluted.
We didn't have sex, if that's what you mean. That's all I do now, not have sex.
Anya ,'Dirty Girls'
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."
Connie Neil - Jun 03, 2004 3:25:12 pm PDT #3051 of 10002
brillig
dcp - Jun 03, 2004 3:29:42 pm PDT #3052 of 10002
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.
What are the key spy novels to read?
Pretty much anything by Tom Clancy.
Pretty much anything by Len Deighton.
Still among my favorites, although kind of dated and hard to find now:
by Desmond Bagley Running Blind The Tightrope Men The Mackintosh Man a.k.a. The Freedom Trap The Enemy
by Dick Francis Trial Run
by John Le Carré: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy The Honorable Schoolboy Smiley's People
deborah grabien - Jun 03, 2004 3:34:45 pm PDT #3053 of 10002
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Len Deighton I like.
Tom Clancy I loathe, except the first two books.
Connie Neil - Jun 03, 2004 3:47:09 pm PDT #3054 of 10002
brillig
Oh, yeah, Dick Francis.
Something more in the classic vein is Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout. Super-brainy sleuth who stays at home, while Arche Goodwin, the sidekick's sidekick, goes out into the world and gathers all the information that is grist for Wolfe's mill. Mysterious clients arrive, Wolfe cogitates then sends Archie out to investigate, Archie reports, then all the suspects, cops, and witnesses are gathered in the sleuth's office for the Big Reveal. Great snapshots of the times, too, though I don't think Archie would stay that nimble over 30+ years.
dcp - Jun 03, 2004 3:52:37 pm PDT #3055 of 10002
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.
The Sum of All Fears
amazed me in that I knew horrible things were going to happen, I knew *what* horrible things were going to happen, but I couldn't stop reading.
The movie was awful.
Debt of Honor was the last one of his I really enjoyed, the rest nsm.
And at least he gets most of the aviation details right.
Volans - Jun 03, 2004 4:14:59 pm PDT #3056 of 10002
move out and draw fire
Dick Francis counts as spy novels? I classified him in Mystery.
Tom Clancy's just a bit too wordy and too Mary Sue for me. Also I tend to argue with his politics, and can't suspend disbelief that anyone would willingly work at Langley and commute across the Cheasepeake Bay Bridge. I did recommend him to my apprentice tho.
dcp - Jun 03, 2004 4:28:59 pm PDT #3057 of 10002
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.
Dick Francis counts as spy novels?
Only that one title, and I'll admit it's a stretch. I guess it fits my idea of a "spy" novel because it is about a British troubleshooter solving a problem in the preparations for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
Fred Pete - Jun 03, 2004 5:43:09 pm PDT #3058 of 10002
Ann, that's a ferret.
Spy novels --
Ludlum, through about 1985. Hard to single out any one, but I remember The Osterman Weekend quite fondly. And The Bourne Identity is such a page turner that it took me many years -- and several readings -- to discover the Mack-Truck-sized hole in the story.
Also second Fleming's Bond novels. Especially The Spy Who Loved Me (literally, the book and the movie share a title and the Bond character -- and absolutely nothing else) and Casino Royale. Though beware, he is of his time (1950s and early 1960s).
Beverly - Jun 03, 2004 5:51:39 pm PDT #3059 of 10002
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
Ooh, I second the MacInnes. I haven't read her in yonks, but I loved her when I did.
deborah grabien - Jun 03, 2004 9:12:12 pm PDT #3060 of 10002
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Wait, wait. Speaking as the World's Most Passionate Archie Goodwin Fan Ever - as someone who owns not only all the Nero WOlfe novels, but who has read all the Bertha Cools as well - how does he qualify as spy novels? What did I miss?
He's classic American mystery writer, with Chandler and Hammett.