Archie? I think he did in exactly one short story, written during WWII, when he was in the army. ANd even there, he was chasing a Fifth Columnist.

And I do find Tehanu polemically feminist in a problematic way

Agreed. I've forgiven it some of its flaws, now that it's bookended with the last two volumes, but yeah -- in some ways it feels awfully obvious and a little contrived. (In other ways, it still does feel natural; I always wondered what Tenar had done with herself, when Ged went off to do his hero/mage/cool guy thing.)

I can see how Le Guin could sometimes leave readers cold, especially some of her older stuff. (Although I love The Dispossessed, it's not because I'm passionate about any of the characters.) I think The Telling is one of her stronger novels, because it gives its main character an emotional backstory to work through.

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.

There's only one? Concur that it's a good page-turner, although at times hilariously overwrought. What I really like about it -- and this is true of all Ludlum in his prime, I think -- is the intricate detail work of spying. You know, the dead-drops and the feints and the diversions and double- and triple-backup plans. I appreciate that sensibility of the paranoid savant.

I think the best Fleming novel is Casino Royale -- it suffers least from the recycling of unconscious tropes of the author, and works best in its historical context: one of the villains is a man who spent time in a Displaced Persons camp after the war, so he quite literally has no identity or nationality at all. Also, that book is where I learned how Baccarat is played.

There's only one?

Fair point, Nutty. I was thinking of Marie falling in love with Jason, the guy who kidnapped her. Which may be less a plot hole than a WTF was he thinking? point.

I think The Telling is one of her stronger novels, because it gives its main character an emotional backstory to work through.

Really? I think The Telling goes cheap on some of the worldbuilding and the satire, which is frustrating, because other parts of the worldbuilding are excellent and when you finally do get a sense of the main character and the person who would be her antagonist in any other novels, there is some genuinely great writing there.

Also, that book is where I learned how Baccarat is played.

Me too! I had all my card-playing friends playing baccarat for ages after I read Casino Royale.

Mmm. Archie Goodwin.

I think The Telling goes cheap on some of the worldbuilding and the satire, which is frustrating, because other parts of the worldbuilding are excellent and when you finally do get a sense of the main character and the person who would be her antagonist in any other novels, there is some genuinely great writing there.

I suspect my affection for the second half overwhelms possible negative aspects of the first half. Also, the first time I read it, I had no idea it was intended as a parody of modern China.

I do remember watching CTHD, some 6 months later, and getting to the end, and being like, Hey!

older spy novels - Alister Mclean. I read him in highschool -- at the same time when I was reading MacInnes. So I don't know if he was very good or not. two titles Circus and Guns of Navarone

Oh, beth, that's right. The 3 macs: MacInnes, McLean and (John D.) MacDonald. Wow, that was a while ago.

Katerina, right.

That's why she loved her son more than all her daughters. It wasn't sexism, it was because her eldest was Borowis'. It's also why the younger son knew somebody had to marry her. Agreed on the slap. In historical context, it's less awful, but it's still pretty awful.