I first found a paperback version of The Gone-Away World, by Nick Harkaway in 2011. I’m saddened by the fact that I don’t have that version anymore, but I must have lent that copy to someone and I really hope they’re enjoying it and passing it on to others.

I also have consoled myself by buying every version of the book that I can find. (The hardcover version in the picture above is pink on the front and is actually fuzzy. It’s amazing.) By the state of the book on the right, you can tell that this version of the book has been read multiple times. But wait Tac, you keep telling us you don’t reread books. Yes, this is largely true, but I’ve also stated that this year was a big exception to this rule - plus there are three books I have regularly made an exception to in the past: 1) The Gone-Away World, 2) Fight Club, 3) Lord of the Flies. Lord of the Flies was the first book I fell in love with. Fight Club was the book I read after college that reignited in me a love of reading.

The Gone-Away World is just crazy in all the best ways. There’s world ending weapons, Mad Max style caravans, and ninja mimes. But the best part about this book is that you can tell Nick loves writing. He loves words. I’ve read everything he’s written, even his one non-fiction. I’ve even read the books he’s written as Aiden Truhen - which are like Spy vs Spy, meets Michael Bay, meets a wood chipper.

Nick’s writing is so infectious, I decided to read his dad’s books. Oh, did I forget to mention that Nick is the son of world famous spy novelist, John le Carre? (Both le Carre and Harkaway are pseudonyms, if you were wondering.)

A good place to start with le Carre is the Smiley novels. George Smiley is the protagonist of several of le Carre’s early books (eight in total). The best way to describe George Smiley is that he’s the anti James Bond. Where James Bond is suave, and gets all the ladies, and has all the gadgets, George Smiley is old, frumpy, his own wife left him for another man, but he’s smart and determined. And honestly, John le Carre is such a better writer than Ian Fleming. Fleming’s books do not hold up well with time, while le Carre’s do.

There’s not a lot of specific similarities to Harkaway’s writing and le Carre’s but you can see the family resemblance in something about the tone and the choice of words. Maybe I’m just imagining it because I know Nick is John’s son, but I really feel like I can tell that Nick gained his love of words from his father, and that’s going to leave some forensic residue.