Espionage Aficionados discussion

Please send out invites to anyone in your Goodreads contact list whom you feel might be interested in joining our ranks!

You can only increase your prestige by doing so!

The link is found in the group settings to the right------->

FYI, the picture used in our group avatar is not a selfie

That is *not* Feliks D

Feliks wrote: "FYI, the picture used in our group avatar is not a selfie

That is *not* Feliks D"

Well....duh! But reason why that picture and name is choosen might be of interest, I mean why Him?

Which 'him'?

The current group avatar is actually an image of 'Lamont Cranston' aka 'The Shadow'. He's the tall bloke in the trenchcoat and slouch-bring hat. Chosen simply for the appearance which is very old-school-looking, 'spy-like'.

The masthead photo of the airport behind him? That's taken from Chris Marker's spectacular short-film from the 1960s, 'La Jetee' (inspiration for Terry Guillam's 'Twelve Monkeys')

My own avatar? That's actor Tom Bell portraying Feliks D. in the fine BBC minis-series, 'Reilly: Ace of Spies' starring Sam Neil.

Why FD? I'm a fan of history and philosophy; and FD is one of history's most unusual figures. A remorseless, fanatical personality who balked at nothing --not even the slaughter of millions--in the pursuit of his adopted ideals. I admire his fortitude at the same time I am repulsed by his inhumanity; and so I take him as my mascot to always remind myself just how disgusting man's nature is and always will be.

p.s. this conversation is a good reminder: folks, since we are not 'private' anymore, we are back to a situation where you can invite your friends

Thanks for comeback.

"That's actor Tom Bell portraying Feliks D. in the fine BBC minis-series, 'Reilly: Ace of Spies' starring Sam Neil." Now that's a letdown, Feliks. I thought I was corresponding with the man himself. "Reilly" is by far my favorite espionage-genre film. I think it's great from the use of Shostakovich for theme music to the set design to the characters and acting quality. Although Dzerzhinsky doesn't get much screen presence, to me he encapsulates the Bolsheviks' hopes and fears. I've been periodically rewatching the 11 episode series for about 20 years. But I only recently came across the feature length prequel (which i believe is referenced in episode 1) on utube. Another good espionage series on utube is "A Perfect Spy". I've also found Olivia Manning's two excellent, but non-espionge, "Fortunes of War" trilogies there.

Bravo, Dave

I agree. 'Reilly' is mesmerizing