Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré our New School read for September 2019.


This is the No Spoiler Thread
The Spoiler Thread will open September 1st.

This early posting of the No Spoiler thread is to discuss any non-plot issues pertaining to the book.

Appropriate Posts can contain:
1. Information about the author.
2. Compare editions/translations.
3. Any historical or background information
4. Are you familiar with this author’s work? Do you have any expectations going into the book?
5. What made you decide to read this book?
6. Any fan fiction that you have read or would like to read? Just link the books.
7. If you loved the book and want others to share in that experience, use this thread to motivate others, again save plot specifics for the Spoiler thread
8. If you hated the book, it would be best to keep that for the spoiler page

The most important thing to remember is no plot discussion. Any post that contains plot information or spoilers will be deleted.

For anyone who's seen the movie and previously read the book... I watched the movie and didn't enjoy it at all, is the book significantly better?

Review of film: 'Tinker, Tailor': The Greatest Spy Story Ever Told

Book Review: The Spy Who Spied on Spies

Is it a good idea to read "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" first?

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Is it a good idea to read "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" first?"

Good question.

"The only question is where to start. The Smiley books don’t need to be read in chronological order, and, frankly, probably shouldn’t; it’s much more rewarding to jump around, skipping the experiments (the second Smiley book is a murder mystery, not a spy book) and lackluster sequels until you’re really hooked. The truth is that God intends us to read thriller series in odd and disjointed orders as we find individual episodes dog-eared in used-book stores and beach-house rentals..."

Here is the link of one person's recommended reading order
https://www.vulture.com/2017/09/best-...

George Smiley is a minor character in The Spy Who Came in, but I don't think anything from that book carries over to this, honestly.

Besides attitude.

The short of the article mentioned above:

Suggested reading order
1) The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
2) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
3) Call for the Dead
4) The Looking Glass War
5) The Honourable Schoolboy
6) Smiley's People
7) The Secret Pilgrim
8) A Murder of Quality

Another perspective for reading the novels

Chronological Order of Smiley Books

1) Call for the Dead
2) A Murder of Quality
3) The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
4) The Looking Glass War
5) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
6) The Honourable Schoolboy
7) Smiley's People
8) The Secret Pilgrim
9) A Legacy of Spies

Maedeh wrote: "I haven't read this book yet but I'm a big fan of John le Carré and I'd like to join this reading. I watched the movie some years ago and I enjoyed the atmosphere but "The Spy Who Came in from the ..."

Welcome, Maedeh! I joined the group 2 1/2 years ago when they were reading a book I was reading. I found it to be a great experience.

The only thing you really need to know is not to post spoilers in the no spoiler thread.

I also saw the movie in theaters long ago. I was drawn by the title also. I think it's great.

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Is it a good idea to read "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" first?"

So after reading the above articles, I will try and read that one this month to get ready for September.

Katy wrote: "J_BlueFlower wrote: "Is it a good idea to read "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" first?"

Good question.

"The only question is where to start. The Smiley books don’t need to be read in chronolo..."

Thanks Katy! I love that he says it doesn't matter. That's what I would think since the movie stood alone. I might try and read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold first since it's recommended.

I have recently read these books, and I would say that it's not necessary to read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold first. I read Call for the Dead first, just to get a 'picture' in my head of Smiley, and then read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Smiley appears only briefly in that one. Then I followed up with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I would have been fine just going straight to this one and others would be too, in my opinion. Then I read the next 2 in the Karla trilogy (The Honourable Schoolboy followed by Smiley's People). It would be best to read the trilogy in order should you decide to continue after the group read! I absolutely loved all of them!!

Re: the movie - it was good but nowhere near as brilliant as the book.

That's just my two cents :) I hope all enjoy!

Thanks for your insights Candi. It's great to know that if I don't get to them, I'm not missing out.

I read Call for the Dead in January this year. Honestly I don't recall much at all about it.

I have never read a spy thriller before. I am vaguely familiar with Cold War, enough to understand particpating govts, communist block idea, underlying causes, and how space war was part of, etc. I am not very much a mystery reader. I have just thought to try this year. Do others think I still might understand this novel? I don't mind working to understand--that's my geeky idea of fun. What are good references for spy thrillers?

I just borrowed The Looking Glass War (Kindle version) from my library.

From the synopsis, it sounds like the template for almost every Le Carre I've ever read. I seriously think he's re-written it more than once.

But I'm there, as they say.

I just read Call for the Dead and loved it. I love Smiley already. Going to start on The Spy Who Came In from the Cold tonight even though Smiley isn't prominent

I finished The Spy Who Came In from the Cold a few days ago, and started Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy early so I'll be ready for next month.

I hope you all enjoy TTSS, as I did. I read it maybe a year and a half ago for the first time, so too soon for a re-read. But I will probably drop in on the chatter.

Just gotta say that the BBC 6-part miniseries of Tinker Tailor and the one of Smiley's People are some of my main comfort foods on DVD. I just yesterday finished reading the book of the first one and found that the series was spot-on and Alec Guinness was (of course) brilliant as Smiley. I did see the movie a couple of years ago and found it impossible to follow the story.

If you're expecting a lot of action and car chases and such, you'll be disappointed; these are very cerebral stories of the strategic maneuvering of the spymasters of cold war powers. These two books are completely free-standing stories but definitely go in that order. Not sure how necessary the order is for the others.

I hope I can find that mini series when I'm finished reading!

Sue wrote: "I hope I can find that mini series when I'm finished reading!" Amazon has it, not very expensive.

Judy said (in part):

Just gotta say that the BBC 6-part miniseries of Tinker Tailor and the one of Smiley's People are some of my main comfort foods on DVD. I just yesterday finished reading the book of the first one and found that the series was spot-on and Alec Guinness was (of course) brilliant as Smiley. I did see the movie a couple of years ago and found it impossible to follow the story.

I’ve never seen the 1979 BBC version of Tinker Tailor, but it has long been on my list of things to watch. I’m hoping to finally carve out some viewing time after reading the le Carré novel. I have , on the other hand, seen the 2011 film (directed by Tomas Alfredson and starring Gary Oldman), and, while I imagine that due to time constraints the writers had to leave out a fair amount of material that the longer BBC version was able to retain, I was still able to follow the plot fairly well. Additionally, I just thought that the Alfredson film was really well done: well filmed and well acted.

I don't remember much from the film but I do remember liking it a lot while also feeling that I missed things. I always meant to watch it again to get more out of it and didn't know it was based on a book.

I'm about halfway in now and I've had to re-read many sections because I felt like I wasn't keeping the characters straight. Now I feel like I have a pretty good handle on them.

I'm enjoying the writing even though I'm finding this more difficult to follow than Call for the Dead or The Spy Who Came In from the Cold.

September is coming soon -- keep anything spoilerish for the soon to come Spoiler thread.

I have started reading.

Found this handy list of "Glossary of le Carré's Espionage Jargon":
https://www.bookgrouponline.com/topic...

Nice find

Helpful link, thank you! I think it contains a spoiler in the definition for The Fall.

Kaila wrote: "Helpful link, thank you! I think it contains a spoiler in the definition for The Fall."

Good point.

I'm looking forward to TTSS and have been reading up on the author. Here's a wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_le...

Gem wrote: "For anyone who's seen the movie and previously read the book... I watched the movie and didn't enjoy it at all, is the book significantly better?"

I haven't read or watched TTSS but in my experience....hehehe.....except in two cases the book is usually always better than the movie.

I plan on reading this book in January 2020. This will be the first time I have read a Le Carre book. and this genre is one that I have very limited experience with, so it should be interesting!