Mon 2 Jan 2012 @ 16:44
bookstinker tailor soldier spyjohn le carré
There are moments which are made up of too much stuff for them to be lived at the time they occur. My first book of the year is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré. It is not my usual choice of reading material, but I loved the film, and so when my Dad received the book for Christmas and got through it in two days, I decided to read it too. It is a spy novel set in the 70s during the Cold War. George Smiley is a British intelligence agent who had been forced into retirement after a botched operation led to a British spy being shot. But he is called back to investigate the presence of a Russian mole, a double agent, in the intelligence service. The book makes use of flashbacks to provide the background to the investigation.  I really enjoyed the book. The plot and the writing are excellent, with some great characters such as George Smiley. It is quite a complicated story, but I benefited from having seen the film adaptation, and from being able to read it in two or three large chunks. I think if I was only reading it in small pieces at a time it would have been hard to keep track of everything. As I said, it is not my usual genre of choice, but I thought it was a great novel and I would highly recommend it. I may even read more books by John le Carré in the future, because I did thoroughly enjoy it. A good start to the year!

There are moments which are made up of too much stuff for them to be lived at the time they occur.

My first book of the year is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré. It is not my usual choice of reading material, but I loved the film, and so when my Dad received the book for Christmas and got through it in two days, I decided to read it too.

It is a spy novel set in the 70s during the Cold War. George Smiley is a British intelligence agent who had been forced into retirement after a botched operation led to a British spy being shot. But he is called back to investigate the presence of a Russian mole, a double agent, in the intelligence service. The book makes use of flashbacks to provide the background to the investigation. 

I really enjoyed the book. The plot and the writing are excellent, with some great characters such as George Smiley. It is quite a complicated story, but I benefited from having seen the film adaptation, and from being able to read it in two or three large chunks. I think if I was only reading it in small pieces at a time it would have been hard to keep track of everything.

As I said, it is not my usual genre of choice, but I thought it was a great novel and I would highly recommend it. I may even read more books by John le Carré in the future, because I did thoroughly enjoy it. A good start to the year!

Tue 20 Sep 2011 @ 09:28
moviestinker tailor soldier spy
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a film that I’ve been looking forward to seeing for a while now, ever since I first saw the trailers for it. Since then I’ve read a few reviews and my anticipation just increased even further. I am pleased to report that it very much lived up to expectations. I won’t go into details of the plot, as I would hate to spoil it for anyone, but I will say that if you enjoy a good espionage thriller then you should love this. In addition to the great plot, the cast are all brilliant, which is not surprising given the people involved: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong. In addition to all that, the film is directed by Tomas Alfredson, whose previous film was the brilliant Let The Right One In, a film I loved and have raved about several times. This one is equally well executed. Overall I really liked the film, so much so that I may even go to see it again in order to catch all the subtleties and plot twists. I would heartily recommend it.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a film that I’ve been looking forward to seeing for a while now, ever since I first saw the trailers for it. Since then I’ve read a few reviews and my anticipation just increased even further. I am pleased to report that it very much lived up to expectations. I won’t go into details of the plot, as I would hate to spoil it for anyone, but I will say that if you enjoy a good espionage thriller then you should love this. In addition to the great plot, the cast are all brilliant, which is not surprising given the people involved: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong. In addition to all that, the film is directed by Tomas Alfredson, whose previous film was the brilliant Let The Right One In, a film I loved and have raved about several times. This one is equally well executed. Overall I really liked the film, so much so that I may even go to see it again in order to catch all the subtleties and plot twists. I would heartily recommend it.