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22nd out of 98 books
—
72 voters
The Company
An engrossing, multigenerational, wickedly nostalgic yet utterly entertaining and candid saga, bringing to life through a host of characters - historical and imagined - nearly fifty years of this secretive and powerful organization.
Intelligent and ironic, Littell tells it like it was: CIA agents fighting not only the 'good fight' against foreign enemies, but sometimes the...more
Intelligent and ironic, Littell tells it like it was: CIA agents fighting not only the 'good fight' against foreign enemies, but sometimes the...more
Paperback, 1281 pages
Published
2003
by Pan Publishing
(first published 2001)
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This doorstopper of a novel (about 900 pages) is an excellent 40 year overview of the growth of the US Intelligence structure as seen through the stories of a few men and women who started with the beginnings of the CIA after WWII and grew with the "Company" to hold positions of leadership. The method of using factual history as the backdrop for many of the plotlines was intrinsic to keeping the interest level high while Littell flipped through the decades. I'd be remiss in not saying that at ti...more
The company is an extraordinarily well done espionage and conspiracy thriller by author Robert Littell. Every page I read of this novel the deeper I sank into the hidden and chaotic world described by Littell. The beautiful and grotesque imagery are craft from the same wood as each scene evokes memories of bond films and mission impossible. With all the action being packed in so tightly to the book, I was pleasantly surprised by its' complexity as the political and narrative perspectives of char...more
This is a great book. The review on Amazon calls it "nothing less than a stunning historical document", and that's an astute summation.
The book follows the lives, both personal and professional, of several characters from their recruitment into the CIA in college until the twilight of their careers. In between, we meet notorious characters like Kim Philby, William F. Buckley Jr., G. Gordon Liddy, William Casey and follow world events like the Suez Canal crisis, which ended Britain's role as a su...more
The book follows the lives, both personal and professional, of several characters from their recruitment into the CIA in college until the twilight of their careers. In between, we meet notorious characters like Kim Philby, William F. Buckley Jr., G. Gordon Liddy, William Casey and follow world events like the Suez Canal crisis, which ended Britain's role as a su...more
If I expect to get through 52 books in 2011, then I need to stop picking up 900 and 1100 page books. Littell's The Company clocks in at around 900 pages. At least 700 of those are well worth the time--I'm not going to quibble about the rest. Given that the book starts in pre-Wall Berlin, and the action ends with the August 1991 coup attempt in the Soviet Union, the length is understandable.
After finishing the book I was struck with a question of who and how much in the book was history and how m...more
After finishing the book I was struck with a question of who and how much in the book was history and how m...more
Nov 03, 2011
Lisa (Harmonybites)
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
No One
Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List
I picked this up because it was on a list of recommended spy thrillers. And once you pick it up, you realize one thing--this is one thick book--894 pages in trade paperback. Now, there are times I can really revel in a sprawling epic book. But the characters better grip me, or I have to find the story believable, and it helps if the style is strong. That would be a "no" on all counts.
The title itself is a strike against it. What I know about the Central Intelligence Agency can fit a thimble seve...more
The title itself is a strike against it. What I know about the Central Intelligence Agency can fit a thimble seve...more
Out of the successes and infrastructure of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, our nation's premier espionage organization, the CIA, was created. As with any business built on the basis of personality and ability to finesse and buy loyalties, the people involved all have their own incredible stories.
Those stories are interwoven in Robert Littell's book, The Company.
This book is not an easy read - it is nearly 900 pages long and the incredible story is fleshed out with enough te...more
Those stories are interwoven in Robert Littell's book, The Company.
This book is not an easy read - it is nearly 900 pages long and the incredible story is fleshed out with enough te...more
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I was really excited to listen to this book on audio. It was over 40 hours. Unfortunately, it didn't really stand up to my expectations. There were a lot of characters in the beginning, which was confusing. I think because of that, I wasn't paying close enough attention, and I was a little bored for the first half of the book. The second half seemed to keep my attention better, as the characters started making sense to me.
Having said that, this is a historical novel of the inside workings of th...more
Having said that, this is a historical novel of the inside workings of th...more
The book started during the beginning of the cold, just after WWII ended and told the story of the CIA from different agent’s perspectives all the way up to the mid 90’s. It was hard for me to keep track of all the different characters sometimes they were referred to by their last names, nickname first name or full name. It was not until the final chapter that I knew who the sorcerer was when they referred to him by name. As far as novels go this was interesting, written well and at some times w...more
This is a nice, long book. I often crave a thick read with a weighty plot and well-developed characters. Robert Littell did not disappoint in that regard. I spent many days with this book, enjoying each day's reading more than the day before.
Of particular note, to me at least, was the author's character development. Even after the book ended, I was still invested in these character's lives -- wondering about some of the more obscure details in their back-story.
The pacing, although a bit slow in...more
Of particular note, to me at least, was the author's character development. Even after the book ended, I was still invested in these character's lives -- wondering about some of the more obscure details in their back-story.
The pacing, although a bit slow in...more
The Company, Robert Littel (3.0)
This book, as indicated by the title, is about the CIA. The timeframe it covers is from post WWII through the 1990’s, including most of the major conflicts between the US and the USSR. This very long novel (~900 pages) was interesting to read but turned out to exemplify my pet peeve with historical fiction: the blend of fact and fiction. Mr. Little has many times at critical plot points included famous people from history alongside his fictional characters. More t...more
This book, as indicated by the title, is about the CIA. The timeframe it covers is from post WWII through the 1990’s, including most of the major conflicts between the US and the USSR. This very long novel (~900 pages) was interesting to read but turned out to exemplify my pet peeve with historical fiction: the blend of fact and fiction. Mr. Little has many times at critical plot points included famous people from history alongside his fictional characters. More t...more
An engrossing, multigenerational, wickedly nostalgic yet utterly entertaining and candid saga, bringing to life through a host of characters - historical and imagined - nearly fifty years of this secretive and powerful organization.
Intelligent and ironic, Littell tells it like it was: CIA agents fighting not only the 'good fight' against foreign enemies, but sometimes the bad fight too. The ends justify such means as CIA-organized assassinations, covert wars, kidnappings, and the toppling of leg...more
Intelligent and ironic, Littell tells it like it was: CIA agents fighting not only the 'good fight' against foreign enemies, but sometimes the bad fight too. The ends justify such means as CIA-organized assassinations, covert wars, kidnappings, and the toppling of leg...more
Took me a while to finish this one, at 894 pages. The author takes the reader from the early days of the cold war through the fall of the Soviet Union in 1995. One thing that surprised me is that he completely skipped the time period from 1961 to 1974. The Kennedy and King assassinations, Viet Nam, the Weather Underground, all that was just skipped.
The only thing I can figure is that the author might have been aware that he was writing a very looonnnnggg book and if he added that decade, the boo...more
The only thing I can figure is that the author might have been aware that he was writing a very looonnnnggg book and if he added that decade, the boo...more
A doorstop of a book (900+ pages) in the spy thriller genre, drawing on actual world events and history and scaffolded around what the author believes the CIA's role was. Painstakingly plotted, with many years/countries/coups covered. Has many "larger than life" spy guys and ancillary women, and super-evil Russian or other bad foreigners or turncoat spies. I personally most lost faith in the book's possible veracity when it went on over and over about some Russian baddie fondling naked preteen g...more
The Company is a pretty enjoyable spy novel.
It takes place between 1950 and 1995. We follow Jack McAuliffe recruited right after graduating Yale in 1950, Harry Torriti a seasoned intelligence officer, Eliott "Ebby" Ebbit and Leo Kritzky.
It shows five events over the 45 years. Berlin in the early 50s before the Wall. Hungry during the failed uprising in the late 50's. The Bay of Pigs incident in the early 60's. A mole hunt in the mid 70s. The beginning of the Russian invasion of Afganinstan and f...more
It takes place between 1950 and 1995. We follow Jack McAuliffe recruited right after graduating Yale in 1950, Harry Torriti a seasoned intelligence officer, Eliott "Ebby" Ebbit and Leo Kritzky.
It shows five events over the 45 years. Berlin in the early 50s before the Wall. Hungry during the failed uprising in the late 50's. The Bay of Pigs incident in the early 60's. A mole hunt in the mid 70s. The beginning of the Russian invasion of Afganinstan and f...more
Robert Littell is very good. The Company is such an unusual book for a CIA novel because it spans such a long time period....3 generations. Yet the novel never loses its continuity since the characters at the beginning of the story are the senior elders of the CIA at the end, with their children working for the CIA in key positions. Even the underlying plot is connected by the mysterious and elusive Soviet mole, which haunts the CIA for decades. The book does get a little slow in places as new s...more
This book is huge.....long.....and captivating all the way......
It had me wanting to continue reading for more at every minute. It is the most enjoyable read I have had for ages and gave a seemingly realistic insight into the workings of the CIA and other spy agencies.
The character development is excellent, from the Uni study days, through recruitment , training , first posts and on to senior positions and eventually end of careers.
It nicely ties in realistic events in great detail, such as t...more
It had me wanting to continue reading for more at every minute. It is the most enjoyable read I have had for ages and gave a seemingly realistic insight into the workings of the CIA and other spy agencies.
The character development is excellent, from the Uni study days, through recruitment , training , first posts and on to senior positions and eventually end of careers.
It nicely ties in realistic events in great detail, such as t...more
The Company (2002) is a huge door-stopper of a book (nearly 900 pages) that chronicles the Cold War as seen through the lens of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Mixing fact and fiction, the novel is a sweeping Clavell-style epic that begins with the end of World War 2 and continues through the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Company (as the CIA is more colloquially known) revolves around a group of men who are recruited to join the newly minted agency after their graduation in the early 1...more
The Company (as the CIA is more colloquially known) revolves around a group of men who are recruited to join the newly minted agency after their graduation in the early 1...more
4.5 Stars here, but I'm rounding up.
THE COMPANY follows the careers of three new recruits to the CIA (Jack, Ebby & Leo) from the early days of the Cold War to 1995. Littell has threaded their lives through events in Berlin (East/West), Hungary (heartbreaking, truly), Cuba, Russia, Afghanistan and Washington DC. Real life characters such as Kim Philby (of the Cambridge Five), Bill Casey, Jim Angleton, JFK and other presidents, RFK, and Yeltsin and Gorby make appearances. My only real quibble...more
THE COMPANY follows the careers of three new recruits to the CIA (Jack, Ebby & Leo) from the early days of the Cold War to 1995. Littell has threaded their lives through events in Berlin (East/West), Hungary (heartbreaking, truly), Cuba, Russia, Afghanistan and Washington DC. Real life characters such as Kim Philby (of the Cambridge Five), Bill Casey, Jim Angleton, JFK and other presidents, RFK, and Yeltsin and Gorby make appearances. My only real quibble...more
This book is a classic spy thriller. The author does a great job with character development and making the action unpredictable enough to keep your interest through 900 pages of text spread over 40 years of action. The main characters are three college roommates at Yale who end up in the spy business. For those who have a background in history, this book is very well researched and the characters are interspaced with real life events. I suppose you could call it historical fiction. I found mysel...more
Amazing. Brilliantly written and incorporates various points in history. Warning: very long, but worth it!
I'm currently working on my tradecraft
I'm currently working on my tradecraft
This was my first Littell book and I found him to be the best American spy writer I have read. His knowledge of CIA workings is comparable to LeCarre with MI-6.
This book follows a set of characters through the beginnings of the CIA and the spy hunt for double agents in the 50's-60's by James "Jesus" Angleton following the Brittish discovery of Soviet double agent Kim Philby in MI-6. It could be viewed as the American equivalent of LeCarre's Tinker, Tailor novel. It is written with an insider's v...more
This book follows a set of characters through the beginnings of the CIA and the spy hunt for double agents in the 50's-60's by James "Jesus" Angleton following the Brittish discovery of Soviet double agent Kim Philby in MI-6. It could be viewed as the American equivalent of LeCarre's Tinker, Tailor novel. It is written with an insider's v...more
Whew, this book was LONG. 894 pages, spanning three generations of spies and over forty years of CIA operations.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. But, as I was reading, I had mixed feelings - sometimes, I thought the pacing was great. But at other times, I thought that all of the dialogue and extremely detailed outlines of the missions and political goings-on really bogged the pacing down. And, occasionally, I forgot I was reading a novel, and felt like I was reading a nonfiction novel about the Col...more
Overall, I enjoyed this book. But, as I was reading, I had mixed feelings - sometimes, I thought the pacing was great. But at other times, I thought that all of the dialogue and extremely detailed outlines of the missions and political goings-on really bogged the pacing down. And, occasionally, I forgot I was reading a novel, and felt like I was reading a nonfiction novel about the Col...more
I never in my life thought I would describe something as a “tour de force,” but that’s exactly what The Company is. It’s the best espionage novel I’ve ever read – ok, most of the ones I’ve read were written by Tom Clancy, so that isn’t saying much, but still.
At first I was intimidated by the fact that this is 900 pages long, but then reminded myself that I’ve read all of the Game of Thrones books and some of them are even longer. Although it took me about three weeks to finish this, I really had...more
At first I was intimidated by the fact that this is 900 pages long, but then reminded myself that I’ve read all of the Game of Thrones books and some of them are even longer. Although it took me about three weeks to finish this, I really had...more
I loved this book! It is really six books in one, with sections that deal with different characters and incidents throughout the entire cold war. Robert Littell takes several young men who joined the brand-new CIA after the war and follows their careers. All enter the spy game because their experiences with communism during the war have lead them to believe that it is a destructive element that must be halted. From the same war comes a young communist who as whole-heartedly believes that communi...more
I am really into this. It is a novel about the CIA, starting in the early 50s, with a small fictional cast of characters working among real CIA figures on real events. My problem is that I am not that familiar with all of the real people, so when I gleefully announce, for example, that I know who the mole in the British intelligence service is, everyone looks at me and says of course - everyone knows about so and so.
Nonetheless I cannot put it down, even though I mam reading along thinking a lot...more
Nonetheless I cannot put it down, even though I mam reading along thinking a lot...more
This is going to be a little long and disjointed, because I want to vent some stuff about this book. THPOILERTH from here on out are to be expected.
The Company is a book that, for whatever reason, is steeped in Alice in Wonderland (more on this later), and there's a quotation from it towards the end that made me tear my bookmark in half because I wanted to remember it for when I wrote this:
"...there would be no harm, she thought, in asking if the game was over. "Please, would you tell me--" she...more
The Company is a book that, for whatever reason, is steeped in Alice in Wonderland (more on this later), and there's a quotation from it towards the end that made me tear my bookmark in half because I wanted to remember it for when I wrote this:
"...there would be no harm, she thought, in asking if the game was over. "Please, would you tell me--" she...more
After many stops and starts, mostly for picking up non-fiction, I finally finished Robert Littell's tour de force novel about the CIA, The Company. I really enjoyed it, as I have all of Littell's books. He's the undisputed master of Cold War fiction.
I came across this passage to the right on the day that the report of the 9/11 Commission was released. And was interesting to me that my reading of this blurb about the inadequacies of intelligence coincided with a report on perhaps the greatest int...more
I came across this passage to the right on the day that the report of the 9/11 Commission was released. And was interesting to me that my reading of this blurb about the inadequacies of intelligence coincided with a report on perhaps the greatest int...more
This book is a novel about the CIA, and is pretty long for a spy novel. It follows a series of friends from their recruitment into the CIA after college during the cold war to their retirement just after the Coup in the Soviet Union. The book reads much like a Le Carre, and it's made me interested enough to go back and read about what actually happened in some of these worldwide events that were covered in the book. It does cover a lot of territory, and maybe I just missed it, but i didn't see a...more
It's not worth it, is the best way of putting it, or so I thought. You see it clocks in at about 1300 pages and takes a long time to get through - yes it's nicely epic for it, but the story isn't quite good enough.
The stuff it's based on, however, make my first reaction invalid. The history of certain parts of the cold war and all the figures, a large number of them taken from the history itself, make the fiction of the story work rather well.
I wish I could be a bit more wordy about it, it would...more
The stuff it's based on, however, make my first reaction invalid. The history of certain parts of the cold war and all the figures, a large number of them taken from the history itself, make the fiction of the story work rather well.
I wish I could be a bit more wordy about it, it would...more
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An American author residing in France. He specializes in spy novels that often concern the CIA and the Soviet Union. He became a journalist and worked many years for Newsweek during the Cold War. He's also an amateur mountain climber and is the father of award-winning novelist Jonathan Littell.
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Nov 30, 2011 06:24am