the beginning

[Jeffery]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was disappointed in the later John le Carre books. I went to a Barnes & Noble bookstore and was able to locate and buy an earlier John le Carre book, "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold". Finally. I did not want to give up on spy novels, and I heard that John le Carre writes the best ones!

[Allan]

I think that The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is one of the best spy novels ever written. John Le Carre absolutely nails the soul destroying , paranoid atmosphere in late 50's Berlin and East Germany. Jeffery, I don't think you'll be disappointed in this one.

[Feliks]

You've selected perhaps the best book in the entire genre. Its the epitome and the apogee. The alpha and the omega. No need for anyone to 'give up' on espionage literature.

Did I point you yet to this discussion?
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...-
This overview should re-ignite your curiosity and also, steer you in the direction of some superb works.

[Geoffrey]

Yes, ditto for me. The only contenders for primo prize in the genre are the early Eric Amblers.

[Patrick]

from his early days A Small Town in Germany is also a classic, and I like A Perfect Spy, which has some autobiographical stuff in it about the con-man dad.
I looked at the previous discussion. Didn't see Conrad's The Secret Agent. Even more than Ambler, that was the seminal one for many thriller writers, including me. All show, no tell.

[Feliks]

'A Small Town in Germany' (I'm a fan of it, but not sure how many others are) is probably his quietest book; almost no action. It's not part of any series and no other 'regular' LeCarre characters appear. I was desperately hoping that there would be--it would have made sense and been so grand if he had done that. But no. Seems to have been a 'one-off'. Wads of atmosphere, though.

In that discussion page, Conrad's 'Secret Agent' is indeed mentioned at or around page 4-5; and we clarified for everyone just what occurred with the film versions and the crazy titles. A very moody work.

[Patrick]

ah, missed that. On Len Deighton, he also did a prequel to the 9 books in the Game Set and Match series. It's called Winter. Big thick one. Looks at a Berlin family 1899-1945 and there is a connection to that down-at-the-heels house Sampson always stays at in Berlin. And it's third-person, not the first person style like most of the Sampson tale.

[Feliks]

Good recs. Thx. I've actually stopped reading Deighton for a while now; I'm satisfied I've gotten all I wanted from him and what I'm doing now is poking quietly through those obscure odd-lot works in his early bibliography which I originally skipped.

Things like, 'Goodbye Mickey Mouse' (just couldn't stomach that horrible title)

Deighton--like Jack Higgins and Ken Follett--for me, has fallen into that category of writers who 'need to leave off and take up something completely new'.

[Old-Barbarossa]

For top spy tv I urge you to check out the old late '70s/early '80s series The Sandbaggers.
I once heard it described as "good men in bad suits dying in Prague".
Similar flavour to the Smiley tales.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077078/?...

[Rafael]

The book is a classic and a must read for fans of spy thrillers, but not for those looking for James Bond type action. Also, the movie version starring Richard Burton is superb and arguably Burton's finest performance.

[[deleted user]]

I just started this book, my first John le Carré and my first spy novel. About 50 pages in. Came to le Carré after reading an excerpt in Harper's and subsequently seeing several old movies I hadn't known were based off of his books. (I mistakenly thought THE CONVERSATION was an adaptation...apparently not, but a great film nonetheless.)

I was surprised by the "pathetic" protagonist but I have a feeling I'm being duped and he isn't really that pathetic. But le Carré's treatment of the Control character -- sly and vindictive and yet weirdly placating and polite -- was brilliant and my favorite part thus far.

[Patrick]

hold on. You'll like it. gritty ending.

[Jonathan]

Feliks wrote: "'A Small Town in Germany' (I'm a fan of it, but not sure how many others are) is probably his quietest book; almost no action. It's not part of any series and no other 'regular' LeCarre characters ..."

Steed-Asprey is mentioned once, actually. Old discussion, but bored and browsing GR in an airport.

[Jeffery]

Jeffery wrote: "As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was disappointed in the later John le Carre books. I went to a Barnes & Noble bookstore and was able to locate and buy an earlier John le Carre book, "The Spy W..."
After reading "The Spy That came in from the Cold", I can see that is earlier works were much better than the last ones. Thank everyone who suggested I don't give up on his earlier books.