The Defector by Daniel Silva, I had the pleasure of helping him research some of the early storyline, his eye for detail was exceptional...
I've already read An office and a Spy. I have a few reservations about it which I'll not divulge until you've finished the book, it is far better than The Fear Index though. I started to read Summer - America 1927 but just couldn't get into it, although it was a picnic compared with A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man which I'm currently looking for reasons not to pick up again. Terry Venables' latest autobiography, Born to Manage, was a far more satisfying read! Have you read "Pure" by Andrew Miller?
Wubba stop pissing around and get a kindle. Many classics are now out of copyright and available for free. I'm pretty sure that A Tale of Two Cities is the best book I've read in the last couple of years, it didn't cost a penny. The weight and easy of transport arguments are very compelling. You wont regret it once you've gone abroad. You will also be able to download any new books directly to it and not have to muck around getting them shipped out. You know it makes sense.
I haven't read 'Pure' but the reviews sound interesting, I'll give it a go. About halfway into An Officer and a Spy now, still enjoying it but I'm not learning anything other than what I could pick up through a Wiki article on the affair. I think he needed to put some real fiction into it, its just a dramatised account of the known facts as far as I can see. And we know the outcome. A Portrait of the Artist (moo cow) challenging? Its Janet and John compared to Ulysses or Finnegan's Wake, neither of which I've got anyway near finishing.
Some pre-orders for next summer: Life In The Old Sod Yet - Harry Redknapp My Second Day Out At Wembley - Tony Fernandez Still At The Top - Rio Ferdinand Preparing For The European Dream - Phil Beard 32 Goals And Still Hungry - Charlie Austin My Year Of Silence And Glory - Joey Barton
Not challenging mate, just there is nothing in the book to make me want to continue. I have no affinity with any of the characters. It sounds like you already come across one of my reservation about An Officer and a Spy, I doubt you are that far off the other.
I finished the book ages ago, with a vague feeling of dissatisfaction. I think he also bottled the rampant anti-semitism of France at the time, and frankly the central character was probably not the most interesting one. And of course it finished way before the end of the real story. Now looking forward to the publication on Thursday of James Ellroy's next "Perfidia" though he is a very acquired taste. Also aim to read "Sapiens- a Brief History of Humankind" which is the current radio 4 book of the week. The 15 minutes today was brilliant.. You'll never look at a Peugeot in the same way again.
I had more that a vague feeling of dissatisfaction. I'm not as familiar with the events as you, but the story just petered out. I guess that must be accurate, but disappointing. Did you try Pure? I've just read "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Kline (Flyer would love it!) and then The Uses of Literacy (another bland study of nothing in particular), so I'm on to Frederick Forsyth (The Kill List) next, back to "The Master Story Teller".
currently reading bombmaker by Stephen leather never heard of him till last month writes a good page turner
I'm currently wading through The Road to Gandolfo by Robert Ludlum. I do most of my book buying from charity shops and bought it on the strength of the Bourne books. I was slightly dismayed to see that the foreword from the author saying that it started as, what he thought was, a brilliant idea but had him in hysterics at the preposterous nature of the story by the time he was half way through. I tend to have a clear divide between books I'll keep and books I'll give back to the charity shops. This is the definitely the latter but frees up shelf space. Previously, I read the Tiger in the Well by Phillip Pullman (surprised to find out it was a sequal to a book we read for English at school) and I have a Gerald Seymour (as recommended by Oslo) book coming up. It's always fiction and ranges from the higher, more classic end (Marquez, Dostoyevsky) to the geeky (Asimov) to complete pap (Clive Cussler - not making that mistake again).
I have just read "playground of the gods" by Ian Stafford. He is a sports reporter who gets to live a fantasy sports year. Approaching his mid 30’s he has an early mid-life crisis, but with his work contacts is able to combat it in the best way possible. He gets to go and train for a few weeks with the top sporting stars of the era. Who wouldn’t like to be able to swap shin-pads with Flamengo in Brazil, get your arse handed to you by Jansher Khan, the Springboks & the Aussie Test squad, throw-up with the Kenyan middle distance runners, and Redgrave / Pinsent, or feel a right-hander from Roy Jones JR? For all of us who think that we could have been international sports stars, if we just had a little bit of opportunity (and dedication) it is a reality check!!!
I'm another charity shop book surfer, after working in a book warehouse a few years ago it's pretty shocking how little books cost to make, how many go to waste and how much shops charge for new ones! I read the Bourne Books a few years ago and found them that little bit too preposterous...they managed to strip quite a lot of that out for the films! I tend to flounder between crime fiction and travel books. Absolutely love James Ellroy - the American Tabloid trilogy are incredible, how they aren't films yet is beyond me - and you can't go far wrong with some Raymond Chandler for private detective classics. I find a lot of the newer crime books (Jo Nesbo etc) can be quite formulaic - once you've spotted one twist, it's quite easy to see where it's coming in the next book. One of the best travel books I've read recently is Blood River by Tim Butcher - great account of his trip down the River Congo...I'm always reading books about the Congo, I hear they drink Um Bongo there...
Fred Vargas (a french lady author) is well worth a read, very quirky detective novels. I've read all of them now and have to wait a while for another... Anyone else like me and have to read novel series in the correct chronological order? OCD ... Re the kindle, I got one for Xmas last year and didn't think I'd like it but I do! Highly recommended, no waiting for delivery, books are cheaper, don't get in trouble with er indoors as "what, even MORE books, how many do you NEED!"
I liked the Carlos the Jackal parts of the Bourne books but they have descended in quality a bit after the change of authors. I've not read any Raymond Chandler but did read the Maltese Falcon a couple of years back and enjoyed the lucid atmosphere that Hammett created - I will have to give him a look. In terms of pure crime, Mario Puzo is a personal favourite. Sometimes the characters are a bit too adept but the interchanges between them (especially the mafia family members) and the action sequences are all laid out pefectly and I haven't found one of his that hasn't been compelling to the last. I'll also see if I can locate any James Ellroy books given the glowing recommendation although finding the first of a trilogy is a challenge in charity shops (although the slightly trendier Oxfam bookshops can come up trumps) but the patience required means it is more rewarding when it pays off.
As mentioned earlier in the thread, Ellroy can be an acquired taste, some of his writing becomes almost like beat poetry the way he uses short sentences but if you get used to it I don't think there's a better crime/thriller writer. I've always found it tough to find his books in charity shops - maybe a sign of the quality - people tend to hold on to them!
...as opposed to the plethora of EL James and Stieg Larsson that seem to be lining their shelves (not interested at all in the former and got two and a half books through the Millennium trilogy before I completely lost interest).
James Ellroy is a proper writer, but it's unremittingly dark stuff. Even his heroes are usually deeply flawed, he never shies away from showing the worst of human nature. His own early life has clearly had a grave impact - his mother was murdered when he was 8 or 9, and he was little better than a petty criminal himself for a long time. Matt, you may have seen the film L.A. Confidential, which is based on the Ellroy novel of the same name. The film is very good, but can't capture the genius of the book. As Badger says, his American Underworld trilogy - American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand and Blood's a Rover is simply stunning, weaving criminal and police fiction into real events with real people as characters - the assassinations of JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King, the roles of Nixon and Hoover etc etc from the late 50s to the early 70s. I could imagine these as a long, multi-episode high quality TV series Badger, struggle to squeeze them into films without losing a lot. A lighter alternative is Carl Hiaasen, who's Florida based crime novels are very funny.
Now there's a box set I'd be interested in...I find film adaptations of books I love a tricky balance...if the film sticks too closely to the book there's little point. Some books almost just become scripts, No Country for Old Men springs to mind, great casting and cinematography but they didn't have to work too hard at the script! I thought LA Confidential was a good adaptation, dropped one of the story lines from the book but retained it's darkness. Some top acting too. Might be time to dust of American Tabloid again (think I've read it twice already)..
