To the day – the 12th of September 1963 – John Le Carré’s "The Spy who came in from the cold" hit bookstore shelves. To celebrate, I decided to finally get round to reading it. It’s been labelled many things, including ‘the definitive spy story’ or ‘the best spy story ever written’, and in many ways forms as the signature John Le Carré novel. It took me a few years and two attempts to get around to reading it, but then again my first attempt was hampered by my own impatience. Older and wiser, I've finally taken the vaunted steps into this dark world. Plot Synopsis In the height of the Cold War,and the shadows of the iron curtain, the British Intelligence hatch a plan to entrap a high level German officer. The plan though, involves a Trojan-horse like operation that may result in them knowingly sending one of their own agents to his death. Target When I first attempted to read this I was still a teenager, and couldn’t get to grips with the initial pacing. So the target is a more mature reader. But you grow accustomed to the pace as well as the style of the narrative – as certain things occur in an atypical timeline, learning of conversations and events that have already happened, to punctuate and better explain events in the present. Once you’re in the groove though, the pages will turn quite swiftly. “... I chose le Carré. God alone knows why, or where I had it from.” Bottom Line Painted by the dull colours of his time in the service, David John Moore Cornwell – pen name John Le Carré – had to forcibly retire from British Intelligence (MI5/MI6) in the 60’s because of the success of “Spy”. British tabloids somehow got hold of his true identity and the rest is history. Most of the great authors of the era tend to have some inside knowledge of the game (Robert Ludlum had his sources and friends within the CIA, Frederick Forsyth used his journalistic research skills for ‘The Day of the Jackal’), so the gritty and cold realism of his third novel seemed too good to be true in many respects. True enough, the world had never seen a book like it. It was, and still is the antitheses of the Spy novel we’re used to; namely the glossy, quirky, action packed and romanticized 007 archetypes. There are no gadgets or posh locations here, its all stark and in shadows, or alternatively, cold blinding and all exposing light. What struck me was the way Cornwell describes characters and makes the ‘grey area’ of the spy world so apparent. Seldom do you find a villain so grating and sinister simply by the nature of the description of the character’s physical appearance. The antihero is a man you wouldn’t ordinarily like… and that is essential to the tormented beauty of this story – it’s simply about people, who happen to find themselves on opposing sides of a wall. They may of course have different values, opinions and beliefs, but when you disregard the dividing lines, it’s hard, or impossible to tell them apart and decipher the good from the bad. Of course the pace does quicken, but it's more of a tightening, and the tension in the climatic scenes is unparalleled. If you enjoy this genre, then of course it goes without saying that this is a must read, a ‘must own’ even. It is a cold hard hammer of a spy story. Sometimes we do a thing in order to find out the reason for it. Sometimes our actions are questions not answers. Plainly put, there are two sides to every story, or genre… in the spy world, there’s the two polar opposites as mentioned above, and then there’s everything in between. It speaks volumes that in modern culture producers, filmmakers and storytellers have seemingly sought to find the balance or blend between the two worlds of espionage. Even Timothy Dalton aimed to dirty things up with a darker and grittier James Bond in his 1980’s incarnation, a dynamic that has been taken to heart in the latest Daniel Craig version, all to keep up with the times, with a wiser audience to cater for. David Cornwell set a trend, and continued it with his subsequent George Smiley novels, and that is a hallmark. It may not have been Cornwell’s first release, but this was the one that got him noticed in a big way, it was the one that made him… Film: The Spy who came in from the Cold was adapted for film starring Richard Burton as the fatigued and burnt out Alec Leamus and Rupert Davies as George Smiley. In 2011 we saw the release of “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” with Gary Oldman playing Smiley. David Cornwell’s sons have been spearheading the new wave of film adaptations with "A Most Wanted Man" to be released later this year (based on the Le Carré novel of the same name) starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman. The timing of the latter release earmarks it for award season attention. The trailer – Coming Soon! There's also a sequel to Tinker Tailor in the pipeline. The films have also rekindled the interest as book sales have spiked, with new and younger audiences drawn in to rediscover a literary legend and his collection of genre defining works. The 23rd and latest John Le Carre novel: 'A Delicate Truth'; view the Book trailer below. This of course all this, stories, novels and films, tell of a very amoral world, where men and women hold themselves to higher or simply a standard removed from everyone else, a world constantly aware of the puppet strings, the walking wounded – it is cold and dark and unromantic, yet for the larger population it intrigues us to no end… suffice is to say, we’d rather read about, and watch it on the silver screen than actually live it. But, for those who do, us novelists (me in my infancy as it is - I do aim to emulate the greats - and this is timely inspiration) try to tell their stories, amplify their voice in whichever way we can, and to take a line form the book, (because sometimes that voice is hard to hear, the message either plainly simple or incoherently convoluted in the grey stage of world politics and economics, and war) “Once she had cried out, and there had been no echo, nothing. Just the memory of her own voice.” Visit Author John Le Carré's official site at www.johnlecarre.com For an in depth interview to get a deeper sense of Cornwell the man, his personal life and what he’s up now in all his 81 year old glory, follow the link to an interview conducted by Dwight Garner for the New York Times earlier this year. We get to hear his thoughts on the modern Spy world as well as his sentiments about modern media and politics, even his views on the film Zero Dark Thirty. Article: John le Carré Has Not Mellowed With Age "A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world"
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Everyday seeds of espionage, or just self defense. by Steven Benjamin Think of this as a loose, tenuous, bare skeletal blueprint of the skills needed to be a spy. Needless to say extra âsignsâ are always welcome, like an undying penchant for extreme sports like skydiving and bungee jumping, as well as the ability to undertake great physical challenges which test your mental toughness⦠Oh, and maybe the natural gift of knowing how to dress well, wear a tailored suit, or in the case of a femme fatale, control a room with an elegantly subtle evening number. 1. Do you have an eye for detail? 2. Are you something of a loner? 3. Are you a good poker player? 4. Are you physically fit without advertising the fact? 5. * Do you happen to know the 5 strongest or best natural tools (read weapons) your body possess (even without martial arts training⦠and by association, are you then aware of the main weaknesses of the human body?) * 6. When entering a room, do you first suss out the exit points? 7. How good is your general knowledge and memory, and are you capable when it comes to applied knowledge and resourcefulness? 8. Are you good with your hands, beyond simply decent hand-eye coordination? 9. Do you like adventure and traveling long distances? 10. Are you a good driver? If you're interested in the know how of the Spy world then visit these handy sites for tips on how to be a spy and how to spot one. > Spot a spy > Be a spy [ * Our bodies 5 best weapons (handy for self defense)
Top 5 weaknesses (easier to spot)
Depending on where you are, Skyfall is either out or still coming (very soon), either way I hope it does the job of in some way rectifying the sad year weâve had in terms of film releases. Aside from a couple of big budget superhero sequels there hasnât been much to be excited about â and Iâm on the side of those who was disappointed by The Dark Knight Rises (it says something that The Avengers had better box office earnings than TDKR)⦠so sad, lets end the year on a high. << Coming soon! In the coming weeks I will be featuring the talents of some of my artistic friends, focusing on poetry, art, photography and film-making. Stay tuned! >> So, by way of an update, and to explain my absence; last week I was in Pretoria, South Africa (our dear nations capital) for a week long workshop organized by the African Renaissance Foundation. So, as of last week I'm an African Renaissance writer, but more on that later, because before I get into the nitty-gritty's of what all that means, I'll distract you with some amazing and fantastical news like a magician casting a spell... something to look forward to later this year where I hope it will meet and exceed expectations, unlike The Dark Knight Rises (although still a good film - I was expecting more than just good). I speak of course of Skyfall - the latest in Daniel Craig's Bond capers. An interesting titbit to wet the tastebuds,and the um, earbuds... earlobes then. Adele is on board for the intro theme song. (A day or two late I suppose but it's still news worth spreading)
Hopefully this will rectify the fiasco that was the Quantum of Solace Alicia Keys (shake your head, "tut-tut" and close your ears) and Jack White (I liked his parts) scream fest. As is the case with all such things, a bit of controversy was infused when she announced the exciting news on her twitter account... and the track was released early (read pirated), alas, the sky will fall. I'm holding out until the official release of course, or until I see the film. Few would pick him, I know, and yes, there have been so many before me who’ve embarked on this topic, though most have done so in jest. Firstly, I am a very big fan of Daniel Craig, but for the sake of this article, I’ll regard his era as a sort of stand-alone franchise… Let me dive right in as to why I think Timothy is the one; of all the pre-millennial bonds, he was probably the only one, apart from maybe Sean Connery, who could throw a legitimate punch. I say this because all the others looked very staged in their action sequences. I’ll give Sean the benefit of the doubt because for that time period it was acceptable – it seemed more about the ‘threat’ of violence than the actual partaking in it, and the style of filming was very different back then... From a purely “agent-world” perspective, the lesser known Dalton provided the most legitimate turn, whereas the others were quite obviously actors playing a role. Connery had all the looks and swag to make the character iconic on the silver screen, but in terms of James Bond being an action man, agent and super spy, Dalton is the real deal. Let us not even touch on the farcical Roger Moore era (okay the early few were good, but he hung on – or they hung on to him – for far too long). Floating down a river in a fake crocodile – REALLY! Everything became too comical and spoof-like, and then there was his age: he just looked too old to do anything (believably) worthwhile fro Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Can anyone confirm whether or not Lazenby’s Worchester Sauce is named after the actor? Where Pierce Brosnan went wrong was in that scene in Tomorrow Never Dies, where he’s controlling his car with his mobile phone (though truth be told he could claim to be the victim of time appropriate script writing and the explosion of the technological age) – resulting in the Achilles heel of the story: an over reliance on technology and cliches. I actually enjoyed that film mind you, although Golden Eye was better (those were the best two of the Brosnan era – forget the other two where they took Bond to a new low with non-actresses Halle Berry and Denise Richards; great to look at, but seriously lacking talent wise). The thing of it was though, that Brosnan’s era suffered from a similar syndrome to that of the Moore era – getting caught up in unrealistic, sometimes farcical, and generally generic storyline habits. They’d find a formula and drone it out until there was nothing left to be had. (*even Brosnan has come out and said in hindsight he's somewhat embarrassed by some of his later turns, in light of Daniel Craig's steely version) Getting back to Dalton though; Eva Green mistakenly claimed (in an interview for Casino Royale obviously) that it was the first time we would see blood on James Bond’s face. But of course Timothy Dalton’s Bond can lay a legitimate claim to that, although Craig is a lot grittier and dirty, I still think Dalton tried to do with Bond, what Craig is doing now… it’s just that his production crew weren’t on the same wave length. So, the reason I say Dalton is the best, is because he was the first who attempted to draw closer to the character penned by Ian Fleming. After all, the reason many weren’t, or aren’t a fan of Timothy is because his was the atypical Bond, the first to wear a suit without a tie… it was brash, and perhaps a little too brazen for some of the fans of the more old fashioned ‘swirl your Martini and lean on the bar’ style. He was seen more in the company of the British SAS and has been referred to be R. Moore as hands-down the best actor (talent wise) to fill the role. Although his two films had there faults, as many do, I believe, for these reasons above, that Timothy Dalton’s – his version at least – was the best Bond, preceding Daniel Craig – the first real hard edged/nosed agent, with just a dab of suave. The Bond Vacation [courtesy of L.A Stretch Limos]:
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