Cannonball Read 11

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When Chickens Come Home to Roost

A Legacy of Spies by John LeCarre

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John Le Carre (I can never figure out how to consistently get the accent mark to work on here, so I’m just not going to worry about it) is kind of a “warm blanket” writer for me. I love his books, especially the George Smiley ones, and I turn to them when I’m a little blue or distraught or as a palate cleanser from a more challenging book. When I saw he had a new book out I was so excited and it did not disappoint. If you’ve read any of the other books, this one takes a very distinct […]

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2/6/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:2 |

Espionage: First as Farce, Then As Tragedy

The Tailor of Panama by John Le Carré

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I have yet to read Graham Greene’s famous spy satire Our Man in Havana, but I’m familiar with the premise and am well aware that John Le Carré is aping it here. He’s having a blast splattering colored paint on the immaculately white walls of British imperialism. Until he remembers that these characters have stories, hearts and lives too. That’s what makes The Tailor of Panama so fascinating. Transparently a satire of western intelligence work, Le Carré also paints vivid portraits of characters whose lives are impacted by their failed pursuits at advancement in western culture. There’s Harry Pendel, the half-Scottish half-Jewish secretly […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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1/18/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:8 |

A spy, a Scottish detective, and a gender-less narrator walk into a book

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; Written on the Body; When will there be Good News? by John Le Carre; Jeanette Winterson; Kate Atkinson

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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: 3/5 Stars Sometimes when I have seen the movie version of a book first, I run out the same day and find a copy of the book. Sometimes I even go read books for movies coming out even if I have no desire to see the movie, just in case I ACCIDENTALLY see the movie. I am not saying it’s sane; it’s just what I do. With this one, I saw the movie a few years back and I think I liked it a lot, but I am not sure I liked this book much at […]

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10/27/2017 's CBR9 Review No:434 |

My First Le Carre

Call for the Dead: A George Smiley Novel (George Smiley Novels Book 1) by John Le Carre

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So this book was originally published in the 1960’s I believe.  You can tell only a little bit in my opinion.  Obviously the technology is very dated, and the way of doing things is a little bit too.  It didn’t really bother me though.  I got caught up in the action and the stories.  George Smiley has a lot of stories. This is the first book where Smiley appears.  There’s apparently seven books with him as the main character.  I like him.  It’s really hard not to.  He’s a former spy, and a current security agent of some sort?  I’m […]

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5/19/2017 's CBR9 Review No:25 |

“Any country that would sacrifice a little liberty to gain a little security, deserves neither and will lose both”

A delicate Truth by John le Carré

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When I was younger, my father told me that it is important to read the classics, the old masters. However, a person who only reads old stuffy tomes, tends to be a bit pretentious and what is worse, often boring. To avoid this worse-than-death fate, my father advised me to also be sure to read silly, weightless books, junk food for the mind he called it. And so when I was a child I picked up authors that would never be taught in any literature department, Pratchett, Agatha Christie, Le Carre. Little did I realize at the time my father […]

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1/27/2017 's CBR9 Review No:2 |

Chilly Spying

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John le Carré

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CBR IX: 1 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré What can be said about John le Carré that hasn’t already been said. It’s over fifty years since this novel was published. It’s fifty years since Richard Burton starred in the film adaptation. And like all influential reads it feels like you’ve read it before even if you haven’t. For some this is a problem, for me I just sat back and enjoyed the experience. Every spy film or book aiming for legitimacy tries for this level of tension and detail. Even if le Carré […]

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1/7/2017 's CBR9 Review No:1 |

I’m not going to lie to you. I mostly only read this because Eggs Benedict Cucumberbatch is in the movie.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

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Okay, so, previous statement about not lying may be slightly a lie. I originally bought this book in 2011 right before the movie came out. I don’t think Eggs Benedict was even on the menu at that point in my life. (I think I watched Sherlock for the first time later that year when it ran on PBS?) Anyway, I mostly bought it because I’d really enjoyed The Constant Gardener (and by really enjoyed I mean I FUCKING LOVED IT–that book slays me), and had also read A Perfect Spy* for a graduate seminar in English literature earlier that year and […]

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7/23/2014 's CBR6 Review No:63 |


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