I was recently asked to write about various filming locations used in film adaptions of John le Carré movies by Discovery, the in flight magazine for Cathay Pacific Airlines. It was fun to hit some of the highlights, even if I couldn't touch on of his film adaptations as well as see it translated into …
Continue reading Filming locations of John le Carré adaptations
In addition to spies, I'm very much a political junkie. For those who are aware of his work that should make it no surprise that the writer Ross Thomas is one of my favorite authors. Although he rose to prominence with a spy story - his first book The Cold War Swap which he banged …
Continue reading Ross Thomas rarities – Brown Paper and Some String and Spies, Thumbsuckers, Etc.
I'm always on the hunt for new bits of history or trivia about the Circus. I've made a new find and I think you'll find it to be quite the treat. I was digging through some archives at the library and found one of Control's commencement addresses to the graduates of the Sarrett training camp. …
In this episode I provide an introduction to the world's most famous spy writer. John le Carré began writing novels as a way to relieve the boredom of his duties as an upper-class raised British diplomat. That was what the world was told. The reality was that he wrote under a pseudonym; in truth he was a spy for MI6. His ability to live two lives at once was what made him both a successful spy as well as one of the most famous espionage novelists of all time. Much of the research came from Adam Sisman's essential biography of le Carré. James Olson's book Fair Play was also quite helpful along with the collection of le Carré interviews called Conversations with John le Carré edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli and Judith S. Baughman.
I debated putting this out there, but decided that today is the day and not to wait. I received a huge surprise in the mail over the weekend. A package sent from Cornwall arrived on my doorstep. I've been eagerly awaiting the October release of Agent Running in the Field and in early April what …
Spies and romance. They go together like hand to fingerprint disguising glove. But how do we rank some of fictions greatest spies in the romance department? Well, if you’re looking to romance a spy, buyer beware. Let’s take a closer look - James Bond - Pros - Frequently wears a tuxedo. Dines in the best …
It's been over two years but I've laid hands on yet another abridged version of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. We've seen two previous abridged versions, one in a magazine called True and the next in Reader's Digest. Over three issues of Show - The Magazine of the Arts, October through December …
It's been over two years but I've laid hands on yet another abridged version of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. We've seen two previous abridged versions, one in a magazine called True and the next in Reader's Digest. My latest find ran in a magazine called Show - The Magazine …
The Literary Review, a quarterly publication by Fairleigh Dickinson University, dedicated their Winter issue in 2015 to fiction and poems that the editors felt in some way invoked the writings of John le Carré. Minna Proctor, the issue’s editor, refers to the issue as an experiment, and as such, I'd mark it as an interesting …
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Matryoshka Dolls