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The Little Drummer Girl (69)
John le Carre'
This book took me forever to finish.. I won't even say how long I have been reading it. I have been off work and trying to read it, but not making much headway. Sometimes the leCarre books take me a while.. they are good but so complex that it is hard to get into a rhythm with them.
**spoilers**
This is the story of Charlie, a stage actress from England that is recruited by the Isrealies to be a counter agent to get close to a Palistenian they want to kill. As with many of leCarre's book you can never quite tell who side anybody is on.. even at the very end you are not sure which side Charlie is on.. and in the end the side doesn't matter because she is dead inside and unsure what to think.
It was a good book but very confusing at times.. read it when you have the time to read it quickly so you can keep track of all the characters and which side they are (suppose) to be on.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
The Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need (68)
The Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need
Dave Barry
Ah, Dave Barry.. what more do I need to say... A quick book to try to get my year end total up to 70.. I am also working on a LeCarre book that is taking much longer than I anticipated to get through.
Dave takes a look at travel, restaurants, airlines, and currency exchange, through his twisted view of reality.
Dave Barry
Ah, Dave Barry.. what more do I need to say... A quick book to try to get my year end total up to 70.. I am also working on a LeCarre book that is taking much longer than I anticipated to get through.
Dave takes a look at travel, restaurants, airlines, and currency exchange, through his twisted view of reality.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
December 6 (67)
December 6
Martin Cruz Smith
Smith is one of my favorite authors.. known for taking a deep (and often historical accurate) look in his books. This concerns Harry Niles a gaijin (foreigner) living in Japan. Except he IS Japanese, son of missionaries, he grew up in Japan, and lived among the Japanese as his parents (whom he detested) traveled trying to convert souls. Now an adult and owns a bar, and runs various scams. The war with China has brought mixed feelings, the diplomatic community does not think that Japan will attack the US.. But Harry has bigger problems like the Col who wants him dead, and his girlfriend who thinks double suicide is romantic.. and the husband of his mistress.
He seems to avoid the bigger problems.. but will he escape Japan and return to the US like his money did?
The book has more to do with his problems, and very little to do with Perl Harbor.. but still a good book.
Martin Cruz Smith
Smith is one of my favorite authors.. known for taking a deep (and often historical accurate) look in his books. This concerns Harry Niles a gaijin (foreigner) living in Japan. Except he IS Japanese, son of missionaries, he grew up in Japan, and lived among the Japanese as his parents (whom he detested) traveled trying to convert souls. Now an adult and owns a bar, and runs various scams. The war with China has brought mixed feelings, the diplomatic community does not think that Japan will attack the US.. But Harry has bigger problems like the Col who wants him dead, and his girlfriend who thinks double suicide is romantic.. and the husband of his mistress.
He seems to avoid the bigger problems.. but will he escape Japan and return to the US like his money did?
The book has more to do with his problems, and very little to do with Perl Harbor.. but still a good book.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
SS-GB (66)
SS-GB
Len Deighton
Deighton sets a premise that in 1941 Hitler invades Great Britain and wins. The story follows Archer, a Scotland Yard detective with his new Nazi masters. He is investigating a murder which everybody in Berlin is *very* interested in. He slips between the Nazi power brokers and the resistance with equal ease and you are never quite sure which side he is on. Set against the backdrop you learn about life in GB under Nazi occupation. Not quite the police state you might expect.. but more like war time in GB.. rations, curfews, shortages.
I understand that this is one of the great books in the alternative ending genere. Many people criticized Deighton because he was light on details about how England lost the war etc. But that is not the point of the book. It is just the back drop.. by giving few details it leaves it up to the reader to decide what must have happened.
One thing that struck me while I was reading this was the similarity between the main character Douglas Archer and Bernard Sampson lead character of the Game, Set, Match - Hook, Line, Sinker - Hope, Faith, Charity trilogies. SS-GB was written in 1978, five years before Berlin Game came out in 1983 introducing Bernard Sampson. Both characters have lost their wife (Archer loses Jill in a bombing, Sampson's wife defects) and have small children to raise (Archer a son, Sampson son and daughter). Both have "foreign" bosses. Archer has his Nazi masters, and Keller is trying hard to be British, just as Brett, the American tries to be in the Sampson stories. Their techniques seem similar also.. lots of looking things over and trying to figure out what is going on.. moving easily between different opposing groups.. always lots of friends to help out... I think in some ways Archer was the early character development which would become Sampson.
Len Deighton
Deighton sets a premise that in 1941 Hitler invades Great Britain and wins. The story follows Archer, a Scotland Yard detective with his new Nazi masters. He is investigating a murder which everybody in Berlin is *very* interested in. He slips between the Nazi power brokers and the resistance with equal ease and you are never quite sure which side he is on. Set against the backdrop you learn about life in GB under Nazi occupation. Not quite the police state you might expect.. but more like war time in GB.. rations, curfews, shortages.
I understand that this is one of the great books in the alternative ending genere. Many people criticized Deighton because he was light on details about how England lost the war etc. But that is not the point of the book. It is just the back drop.. by giving few details it leaves it up to the reader to decide what must have happened.
One thing that struck me while I was reading this was the similarity between the main character Douglas Archer and Bernard Sampson lead character of the Game, Set, Match - Hook, Line, Sinker - Hope, Faith, Charity trilogies. SS-GB was written in 1978, five years before Berlin Game came out in 1983 introducing Bernard Sampson. Both characters have lost their wife (Archer loses Jill in a bombing, Sampson's wife defects) and have small children to raise (Archer a son, Sampson son and daughter). Both have "foreign" bosses. Archer has his Nazi masters, and Keller is trying hard to be British, just as Brett, the American tries to be in the Sampson stories. Their techniques seem similar also.. lots of looking things over and trying to figure out what is going on.. moving easily between different opposing groups.. always lots of friends to help out... I think in some ways Archer was the early character development which would become Sampson.
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