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Just seen the headlines that John le Carré has died. One of the great English writers of the last 50 years although his books might be more widely known via the fimls they inspired.
I met him once, although at the time I didn't realise that David Cornwell who invited us to call round for a drink was also John le Carré. I remember an evening with lots of heated discussion about British politics of the time (early 80s).
In reply to Doug:
Didn't Ron Fawcett have a run-in with him, he didn't like climbers apparently.
In reply to Doug:
Undoubtabley a popular author, he was was one I never really could never say I really enjoyed reading. I remember when Tinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy was first published in 1963 at the height of the Cold War, and finding it a difficult read, full of intrigue and difficult to follow. I had a similar problem when I read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, so after that I really gave up on his books.
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:
Hadn't heard that, we were invited to visit as he knew Ian Duckworth (one of our group of 6, all climbers based in Stirling or Glasgow) quite well from when Ian lived in Cornwall. That would have been Easter 1980 or 81.
Post edited at 08:13
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:
> Didn't Ron Fawcett have a run-in with him, he didn't like climbers apparently.
Do you know why?
In reply to Trangia:
Dunno - because he'd met Ron Fawcett? (Only joking...)
In reply to Doug:
Didn't Fawcett and Livesey name a route after him in Cornwall. And that name has subsequently been changed. Someone on here probably knows the story better than I do.
John
In reply to John Gresty:
> Didn't Fawcett and Livesey name a route after him in Cornwall. And that name has subsequently been changed. Someone on here probably knows the story better than I do.
> John
I thought that was Frederick Forsyth who was the 'Tw@t in a Clifftop Cottage'?
Post edited at 09:45
In reply to Lankyman:
I might have the author mixed up. It was quite a while ago that I heard the story.
John
In reply to Trangia:
> Undoubtabley a popular author, he was was one I never really could never say I really enjoyed reading. I remember when Tinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy was first published in 1963 at the height of the Cold War, and finding it a difficult read, full of intrigue and difficult to follow. I had a similar problem when I read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, so after that I really gave up on his books.
Definitely intricate, labyrinthine in places, but an author whose chapters I was always prepared to read twice if needed. Compellingly ornate plot threads, but what took him to a level above "writer of spy books" was the way his books were always more about the complexity of the characters and the emotional and mental traps they had all made for themselves than the mechanics of the immediate facts of the situation. The juxtaposition of the cold, administrative machine and the flawed and fragile people that made its constituent parts meant his writing was always very human and ultimately very humane.
In reply to Lankyman:
Wrong.
In reply to Trangia:
The Night Manager was class though.
In reply to John Gresty:
The betting is that it was Pete who named the route and attributed it to Big Ron. Pete would have thought, "Well, it's only HVS (or something like that), let's be generous..." Exactly his sense of humour.
The tale is that the route finished in John le Carré's garden, Pete belaying on his stone wall (a 'proper' belay). Seems that John le Carré liked his privacy (fair enough) and wasn't too amused.
I remember being in the Count House a few years ago and musing whether said route was in any guidebook. The person to whom I was musing replied firmly that he'd made bloody sure it wasn't (or was no longer). Sadly I was in my cups at the time and can't remember who aforesaid person was (if indeed, I even knew at the time). I'm sure it's an open secret among Count House regulars.
Mick
In reply to MonkeyPuzzle:
> The juxtaposition of the cold, administrative machine and the flawed and fragile people that made its constituent parts meant his writing was always very human and ultimately very humane.
Absolutely.
Mick
In reply to Trangia:
I'm with you Trangia. I only finished Tinker Tailor through a perverse determination to find out who dunnit. A book of his I really did enjoy though was The Pigeon Tunnel - a series of astonishing stories from his life.
In reply to Doug:
Ian Duckworth - some lights shine brighter than others but only last half as long. I probably have rose tinted glasses on but to me he was a legend.
In reply to Trangia:
> Undoubtabley a popular author, he was was one I never really could never say I really enjoyed reading. I remember when Tinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy was first published in 1963 at the height of the Cold War, and finding it a difficult read, full of intrigue and difficult to follow. I had a similar problem when I read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, so after that I really gave up on his books.
I had the same problem. Started reading Smiley's People. 'A Legend for a Girl' (one of the chapters iirc) - Jeez, what's that all about? Gave up on it. A few years later, started at Tinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy, the first one in the trilogy, not the third - maybe a good idea to (re)-start at the beginning?
Jim Prideaux living in his caravan, taking games at the minor public school... Jeez, what's that got to do with anything? Carried on, this time. Somewhere along the way, slowly, slowly the penny started to drop and I began to realise I was in the presence of a writer of towering genius.
Le Carré was deliberately elliptical. His modus operandi was to begin with some seemingly irrelevant detail at the edge of a circle. Slowly, slowly (sometimes deliberately maddeningly?) he'd go round and round the circle, each time getting ever so slightly closer to its centre.
When you finally arrive at the centre and realise what he's done, almost always it's too late. He's broken your heart. Whether you wish it or not, you're morally older, wiser and sadder.
Giving the Nobel Prize for Literature to Dylan (sure, a great songwriter, among my favourites) but not Le Carré says everything about the age which we inhabit.
Mick
In reply to Mick Ward:
One of the few authors I can read again and again as the stories draw you in.
And the Gary Oldman film of TTSS was excellent.
But not a patch on " A Most Wanted Man". Hoffman is superb in that role.
Post edited at 11:51
In reply to Doug:
I've enjoyed many of his books and he was a masterly writer but often descended into sexism/misogyny when portraying women who were variously: weak, stupid, traitorous, sex objects/goddesses - and occasionally all of these.
In reply to Mick Ward:
> Jim Prideaux living in his caravan, taking games at the minor public school... Jeez, what's that got to do with anything? Carried on, this time. Somewhere along the way, slowly, slowly the penny started to drop and I began to realise I was in the presence of a writer of towering genius.
I agree. Jim Prideaux is one of favourite characters. How does someone like him come to murder his best friend and former lover? Read the book and it becomes obvious that he can't do anything else.
I met George Smiley once or twice. He was a fellow of my college (and Cornwell's) and his house was just up the hill from where we lived in Burford for a while.
Post edited at 12:37
In reply to Mick Ward: le Carre cottage was at the top of Tregiffian cliff. Another author lived closer to Lamorna cliff, Derek Tangye and he objected to walkers following the coastal footpath before it became a popular thoroughfare. I had an encounter with him at one time as the indistinct path ran through his garden!
In reply to Stephen R Young:
A wealth of fascinating detail.
I've always regretted that my time in Ireland ended before yours' began. Would have been great to have met you. I had no interest in new routes then; how things change - particularly when you're fast running out of time! It seems that you made much better use of your time there. And good on you for it.
Mick
In reply to Doug:
Read TTSS before it was that well known and was totally fooled by whatever was 'The Circus'? Then slowly it begins to dawn that the spy industry has it own coded language. Not so much in the Spy that Came in from the Cold, but this indeed was a different era and time, when East Germany was a very dirty place, good at Athletics and cheating. My teacher for my A level Geography was a desciple of Walter Ulbricht and would often go on holiday over there fully paid for the the GDR. Or at least that is what I and the other students all thought. a real socialist. This was I imagine what triggered my initial interest in all the early Le Carre books.
In reply to Mick Ward:
> When you finally arrive at the centre and realise what he's done, almost always it's too late. He's broken your heart. Whether you wish it or not, you're morally older, wiser and sadder.
That's it in a nutshell. You start in a calm sea, not realising that you've already started your circling in the maelstrom. It starts with a decent, quaintly interesting but mildly boring chap who apparently used to do something in the Civil Service; the horrors of his past then become slowly replaced by worse horrors until he and his are devoured and erased from official memory. And the only one who really grieves is the sad, brilliant and tortured George Smiley.
I've spent the last 40 years constantly waiting avidly for the next Le Carré. For the last 10 years I would always hope that the one I'd just bought wouldn't be the last; now it's happened. His artistry and knowledge in constructing a plot and spinning the web were immense; his brilliantly written dialogues made you regularly force yourself not to peek at the next page solely to release the endlessly increasing tension. I'll miss his regular new books greatly, and look forward to the re-reads.
Post edited at 21:19
In reply to Doug:
Mick Ward's and most peoples' rambles regarding the Northern Lad's 'confrontation' with David Cornwell and the TIACTC nonsense is a touch er...rambling. Belaying on the Le Carré garden wall would be much the same as belaying in the Count House loo from the top of any Bosigran route. Years ago, I poked around the TIACTC tale, as a curious hack, but mainly because I had to make a name change for Martell Groove in the guidebooks. A decision taken by the CC and others (could be at MI5 level, eh..? Who knows). Did it matter? I don't think so. As always, only those involved know the full story, and even then perhaps not exactly. It grew legs. There was a suggestion that it was not DC who objected to the bonnie lads' antics. Allegedly, (see what I did there, to coin a cliché) they were cartwheeling along the top of the garden wall in best Northern Lad's' fashion. There were always people working around the place, gardeners, builders, general watch persons, all hard-nosed locals, all very protective, especially when DC was away, which was often.
Perhaps a bit of mutual willie-waving ensued from either side of a Cornish Berlin Wall. In the best spirit of hackery I can only say 'allegedly' as to details. A footnote of a footnote of a footnote, really. Ron Fawcett wrote DC a very courteous letter of apology sometime later. David Cornwell/John Le Carré had no angst regarding climbers. He was a pleasant, courteous, and quite a shy man. There were people, as I said, who were a little bit aggressive in defending a quicker access to Tater-du (one that is not included in the guidebook because of the usual legal reasons) and that did lead to a few unpleasant confrontations with local climbers. I met David Cornwell on several occasions and he was always friendly. These stories become cherished myths in all subcultures, not least in Le Carré's own genre, ironically.
In reply to Doug:
I always think of JLC's books as my first proper adult books I read. I'd read most of Alister McClean and Desmond Bagley then my brother passed a couple of JLC's to me. Some were quite hard work but very rewarding, it was a great shock to find flawed complex heroes and endings that left me feeling uneasy, no clean cut happy endings.
Sad there'll be no more, I think I'll start to work my way through them again.
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