Mixed reviews on Le
Carre, with some saying it's a rehash and spying by numbers. You need to have
read The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to get the
most out of it, but as with anything Le Carre, I loved it. Familiar characters
reappearing for another adventure. The biog of Attlee is influenced by current
events in the party, with Bew not a fan of Corbyn and the left. He goes out of
his way to draw distinctions between Attlee's philosophy and that of Corbyn,
and rubbishes Bevan at any opportunity he gets. I'm not saying these
distinctions and criticisms don't have substance, but it got a bit too
polemical and not enough historical sometimes.
Appointment in
Samarra is from the 100 Essential Novels. Another NE (Pennsylvania) small town
upper-middle class novel. Aaarrgghhhh.
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