The Pigeon Tunnel
Stories from My Life: NOW A MAJOR APPLE TV MOTION PICTURE
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4.8 • 11 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING MEMOIR OF SPY-WRITING LEGEND JOHN LE CARRÉ
*NOW A MAJOR APPLE TV MOTION PICTURE*
'As recognizable a writer as Dickens or Austen' Financial Times
From his years serving in British Intelligence during the Cold War to a career as a writer, John le Carré has lived a unique life.
In this, his first memoir, le Carré is as funny as he is incisive - reading into the events he witnesses the same moral ambiguity with which he imbues his novels. Whether he's interviewing a German terrorist in her desert prison or watching Alec Guinness preparing for his role as George Smiley, this book invites us to think anew about events and people we believed we understood.
Best of all, le Carré gives us a glimpse of a writer's journey over more than six decades, and his own hunt for the human spark that has given so much life and heart to his fictional characters.
'No other writer has charted - pitilessly for politicians but thrillingly for readers - the public and secret histories of his times' Guardian
'When I was under house arrest I was helped by the books of John le Carré . . . These were the journeys that made me feel that I was not really cut off from the rest of humankind' Aung San Suu Kyi
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Always insightful, frequently charming, and sometimes sobering, the memorable tales told by master storyteller le Carr (A Delicate Truth) about his life will surely delight both longtime fans and newcomers. Le Carr 's stories take readers around the world, covering his posting as a young intelligence officer in post-WWII Germany, his time in Gorbachev's Russia, and research trips for his novels. His witty reminiscences of situations both dangerous and absurd, and his well-delineated portraits of exceptional and quirky figures, bring to life the extraordinary adventures that fed his novels. Those novels deal with the slippery world of espionage, political intrigue, and secret agents most famously through the exploits of English spymaster George Smiley. (Alec Guinness, who portrayed Smiley memorably on television, figures prominently in le Carr 's memoir as well.) In perhaps the most serious chapter, le Carr talks candidly about his con artist father, Ronnie, and the failings of both father and son. But his self-deprecating humor and wit are never far away, and he proves a most elegant and genial host on this tour of his life and work.
