Still working my way through the Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.
I've been reading a little in The Great Game: The Myth and Reality of Espionage by Frederick P. Hitz, which compares the reality of espionage with how it's been depicted in fiction. He mentions a lot of books by classic authors: Kim by Rudyard Kipling, The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, Ashenden by Somerset Maugham (which I'd never heard of), The Quiet American and especially, The Human Factor by Graham Greene. Hitz also mentioned Erskine Childers' The Riddle of the Sands and Eric Ambler's A Coffin for Demetrios. He mentions books Le Carre a lot: Russia House, The Perfect Spy, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. A great virtue of this book is that it is only 188 pages.
It is interesting to find out more, and especially about their motivation, about the Cambridge Five. Generally, I think I'd enjoy it more if I'd read Le Carre or any of these books. I've just read Nostromo by Joseph Conrad, and that was sometime back .. I don't really remember it but I think it shaped my view.
Oh, and I've been reading a little of London Holiday by Richard Peck. It seems very dated but it was published in 1998. It has a very gossipy tone, and it looks backward at the eighties, mentioning the AIDS crisis and the Princess of Wales. It's about the proprietress of a B & B on Radnor Walk in Chelsea and the four American women who come to stay for a London holiday.
I brought home At Home by Bill Bryson and I read a few paragraphs from the chapter on the Plum Room and felt entirely satisfied that I would enjoy it. I also brought home The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan but I haven't even cracked it open yet.
I've been reading a little in The Great Game: The Myth and Reality of Espionage by Frederick P. Hitz, which compares the reality of espionage with how it's been depicted in fiction. He mentions a lot of books by classic authors: Kim by Rudyard Kipling, The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, Ashenden by Somerset Maugham (which I'd never heard of), The Quiet American and especially, The Human Factor by Graham Greene. Hitz also mentioned Erskine Childers' The Riddle of the Sands and Eric Ambler's A Coffin for Demetrios. He mentions books Le Carre a lot: Russia House, The Perfect Spy, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. A great virtue of this book is that it is only 188 pages.
It is interesting to find out more, and especially about their motivation, about the Cambridge Five. Generally, I think I'd enjoy it more if I'd read Le Carre or any of these books. I've just read Nostromo by Joseph Conrad, and that was sometime back .. I don't really remember it but I think it shaped my view.
Oh, and I've been reading a little of London Holiday by Richard Peck. It seems very dated but it was published in 1998. It has a very gossipy tone, and it looks backward at the eighties, mentioning the AIDS crisis and the Princess of Wales. It's about the proprietress of a B & B on Radnor Walk in Chelsea and the four American women who come to stay for a London holiday.
I brought home At Home by Bill Bryson and I read a few paragraphs from the chapter on the Plum Room and felt entirely satisfied that I would enjoy it. I also brought home The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan but I haven't even cracked it open yet.
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