Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
One of the things that's become easier for me in recent years is
putting down a book before finishing it. When I was younger, I truly
believed that you had to finish every book you started, that you owed it
to the universe or the author or yourself or something.
Occasionally I'd put a book down and simply get distracted by other things, always with the intention to return later. This happened with both Lolita and Treasure Island. Then I would feel guilty about never getting back to the book. But with the expansion of my to-read list, I've become more willing to simply put down books I don't enjoy.
The easiest of all to put down was John le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy. And while part of that was due to my evolving attitude, it was mostly due to my utter confusion at this book.
After the movie came out last year, I started hearing good things about the book. I haven't read much in the spy genre, so I kept this book in mind as a possible gateway. Then I found it at a used book sale for 50 cents. (This low price tag also helped alleviate my guilt).
I was immediately overwhelmed by all the characters. There are tons of spies, many with multiple names, and I had an incredibly hard time keeping them straight. Since the book didn't include a list of characters, I turned to Wikipedia, where I managed to spoil myself for the entire plot of the book.
But even after I knew what was happening, I couldn't follow this book. There are flashbacks all over the place, stories within stories, and while I usually like this structure, it has to be done well. I couldn't read on my commute because if I put the book down in the middle of a chapter, I'd have to go start at the beginning of that chapter to keep everything straight. Even then I had to do a lot of work to figure out whether I was in the present or the past and whose point of view I was observing events from.
Ultimately it was just too much work without being enjoyable. So I gave up and dove back into more comforting genres. It could just be that the genre is not for me, or it could be this author or this book. I may pick up another spy novel in the future, if something intriguing enough comes along. But for now I'm sticking to sci-fi and fantasy.
Occasionally I'd put a book down and simply get distracted by other things, always with the intention to return later. This happened with both Lolita and Treasure Island. Then I would feel guilty about never getting back to the book. But with the expansion of my to-read list, I've become more willing to simply put down books I don't enjoy.
The easiest of all to put down was John le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy. And while part of that was due to my evolving attitude, it was mostly due to my utter confusion at this book.
After the movie came out last year, I started hearing good things about the book. I haven't read much in the spy genre, so I kept this book in mind as a possible gateway. Then I found it at a used book sale for 50 cents. (This low price tag also helped alleviate my guilt).
I was immediately overwhelmed by all the characters. There are tons of spies, many with multiple names, and I had an incredibly hard time keeping them straight. Since the book didn't include a list of characters, I turned to Wikipedia, where I managed to spoil myself for the entire plot of the book.
But even after I knew what was happening, I couldn't follow this book. There are flashbacks all over the place, stories within stories, and while I usually like this structure, it has to be done well. I couldn't read on my commute because if I put the book down in the middle of a chapter, I'd have to go start at the beginning of that chapter to keep everything straight. Even then I had to do a lot of work to figure out whether I was in the present or the past and whose point of view I was observing events from.
Ultimately it was just too much work without being enjoyable. So I gave up and dove back into more comforting genres. It could just be that the genre is not for me, or it could be this author or this book. I may pick up another spy novel in the future, if something intriguing enough comes along. But for now I'm sticking to sci-fi and fantasy.
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