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#104465 06/02/03 09:06 PM
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anchita Offline OP
journeyman
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"I don't think le Carre has ever written a book with the screen play in the back of his mind."

Me neither... at least not Brosnan for Osnard; there are ample references in the book that Osnard was 'portly'... not how I'd describe Brosnan.

PS: Thanks for the review... I've just started reading le Carre... "A Perfect Spy" was my first one - loved it - "A Tailor.." is the second. Seems good so far... dunno how well he'll build upto the core issue though. Glad to be warned; keeps one from having great expectations...





#104466 06/03/03 12:57 AM
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...a wise-looking man.

Jackie - What the ***** is that supposed to mean???

Mercy--just that the reader is supposed to imagine the character with a wise expression on his face.
=======================================================

A writer gets so popular that demand outstrips supply
Yes--I was quite shocked to learn of this practice, back when my daughter was in the Baby-sitters' Club stage. Ann M. Martin had all kinds of ghost-writers, apparently, after Vol. 50 or so. I just figured it was for "bubble gum" type books like this, though, not serious writers like LeCarré.


#104467 06/03/03 11:26 AM
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Who is this ghost person called "Mercy"???

I'm still waiting for a *reasonable definition of "wise expression"...hardee-har-har


#104468 06/03/03 11:55 AM
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Tom Clancy comes to mind. Also, what's her name? The one who writes thrillers for teenagers—V.S. Andrews ©?, who is dead but her name is copyrighted.


#104469 06/03/03 11:59 AM
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Speaking of which, Roger Zelazny, one of the better SF writers, died a few years ago. Perhaps his best known work was the Amber series, which ran to some 10 books over 20 years. Another author, completely unmemorable, has taken up the mantle and is turning out more of them. As one fan put it "he's dead, and he should have stayed that way!".


#104470 06/03/03 12:53 PM
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"Tom Clancy comes to mind. Also, what's her name? The one who writes thrillers for teenagers—V.S. Andrews ©?, who is dead but her name is copyrighted."

Also L. Frank Baum, the author of The wonderful wizard of OZ. Some suggest he wrote only the first two in the series and the rest were done by his nephew. After the 14 published under L. Frank Baum's name, Ruth Plumly Thompson took over in admirable fashion. Apparently the next guy was basically no good.

I think novels featuring Ellery Queen were written by several different authors, or maybe I'm thinking of someone else.



#104471 06/03/03 01:12 PM
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During the Depression, my father supported himself partly by running a lending library out of his home (5 cents a day for a book) and partly by writing dime novels (these were in addition to his day job, which was running an ad agency with his first wife.)

He churned out a novel every weekend, turned it in to the publisher on Monday, and got a check for $10 on Friday. The publisher had a whole string of "authors" under whose names he published the books. The only credit my father ever received for the books was his name on the check, and no one in the family has the least clue of how many he wrote, what the titles were, or anything more than the above. This is another reason to interview family members to find out interesting things about them. I never knew this about my father until after he died, taking all the knowledge of the books with him.

While writing the last paragraph, I was reminded of one of my pet peeves, one which I don't think has been touched upon: the use of into where in to is required. Had I written "he ... turned it into the publisher" that would have meant a magical transformation of the manuscript to become the physicality of the publisher. And while Rem was good, he weren't THAT good!

TEd



TEd
#104472 06/03/03 03:46 PM
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The Little Drummer Girl came and went, quality-wise ~ Capfka

Each to his own, I guess. I thought the book was different in some ways from his previous work, but up there with his best, so travel hopefully anchita! You never know. The Smiley books were always good reading and are worth rereading.

Has anyone tried Len Deighton's massive Bernard Sampson series? As always his knowledge of Berlin is fascinating, but the series is endless! I'm glad that I read them as they appeared. I'm not sure I would take on the task of reading through them again, intriguing and well written as they may be.


#104473 06/04/03 03:09 AM
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I'm still waiting for a *reasonable definition of "wise expression"...
Wait no more, my friend. A person with a wise expression would almost certainly not be very young. He might be smiling slightly or not at all--his face would not be expressing much emotion at the time. His eyes would be looking directly into yours, and in their depths (and only there) you could read the knowledge, sorrow, and subsequent acceptancy. And THAT is wisdom.


#104474 06/04/03 05:07 AM
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old hand
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almost certainly not be very young .. Do you picture him with white eyebrows, at least?


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