I have yet to read Graham Greene’s famous spy satire Our Man in Havana, but I’m familiar with the premise and am well aware that John Le Carré is aping it here. He’s having a blast splattering colored paint on the immaculately white walls of British imperialism. Until he remembers that these characters have stories, hearts and lives too. That’s what makes The Tailor of Panama so fascinating. Transparently a satire of western intelligence work, Le Carré also paints vivid portraits of characters whose lives are impacted by […]
I would like a copy of the ‘Buggre Alle This’ Bible.
This is one of those books that are good when you first read them, but get better as you get older. A lot of satire is probably like that, especially comic satire. I thought this book was funny in 2009, but now parts of it made me laugh so hard I was crying. Plus, I did the audio this time, and it made it even better. Martin Jarvis has a nice sense of comic timing, and his voice characterization is great, particularly for Crowley and Aziraphale. (The […]
“A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on.”
The press comes to Ankh-Morpork. Chaos, of course, ensues. William de Worde, a ne’er do well noble who is ashamed of his noble heritage, has until now made his living by painstakingly collecting news and sending off a sort of newsletter to foreign peoples of import who are willing to pay him for it. Then some dwarfs roll into Ankh-Morpork with something called a printing press, and suddenly, what if they printed a bunch of them and sold them for like, fifty cents? And maybe […]
What can I say about Between the Bridge and the River that has not been said before?
And with a close of this book I made the last Bingo book before the deadline! #cbr10bingo is now complete! What can I say about Between the Bridge and the River that has not been said before? I purposely did not read anything about this book before reading it. Sadly, now I wish I had found this book before the book club discussion. I would have a few things to say. Therefore, I am just going to give my impression of the book (as we probably […]