The Secret Pilgrim - John le Carre. I particularly enjoyed this one! Written in 1990, Smiley has been invited to speak to students at Sarratt (the spy training school) where "Ned", former active spy and Smiley protégé, teaches. Questions from the students lead to reminiscences from the careers of Ned, Smiley or both. Great story telling by likeable characters; with final comments on the path of Russia, the US and Europe going forward from the Cold War by Smiley that provide powerful advice today.
The Little Drummer Girl - John le Carre. A painfully twisted plot dealing with an Israeli spy master arranging the murder of a Palestinian terrorist. Both sides of the Israel/Palestine conflict are told in heartfelt and meaningful ways. As always, le Carre has me delving into the history of incredible conflicts - including the role of my country within it.
The Long Goodbye: A Memoir - Meghan O'Rourke. Always searching for understanding regarding how my life and disease have affected those I love, O'Rourke's telling of how she, her brother, and father dealt with her mother's death from colon cancer at the age of 55, cut pretty close to the bone. But, her honesty was palpable and much appreciated.
Sorry for Your Trouble: Stories - Richard Ford. I wanted to like these stories. I chose this volume from the Pulitzer Prize winner, whose writing is sometimes compared to Updike's 'Rabbit' tales, as a test case. While Paris and New Orleans are pretty well described and felt, the characters - mostly middle aged men - remain unfinished and ambivalent - like the stories. While I do not need my reading tidy and wrapped up with a neat bow, stories do need something! As one critic noted, the stories felt like "sketches for a...novel-never-to-be." But, to be fair, I never liked Rabbit either.
The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah. As a complete opposite to Ford, this novel begins with a heart wrenching bang filled with characters you can see and care about taking off on a wild adventure - led by a tortured man, who proceeds to torture those around him - into the wilds of Alaska. However, the last half wraps things up too predictably with less reality than the incredible believability of the first.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and other clinical tales - Oliver Sacks. An incredible assortment of human conditions presented as case studies by Sacks. It is utterly amazing what the human mind can and cannot do.
Reading brings so much to my world. In the words on the page in the moment. But also in the follow-up research, further reading, introspection and the conversations with dear ones that those words provoke. Looking forward to more of that beauty in 2022. ~ les (74)
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