What It's Like to Write a New John le Carré Novel
The Book Review8 Nov 2024

What It's Like to Write a New John le Carré Novel

The works of John le Carré, who died in 2020, are among the most beloved thrillers of all time. For some, books like "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," "A Perfect Spy" and "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" are simply among their favorite works of literature ever.

So it was a perilous task that author Nick Harkaway, one of le Carré sons, set out for himself. The author of multiple well-received science fiction novels, Harkaway picked up the torch from his father to write a new tale starring George Smiley, the Cold War spy who has appeared in more than a half dozen novels. According to Harkaway, it took some work to figure out the right period to set the book in.

"Smiley's career is a little bit tricky in terms of the continuity because my dad, when he was writing these books, wasn't writing a franchise," Harkaway said. "He was writing one book after another, and each one was the only truth that he cared about."

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Avsnitt(584)

Welcome to Literary Award Season

Welcome to Literary Award Season

Literature isn’t a horse race. Taste is subjective, and artistic value can’t be measured in terms of “winners" and “losers.”That doesn’t mean it’s not fun to try.The book world’s awards season officia...

22 Nov 202546min

Nicholas Boggs on Writing a James Baldwin Biography

Nicholas Boggs on Writing a James Baldwin Biography

Nicholas Boggs’s “Baldwin: A Love Story,” is many things at once. It’s a comprehensive biography of James Baldwin. It’s a nimble excavation of Baldwin’s work, filled with astute literary analysis of h...

14 Nov 202536min

The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, 50 Years Later

The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, 50 Years Later

On Nov. 10, 1975, during a calamitous storm, the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk below the waves of Lake Superior. All 29 men aboard went down with the vessel. With no survivors and no eyewitnesses, there’s al...

7 Nov 202539min

Book Club: Let's Talk About 'The Buffalo Hunter Hunter'

Book Club: Let's Talk About 'The Buffalo Hunter Hunter'

“The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,” by Stephen Graham Jones, is two things at once: a searching historical novel that examines America’s past sins and also a gory horror thriller.The book opens in 2012, when...

31 Okt 202545min

Joe Hill's Scary Book Recs and Victor LaValle on "The Haunting of Hill House" (Rerun)

Joe Hill's Scary Book Recs and Victor LaValle on "The Haunting of Hill House" (Rerun)

May October never end! As Halloween approaches, we present you with two conversations from years past with great horror authors. Joe Hill, whose latest, "King Sorrow," is out now, recommends several g...

24 Okt 202547min

Stephen King Isn't Always Scary (with Sean Fennessey)

Stephen King Isn't Always Scary (with Sean Fennessey)

It's October, which means it's time for scary books and scary movies. There's one person who is well known for both: Stephen King. Since his first novel, "Carrie," was published in 1974 and adapted in...

17 Okt 202553min

Brandon Taylor On His New Novel, 'Minor Black Figures'

Brandon Taylor On His New Novel, 'Minor Black Figures'

The novelist Brandon Taylor has been a force to reckon with right from the start: His debut, “Real Life,” was a finalist for the Booker Prize in 2020, and he quickly followed that up with two other bo...

10 Okt 202540min

The Sunday Special: The Books We Read in School

The Sunday Special: The Books We Read in School

This week, the Book Review podcast presents an episode of The Sunday Special from early September.Book Review editor Gilbert Cruz talks with fellow word lover Sadie Stein and the author Louis Sachar (...

3 Okt 202539min

Populärt inom Fritid

somna-med-henrik
uggla-ugglas-podcast
man-i-grupp
svenska-fpl-podden
roda-vita-rosen
rss-livsreglerna
spokhistorier
rss-horrujeje
jordkommissionen
travpodden
bilar-med-sladd
rss-max-tant-med-max-villman
avsuttet-med-elsa-johanna
billgren-wood
rss-vara-klassiker
elbilsveckan
rss-speljuntan
kontrollbehov
nordigt
jag-ar-kinky