ON MY NIGHTSTAND
What I’m Reading: John le Carré’s ‘The Spy Who Came in From the Cold’
Some critics see it as the ultimate in espionage fiction
Book critics avoid writing about what they’re reading for the same reason movie reviewers don’t opine on films while the projector is rolling: You want to avoid premature ejaculation.
It’s fairest to wait until you’ve finished a book to give a verdict. Your views may shift — favorably or unfavorably — as you go along. And you don’t want to shortchange authors or leave readers with a misimpression.
But in talking with other critics, I’ve enjoyed hearing what’s just landed on their Kindles or nightstands, and it’s sometimes led me to worthy books I might have missed.
In that spirit, this is the first in a series of brief occasional posts about what I’m reading and why. They imply no verdict but simply explain why I was drawn to a book.
On my nightstand
The book: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (first edition: Victor Gollancz, 1963)
The author: John le Carré
What it is: A novel about a disillusioned British secret agent, Alec Leamas, whose last mission before retirement takes him back to a…
