The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

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A fun read, but. It’s interesting to read about Le Carré’s reception as the deliverer of a more “realistic” spy than James Bond at the time of publication. His anti-hero in this book is edgier but basically just reads like a nihilistic, alcoholic misogynist in largely the same mold through today’s eyes. This novel kind of calls out masculinity, the zero-sum destructiveness of the Cold War, and so on.. but really it’s glorying in them, unsurprisingly. Beware fiction that trades on its own verity.