Hearing today about the death of John La Carre I have to admit to it bouncing straight off. It may sound heartless but in truth it's a name I know but have never had any interest in. That is not to say its not sad. It is. All death is sad. But if it had been a politician, reality TV star or anyone else I knew only by name it would have met with the same response.
Spy novels are not my thing. I don't like to ignore any genres but if I had to spy books would be high on the list. Just not my thing. Just like James Bond is not my thing. It's something very dated feeling to me no matter how they try to modernise it. Spy books hold the same disinterest. I remember in my younger days getting a computer game named "The Fourth Protocol" which came with the book and progressing in the game relied on reading the book. I tried but could not force myself to do it. To this day I still know nothing about it except someone is called Pasternak but that was from the game. I should also say I had the same experience with "The Hobbit" game. I know its not a popular thing to say but not a fan and even less of a fan after sitting for 2 and a half hours with a numb backside and my knees under my chin watching "The two towers".
There was though something today that gave me pause for thought. A show on the radio mentioned the death of La carre and guests were talking about him. A quite remarkable life actually from a short talk which had me feeling a little ashamed at dismissing him so quickly. Someone talked of "The spy who came out of the cold" and said it was the closest to his own life. Another talked of how he seemed to always be on the edge of things like being at public school but also being a bit of a rogue. A father connected to the Krays yet teaching at Eton. A life lived. An interesting life by all accounts. It made me firstly have the urge to read the aforementioned novel but subsequently instead seek out a biography.
And that took me back. I used to read a lot of biographies and it always amazed me how a lot of people were not who I thought they were. Some were better, some were not. Many lived fuller lives than I realised. Many were fascinating making me want to learn more of their work or at least left me with more of an appreciation of it. It gave me an appetite to read about other people from Napoleon to Jack Kerouac. It also got me thinking-- at the time. It got me thinking that every quarter or 6 months I should randomly pick a biography to read and read it regardless of any preconceptions. I never did. I might though start again with John La Carre.
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