The Constant Gardener

[sirio11]

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I find this statement of le Carre's disgraceful:

"there is no law in life or nature that says great religions may be insulted with impunity."

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But, why?

Maybe you think that all religions may be insulted with impunity. If this is the case, I don't agree with you. But hardly I can qualify either case (yours or Le Carre's) as disgraceful.

[Cyrus]

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"There is no law in life or nature that says great religions may be insulted with impunity." -- LeCarré

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This is completely disgraceful - coming from a writer no less. I hope you understand why.

Do not think only of the "direct" insults (eg Kazantzakis' "Last Temptation Of Christ", Rushdie's "Satanic Verses", H. L. Mencken's all). Think of the inherently irreverent nature of Art, including fiction writing.

Without irreverence, we have nothing.

[Zeno]

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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with Alec Guiness,

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Was this a PBS 'series' back in the mid 80's. I remember a Smiley 'Spy'. It was many years ago but from what I recall it was great and well done.

-Zeno

[LomU]

it was BBC.

i really want to see this, will most likely be 6 months before it comes to New Zealand :/

[John Cole]

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People who have not lived through the Cold War cannot truly be moved by set pieces such as crossing Charlie point or intellectually digging up deep cover spies in a London decrepit flat.



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So, what do you say to the over 50 forum?

[Zeno]

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I find this statement of le Carre's disgraceful: "there is no law in life or nature that says great religions may be insulted with impunity."


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I find it repugnant.

I guess this is just something we will disagree on. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

-Zeno

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with Alec Guiness,

[/ QUOTE ]


Was this a PBS 'series' back in the mid 80's. I remember a Smiley 'Spy'. It was many years ago but from what I recall it was great and well done.

-Zeno

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Their were two PBS mini-series,Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People taken from the first and third novels of LeCarre's great George Smiley Trilogy.

His middle novel of the trilogy, The Honourable Schoolboy made 100 or so pages on bureaucratic infighting to find funding for a spy mission interesting and real.

To the young these books and series may seem dated and irrelevant, but for me they were the best novels ever written about the Cold War.

~ Rick

[vulturesrow]

I think that this thread has become the de facto over 50 forum. Look at all the geezers in here!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Cyrus]

The reason both series were great ("Tinker" as well as "Smiley's people", the former even more so) as were most of LeCarré's spy novels, is that there was never any certainty.

Neither operational certainty nor, more importantly, moral certainty. When the "good guys" (and they are all presented as humans, "good" and "bad" guys, even the Soviets) engage in torture, for example, to gain some ground in the spooks' war, that does their cause no good.

There is also tremendous empathy with the persons. Plus, a brilliant transfer of the whole Oxbridge climate of old schoolboys switching their allegiance from merry Albion, which nourished them and made them what they are, to the Soviet bear - because of the fascist threat and because of young men's idealism.

SPOILER : The climactic yet swift encounter in the military prison yard, where the mole is held, after being discovered and captured, between the mole and his lover of yore is among the best scenes on film, ever. To Ian Richardson and Ian Bannen go the honors.

[andyfox]

Yes, all religions, all everything, may be insulted by a writer with impunity. And certainly without the threat of being killed for it.