The le Carré Cast - A podcast on John le Carré novels

This episode I’m excited to welcome John le Carré’s biographer Adam Sisman to the show.

We discuss his latest book The Secret Life of John le Carré which looks at le Carré affairs which Sisman left out of his previous biography.

Topics include why Sisman felt he needed to write this new book, the push and pull between biographer and subject, le Carré and Bond, and Sisman’s affection for le Carré.

All that and more in this episode.

Come back in two weeks for our next episode.

Sisman’s lecture on le Carré’s anti-Americanism – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSRMugt41xs&ab_channel=AmericanHistoricalAssociation

Buy The Secret Life of John le Carré –

US – https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-secret-life-of-john-le-carre-adam-sisman?variant=41007957671970

UK – https://profilebooks.com/work/the-secret-life-of-john-le-carr/

The Professor and the Parson –

US – https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/675488/the-professor-and-the-parson-by-adam-sisman/

UK – https://profilebooks.com/work/the-professor-and-the-parson/

Boswell’s Presumptous Task – https://www.amazon.com/Boswells-Presumptuous-Task-Making-Johnson/dp/0142001759

The New Yorker Podcast on le Carré – https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/critics-at-large/spies-sex-and-john-le-carre

Jeff’s site – SpyWrite.com

Jeff’s twitter – @spywrite

The le Carré Cast - A podcast on John le Carré novels is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://lecarrecast.com/

We continue our three part look at A Private Spy: The letters of John le Carré edited by Tim Cornwell. In part 3 we’ll be talking about what we learned about le Carré’s novels.

Returning to discuss the book is Guillam groupie, Matthew Bradford., we discuss le Carrê on James Bond, The Night Manager adapations, and Ludlum-esque title of The China Target.

Plus, Matthew makes his pitch to be the editor of an annotated release of le Carré’s film scripts! Le Carré estate, if you’re listening, I’ll get you his number.

All that and more in this episode.

Come back in two weeks for our next episode.

A list of Legacy libraries – https://www.librarything.com/legacylibraries

Matthew’s twitter – @doubleosection

Matthew’s Website – Double O Section

Jeff’s site – SpyWrite.com

Jeff’s twitter – @spywrite

The le Carré Cast - A podcast on John le Carré novels is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://lecarrecast.com/

We continue our three part look at A Private Spy: The letters of John le Carré edited by Tim Cornwell. In part 2 we’ll be talking about what we learned about le Carré’s professional life.

Returning to discuss the book is Circus cognoscente, Matthew Bradford.

We discuss le Carré’s feudin’ and fightin’ with critics and friends, his input on cover art, and his love/hate relationship with film adaptions. Plus, why Silverview was terrible to release when written but the perfect posthumous novel!

All that and more in this episode.

Matthew’s twitter – @doubleosection

Matthew’s Website – Double O Section

Jeff’s site – SpyWrite.com

Jeff’s twitter – @spywrite

The le Carré Cast - A podcast on John le Carré novels is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://lecarrecast.com/

We’ll be taking a three part look at A Private Spy: The letters of John le Carré edited by Tim Cornwell. In this episode we’ll be talking about what we learned about le Carré’s personal life.

Returning to the podcast to discuss the book is living le Carré encyclopedia Matthew Bradford.

We discuss whether the first letter in the book was the inspiration for Harry Potter, le Carré’s relationship with his step-mother, and his increased guardedness in letters later in life. Plus, the most “le Carré and his dogs” talk than has ever happened anywhere else before!

All that and more in this episode.

Come back in two weeks for our look at his professional life.

Matthew’s twitter – @doubleosection

Matthew’s Website – Double O Section

Jeff’s site – SpyWrite.com

Jeff’s twitter – @spywrite

The le Carré Cast - A podcast on John le Carré novels is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://lecarrecast.com/

In this episode we continue our look at John le Carré’s 1999 novel, Single and Single.

Returning to discuss the book is espionage and nonfiction author Adam Brookes.

We discuss Adam’s interactions with shady Russians in the 90’s, why le Carré just can’t quit Russia, and that wild ending. Plus, is there such a thing as Chekhov’s Motorcycle?

All that and more in this episode.

The full interview with le Carré for the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy DVD release – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89FHIGL3N54

The Acorn DVD set.

My interview with Adam for Spybrary – https://spybrary.com/conversation-with-spy-author-adam-brookes/

Adam’s Website – https://www.adambrookes.com/ 

Adam’s Twitter – https://twitter.com/AdamBrookesWord 

Adam’s spy trilogy – Night Heron, Spy Games, The Spy’s Daughter – https://www.adambrookes.com/philip-mangan-series 

Fragile Cargo: China’s Wartime Race to Save the Treasures of the Forbidden City – 

US – https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fragile-Cargo/Adam-Brookes/9781982149291 

UK – https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/441577/fragile-cargo-by-brookes-adam/9781784743796 

Jeff’s site – SpyWrite.com

Jeff’s twitter – @spywrite

The le Carré Cast - A podcast on John le Carré novels is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://lecarrecast.com/

In this episode we look at John le Carré’s 1999 novel, SIngle and Single.

Joining me to discuss the book is espionage and nonfiction author Adam Brookes.

We discuss Adam’s first encounters with le Carré, the British boarding school system and tropes seen in le Carré’s female characters? Plus, whether the first chapter of the book makes the book worth reading?

All that and more in this episode.

The Big Con by David Maurer – https://www.amazon.com/Big-Story-Confidence-Man/dp/0385495382

My interview with Adam for Spybrary – https://spybrary.com/conversation-with-spy-author-adam-brookes/

Adam’s Website – https://www.adambrookes.com/ 

Adam’s Twitter – https://twitter.com/AdamBrookesWord 

Adam’s spy trilogy – Night Heron, Spy Games, The Spy’s Daughter – https://www.adambrookes.com/philip-mangan-series 

Fragile Cargo: China’s Wartime Race to Save the Treasures of the Forbidden City – 

US – https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fragile-Cargo/Adam-Brookes/9781982149291 

UK – https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/441577/fragile-cargo-by-brookes-adam/9781784743796 

Jeff’s site – SpyWrite.com

Jeff’s twitter – @spywrite

Essay Music by Lexin_Music from Pixabay

The le Carré Cast - A podcast on John le Carré novels is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://lecarrecast.com/

Frank Sennett joins the show to talk about political thrillers and Mick Herron and John le Carré.

We talk about US versus UK spy novels, Matt Helm, and favorite Herron and le Carré novels. Plus we talk about how to write politics in fiction without alienating readers and how one author used the nuclear option to get their publisher to pay more.

Frank’s book Shadow State is out now.

Frank’s site – http://franksennett.com/

Shadow State – https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717325/shadow-state-by-frank-sennett/

The le Carré Cast - A podcast on John le Carré novels is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://lecarrecast.com/

We raised $1300 for Room to Read this holiday season. Thanks to everyone who donated. If you still wanted to donate, go here or share the link – http://tinyurl.com/spiesread

We are back with a interview with founder of Guillam Coffee and le Carré superfan Abdelrahman Fathalla. We talk about why he named his business after Peter Guillam, how he started reading le Carré’s novels and the amazing story of the time he met John le Carré.

All that plus why younger people should read le Carré, thoughts on the recent tv adaptations of his work and why Guillam Coffee should be your go-to London coffee shop.

Guillam Coffee on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/guillamcoffeehouse/

Guillam Coffee’s website – https://www.guillam.co.uk/

The le Carré Cast - A podcast on John le Carré novels is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://lecarrecast.com/

Donate to Room to Read here or share the link – http://tinyurl.com/spiesread

We are back with a look at some of John le Carré’s unused book titles. These have been gathered from Adam Sisman’s biography, John le Carré: A Life, as well as a few from A Private Spy: The letters of John le Carré.

For more on spy book titles, listen to this episode of Spybrary where I speak with author Jeremy Duns on the difficulty of picking a book title – Title Fight! The good, the bad and the ugly of spy book titles.

See the list below –

A Clear Case of Suicide

The Carcass of the Lion

The Two-Stroke Lover

All My Life I Have Been Terrified of Ridicule

The Love Thief

The Death of Christopher Robin

The Reluctant Autumn of George Smiley

Operation Limberlost

The Twelfth Direction

The Pigeon Tunnel

The London Occasional

A Spy for Reasons of Politeness

The Giant Hunter

The Twice-Promised Girl

The Piper and the Tune

The Cage on the Roof

The Girl on the Casino Roof

Taking One All the Way Through

The Burn Box

A Man with Two Houses

A Spy with Excellent Manners

Plain Tales from the Circus

The Interrogators’ Poll

The Case Officer

The Silent Pilgrim

A Woman of Cairo

The Junior Leader

The Unknown Soldier

The Underground Soldier

The Last Clean Englishman

The Camel’s Nose

The Passion of his Time

The Road to Honeybrook Farm

A Man of the Caucasus

The Free Servant

The Siege of Heidelberg

Sasha’s Virtue

The Stay-Behind Man

Secret and Beyond

The Angry Gardener 

Jeff’s site – SpyWrite.com

Jeff’s twitter – @spywrite

Music by SergeQuadrado from Pixabay

The le Carré Cast - A podcast on John le Carré novels is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://lecarrecast.com/

Donate to Room to Read here or share the link – http://tinyurl.com/spiesread

We are back with a look at the new release A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré. I’m pleased to welcome Steven Ritterman, one of the foremost collectors of le Carré in the world, to the show.

Steven reveals his top five letters from the recently released book. We talk about the letters as well as a bit about what else the estate may end up releasing. All that and more in this episode!

Steven’s Top Five John le Carré Letters

5. Le Carré’s letter to pharma execs following the release of The Constant Gardener. 

4. Le Carré’s letter to Tom Stoppard answering the question of just why he shelved his posthumously released novel Silverview.

3. Le Carré’s letter on his approach to writing his novel A Legacy of Spies.

2. Le Carré’s letter to his wife and sons looking at his past family relationships.

Bonus Letter – Le Carré talks about writing another Smiley post Legacy.

1. A writer puts down his pen

Others letters we discuss touch on his relationship with his stepmother, his care about his work and readers, and the proper spelling of his pen name.

Get a letter of your own from me. Email your address to lecarrecast [at] gmail [dot] com and I will send a spy letter of your very own.

Interact with Steven and other spy fans on the Spybrary Facebook discussion group – https://www.spybrary.com/facebook 

Jeff’s site – SpyWrite.com

Jeff’s twitter – @spywrite

The le Carré Cast - A podcast on John le Carré novels is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://lecarrecast.com/