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/lit/ - Literature

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18240361 No.18240361 [Reply] [Original]

Books where the protagonist engages in a protracted, intricate battle of wits with an equally intelligent opponent?

>> No.18240376

>>18240361
Is tinker tailor soldier spy comfy?

>> No.18240390

>>18240361
Bump

>> No.18240398

>>18240376
Yes, very much so.

>> No.18240402

Sherlock Holmes

>> No.18240413

Once I read this book called Chloe Jarren’s La Cucaracha, by Matt Stadler. Some posted it, saying it was weird, and I liked the title, so I bought it.
The story was meh. Characters were meh. Technically things happened, so I kept reading, but at no point did it surprise me, despite ostensibly being a mystery. I was really not-enjoying it very much, until I got to the end, and read the note from the author.
The book was a ‘cover,’ in the way songs can be covers; the writer admitted that he took the characters and story from a LeCarre novel, changed the proper nouns, and published the book himself. He called it a ‘literary cover,’ and he even explained that Chloe Jarred was just a pen name he used when initially publishing the story online, essentially to avoid any legal setbacks. I was so pissed off and felt so scammed I threw the book in the trash and now search endlessly for the anonymous fuck who recommended me that garbage so I can call him a faggot.

anyways, bump I guess...

>> No.18240438
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18240438

>>18240376
The whole trilogy (Tinker, Schoolboy, Smiley's People) is the best complete work of spy fiction ever written. Tinker and Smiley's People in particular are 10/10, rivalled only by The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, which is also by Le Carre.

Bluffs, double bluffs, deductive reasoning, lies, manipulation — it's like watching a grandmaster chess game play out, except with spies, double-agents and counterintelligence operatives instead of chess pieces.

>> No.18240477

>>18240438
Just bought all 4, cheers.

>>18240361
Crime and Punishment (Raskolnikov vs Porfiry), Darkness at Noon too on a smaller scale. Intellectual/philosophical struggles between an old Bolshevik and his interrogator, a former comrade. Cold war produces a lot of this comfy stuff.

>> No.18240490

>>18240376
It's like if you crossed The Departed, The Wire, and the Walt vs Gus stuff from season 4 of Breaking Bad, but removed 95% of the violence and replaced it with more complicated gambits and chicanery.

>> No.18240497

>>18240438
the movie is terrible, stop posting it

>> No.18240620

>>18240497
filtered

>> No.18240784

>>18240620
it's dreadful, watch the miniseries

>> No.18240805
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18240805

>>18240361
Druon's Accursed Kings series is phenomenally entertaining intrigue on par with the best spy lit.

>> No.18240808

>>18240784
I liked both, but agree that the miniseries was better.

>> No.18241008
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18241008

>>18240497
>>18240620
>>18240784
BBC mini series of TTSS is pure kino (along with the follow up Smiley's People), even though George is a jerk for always hating on Peter Guillam's car choices.

>> No.18242163

>>18240361
Bump for this.. Some great film recs but would love books.

>>18240477
Thanks, I've read C&P but will check out Darkness at Noon.

>> No.18243087

>>18240361
The Human Factor
The Third Man
and for a topsy turvy spin on this sort of thing Our Man in Havana

All by Graham Greene

>> No.18243155

Plato

>> No.18243291

>>18240784
Both masterpieces, thou art snob

>> No.18244538

>>18240361
American Psycho.