Mind Blogging. Mind Boggling.

A very different British 'espionage' or 'intelligence services' writing, considering that a lot of exposure I and many people have had on the genre, are John Le Carre and Frederick Forsyth. This book is highly irreverent, whereas the Forsyth's and the Le Carre's are highly reverent of the processes and mannerisms of the Services and those within. The book is filled with brutal realities of those in the intelligence services since it's replete with blundering lay-people, instead of the heroic (Forsyth) or calculative (Le Carre). Lastly, it's filled with chaotic happenings rather than the careful origami-like unfolding plots of the Forsyths and the Le Carres. 

The sardonic humor is among the best I've come across, and the book is full of amazing office quips. It can be deployed in your office if you want to vitiate or spoil the atmosphere. People fear a 'toxic' workplace, and this book is a guide towards creating that! 

1

He slurped some tea, and scowled. 'That's gunna taste better coming back up. 

'The teabags are very old'.  

2

He might a well be wearing an emergency exit sign. Soon as it's necessary, you'll go straight through him. 

3

I have better things to do than to debrief entry level spooks. My lunch won't eat itself. 

As you can see from the above 3 examples, the book is packed with sardonic and toxic office quips. One per page, atleast. In some ways, the writing also feels like Noir detective fiction, with the fantastic dialogue and the weak government or justice system.  Thus, it's Noir Spy- a new genre I've never come across. I've only come across Noir Detective (The Big Sleep) or Noir Action (Sin City).   

I thought the plot was not too taut, and rambles at times. However, it did have my attention. 

Apart from just the plot and the humour, there are some broader points that the book makes that are in keeping with the political times we live in.  In a democracy, in case the elected person is not competent enough, there can be a power grab by the non-elected. Which is a dangerous situation because the non-elected are not answerable to the public. In such a scenario, if incompetent people are appointed to key positions, foreign unfriendly powers can easily outwit these people and get 'leverage' on the incompetent or the 'unelected' members. For example, these folks may fall for honeytraps, which is the 101 trick for getting leverage, which a competent veteran would not fall for. Further, the incompetents or the non-elected appointees will want to profit in the short term through contracts etc, and thus undermine long term institutions and processes such as civil service or courts. Many of the good people might be forced out or might leave in frustration, and so even after the bad period ends, the institutions are set back a few years due to the loss of key personnel or weakening of key processes.   

John Le Carre passed away recently, and I read that he had almost completed the manuscript of his last book. The work was completed by his son. That book is in my reading list, on this genre. 

Labels: Books

# posted by Ashwin Ravikumar @ 9:22 PM