Brad

I’m about halfway through it and I can’t say that I do. It’s his attempt to do something different, to explore the dissatisfaction with bourgeois, ho hum middle class life and explore life with a rabelasian bohemian acquaintance; walk on the wild side, so to speak. The book, so far, seems aimless but I’m going on a trip so I will see if I can finish it.

You’re not equating Parlan with The Three Sounds are you? The sounds (no pun intended) are different.

I saw the series before I read Tinker Tailor. It was what got me interested in reading Tinker, Tailor as well as his other books.

A look at Paris in the 1920s, the writing of The Sun Also Rises and the actual people who made up the novel, most of whom remained unhappy to the day they died with the way they were portrayed in the novel. Fascinating book.

I thought Silverview was pretty good. Perhaps not among his best but still good nonetheless.

Several of his books are considered the Smiley books in that they include George Smiley. There are the two I first mentioned. The others are Call for the Dead A Murder of Quality The Looking Glass War (one of LeCarre’s best) The Secret Pilgrim and The Karla Trilogy — Tinker Tailor, The Honorable Schoolboy, and Smiley’s People. If you should decide to watch Tinker, Tailor, do not watch the movie but the six part series with Alec Guinness. It and Smiley’s People are available on YouTube.

No, in the story, Alec Leamas’s son is suing the government over the death of his father and the government calls in a now retired Peter Guillam to find out what happened. Smiley makes an appearance. In addition, the spy world is never closed or ended. Even though the Cold War is over, it still continues. See Agent Running in the Field and his last book, published posthumously, Silverview.

After you read that, you might want to try A Legacy of Spies. It’s a follow to The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

There’s a fairly active Tennis thread on Hoffman, if you’re interested. https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/tennis-2022.1126620/

I purposely didn’t buy the Select. I like Lou but I’ve only played that box once. Probably need to pull it out.

The Woody Herman Mosaics. Not a big fan of his singing. Sold one but haven’t gotten around to selling the others.

Out of the four majors. I don’t what we’re even arguing about honestly. I like Rafa and have followed him for years; I lived in Spain years ago and follow Spanish athletics. We are both Real fans!

Yes, I’m sure. Setting aside his domination at Paris, they each have 20 or more, plus let’s not forget that 14 of Nadal’s 22 are at one tournament (which is pretty impressive) whereas Djokovic’s are pretty spread out. I’m not a Djokovic fan but he’s a fantastic player and whether Medvedev was there or not wouldn’t matter. He’s won the last two Wimbledons and he’ll be rightly favored here.

22 titles says it all but Roger and Djokovic each have 20 so I don’t know that we can say that Rafa is unique. Djokovic will be favored at Wimbledon where he has won six times and if he’s allowed to compete at the US Open, he will be favored there too. Hopefully, Rafa can play at Wimbledon.

Someone at Hoffman posted the following for those who pre-ordered the set: “Dear Friends of Mosaic, Thank you very much for your preorder of the Black & White set. This is the first set we have released with our new website and software. With technology the way that it is, we have just found out that the website is hardwired so that credit cards expire after 30 days of the order date. Since it has been over 30 days since you ordered the set, the credit card has expired and due to security constraints, we cannot re-enter credit card data ourselves. Therefore, you will need to reorder on the website. Here is the link: Classic Black & White Jazz Sessions Limited Edition Box Set (#273 - 11 CDs); Regular price $179 - Order Now - Preorder sale price $159 thru June 15 - We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. Fred, Michael & Scott Mosaic Records 203-327-7111 www.mosaicrecords.com”

Feel better Kevin.

RIP but 85 is still a long life. We all can’t live forever. Considering that he was in poor health, his passing may have been a blessing. His legacy is fixed and he will be remembered.

The Rubaiyat is an incredible record, a real delight.

I’ve only started it so will let you know. The book wasn’t well received by the critics but in the foreword he states that the central theme in this book and the Smiley books are the same: the conflict between “institutional commitment and unattainable hopes,” i.e., dreams vs reality.

Le Carrie’s one non espionage book, written between A Small Town in Germany and Tinker Tailor.

I think many sites do that. I know that Acoustic Sounds only takes (or prefers) credit cards for preorders.