The Sympathizer, by Viet Nguyen, is a new breed of noir novel, which academia is turning out these days. The author is a distinguished man of letters at in California, so I would expect nothing less from him. And he doesn’t disappoint. This is the story of the Vietnam conflict told through the eyes of an undercover spy, a mole, a deep operative, a man without a name who is a metaphor for so much. Except that he can’t seem to remember who he is.
Shadow of the Condor by James Grady (Dell, 1975) Shadow of the Condor is the 1975 sequel to James Grady’s Six Days of the Condor. It’s not an easy book to find and my worn…
Since we’re in the middle of Cold War phase III, it was inevitable that American TV would revive the old USA/USSR competition with a new show, which, in this case, is Allegiance. The new series,…
Decoded by Mai Jai, translated by Olivia Milburn and Christopher Payne (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014) Decoded by Mai Jia is the first English publication of one of China’s famous writers. First published in 2002,…
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy directed by Tomas Alfredson (StudioCanal, 2011) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the latest adaption of the classic 1974 John Le Carre novel. Most people of a certain age remember the earlier mini-series…