![]() In cracking form this is one of the most thrilling of his recent novels. ![]() No wonder their novels seemed fresh and arresting. They were young men, but with such awful, traumatising experiences of war. Remember Holden Caulfield travelled across the battlefields of Europe in the knapsack of J. I had never spotted any Fitzgerald in Mailer hitherto and yet here it is in Sam Spades, but with a strength, clarity and modernity of language which I think is new, both from and caused by the wartime experiences of these writers. The swats at the film industry are funny, as they always are at that industry. He understands this beyond his years (the war) and is able to illustrate perfectly, the unique human ability of the sexes to misunderstand each other and yet still be reconciled through sex. The whole ambivalence of love and lust, and fear of, and gratitude for, such bonding. I think it is because he brilliantly pictures two different male/female relationships, but each couple with the same tensions. I am hard put to explain why I find it so appealing. I don’t know anything finer by this author. I have a British first edition from Arthur Wingate 1957. ![]() I had not realised until now that his Publisher rejected it, and Mailer refused to make cuts. It’s about Palm Springs and the Movie People but it is really about Love. The characters are instantly recognisable, even when they are movie stars. Re-reading this book always gives me the utmost delight. By Eric Idle, Decem12:53 pm Silverview John Le CarréĪ posthumous novel completed by his son. ![]()
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