The Once and Future Spy: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A first effort, one to try and forgive?
Review: "The Publisher's Review" was kind to end its assessment of the book with, "...but a little silly."

"Silly" began about page five and reappeared frequently during the remaining 285 pages. We're looking here at "silly" at the high school composition level, and the plot is strained and worse even than the writing.

This was copywritten 13 years ago, and Littell has become a somewhat better writer in the interim. I just finished his latest, "The Company," and it was worth about 3 1/2 stars. I'll skip anything else by him.

The old phrase, "the book's not worth the candle," is too kind for "The Once and Future Spy."

Rating:
Summary: A first effort, one to try and forgive?
Review: "The Publisher's Review" was kind to end its assessment of the book with, "...but a little silly."

"Silly" began about page five and reappeared frequently during the remaining 285 pages. We're looking here at "silly" at the high school composition level, and the plot is strained and worse even than the writing.

This was copywritten 13 years ago, and Littell has become a somewhat better writer in the interim. I just finished his latest, "The Company," and it was worth about 3 1/2 stars. I'll skip anything else by him.

The old phrase, "the book's not worth the candle," is too kind for "The Once and Future Spy."

Rating:
Summary: intriguing hard to categorize spy novel from one of the best
Review: a sometimes bizarre book.Memorable and menacing characters from the best writer of cold war era novels. Impossible to easily define but very satisfying. Action runs between parallel exploration of espionage then and now but thats not the quarter of it. History book, spy novel- one of those 'give it to your friends straight away so you're not alone with the knowledge' books and above all well written. The antidote to all the 'hunt the serial killer'writing-by-numbers.

Rating:
Summary: Halie
Review: As an interpreter/teacher at Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry, CT, it was with great interest that I picked up this book. Nathan Hale is Connecticut's "official state hero", and has been frozen in time as "the patriot-martyr-spy of the American Revolution." Well, the Nathan Hale that I know and admire was a twenty-one-year old kid with a desire to do something important for his country. Kind of like kids serving in the war in Iran. What I appreciate about The Once and Future Spy is Littel's depiction of Hale as a flesh and blood, passionate, adventurous young man. While this book may not be great history, and I don't necessarily believe in the accuracy of its speculation about Nathan's doomed spy mission, I do appreciate it for thawing out this frozen icon a little.

Rating:
Summary: A Little Too Ambiguous...?
Review: Bottom line, I liked the premise and enjoyed the read - that is, until I reached the end. I confess, I don't yet quite get it. In six months, once I have had a chance to reflect on the book for a little longer, "Whose truth, what truth?" may help the book come into better focus. But at this point, I simply am not sure how to interpret the end. For instance, where did large parts of the story take place - in the "real world" or in Silas' head? What was Snow's motivation for doing what she did at the end - was she mistaken about her information (re: Huxstep) and more convinced that something wasn't quite right with Silas? Ambiguity is a given in the world of intelligence, but this was a bit too ambiguous for my tastes.

Fellow fans, help me out. If you can, I may come back again and revise my rating upwards. If not, then let's let a 3-star rating stand for a good book make a little too complicated for its own good.

Rating:
Summary: Nearly perfect
Review: I read the book 3 years ago and just finished re-reading it yesterday.

It has the fairy-tale quality I like so much in works of Cold War era writers - Graham Greene is the perfect example. The mythology is here - or mythologies since the book also deals with a patriot spy of 2 centuries ago. Sometimes the author seems to be unsure of our ability to draw the parallel and elaborates a bit too much on the things that are already evident.

But later in the book Robert Littell goes to another extreme - he regretfully overcomplicates the ending, in a rush to make his work a kind of Chinese box - "whose truth? which truth?" - he shies from the possible and feasible happy end - and finishes in a hasty hopelessness.

Still the book is very, very good in it's unique way. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Weird
Review: No, "Weird" is not a term usually associated with a book review, but it's difficult to think of a better one-word description here.

This book is so convoluted, and much of it rather illogical,
that it is hard to believe the same author has written the
complex, detailed and fascinating book, "The Company." This one must have been some sort of practice run.

As we read through it, there are interesting parts, but we keep
thinking as we go along that the author will surely bring it all
together in a satisfying way. But he never does. There is an
ending of sorts, but the story never quite comes together. And many of us will not be wishing there was more, we will, instead,
be wishing we had spent our time more profitably.

The story, on the surface, is about an ultra-secret project by
a handful of CIA operatives working outside even that organization, with the direction and approval of the Attorney General, and the aim of this project is to sow discord in the

heart of one of our Muslim enemy countries, while also bringing
into disrepute everything that country stands for. A laudable
goal, and a very nice starting point for this type novel.

But the author insists on intermixing with that story another,
and parallel, story about Nathan Hale during our Revolution
against the British Empire. The Hale story is quite far-fetched, so it detracts rather than adds to the central theme.

With the shifts in both era and story, this is not exciting, but
rather distracting. Not a very well-put-together story and ultimately dissatisfying.

Rating:
Summary: Weird
Review: No, "Weird" is not a term usually associated with a book review, but it's difficult to think of a better one-word description here.

This book is so convoluted, and much of it rather illogical,
that it is hard to believe the same author has written the
complex, detailed and fascinating book, "The Company." This one must have been some sort of practice run.

As we read through it, there are interesting parts, but we keep
thinking as we go along that the author will surely bring it all
together in a satisfying way. But he never does. There is an
ending of sorts, but the story never quite comes together. And many of us will not be wishing there was more, we will, instead,
be wishing we had spent our time more profitably.

The story, on the surface, is about an ultra-secret project by
a handful of CIA operatives working outside even that organization, with the direction and approval of the Attorney General, and the aim of this project is to sow discord in the

heart of one of our Muslim enemy countries, while also bringing
into disrepute everything that country stands for. A laudable
goal, and a very nice starting point for this type novel.

But the author insists on intermixing with that story another,
and parallel, story about Nathan Hale during our Revolution
against the British Empire. The Hale story is quite far-fetched, so it detracts rather than adds to the central theme.

With the shifts in both era and story, this is not exciting, but
rather distracting. Not a very well-put-together story and ultimately dissatisfying.

Rating:
Summary: Tremendous Decision to Reissue
Review: Robert Littell has written a variety of wonderful books that all earn high marks in whatever genre he places them. He has written the spy novel as well as anyone, he has written historically based fiction so well, that some find his version of events easier to believe than those generally accepted as fact. And he has explored relationships that have nothing whatsoever to do with the other categories I mention. His are some of my favorite books, and I hope that many will now be issued once again.

For the spy lovers there have been, "Walking Back The Cat", "An Agent In Place", and most recently, "The Company". Historically based fiction rarely gets better than, "The Sisters", and "The Visiting Professor", fills the relationship category. It's not an easy decision, but my favorite work of his is likely, "The Revolutionist". All of these books I would enthusiastically recommend.

"The Once And Future Spy", is akin to traversing a labyrinth that is made of mirrors instead of green hedges. I also walked through one made entirely of chain link fence once, and with all that it allowed you to see, that it "showed clearly", it too was especially, or perhaps unique in its puzzle.

And despite all that transpires in this book, when you finally put down, or it finishes with you, you are anywhere but at the end. Government conspiracy enthusiasts will love this book, for it not only is clearly modeled after a specific US Presidency, it also portrays a variety of players that are identical to that administration in all but name. The act contemplated has a logic in their world, but once outside of their tortured, groupthink, any ends justifies the means sideshow, what they contemplate doing is no less than a crime against humanity.

Mr. Littell plays a wonderful game of slight of hand, and three card monty novel writing. But he does it with such skill that it never seems contrived, and when you think you have finally found the correct card, he will turn over another, proving you wrong once again. Even when he appears to come clean at the story's conclusion, has he really? By my reading he has not. An uneasy truce based not on mistrust, or threats, but rather participants not knowing where they stand, seems to be the closest anyone can come to comfort.

If you have never read this writer's work, please do, you will find a variety of genres, all capably handled by an extremely talented, imaginative, and skilled pen.