I swear reading used to be easier. Still, I am determined to persevere with getting back into reading and if that means slogging through a few books that I lose interest in then that's what it takes.
Of course, this isn't the sort of book you are supposed to lose interest in. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is set in England during the Cold War and focuses on George Smiley, who used to work for 'the Circus', and his efforts to find a mole. Not the furry, digging type, for anyone who was confused.
I actually quite enjoyed reading this, particularly as it got nearer the end. Think I would have enjoyed the earlier parts more if I'd sat down and made the effort to get into it. When I started the book I was out of the habit of making time to read and very tired, which is a deadly combination for an unfamiliar author. For the first 10 or so chapters I was reading about half a chapter at a time before I fell asleep. The result of which was I didn't really take a lot on board, which then made the book even harder to read.
One example of my ignorance came when some of the characters were discussing a former colleague. I expected this to be followed up by a chapter about the colleague, as tends to happen in books, when I realised that this particular guy had already been the main feature of about 3 chapters earlier on. His name had completely slipped my mind and I almost gave up and started reading again from the beginning.
Reviewing this book is really hard. I'm very torn between being honest about the fact that I had no idea what was going on for most of the book and blaming my clueless-ness on my lifestyle for the last month. Maybe one day I'll re-read it and find out for sure whether I liked it. Maybe I'll just play it safe and read a Discworld book next, in an attempt to reboot my reading habit.
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