Company - Bitnexus BookWyrm

No cover — Robert Littell: Company (2004, Diane Pub Co)

Hardcover, 894 pages

English language

Published March 2, 2004 by Diane Pub Co.

OCLC Number:: 149225210

From the back cover:

Welcome to the Company - better known as the CIA to outsiders. With a sharp eye for the pathos and absurdity of the spy game, internationally renowned novelist Robert Littell seamlessly weaves together history and fiction to create a multigenerational, wickedly nostalgic saga that races across a landscape spanning the legendary Berlin Base of the 1950s, the Soviet invasion of Hungary, the Bay of Pigs, Afghanistan, and the Gorbachev putsch. The Company tells the thrilling story of agents imprisoned in double lives, fighting an amoral, elusive, formidable enemy -- and each other -- in an internecine battle within the Company itself. A brilliant, stunningly conceived epic thriller, The Company confirms Littell's place among the genre's elite.

From the back cover:

Welcome to the Company - better known as the CIA to outsiders. With a sharp eye for the pathos and absurdity of the spy game, internationally renowned novelist Robert Littell seamlessly weaves together history and fiction to create a multigenerational, wickedly nostalgic saga that races across a landscape spanning the legendary Berlin Base of the 1950s, the Soviet invasion of Hungary, the Bay of Pigs, Afghanistan, and the Gorbachev putsch. The Company tells the thrilling story of agents imprisoned in double lives, fighting an amoral, elusive, formidable enemy -- and each other -- in an internecine battle within the Company itself. A brilliant, stunningly conceived epic thriller, The Company confirms Littell's place among the genre's elite.

13 editions

Bradley Bravard reviewed The Company

Yawn

2 stars

I feel like Mr. Littell wanted to write a non-fiction history of the Cold War, but lacked the discipline, so he just filled in the facts he knew and made up the rest. I had no sympathy or interest in any of the characters. Historic figures are carelessly inserted into the narrative, often in such a cliched manner as to be offensive (i.e. President Kennedy and Sam Giancana). This book was a chore to finish.

Conversely, the author spews out way too many factual details. There are so many trivial details that it becomes distracting, and it feels as though the author is just showing off his knowledge, forgetting about character development and pacing.

Subjects

Fiction
Espionage/Intrigue