Jared Lloyd Lloyd itibaren 565 01 Kosořín, Çek Cumhuriyeti
Slightly outdated due to more recent developments both in the U.S. and abroad.
"People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive. That's what it's all finally about, and that's what these clues help us to find within ourselves." It's also on DVD as a PBS special. I really want to read "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" now.
This was my second trip into Philbyania, in an attempt to understand what went through the minds of dedicated Communist spies from the Cold War era. This one is quite a bit different from Philby, because Borovik had access both to Philby and to his KGB file. The approach Borovik took was top-notch, lining up Philby's recollections and reports with the contemporaneous traffic in his file to see what the KGB thought and whether Philby's memory had perhaps faded. So it combines good primary research with the benefit of hindsight. Unfortunately, this too rarely paid off. There were some unfortunate ironies, but little that was deeply gripping. The English (I assume Borovik wrote it in English, as I suspect there was little demand for a Philby book in Russian) is a bit stilted, making it less engaging than it could have been.
Loved this.
This is the first of a wonderful series set in Seattle. Read them in order!