जॉन ल कॅरे यांचे 'हेर जो थंडीतून आत आला'....The Triple-strand of Wire and the Cruel Hooks Which Held It

"...The watch tower’s searchlight began feeling its way along the wall towards them, hesitant; each time it rested they could see the separate bricks and the careless lines of mortar hastily put on. As they watched the beam stopped immediately in front of them. Leamas looked at his watch.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded.

Taking her arm he began walking deliberately across the strip. Liz wanted to run, but he held her so tightly that she could not. They were half-way towards the wall now, the brilliant semi-circle of light drawing them forward, the beam directly above them. Leamas was determined to keep Liz very close to him, as if he were afraid that Mundt would not keep his word and somehow snatch her away at the last moment.

They were almost at the wall when the beam darted to the north, leaving them momentarily in total darkness. Still holding Liz’s arm, Leamas guided her forward blindly, his left hand reaching ahead of him until suddenly he felt the coarse, sharp contact of the cinder brick. Now he could discern the wall and, looking upwards, the triple-strand of wire and the cruel hooks which held it. Metal wedges, like climbers’ pitons, had been driven into the brick. Seizing the highest one, Leamas pulled himself quickly upwards until he had reached the top of the wall. He tugged sharply at the lower strand of wire and it came towards him, already cut.

“Come on,” he whispered urgently, “start climbing.”

Laying himself flat he reached down, grasped her upstretched hand and began drawing her slowly upwards as her foot found the first metal rung.

Suddenly the whole world seemed to break into flame; from everywhere, from above and beside them, massive lights converged, bursting upon them with savage accuracy...."

(John le Carré's 'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold', 1963)

 जॉन ल कॅरे यांचे 'द स्पाय हू केम इन फ्रॉम द कोल्ड' हे मी त्यांच्या वाचून संपवलेल्या पुस्तकातील एक आहे! त्यांची वाचायला सुरु केलेली पण न संपवलेली  अनेक पुस्तके आहेत. मला 'द स्पाय'ची अतिशय देखणी अशी हार्डबाऊंड आवृत्ती मुंबईच्या स्ट्रॅन्ड बुकशॉप मध्ये १९८४-८५ च्या सुमारास अतिशय कमी किमतीत मिळाली होती. 

 

“Now he could discern the Wall and, looking upwards, the triple strand of wire and the cruel hooks which held it.”

Artist: Matt Taylor

CrimeReads.com:

"...but the power of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is its ability to endlessly fascinate and inspire new generations of readers and spy fiction connoisseurs.

This year, The Folio Society has released a new edition of le Carré’s classic, introduced by the author and illustrated by the artist Matt Taylor. The artwork in this new volume evokes a noir world slowly spilt over with grayish blues and flashes of startling color. Espionage-crazed readers that we are, we wanted to share some of these illustrations with you. Here, then, is an artist’s vision of le Carré’s bleak midcentury world, a new rendering of a classic story..."