Monday, December 14, 2020

Traces of John Le Carre in Lebanon

Now that John Le Carre, the man who gave us masterful works of literature (and one orphan non-spy based work which was derided by the literature clique but which I dearly loved "The Naive and Sentimental Lover"), has passed away. I have proofs he passed by Lebanon. The first one above, is his signed copy of The Little Drummer Girl (part of which happens in Lebanon) which was signed to the late British journalist Robin Mannock.

The other less obvious? A welcome drink at the Commodore Hotel (where journalists would stay during the war). I found it in Robin's archives which were handed down to me. At first I did not pay much attention to it. Later I discovered that in The Little Drummer Girl, the author says he (or his main protagonist) stayed at room 607 at the Commodore. I immediately remembered I read that number previously, where else but in Robin's card (the man Robin was meeting was staying in that room!). The card is referenced as 11/2/1982 and the book signed in 23/4/1983. I will let you do the math.