The English cottage where John le Carré wrote Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

[andrewstuart]

It's not very highly rated but I loved the 2011 movie of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" starring Gary Oldman and a cast of other well known actors.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tinker_tailor_soldier_spy

After I saw it I said to friends that its "the best movie I've seen in which pretty much nothing happens". That's how good the movie was - no action, nothing stated explicitly, lots left for the viewer to figure out, and still awesome. Definitely not for everyone but I loved it. Gary Oldman of course being one of the greatest actors of all time.

[omnicognate]

84% is pretty high. I remember it being very well received, deservedly so.

If you liked that you should try the 1979 BBC series of it [1], Alec Guiness also being one of the greatest actors of all time.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_Tailor_Soldier_Spy_(T...

[alexahn]

The movie captures the feeling of being a rockstar detective. The way everyone is dressed and the cold logic games they play. The movie raises an interesting question: what happens when the spy controls the environment? They could make anything appear any such way. The strength of your logic then becomes your undoing because an adversary can use your own logic against you. This is probably why rule-breaking is not only the norm for intelligence agencies, but practically mandatory.

[md224]

One of my favorite films! Agreed that it's not for everyone, but if you're on its wavelength it's really something special. Just incredibly well made with terrific performances. That ending sequence with La Mer...

[jakeinspace]

I remember seeing it in theaters with my father, who is a massive le Carré fan. He enjoyed it (though obviously he had many issues in comparison with the novel), and I (15 at the time) remember being very bored. Still, I could appreciate that is had beautiful mood and subtle, well-written dialogue. It felt a much closer approximation of actual espionage than anything else I've seen.

[notpublic]

Then you should watch the OG - 1979 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with Alec Guinness and Ian Richardson

[eszed]

I've been enjoying Slow Horses, which in my head-canon is a sequel, with "Smiley" (the character played by Gary Oldman, natch) put out to irascible pasture at Slough House. It's not truly on the same level, but it's good fun.

[meyum33]

I still dream of seeing this version of Smiley's People one day.

[abm53]

I enjoy this version, but can’t help feeling that Gary Oldman is miscast and the wardrobe wrong.

[chucksmash]

After le Carré and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy came up here earlier this week[1], I came across a $1.95 copy at a used bookstore. I'm sure I was primed to notice it after having just seen it discussed online, but it still felt like a neat bit of serendipity because a) I never would have bought a le Carré book otherwise (lumped them with Danielle Steele/John Grisham/Dean Koontz, older "beach books" I hadn't read that I didn't think I'd like) and b) I've been getting way more than $1.95 of value from it (at the beach).

So, to the shadowy cabal promoting John le Carré books on HN this week, thanks.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37375585

[ljm]

He was also heavily referenced in Deadly Premonition 2, a sadly subpar follow up to the cult classic PS3-era game that is Deadly Premonition. The closest to authentic Twin Peaks you will ever see outside of Twin Peaks itself.

[chrisweekly]

Random tangent: John Le Carre's son Nick Harkaway is a fantastic writer (whose works I prefer to his father's).

[Luc]

He also wrote some pretty good books as Aidan Truhen.

[ilrwbwrkhv]

That's a beautiful house. I wonder if the space you inhabit changes what you create. If that is the case offices need to be better thought about.

[Obscurity4340]

Its a sad thought that so many of us can never realistically hope to occupy such a space and be able to truly have that kind of setting to breathe and heal oneself

[tonyedgecombe]

I'd never get any work done there, I'd spend all my time taking in the views.

[darkclouds]

https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gbtrrstrs210037

[clort]

Yeah but be aware before you move in that the Tater Du Lighthouse is very nearby (IIRC just round the point you see in Side Garden photo)

Tater Du has an automatic fog horn..

[bookofjoe]

Not any more:

>Fog signal

The fog signal was originally a series (72 in total) of Tannoy units built into the lighthouse tower; they were powered by an alternator coupled to a 2-cylinder Ruston diesel engine. This was later replaced by a short-range Pharos Marine Omnidirectional electric emitter sounding the same characteristic of two one-second blasts every 30 seconds during fog. The fog signal was decommissioned in 2012.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tater_Du_Lighthouse

[closewith]

Decommissioned, (un)fortunately.

[jay_kyburz]

Might be a good idea for a website. Collect real estate photos of house where famous people worked. Perhaps side by side with any photos of them actually working there!

[decker]

I find this building's title of cottage preposterous, this is a mere hovel if I've ever seen one.

[Archelaos]

I wonder what it looked like inside when John le Carré wrote Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in ca. 1974.

[rr808]

$3.7 million though? Does it include a farm? I thought house prices in California were crazy.

[chrisweekly]

Huh? It's 5,000 extremely well-designed and appointed sq ft on 3+ gorgeous acres. Maybe not a bargain, but far from outrageous IMHO. Hell, Redfin says my house is worth 1.7 and it's not in the same league.

[zdragnar]

It's a 5,000 square foot house on 3 acres overlooking the ocean. You're not going to ever find that for cheap, especially with its beautifully maintained condition.

[nixass]

Is this really a selling point?

[bookofjoe]

>How celebrity names impact property values

https://www.luxuryportfolio.com/blog/how-celebrity-names-imp...

[markus_zhang]

I wonder how much the maintenance cost is.

[devnullbrain]

That's a lot of rugs. Dogs?

[Flatcircle]

so so beautiful. Now that's a dream house.

[drewcoo]

In England, "cottage" must mean something else . . .

[Lio]

Haha, I thought the same thing. That's a rich man's idea of what a cottage is.

From the look of it was once a terrace of individual cottages that have been knocked through into one dwelling.

I love le Carre's work, so I'd say he deserved it.

[globalise83]

Ironically the several cottages in the picture which have now been converted into a single country house would have been very humble dwellings when they were built.

[gerdesj]

It's a word with multiple meanings and one of them is a type of dwelling. Which other meaning do you think is more appropriate given the context?

[bifftastic]

From the first photo it looks like three cottages joined together