Like Jaws, Three Days of the Condor made liberal changes to its source material. Even more so than Peter Benchley, the author is one whose credentials are easily established by mentioning the movie version of his book: Three Days of the Condor, released the same year as Jaws. My introduction to the fiction of James Grady is his 1974 debut novel Six Days of the Condor. If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit I’m always going to be the guy who goes for sandwiches. This is another nice addition to my resume in case the CIA ever wants a willing recruit to open Department 17 for real. The book moved along at a quick pace with some nail biting scenes that were impressions coming from a 24 year old, first time novelist. The movie did deviate from the book, but the true essence of the story was retained by the director, Sydney Pollack. Another example of life being too bizarre for fiction. The KGB designed almost a carbon copy of the building and formed a research department to try and catch up with this mythical (tell me it isn’t so) department of the CIA. ”An exposé published in 2008 by Pete Early-a story sanctioned by America’s FBI and CIA-revealed that the movie stunned the KGB generals and convinced them that they had fallen behind their CIA foes in what had to be a critical espionage endeavor: the work they saw Redford/Condor doing in the movie.” There is a fascinating preface to the Open Road edition written by James Grady that discusses the process of how he got the idea for the book and, most interesting of all, how the Redford movie created quite the flurry of worry in KGB headquarters. Six Days of the Condor was sold to Hollywood even before the book was published. I always enjoy seeing the interpretation of the same story by different writers and directors. The series stars Max Irons, the son of the great Jeremy Irons, and it has become must see TV in my house. I’m currently enjoying the new TV series called Condor on the Audience channel. They cut the expanse of time that the story unfolds from six days down to three. I’ve watched the 1975 Robert Redford movie with the lovely Faye Dunaway numerous times, and the movie is terrific. Things were more dire than just people trying to kill him. He became The Spy Thriller Reader Who Tried to Come in From the Cold. Great, right? What a stroke of dumb luck, but it proved to be harder than one would expect for Ronald/Condor to come in for a debriefing. Ronald was out grabbing a sandwich, crumbs were still clinging to the edges of his mouth as he stared at the bodies of his colleagues lying in pools of blood. The plot swung into action when a hit squad came in and killed everyone in the building. I have an impressive resume of thrillers I’ve already read so I would be attuned to discovering things I’ve never read before in a book. If the CIA is reading this review, I just want to say I am an expert reader. His job was to read these books and take notes of anything that happens that might be of use to the CIA at some point and time. No, Ronald’s job was reading spy thrillers and mysteries. Not field work, or running secret agents, or working to take down a super villain while he was still a hoodlum. He worked in this nondescript building that was a front for a CIA operation. It would be boring for a lot of people, but for someone like me, it would be a dream job. Most days, Ronald Malcolm’s biggest worries were from which coffee pot on which floor he was going to get his dose of caffeine, what type of sandwich he was going to have at lunch, and not dawdling too long in the morning so he was at his work desk on time to admire the beautiful siren walking by his building every day. His job was not nor ”This is Condor, Section 9, Department 17.Ĭhoose your own Condor. ‘We’ve been hit.’” Choose your own Condor. ”This is Condor, Section 9, Department 17.
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